Conway Cabal

The Conway Cabal was an alleged conspiracy by Major General Thomas Conway of the Continental Army to unseat General George Washington as commander-in-chief and replace him with General Horatio Gates.

History

In 1777 at the height of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army under George Washington's command suffered a chain of military defeats at Brandywine and Germantown. Concurrently, General Horatio Gates achieved a decisive victory at Saratoga. At the time, Thomas Conway was serving as a brigadier general under Washington and was deeply disgruntled at Washington's leadership. He took to venting his frustrations in letters to Gates, but when Washington learned of the correspondence, the commander-in-chief interpreted it as a conspiracy to oust him in favour of Gates. His reaction was aggravated by the fact Conway was not alone in his complaints; vocal criticism of Washington's military performance was widespread. Conway and Gates were compelled to go before the Continental Congress to clear their names, but in the end, Washington's supporters were able to rally around him. The episode ended with Gates apologizing and Conway being forced to resign. According to Assassin historian Shaun Hastings, the entire incident was more of an "internal squabble" than anything involving a cabal.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III (mentioned in Database entry only)