text: He chaired a parliament select committee that declared in 1772 that Robert Clive's Plassey fortune was illegally obtained.
full_question: He chaired a parliament select committee that declared in 1772 that Robert Clive's Plassey fortune was illegally obtained. To celebrate the marriage of his friend Lord Stanley in 1774, he wrote a play about a shepherdess who turns out to be the Lady Bab Lardoon in the Maid of the Oaks.  He led the victorious British forces at the battle of Alcantara  in support of Portugal in the Seven Years' War.  During the Revolutionary War, he led a force from Canada to split the colonies but was defeated by Horatio Gates.  For ten points, name this British general who lost an early, crucial 1777 battle at Saratoga.
first_sentence: He chaired a parliament select committee that declared in 1772 that Robert Clive's Plassey fortune was illegally obtained.