Biographical Sketches of the Generals of the Continental Army of the Revolution

by Mary Theresa Leiter

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George Washington	[11]
Artemas Ward	[20]	Mass.	June 17, 1775		Resigned Apr. 23, 1776.
Charles Lee	[21]	Va.	„ „ „		Dismissed Jan. 10, 1780.
John Philip Schuyler	[23]	N. Y.	„ 19, „		Resigned Apr. 19, 1779.
Israel Putnam	[26]	Conn.	„ „ „		Served to close of war.
(First Brig.-Gens., then Maj.-Gens.)
			Brig.-Gen.	Maj.-Gen.
Rich. Montgomery	[28]	N. Y.	June 22, 1775	Dec. 9, 1775	Killed Dec. 31, 1776.
John Thomas	[31]	Mass.	„ „ „	Mar. 6, 1776	Died June 2, 1776.
Horatio Gates	[32]	Va.	„ 17, „	May 16, „	Suspended Oct. 5, 1780.‡
William Heath	[36]	Mass.	„ 22, „	Aug. 9, „	Served to close of war.
*Joseph Spencer	[37]	Conn.	„ „ „	„ „ „	Resigned Jan. 13, 1778.
John Sullivan	[38]	N. H.	„ „ „	„ „ „	Resigned Nov. 30, 1779.
Nathaniel Greene	[39]	R. I.	„ „ „	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Lord Stirling	[42]	N. J.	Mar. 1, 1776	Feb. 19, 1777	Died Jan. 15, 1783.
Thomas Mifflin	[43]	Penn.	May 16, „	„ „ „	Resigned Feb. 25, 1779.
Arthur St. Clair	[45]	Penn.	Aug. 9, „	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*Adam Stephen	[47]	Va.	Sept. 4, „	„ „ „	Cashiered Oct. —, 1777.
Benjamin Lincoln	[48]	Mass.	†	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Benedict Arnold	[49]	Conn.	Jan. 10, 1776	May 2, „	Deserted Sept. 25, 1780.
Mar. de Lafayette	[53]	France	†	July 31, „	Served to close of war.
Baron de Kalb	[56]	Germany	†	Sept. 15, „	Killed Aug. 16, 1780.
Du Coudray	[57]	France	†	Aug. 11, „	Died Sept. 16, 1777.
*Robert Howe	[58]	N. C.	Mar. 1, 1776	Oct. 20, „	Served to close of war.
Alex. McDougal	[60]	N. Y.	Aug. 9, „	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*Thomas Conway	[61]	Ireland	May 13, 1777	Dec. 13, „	Resigned Apr. 28, 1778.
Baron Steuben	[64]	Prussia	†	May 5, 1778	Served to close of war.
William Smallwood	[68]	Maryland	Oct. 23, 1776	Sept. 15, 1780	Served to close of war.
*Samuel H. Parsons	[70]	Conn.	Aug. 9, „	Oct. 23, „	Retired July 22, 1782.
Chevalier Duportail	[71]	France	Nov. 17, 1777	Nov. 16, 1781	Resigned Oct. 10, 1783.
Henry Knox	[72]	Mass.	Dec. 27, 1776	Mar. 22, 1782	Served to close of war.
William Moultrie	[75]	S. C.	Sept. 16, „	Oct. 15, „	Served to close of war.
* No engraving exists.
† Original appointment as Major-General.
‡ Restored Aug. 14, 1782, but did not serve.

III. BRIGADIER-GENERALS.

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*Seth Pomeroy	[77]	Mass.	June 22, 1775	Died February, 1777.
David Wooster	[78]	Conn.	„ „ „	Died (wounds) May 2, 1777.
*Joseph Frye	[80]	Mass.	Jan. 10, 1776	Resigned April 23, 1776.
*John Armstrong	[81]	Penn.	Mar. 1, „	Resigned April 4, 1777.
*William Thompson	[82]	Penn.	„ „ „	Died Sept. 4, 1781.
*Andrew Lewis	[83]	Va.	„ „ „	Resigned April 15, 1777.
*James Moore	[85]	N. C.	„ „ „	Died Jan. 15, 1777.
*Baron de Woedtke	[86]	Prussia	„ 16, „	Died July 28, 1776.
*John Whitcomb	[87]	Mass.	June 5, „	Resigned shortly after.
Hugh Mercer	[88]	Va.	„ „ „	Died (wounds) Jan. 12, 1777.
Joseph Reed	[90]	N. H.	Aug. 9, „	Retired shortly after.
*John Nixon	[91]	Mass.	„ „ „	Resigned Sept. 12, 1780.
James Clinton	[91]	N. Y.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Christopher Gadsden	[93]	S. C.	Sept. 16, „	Resigned Oct. 2, 1777.
Lachlan McIntosh	[95]	Georgia	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*William Maxwell	[96]	N. J.	Oct. 23, „	Resigned July 25, 1780.
*Roche de Fermoy	[97]	France	Nov. 5, „	Resigned Jan. 31, 1778.
Enoch Poor	[98]	N. H.	Feb. 21, 1777	Died Sept. 8, 1780.
John Glover	[100]	Mass.	„ „ „	Retired July 22, 1782.
*John Paterson	[101]	Mass.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
James M. Varnum	[102]	Mass.	„ „ „	Resigned March 5, 1779.
Anthony Wayne	[104]	Penn.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*John P. de Haas	[107]	Penn.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Peter Muhlenburg	[107]	Penn.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*Francis Nash	[109]	N. C.	„ 5, „	Killed Oct. 4, 1777.
George Weedon	[110]	Va.	„ 21, „	Retired Aug. 18, 1778.
John Cadwalader	[111]	Penn.	„ „ „	Refused to accept.
*William Woodford	[113]	Va.	„ „ „	Died Nov. 13, 1780.
George Clinton	[113]	N. Y.	Mar. 25, „	Served to close of war.
Edward Hand	[115]	Penn.	April 1, „	Served to close of war.
Charles Scott	[116]	Va.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*Ebenezer Larned	[117]	Mass.	„ 2, „	Resigned March 24, 1778.
*Chevalier de Borre	[118]	France	„ 11, „	Resigned Sept. 14, 1777.
Jedediah Huntington	[119]	Conn.	May 12, „	Served to close of war.
*Joseph Reed	[120]	Penn.	„ „ „	Resigned June 7, 1777.
Count Pulaski	[124]	Poland	Sept. 15, „	Killed Oct. 9, 1779.
John Stark	[126]	N. H.	Oct. 4, „	Served to close of war.
James Wilkinson (Brevet)	[129]	Maryland	Nov. 6, „	Resigned March 6, 1778.
*Chev. de la Neuville (Brevet)	[134]	France.	Oct. 14, 1778	Resigned Dec. 4, 1778.
*Jethro Sumner	[135]	N.C.	Jan. 9, 1779	Served to close of war.
*James Hogan	[136]	N. C.	„ „ „
Isaac Huger	[137]	S. C.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Mordecai Gist	[139]	Maryland	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
William Irvine	[140]	Penn.	May 12, „	Served to close of war.
Daniel Morgan	[142]	Va.	Oct. 13, 1780	Retired March, 1781.
*Moses Hazen (Brevet)	[145]	Canada	June 29, 1781	Served to close of war.
Otho H. Williams	[146]	Maryland	May 9, 1782	Retired Jan. 16, 1783.
John Greaton	[146]	Mass.	Jan. 7, 1783	Served to close of war.
Rufus Putnam	[147]	Mass.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Elias Dayton	[149]	N. J.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*Armand (Mar. de Rouerie)	[150]	France	Mar. 26, „	Served to close of war.
Thaddeus Kosciusko (Brevet)	[151]	Poland	Oct. 13, „	Served to close of war.
*Stephen Moylan	[154]	Penn.	Nov. 3, „	Served to close of war.
*Samuel Elbert	[155]	Georgia	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
C. C. Pinckney	[156]	S. C.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
*William Russell	[158]	Va.	„ „ „	Served to close of war.
Francis Marion	[160]			Non-commissioned.
Thomas Sumter	[163]			Non-commissioned.
* No engraving exists.

(The following-named officers of the above were Major-Generals in commission at the end of the war.)

IV. MAJOR-GENERALS AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.

		Date of Commission.
George Washington, Commander-in-Chief	Virginia	June 17, 1775.
Israel Putnam	Connecticut	„ 19, „
Horatio Gates	Virginia	May 16, 1776.
William Heath	Massachusetts	Aug. 9, „
Nathaniel Greene	Rhode Island	„ „ „
Arthur St. Clair	Pennsylvania	Feb. 19, 1777.
Benjamin Lincoln	Massachusetts	„ „ „
Marquis de Lafayette	France	July 31, „
Robert Howe	North Carolina	Oct. 20, „
Alexander McDougal	New York	„ „ „
Baron Steuben	Prussia	May 5, 1778.
William Smallwood	Maryland	Sept. 15, 1780.
Henry Knox	Massachusetts	Mar. 22, 1782.
William Moultrie	South Carolina	Oct. 15, 1782.
Lachlan McIntosh	Georgia(Brevet)	Sept. 30, 1783.
James Clinton	New York „	„ „ „
John Paterson	Massachusetts „	„ „ „
Anthony Wayne	Pennsylvania „	„ „ „
Peter Muhlenburg	Virginia „	„ „ „
George Clinton	New York „	„ „ „
Edward Hand	Pennsylvania „	„ „ „
Charles Scott	Virginia „	„ „ „
Jedediah Huntington	Connecticut „	„ „ „
John Stark	New Hampshire „	„ „ „

PREFACE.

New York, Oct. 5, 1888.

Dear Mrs. Leiter,—According to promise, I have sent you by express to-day a list of the general officers in the Revolution who were commissioned by the Continental Congress. There were others, not in the list, and well known as generals who served through the Revolution, but they held their commissions in the State Militia.

The list is made in the order of the date of commission, and their rank was determined by this date. The collection of portraits I have sent you for Mount Vernon is of great historical value, from the fact that it is made up to a great extent of portraits issued as “private,” or “club portraits,” of which the plates were destroyed. It would be almost impossible to get another set together which would be as complete as this is, in containing the authentic likeness of every general of whom a portrait is known to exist. For years I have been engaged with others in tracing out the descendants of these men, and with the object of having their portraits engraved whenever a likeness could be found. For a long time nothing new has turned up, and I believe we have accomplished about all it is possible to do in this line.

Yours very truly,
Thomas Addis Emmet.

The rare and valuable gift of engravings from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet has been placed in the old mansion at Mount Vernon; and as this is the only complete collection on exhibition of the generals of the Continental Army, it seemed fitting that there should be a concise history compiled to enable the visitor at Mount Vernon not alone to view this valuable collection, but to refer to dates of birth and death, commissions of service, and battles of importance, in which these generals distinguished themselves. In this small book the author has sought to enable the reader to obtain information of most importance, and also maintain her original design of a pocket edition, to encumber as little as possible the pilgrim to Mount Vernon.