Historic Personages of the American Revolution

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Historic Personages of the American Revolution

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Washington
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George Washington was Commander in Chief of the
Continental Army during the American Revolution
and first President of the United States (1789-97)
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Marching to Valley Forge
After 1769, Washington became a leader in
Virginia's opposition to Great Britain's colonial
policies. At first he hoped for reconciliation
with Britain, although some British policies had
touched him personally. Discrimination against
colonial military officers had rankled deeply,
and British land policies and restrictions on
western expansion after 1763 had seriously
hindered his plans for western land speculation .
Washington, victorious at Trenton
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John Adams
"The Revolution was effected before the war
commenced.  The  Revolution was in the minds and
hearts of the people... This  radical change in
the principles, opinions, sentiments, and
affections of the people was the real American
Revolution."John Adams -- 1818
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Paul Revere
An American patriot and silversmith, Paul Revere,
b. Boston, Jan. 1, 1735, d. May 10, 1818, became
a legendary hero at the start of the American
Revolution, when he rode from Charlestown to
Lexington, Mass., on the night of Apr. 18, 1775,
to warn the countryside of approaching British
troops.
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Benjamin Franklin

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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson wished to be remembered for
three achievements in his public life. He had
served as governor of Virginia, as U.S. minister
to France, as secretary of state under George
Washington, as vice-president in the
administration of John Adams, and as president of
the United States from 1801 to 1809.
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Tomas Paine
"These are the times that try men's souls The
summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in
this crisis, shrink from the service of his
country but he that stands it Now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman.  Tyranny, like
hell, is not easily conquered yet we have this
consolation with us, that the harder the conflict
the more glorious the triumph."Thomas Paine, The
Crisis -December 1776
The Anglo-American revolutionary writer Thomas
Paine, b. England, Jan. 29, 1737, d. June 8,
1809, called for American independence in his
1776 pamphlet "Common Sense", which was widely
distributed and had a profound influence on
public opinion in America.
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Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams, b. Boston, Sept. 17, 1722, d. Oct.
2, 1803, was a major leader in the American
Revolution. The son of a wealthy brewer, he
inherited one-third of the family property but
lost most of it through poor management. After
attending Harvard, he became active in colonial
politics and enjoyed a popular following through
his activities in the Boston political clubs,
such as the Caucus Club, which was influential in
nominating candidates for local office.
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John Hancock
American Revolutionary leader, who, as President
of the Continental Congress, was the first to
sign the Declaration of Independence.  He did so
with such a flourish that his name became a
synonym for the word signature.  Born Jan. 23,
1737, d. Oct. 8, 1793, Hancock was an American
Revolutionary statesman. Born in Braintree (now
Quincy), Mass., the son of a clergyman, he was
educated at Harvard and trained for business in
London. He was brought up by his uncle, Thomas
Hancock, a wealthy Boston merchant, who adopted
him on his father's death. To this uncle, John
owed his rapid rise in business and public
affairs.
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Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was one of the most
influential of the United States' founding
fathers. As the first secretary of the treasury
he placed the new nation on a firm financial
footing, and although his advocacy of strong
national government brought him into bitter
conflict with Thomas Jefferson and others, his
political philosophy was ultimately to prevail in
governmental development. Hamilton's own career
was terminated prematurely when he was killed in
a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804.
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Patrick Henry
"Give me liberty, or give me death."  
Henry was the focal point of Virginia's
opposition to British policy. When the royal
governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the Virginia
legislature after the closing of the port of
Boston in 1774, Henry organized a rump session of
the legislature, which met in the Raleigh Tavern
in Williamsburg. It issued an invitation to the
other colonies to send delegates to a Continental
Congress.
As a member of the Congress, Henry was an
outspoken advocate of strong measures of
resistance. At a meeting of the Virginia assembly
(right) in Richmond on Mar. 23, 1775, he called
on the colonists to arm themselves, with the
words "Give me liberty, or give me death."  Soon
after, he led the militia of Hanover to force
Governor Dunmore to surrender munitions belonging
to the colony.
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James Madison
James Madison was the foremost architect of the
U.S. Constitution, a leading theorist of
republican government, and the fourth president
of the United States (1809-17)
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John Paul Jones
An initial attempt to board the British frigate
and win by sheer desperate fighting failed. In a
second effort he managed to lock the two ships
together. The Serapis was beating in one of the
Richard's sides and blowing out the other. Most
of the guns of the American ship were broken and
silenced. The Richard with its dry old timbers
was afire again and again, and the water in the
hold rose ominously. A gunner, crediting a report
that Jones had been killed, called to offer
surrender of the Richard, and Pearson loudly
responded, Do you ask for quarter? Jones then
made his memorable reply, emphasizing it by
hurling his two pistols at the head of the
gunnerI have not yet begun to fight!
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Benedict Arnold
Arnold Leading the Charge at Freeman's Farm
Benedict Arnold, b. Norwich, Conn., Jan. 14,
1741, was an American Revolutionary general and
America's most infamous traitor. At the age of
14, Arnold was a druggist's apprentice, but he
ran away twice to serve in the colonial militia
during the French and Indian War (1754-63).
  When the American Revolution broke out, Arnold
marched his Connecticut militia company to
Massachusetts, where he was made a colonel. His
force, along with Ethan Allen's Green Mountain
Boys, captured Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775.
Arnold suffered many disappointments that
embittered him. When he was promoted to major
general in February 1777, others he thought less
deserving preceded him in rank. Gates received
the credit for the victory at Saratoga. Named
(June 1778) commander in Philadelphia, Arnold was
accused of overstepping his authority. His second
marriage (1779) to Margaret Shippen, the daughter
of a Loyalist, also aroused suspicions. His
bitterness, along with a need for money to pay
heavy debts, led Arnold to negotiate with the
British. He conceived a plan to betray West
Point, a post that he commanded.
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Nathanial Greene
Nathanael Greene, American General in the
Revolutionary War who was an aide and confidant
of Gen. George Washington. Greene was born in
Warwick, R. I., on Aug. 7, 1742, the son of a
prosperous Quaker farmer and ironmaster. His
leadership in the later stages of the campaign in
the South proved him to be a great general,
second in ability only to Washington and in some
ways at least his equal.
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Brigadier General Horatio Gates
Horatio Gates (17271806), American general in
the American Revolution. He was born at Maldon,
Essex, England. Entering the British Army, he
first served in Nova Scotia in 17491750. During
the French and Indian War he was severely wounded
attacking the French at Fort Duquesne in 1755 but
helped capture French Martinique in 1761.
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Major General Henry Knox
American Revolutionary General and Washington's
first secretary of war. Born in Boston, July 25,
1750, and died Oct. 25, 1806.  Before the
outbreak of war, he was employed by a Boston
bookseller at the age of 12, and in 1771 opened
his own shop, the London Bookstore, which became
a gathering place for British officers.  Knox
spent much of his spare time studying military
science.  He had joined a local military company
when he was 18, and in 1772 he became second in
command of the newly formed Boston Grenadier
Corps. He served with distinction as an artillery
officer in the American Revolution and later
became Secretary of War.
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General Friedrich Von Steuben
During the American Revolution a German officer,
Friedrich Wilhelm Augustin, Baron von Steuben, b.
Magdeburg, Prussia, Sept. 17, 1730, d. Nov. 28,
1794, helped instill discipline in the
Continental Army through his drilling techniques.
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Stuben at Valley Forge
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English Personages of the Revolution
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General Charles Cornwallis
On Aug. 16, 1780, at Camden, S. C., Cornwallis
(left) routed the army of Gen. Horatio Gates.  He
boldly pursued the Americans, now commanded by
Gen. Nathanael Greene, but Patriot victories at
King's Mountain (Oct. 7, 1780) and Cowpens (Jan.
17, 1781) sapped his reserves so that he marched
to the coast and entrenched at Yorktown, Va. 
Surrounded by a superior force of French and
American troops, he surrendered on Oct. 19, 1781,
virtually ending the war.
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Major General John Burgoyne
John Burgoyne, (17221792), British army officer
and playwright, whose bold plan of invading the
American colonies from Canada ended in his
surrender at Saratoga, N. Y. Born in London in
1722, Burgoyne studied at Westminster School and
joined the British Army in 1740. In 1743 he
eloped with the 11th Earl of Derby's daughter,
and they lived in France for several years to
escape overwhelming debts.
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Sir Henry Clinton