General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/19 – 2 April 1787) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator best known for his many years of service in North America, including serving as Commander-in-Chief, North America during the early days of the American Revolution. During Gage's administration, political tensions rose throughout the American colonies. As a result, Gage began withdrawing troops from the frontier to fortify urban centers like New York City and Boston. Gage returned to Britain in June 1773 with his family and thus missed the Boston Tea Party in December of that year. The British Parliament reacted to the Tea Party with a series of punitive measures against Massachusetts known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts. On 14 April 1775 Gage received orders from London to take decisive action against the Patriots. On 14 June, Gage issued a proclamation, believed to have been written by Burgoyne but distributed in Gage's name, granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate loyalty to the crown—with the notable exceptions of John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Gage also worked with the newly arrived generals on a plan to break the grip of the besieging forces.

They would use an amphibious assault to take control of the unoccupied Dorchester Heights, which would be followed up by an attack on the rebel camp at Roxbury. They would then seize the heights on the Charlestown peninsula, including Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill. This would allow the British to eventually take the colonial headquarters at Cambridge. The colonists were warned of these plans, and seized the initiative. On the night of 16–17 June, they fortified Breed's Hill, threatening the British position in Boston. On 17 June 1775, British forces under General Howe seized the Charlestown Peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill. On 25 June 1775, Gage wrote a dispatch to Great Britain, notifying Lord Dartmouth of the results of the battle on 17 June. Three days after his report arrived in England, Dartmouth issued the order recalling Gage and replacing him with William Howe. Gage's sole reward after Lord George Germain (who succeeded Dartmouth as the Secretary of State for North America) formally gave his command to Howe in April 1776 was that he retained the governorship of Massachusetts. Gage died at Portland Place on 2 April 1787, and was buried in the family plot at Firle.