Portrait of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess and 2nd Earl Cornwallis (1738-1805), in uniform with the Sash and Star of the Order of the Garter

Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) succeeded his father as 2nd Earl Cornwallis in 1762. On 14 July 1768, he married Jemima Tullekin Jones. Cornwallis was educated at Eton and Cambridge before entering the army, where he rose to the rank of Major-General by 1775 and played a significant role in the American War of Independence. In 1778, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and served as second-in-command under General Sir Henry Clinton, taking charge of the south in 1780. The surrender of his army at Yorktown in October 1781 marked the end of the war. In 1786, Cornwallis was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and appointed Governor-General and Commander-in-chief of India, where he remained until 1793. In 1792, he was created a Marquess and he returned to Britain the following year. In 1797, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant (Viceroy) and Commander-in-chief of Ireland in 1798. Working closely with Viscount Castlereagh, the Chief Secretary to Ireland, he played an active role in the passing of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800. In 1805, Cornwallis returned to India as Governor-General, where he died from a fever two months later. The memorial at his burial site at Gausput in Ghazipur, overlooking the Ganges River, is a protected monument.