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Military Men Of The American Revolution (Top 10)
When the war began, because the American colonists feared a very strong armed force, each colony had traditionally provided its defense through the use of local militia. Each of these had its command hierarchy.
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Several military leaders played a role in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, because the American colonists feared a very strong armed force, each colony had traditionally provided its defense through the use of local militia. Each of these had its command hierarchy.
Here is a compilation of some of the most important leaders among the many participants in the war.
1. George Washington
Military Men Of The American Revolution
George Washington was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.
He was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, reporting to the Second Continental Congress. His activities, including command of the Main Army, the direction of the overall war effort on behalf of the United States, and administration of the entire army, were overseen by the Board of War, established in June 1776. He held the rank of general during the war. He was subsequently appointed lieutenant general in 1798 and was posthumously promoted to General of the Armies of the United States in 1976.
2. Artemas Ward
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Artemas Ward was an American major general in the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts. He was considered an effective political leader, President John Adams described him as “universally esteemed, beloved, and confided in by his army and his country.”
Artemas Ward was the first overall leader of the assembled militia forces outside Boston after the war began, and ranked second in seniority to Washington in the Continental Army. He commanded the Eastern Department, which was largely responsible for containing the British at Newport, until 1777, when he resigned due to poor health
3. Charles Lee
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Charles Lee was an English-born American military officer who served as a general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
He is an experienced British military officer, Lee had hoped to be appointed commander-in-chief instead of Washington. He was a somewhat difficult subordinate of Washington’s, delaying the execution of orders or deliberately flouting them at times. During the retreat across New Jersey from New York, Lee was captured by the British in a surprise raid. Quickly exchanged, he participated in the Philadelphia campaign. After he was convicted by a court martial for disobeying orders during the Battle of Monmouth, he resigned from the army in 1780.
4. Philip Schuyler
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Philip Schuyler was an American general in the Revolutionary War and a United States Senator from New York.
Schuyler was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and served until he was appointed a major general of the Continental Army in June. General Schuyler took command of the Northern Department and planned the Invasion of Quebec. His poor health required him to place Richard Montgomery in command of the invasion. In 1777, he again served in the Continental Congress.
5. Israel Putnam
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Israel Putnam, popularly known as “Old Put”, was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War.
As head of the Northern Department, Schuyler planned the 1775 invasion of Quebec but was prevented from leading it by an illness. He was active in the defense of New York in 1777, but the withdrawal from Ticonderoga led Congress to replace him with Horatio Gates.
6. Richard Montgomery
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Richard Montgomery was an Ulster-Scots soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for leading the unsuccessful 1775 invasion of northeastern Quebec.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Montgomery took up the Patriot cause and was elected to the New York Provincial Congress in May 1775.
After the appointment of George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the newly formed Continental Army on 15 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress asked the New York Provincial Government to select two men for service in the army.[46] One would be a major general, the other a brigadier general. The assembly favored Philip Schuyler as the major general. Montgomery expressed concern over this, as he did not believe that Schuyler had enough combat experience for such an appointment.
7. John Thomas
Military Men Of The American Revolution
John Thomas was an American doctor and soldier from Massachusetts who became a major general in the Continental Army. He was a leader during the siege of Boston. Thomas briefly commanded the withdrawal from Canada after the unsuccessful invasion by the Continental Army. He died from smallpox during the retreat.
Thomas was born in Marshfield, Massachusetts. As a young man, he studied medicine with Doctor Tufts in Medford before beginning his practice in Kingston. He was married to Hannah Thomas with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
8. William Heath
Military Men Of The American Revolution
William Heath was an American farmer, soldier, and political leader from Massachusetts who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Having a prominent role in training troops in the early days of the war at the Siege of Boston, Heath spent most of the war leading the Highland Department, since Washington was not confident of his ability in the field.
9. Horatio Gates
Military Men Of The American Revolution
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga a matter of contemporary and historical controversy and was blamed for the defeat at the Battle of Camden in 1780. Gates has been described as “one of the Revolution’s most controversial military figures” because of his role in the Conway Cabal, which attempted to discredit and replace General George Washington; the battle at Saratoga; and his actions during and after his defeat at Camden.
When the word reached Gates of the outbreak of war in late May 1775, he rushed to Mount Vernon and offered his services to Washington. In June, the Continental Congress began organizing the Continental Army. In accepting command, Washington urged the appointment of Gates as adjutant of the army. On June 17, 1775, Congress commissioned Gates as a brigadier general and adjutant general of the Continental Army. He is considered to be the first Adjutant General of the United States Army.
10. John Sullivan
Military Men Of The American Revolution
John Sullivan was an American general in the Revolutionary War winning several key battles most notably the Delaware crossing. He was a delegate in the Continental Congress where he signed the Continental Association, the third governor of New Hampshire, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.
After the British evacuated Boston in the spring of 1776, Washington sent Brigadier General Sullivan north to replace the fallen John Thomas as commander in Quebec. He took command of the sick and faltering invasion force, sent some of those forces on an unsuccessful counterattack against the British at Trois-Rivières, and withdrew the survivors to Crown Point. This led to the first of several controversies between Congress and Sullivan, as they sought a scapegoat for the failed invasion of northeastern Canada. He was exonerated and promoted to major general on August 9, 1776.
Military Men Of The American Revolution
- George Washington
- Artemas Ward
- Charles Lee
- Philip Schuyler
- Israel Putnam
- Richard Montgomery
- John Thomas
- William Heath
- Horatio Gates
- John Sullivan
FAQS
Who were the 3 major leaders in the American Revolution?
George Washington, Philip Schuyler, Charles Lee
Who trained the American troops?
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben
Who led the Continental Army?
George Washington’s Commission as Commander-in-Chief
Who saved the American Revolution?
General George Washington led the American army to victory during the Revolutionary War. Despite having little practical experience in managing large, conventional armies, Washington proved to be a capable and resilient leader of the American military forces during the Revolutionary War.
What is the most successful revolution in history?
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