Tomb of Lord Cornwallis in Ghazipur, India
For most Americans, the name Charles Cornwallis immediately calls to mind his humiliating defeat at the hands of American and French armies at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. However, after the defeat at Yorktown, Cornwallis went on to have a long and illustrious career.
After returning to Great Britain, Cornwallis still had the confidence of King George III, who sent him as ambassador to the court of King Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia in 1785. The following year, he was knighted and was appointed Governor-General of India, where he became responsible for setting up British administrative services across the subcontinent that laid the groundwork for the British Raj, including the Cornwallis Code, a civil and criminal code enacted in India in 1793. Cornwallis had been made a Marquess (thus earning him the title "Lord") in 1792, and after his code was established, he returned to Britain as a celebrated administrator.
After a stint as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1798 to 1801, his political benefactor William Pitt the Younger, prime minister of Great Britain, sent Cornwallis back to India in 1805 as Governor-General to get a better handle on the political situation there after a tumultuous term by Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington's older brother). Shortly after his return, Cornwallis developed a fever and died in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. His tomb was built outside the city on a bluff overlooking the Ganges River, where was buried and remains to this day. Today, his tomb is protected and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India.
