A celebrated American general, born at Warwick, Rhode Island; though the son of a Quaker, he promptly took up arms on the outbreak of hostilities with the mother-country, and in 1775, as brigadier-general, headed the force in Rhode Island; his gallant conduct at the battles of Princeton and Brandywine won him promotion, and in 1780 he was advanced to the command of the army of the south; after a temporary reverse from Cornwallis at Guildford Court, he conducted his operations with so much success that, with the crowning victory at Eutaw Springs, he cleared the British from the States; his last days were spent on his estate in Georgia, a gift from government in recognition of his services; next to Washington he was the great hero of the war (1742-1788).