Who were Thomas Gage and William Howe?

These men were the British generals entrusted with the very difficult task of trying to stem the emerging rebellion in Boston between 1774 and 1776. Both were very experienced officers, but neither was able to quell the rebellion, though Howe would go on to command the British army during its successful campaign against New York. Gage was a military governor who was tasked with enforcing the so-called "Intolerable Acts," one of which placed Boston under martial law in 1774. It was Gage who ordered military detachments to Concord to destroy Patriot powder and weapons caches there, an act which led to the first open battles of the war at Lexington and Concord itself. Gage was held responsible for what was widely viewed as a debacle in Boston, and was removed from his command in 1775. He was replaced by William Howe, who had actually served under him during much of the crisis. Howe launched a campaign against New York, and later Philadelphia. He was removed from his command in 1778 due to his complicity in a series of blunders that led to the defeat of a large British force at Saratoga in 1777.