Major-General Guy Carleton (1724-1808) entered the Army in May 1742 and by 1757 was a Captain-Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Colonel in the 1st Foot Guards. In 1758, he went to North America, serving at Louisburg and becoming quartermaster general to his friend, James Wolfe. With the local rank of colonel, he commanded the grenadiers at Quebec and was wounded. As an acting brigadier-general, he took part in the siege of Belle Ile in 1761, and later distinguished himself at Havana, where he was also wounded.
In 1766, he became Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and succeeded as Governor on Murray's recall to England in 1768, although his appointment was not officially confirmed until January 1775. From July 1770 to September 1774, Carleton was on leave in Great Britain, during which time he may have drafted the Quebec Bill. In 1772, he was promoted to major-general and became colonel of the 47th Foot.
When war came, Carleton had fewer than 1,000 Regulars to defend Canada, and this numerical inferiority and the growing realization that the habitants would not fight for the King, forced him to adopt a cautious strategy. Possibly he took this too far in refusing to allow any pursuit of the enemy following the failed attack on Quebec and demanding overwhelming superiority on Lake Champlain. However, on both occasions he was unsure of enemy numbers and knew that he would have to wait many months to replace any losses he incurred.
His long-running feud with Germain, aided by Burgoyne's scheming, and the failure to recapture Ticonderoga in 1776, led to his achievements being belittled in London. Nevertheless, his defense of Quebec earned him a knighthood (he was even allowed to wear the insignia and use the title before any official investiture) and he was made a lieutenant-general in August 1777. The appointment of Burgoyne to lead the invasion of New York led Carleton to resign in 1777, although he supported Burgoyne ably and remained in Canada until 1778.
In 1782, the Rockingham ministry chose Carleton to replace Clinton as the commander in chief in North America. He immediately removed corrupt military and civil officials, and stalled negotiations with Washington over the return of runaway slaves, allowing several thousand black Loyalists to flee to Canada. After supervising the evacuation of New York City in 1783, he was re-appointed Governor of Quebec in 1786, and made Baron Dorchester the same year. Apart from one two-year absence, he remained in Canada until 1796, returning home to live in retirement until his sudden death.
