CORNWALLIS, CHARLES CORNWALLIS, 1st Marquess (1738-1805), eldest son of Charles, 1st earl of Cornwallis (1700-1762), was born on the 31st of December 1738. Having been educated at Eton and Clare College, Cambridge, he entered the army. For some time he was member of parliament for Eye; in 1761 he served a campaign in Germany, and was gazetted to a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 12th Foot. In 1762 he succeeded to the earldom and estates of his father; in 1765 he was made aide-de-camp to the king and gentleman of the bedchamber; in 1766 he obtained a colonelcy in the 33rd Foot; and in 1770 he was appointed governor of the Tower. In public life he was distinguished by independence of character and inflexible integrity; he voted without regard to party, and opposed the ministerial action against Wilkes and in the case of the American colonies. But when the American War of Independence broke out, he accompanied his regiment across the Atlantic, and served not without success as major-general. In 1780 he was appointed to command the British forces in South Carolina, and in the same year he routed Gates at Camden. In 1781 he defeated Greene at Guilford Court House, and made a destructive raid into Virginia; but he was besieged at Yorktown by French and American armies and a French fleet, and was forced to capitulate on the 19th of October 1781. With him fell the English cause in the United States. He not only escaped censure, however, but in 1786 received a vacant Garter, and was appointed governor-general of India and commander-in-chief in Bengal. As an administrator he projected many reforms, but he was interrupted in his work by the quarrel with Tippoo Sahib. In 1791 he assumed in person the conduct of the war and captured Bangalore; and in 1792 he laid siege to Seringapatam, and concluded a treaty with Tippoo Sahib, which stripped the latter of half his realm, and placed his two sons as hostages in the hands of the English. For the permanent settlement of the land revenue under his administration, see [Bengal]. He returned to England in 1793, received a marquessate and a seat in the privy council, and was made master-general of the ordnance with a place in the Cabinet. In June 1798 he was appointed to the viceroyalty of Ireland, and the zeal with which he strove to pacify the country gained him the respect and good-will of both Roman Catholics and Orangemen. On the 17th of July a general amnesty was proclaimed, and a few weeks afterwards the French army under Humbert was surrounded and forced to surrender. In 1801 Cornwallis was replaced by Lord Hardwicke, and soon after he was appointed plenipotentiary to negotiate the treaty of Amiens (1802). In 1805 he was again sent to India as governor-general, to replace Lord Wellesley, whose policy was too advanced for the directors of the East India Company. He was in ill-health when he arrived at Calcutta, and while hastening up the country to assume command of the troops, he died at Ghazipur, in the district of Benares, on the 5th of October 1805. He was succeeded as 2nd marquess by his only son, Charles (1774-1823). On his death the marquessate became extinct, but the title of Earl Cornwallis passed to his uncle, James (1743-1824), who was bishop of Lichfield from 1781 until his death. His son and successor, James, the 5th earl, whose son predeceased him in 1835, died in May 1852, when the Cornwallis titles became extinct.
See W. S. Seton-Karr, The Marquess Cornwallis, “Rulers of India” Series (1890).
CORNWALLIS, SIR WILLIAM (1744-1819), British admiral, was the brother of the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India. He was born on the 20th of February 1744, and entered the navy in 1755. His promotion was naturally rapid, and in 1766 he had reached post-rank. Until 1779 he held various commands doing the regular work of the navy in convoy. In that year he commanded the “Lion” (64) in the fleet of Admiral Byron. The “Lion” was very roughly handled in the battle off Grenada on the 6th of July 1779, and had to make her way alone to Jamaica. In March 1780 he fought an action in company with two other vessels against a much superior French force off Monti Cristi, and had another encounter with them near Bermuda in June. The force he engaged was the fleet carrying the troops of Rochambeau to North America, and was too strong for his squadron of two small liners, two fifty-gun ships and a frigate. After taking part in the second relief of Gibraltar, he returned to North America, and served with Hood in the actions at the Basse Terre of St Kitts, and with Rodney in the battle of Dominica on the 12th of April 1782. Some very rough verses which he wrote on the action have been printed in Leyland’s “Brest-Papers,” published for the Navy Record Society, which show that he thought very ill of Rodney’s conduct of the battle. In 1788 he went to the East Indies as commodore, where he remained till 1794. He had some share in the war with Tippoo Sahib, and helped to reduce Pondicherry. His promotion to rear-admiral dates from the 1st of February 1793, and on the 4th of July 1794 he became vice-admiral.
In the Revolutionary War his services were in the Channel. The most signal of them was performed on the 16th of June 1795, when he carried out what was always spoken of with respect as “the retreat of Cornwallis.” He was cruising near Brest with four sail of the line and two frigates, when he was sighted by a French fleet of twelve sail of the line, and many large frigates commanded by Villarat Joyeuse. The odds being very great he was compelled to make off. But two of his ships were heavy sailers and fell behind. He was consequently overtaken, and attacked on both sides. The rearmost ship, the “Mars” (74), suffered severely in her rigging and was in danger of being surrounded by the French. Cornwallis turned to support her, and the enemy, impressed by a conviction that he must be relying on help within easy reach, gave up the pursuit. The action affords a remarkable proof of the moral superiority which the victory of the 1st of June, and the known efficiency of the crews, had given to the British navy. The reputation of Cornwallis was immensely raised, and the praise given him was no doubt the greater because he was personally very popular with officers and men. In 1796 he incurred a court-martial in consequence of a misunderstanding and apparently some temper on both sides, on the charge of refusing to obey an order from the Admiralty. He was practically acquitted. The substance of the case was that he demurred on the ground of health at being called upon to go to the West Indies, in a small frigate, and without “comfort.” He became full admiral in 1799, and held the Channel command for a short interval in 1801 and from 1803 to 1806, but saw no further service. He was made a G.C.B. in 1815, and died on the 5th of July 1819. His various nicknames among the sailors, “Billy go tight,” given on account of his rubicund complexion, “Billy Blue,” “Coachee,” and “Mr Whip,” seem to show that he was regarded with more of affection than reverence.
See also Ralfe, Nav. Biog. i. 387; Naval Chronicle, vii. 1; Charnock, Biogr. Nav. vi. 523.
CORO, a small city and the capital of the state of Falcón, Venezuela, 7 m. W. of La Vela de Coro (its port on the Caribbean coast), with which it is connected by rail, and 199 m. W.N.W. of Carácas. Pop. (1904, estimate) 9500. Coro stands on a sandy plain between the Caribbean and the Gulf of Venezuela, and near the isthmus connecting the peninsula of Paraguaná with the mainland. Its elevation above sea-level is only 105 ft., and its climate is hot but not unhealthy. The city is badly built, its streets are unpaved, and it has no public buildings of note except two old churches. Its water-supply is derived from springs some distance away. Coro is the commercial centre for an extensive district on the E. side of Lake Maracaibo and the Gulf of Venezuela, which exports large quantities of goat-skins, an excellent quality of tobacco, and some coffee, cacao, castor beans, timber and dyewoods. It was founded in 1527 by Juan de Ampués, who gave to it the name of Santa Ana de Coriana (afterwards corrupted to Santa Ana de Coro) in honour of the day and of the tribe of Indians inhabiting this locality. It was also called Venezuela (little Venice) because of an Indian village on the gulf coast built on piles over the shallow water; this name was afterwards bestowed upon the province of which Coro was the capital. Coro was also made the chief factory of the Welsers, the German banking house to which Charles V. mortgaged this part of his colonial possessions, and it was the starting-point for many exploring and colonizing expeditions into the interior. It was made a bishopric in 1536, and for a time Coro was one of the three most important towns on the northern coast. The seat of government was removed to Carácas in 1578 and the bishopric five years later. Coro is celebrated in Venezuelan history as the scene of Miranda’s first attempt to free his country from Spanish rule. It suffered greatly in the war which followed.
COROMANDEL COAST, a name formerly applied officially to the eastern seaboard of India approximately between Cape Calimere, in 10° 17′ N., 79° 56′ E., and the mouths of the Kistna river. The shore, which is low, is without a single good natural harbour, and is at all times beaten by a heavy sea. Communication with ships can be effected only by catamarans and flat-bottomed surf-boats. The north-east monsoon, which lasts from October till April, is exceedingly violent for three months after its commencement. From April till October hot southerly winds blow by day; at night the heat is tempered by sea-breezes. The principal places frequented by shipping are Pulicat, Madras, Sadras, Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Tranquebar, Nagore, and Negapatam. The name Coromandel is said to be derived from Cholamandal, the mandal or region of the ancient dynasty of the Chola. Its official use has lapsed.