Thomas Conway (February 27, 1735 – March 1795) was an Irish-born army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of French India from 1787 to 1789. Over the course of his military career, he served in the

French Royal Army The French Royal Army () was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude from 1792 to 1814 and another du ...

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. During the American Revolutionary War, Conway was involved with the alleged

Conway Cabal The Conway Cabal were a group of senior Continental Army officers in late 1777 and early 1778 who aimed to have George Washington replaced as commander-in-chief of the Army during the American Revolutionary War. It was named after Brigadier-Ge ...

with

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He took credit for the Ameri ...

, resulting in his dismissal from the Continental Army.

Early life

Thomas Conway was born in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland to James Conway and his wife Julieanne Conway. Though born to a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family, it is unclear how closely he adhered to the faith. As a child, he immigrated to France with his parents. At the age of 14, he joined the

's Irish Brigade and rose to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

by 1772.

Arrival in America

Following the outbreak of the

he went to the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

and volunteered to join to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

for military service in 1777. Based on an introduction from

Silas Deane Silas Deane (September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became t ...

, Congress appointed him as a brigadier general in the

on May 13, and sent him on to

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. Conway commanded the leading

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

on the American right flank at the

Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American ...

, and was praised for his actions. However, Washington opposed his promotion to major general, believing that many American-born officers with longer and valuable service deserved the rank; this caused a falling out between Washington and Conway. Congress appointed Conway a major general despite Washington's objections in December 1777, and made him Inspector General of the American army.

Conway Cabal

When his name was used politically, it was used to describe the infighting known as the

. During the affair, he had written a letter to

in which he referred to Washington as a "weak general," criticizing General Washington's failed tactics against British General William Howe. The letter stated: "Heaven has been determined to save your country; or a weak general eorge Washingtonand bad counselors would have ruined it." The letter was intercepted by Washington and his backers after its delivery was botched by Brigadier-General

James Wilkinson James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American army officer and politician who was associated with multiple scandals and controversies during his life, including the Burr conspiracy. He served in the Continental Army du ...

, and brought before the Congress for inquiry. When the contents of the letter were made public, Conway lost his command as a result. He tried a ploy that had worked before his promotion, and submitted his resignation to Congress in March 1778. This time it was accepted, so he was forced to leave the Continental Army. Shortly after this, General John Cadwalader challenged Conway to a duel. Cadwalader was a supporter of Washington's who had been with him at

Valley Forge Valley Forge was the winter encampment of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge encampment lasted six months, from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. It was the t ...

, and was angered by Conway's disloyal conduct. The duel was fought with pistols on July 4, 1778. At a distance of 12 paces, Conway fired first and missed. Cadwalader's shot struck Conway in the mouth and passed through the back of his head. Cadwalader, regarding Conway lying on the ground in agony, supposedly observed: "I have stopped the damned rascal's lying anyway."The Gettysburg Times (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Jun 27, 1912 Conway miraculously survived his wound. When he was not expecting to live, Conway penned a letter of apology to Washington, which read as follows:

Later life

Conway later returned to the French army, where in 1787 he was promoted to ''

maréchal de camp ''Maréchal de camp'' (sometimes incorrectly translated as field marshal) was a general officer rank used by the French Army until 1848. The rank originated from the older rank of sergeant major general ( French: ''sergent-major général'') ...

'' and appointed as the governor of French India. In 1793 he fought with royalist forces in opposition to French Revolution in southern France. During the French Revolution he was condemned to death. He was saved only by an appeal to the British (against which he had fought in the American Revolutionary War), but was compelled to flee from France for his life. Having been aided by the British government, in 1794 Conway was named colonel of one of the six regiments of the

's Catholic Irish Brigade, formed by Prime Minister

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

. Although people in positions of authority remained impressed with his military accomplishments, he continued to suffer from ill health. He visited

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

on several occasions in the hopes of improving his health; the Bath Chronicle recorded his arrival for the final time on February 12, 1795. He died soon after and was interred in Bath Abbey on March 3; the exact location of his memorial is unknown due to major renovations conducted in the 1860s. Conway was survived by his wife, Francois Antoinette Langlois du Bouchet who was created the Contesse de Conway, whom he married on June 1, 1775 and had a daughter the following year, on July 12, 1776, named Caroline. The Countess lived until 1828 and as a widow of a British Army colonel she continued to receive a government pension.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Thomas 1735 births 1800 deaths 18th-century Irish people Continental Army generals American duellists American shooting survivors Irish soldiers in the French Army French Army officers Irish emigrants to France Governors of French India Inspectors general of the United States Army French military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Continental Army officers from Ireland