Thomas Conway

Thomas Conway (1735-1800?), Irish-born soldier of fortune, educated in France. In 1749 he entered the French army. He was a colonel when he was recruited by the American diplomat Silas Deane to serve in the American Revolution. Conway arrived in America in 1777, was given the rank of brigadier general, and participated in the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown. When he applied for promotion, George Washington opposed the application as being unfair to officers with longer service, but the Continental Congress gave Conway the rank of major general and made him inspector general in December 1777. Soon thereafter Conway was involved in the so-called Conway Cabal, an intrigue to replace Washington as commander in chief. After the plot was exposed, Conway resigned his commission in April 1778, and shortly thereafter was severely wounded in a duel with General John Cadwalader, a friend of Washington. After recovering he returned to France. Rejoining the French army, he served in India, and in 1787 he was made governor of the French possessions in India. During the French Revolution he took part in a Royalist insurrection against the Republican regime.