American Revolutionary War
In May of 1778, after the British disaster of the Saratoga Campaign, Clinton replaced Howe as Commander-in-Chief for North America. He assumed command in Philadelphia. France had by this time overtly entered the war on the American side, and because of this Clinton was ordered by his government to send 5,000 of his troops to the Caribbean, which forced him to withdraw from Philadelphia. He conducted a skillful retreat thence to New York. Having thus concentrated his forces, for a time he pursued a policy of making mere forays from there. Before the year's end, though, he regained the initiative for the British by sending an expedition south, to strike at Georgia. This force took Savannah in December, and by early 1779 it had gained control of the hinterland.
In 1782, Clinton was replaced as Commander-in-Chief by Sir Guy Carleton, and he returned to England. His replacement is linked to the fate of the southern army, which was surrounded and forced to surrender by George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau, who commanded a combined French-American Army after the Siege of Yorktown.
Letters from General Sir Henry Clinton during the American War of Independence can be found in the political papers of his cousin, Henry Pelham-Clinton, in the Newcastle (Clumber) Collection held at Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham.

Commander in Chief
Sir Henry Clinton held the command in America for four years, ending in disaster and defeat; his name was forever to be linked with the downfall of British control of the colonies. Historians have since shifted more blame onto Cornwallis.

Evaluations
Clinton was re-elected to Parliament in 1790, and he was promoted to full General in October 1793. The following July he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, but he died in Cornwall, England before assuming that post.
Henry Clinton had two sons who continued the family tradition of high command: General Sir William Henry Clinton (1769–1846), and Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton K.B. (1771–1829).

Notes

Borick, C: A Gallant Defense: The Siege of Charleston, 1780. (2003)
Bicheno, H: Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolutionary War, London, 2003
Hyma, A : Sir Henry Clinton and the American Revolution. (1957)
Mackesy, P: War for America: 1775-1783. (1992), online edition
McCullough, D: 1776. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2671-2 (2005).
McEvedy, C: The Penguin Atlas of North American History to 1870. (1988). ISBN 0-14-051128-8.
Willcox, W: Portrait of a General. Sir Henry Clinton in the War of Independence. (1964)
Buchanan, J: The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution and the Carolinas, New York, 1997
Clement, R: "The World Turned Upside down At the Surrender of Yorktown", Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 92, No. 363 (Jan. - Mar., 1979), pp. 66-67
Ferling, J: The World Turned Upside Down: The American Victory in the War of Independence, London, 1988
Harvey, R:A Few Bloody Noses: The American War of Independence, London, 2001
Hibbert, C: Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolution Through British Eyes, London, 2001
Peckham, H:The War for Independence, A Military History, Chicago, 1967
Weintraub, S: Iron Tears, Rebellion in America 1775-1783, London, 2005