Henry Clinton Papers

William L. Clements Library
The University of Michigan
Henry Clinton Papers

Clinton, Henry, 1730-1795

Papers, 1750-1838
92 lin. feet

Biographical information:

Henry Clinton was the only surviving son of George Clinton, the royal governor of New York between 1741-1753. He entreated the army through a commission given to him by his father in one of the New York 'independent' companies. Appointed aide de camp to Field Marshal Lord Ligonier early in the Seven Years War, he soon became lieutenant colonel in the Foot Guards and learned his trade as aide de camp to Charles, hereditary price (later duke) of Brunswick, during the final campaigns of the war. Critical throughout his career was the close family connection to the dukes of Newcastle and the political interest which they represented.

His papers show that Clinton was one of those rare officers who studied his profession, perhaps inspired by his old friend Henry Lloyd--military historian, Russian major general, and man of mystery. Elected to the House of Commons and promoted major general in 1772, Clinton toured the Russo-Turkish War with Lloyd in 1774, and a year later was ordered to Boston with Generals Howe and Burgoyne.

Clinton emerged from the bloody battle of Bunker Hill with merit. Returning home for the winter, he came out in 1776 with reinforcements and as second in command to Howe. Although he failed in an amphibious attack on Charleston in June, his distinguished part in the battles around New York led to a knighthood. He kept clear of the next British setback at Trenton and Princeton, having led an expeditionary force to Rhode Island. Howe left Clinton to command the main British base at New York during the disastrous campaign of 1777, when Burgoyne lost his army at Saratoga and Howe was in Pennsylvania, unable to support him; Clinton earned credit for doing everything possible with a weak force to save Burgoyne. When Howe was recalled, Clinton was his obvious successor.

As commander in chief during the next four years, his record was marred by disputes with admirals, generals, and his bte noire, Secretary of State Germain; his record is also characterized by intelligent planning and ineffectual execution. Successfully evacuating Philadelphia and repulsing Washington at Monmouth in 1778, Clinton shifted his strategy to meet the new situation created by open French entry into the war. Coastal raids, cat-and-mouse maneuvers with Washington around New York, expeditions to protect the West Indies, and a new approach to pacifying rebels in the southern colonies were the basic elements of his strategy. At first, in 1779 and 1780, pacification in the South proved spectacularly successful, and after a brief excursion southward Clinton turned command of the southern theater over to Cornwallis. but inability to stamp out rebel guerrillas, miscalculations by both Clinton and Cornwallis, French naval pressure, and some bad luck led to the final disaster, at Yorktown in 1781. In May, 1782, Clinton turned his command over to Sir Guy Carleton.

Clinton spent much of the last 13 years of his life fighting a paper war with his enemies in the army, the navy, and the government; many weapons in that war survive in his papers, and the whole collection is a monument to his faith that the written record would ensure his ultimate victory.

Scope and Contents:

Papers of Sir Henry Clinton, commander in chief of the British army in North America, 1778-1782.

The great bulk of the collection is material assembled at British army headquarters during the American Revolutionary War, consisting of letters and papers received, letterbook copies of letters sent, warrant books, accounts, and a variety of notes and memoranda made by Clinton and his staff. There are also papers documenting Clinton's prewar and postwar careers, family papers, and published works pertaining to the Revolution and annotated by Clinton. In addition to frequent correspondence with officials in London and officers in America, Clinton received a stream of intelligence reports on the rebel side, as well as an occasional intercepted mailbag. There are many reports on Loyalist forces and on conditions in the area around New York under British occupation. His notes, drafts, and memos provide illuminating evidence bearing on plans, decisions, and personal relations. Clinton's need to understand the nature of the American Revolution and his compulsion to save every scrap of paper make this collection unusually valuable to the historian.

Provenance:

Purchased, 1937

Additional notes:

Publications of material in the Clinton Papers include the following:

Clinton's own version of the war, from the four-volume manuscript in the papers, The War of the Rebellion, ed. William B. Willcox (New Haven and London, 1954)
The Benedict Arnold-John AndrŽ correspondence in Carl Van Doren, Secret History of the American Revolution (New York, 1941)
'The Clinton-Parker Controversy over British Failure at Charleston and Rhode Island,' ed. William B. Willcox, 'An Officer out of His Time: Correspondence of Major Patrick Ferguson, 1779-1780,' ed. Hugh F. Rankin, and 'Vengeance: The Court-Martial of Captain Richard Lippincott, 1782,' ed. L. Kinvin Wroth, Sources of American Independence Selected Manuscripts from the Collections of the William L. Clements Library (Chicago, 1978).