the senior officers in the September 1757 Raid on Rochefort which saw a failed amphibious descent on the French coastline. The vast force massed on the Isle of Wight before sailing for Rochefort. The fleet stopped at Île D'Aix and examined the French defences. General Sir John Mordaunt, head of the land forces, decided the defences were too strong to attack. He called a council of war. Cornwallis voted to retreat, while Admiral Edward Hawke, head of the naval forces, and James Wolfe, quartermaster general, voted to attack. Mordaunt and Cornwallis carried the day and the mission was abandoned. Mordaunt was arrested and faced court martial. Cornwallis testified that an attempted landing at Rochefort would have been "dangerous, almost impracticable and madness." James Wolfe wrote to his father in November 1757 and said Cornwallis "...has more zeal, more merit, and more integrity than one commonly meets with among men.... Cornwallis is a man of approved courage and fidelity." Governor of Gibraltar Cornwallis served as the Governor of Gibraltar from 14 June 1761 to January 1776 when he died at the age of 63. His body was returned to England and laid to rest at Culford Parish Church in Culford, near Bury St. Edmunds on 9 February 1776. Both of his family titles are now extinct. In 1899, MacDonald wrote, "His name is fast coming under the category of 'Britain's forgotten worthies'." Personal life In 1763, Cornwallis married Mary Townshend, daughter of Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend and Dorothy Townshend (Walpole), the sister of Robert Walpole. His marriage to Mary did not produce any children. His brother, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis married Mary's half sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles and his first wife, Elizabeth Pelham. Through his brother's marriage, he became uncle of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis. Commemorations and controversies in Nova Scotia Several buildings, (Canadian Forces Base Cornwallis, a former Canadian Forces Base located in Deep Brook, Nova Scotia) places (Cornwallis Street in Halifax, Cornwallis Street in Shelburne, Cornwallis street in Lunenburg, the Cornwallis River, and Cornwallis Park), and landmarks have been named after Cornwallis. A number of ships were named after Cornwallis, including the 1944 harbour ferry and the Canadian Coast Guard Ship . As a tourism initiative, a statue of Cornwallis was erected in 1931 at the centre of Cornwallis Park in downtown Halifax, also named for Cornwallis. These commemorations of Cornwallis have become controversial in