Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the second largest city in the Southeastern United States. The city is a major U.S. financial center, with both Bank of America and Wells Fargo's East Coast operations headquartered in the city. Nicknamed the Queen City, Charlotte and its resident county received its name in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had become queen consort of Great Britain the year before the city's founding. A second nickname derives from the American Revolutionary War, when British commander General Cornwallis occupied the city but was driven out by hostile residents, prompting him to write that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion", leading to the nickname The Hornet's Nest.