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List of military leaders in the American Revolutionary War

Several military leaders played a role in the American Revolutionary War. This is a compilation of some of the most important leaders among the many participants in the war. Militia: a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency or a body of citizens organized for military service.[1] In order to be listed here an individual must satisfy one of the following criteria:

Some individuals held concurrent positions in more than one organization, and a number of Continental Army generals also held high-ranking positions in their state militia organizations

United States

Detail from Washington and his generals at Yorktown (c. 1781) by Charles Willson Peale. Lafayette (far left) is at Washington's right, the Comte de Rochambeau to his immediate left.

When the war began, because the American colonists feared a very strong armed force (also known as a "standing army"), each colony had traditionally provided its own defense through the use of local militia. Each of which had their own command hierarchy. Some states, most notably Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, also had their own navies.

Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the Continental Congress established (on paper) a regular army—the Continental Army—in June 1775, and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the war.

General and Commander-in-chief

Continental Army

Major generals

Brigadier generals

Militia

Continental Navy

Great Britain

At the head of the British forces was the King, George III. From 1772 to 1778 the office of Commander-in-Chief was vacant, but from 1778 to 1782 Sir Jeffery Amherst held the post, with the title of general on the Staff. He was succeeded in February 1782 by Henry Seymour Conway.

Next in importance to the Commander-in-Chief was the Secretary at War, who served as head of the War Office, and was bidden "to observe and follow such orders and directions as he should from time to time receive from the King or the general of the forces". Not until 1783 was he a minister responsible to parliament. At the start of part of the war the secretary was Lord Barrington. He was replaced in 1778 by Charles Jenkinson who held this position until the fall of Lord North's government.

Crown and Government officials

Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

Secretaries at War

Commander-in-Chief, North America

Sir Henry Clinton

Until the war was widened into a global conflict by France's entry in 1778, the war's military activities were primarily directed by the Commander-in-Chief, North America.

Lieutenant and Major Generals

Brigadier generals

Other notable officers

Major John André, Head of British Secret Service in America

Royal governors

Frontier leaders

Native Americans

Chief Cornplanter portrait by F. Bertoli, 1796

The following Native American leaders from various nations took part in the American Revolution:

Chickamauga Cherokee

Lenape

Miami

Mohawk people

Ojibwe

Odawa

Seneca people

Cayuga people

Shawnee people

Sioux

Wyandot people

German principalities

Great Britain hired the services of military troops from a number of German dominions of the Holy Roman Empire. The largest number arrived in 1776 pursuant to agreements signed in late 1775 or early 1776, but additional forces were recruited in 1778, with only limited success. The single largest contingent came from Hesse-Kassel, hence the term "Hessians".

France

Government leaders

Admirals

Generals

Spain

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic played a significant economic role in the war, but its military participation was limited, in part due to internal political divisions.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Webster, Merriam (15 April 2024). "Definition of MILITIA". www.merriam-webster.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad Heitman 1914, pp. 9-10.
  3. ^ Fitzpatrick 1936, pp. 511, 514.
  4. ^ Chernow 2011, p. 455.
  5. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 568.
  6. ^ Tarbox 1876, p. 109.
  7. ^ Adams 1933, p. 98.
  8. ^ Chernow 2011, p. 436.
  9. ^ Krout 1934, p. 478.
  10. ^ Tucker 2018, vol. 4, p. 626.
  11. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 455.
  12. ^ Hubbard 2017, p. 173.
  13. ^ Adams 1934, p. 98.
  14. ^ Shelton 1994, p. 149.
  15. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 548.
  16. ^ Kohn 2008, p. 317.
  17. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 284.
  18. ^ Adams 1931, p. 185
  19. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 511.
  20. ^ United States Congress 1961, p. 1638.
  21. ^ a b United States Congress 1961, p. 1674.
  22. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 260.
  23. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 75.
  24. ^ Chernow 2011, p. 382.
  25. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 66.
  26. ^ Alden 1928, p. 175.
  27. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 3912.
  28. ^ Peeling 1933, p. 607.
  29. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 516.
  30. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 517.
  31. ^ Hannings 2008, p. 223.
  32. ^ Robinson 1933, p. 260.
  33. ^ Monaghan 1933, p. 536.
  34. ^ a b Tucker 2018.
  35. ^ Kapp 1862, p. 34.
  36. ^ Monaghan 1933a, p. 253.
  37. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 304.
  38. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 368.
  39. ^ Rossie 1975, p. 189.
  40. ^ Adams 1930, p. 366.
  41. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 518.
  42. ^ Lockhart 2008, p. 20.
  43. ^ Lockhart 2008, p. 301.
  44. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 500.
  45. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 428.
  46. ^ Clark 1934, p. 271.
  47. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 336.
  48. ^ The Origins of The Society of the Cincinnati, retrieved January 27, 2021
  49. ^ Thomas, p. 90.
  50. ^ Metcalf, p. 188.
  51. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 208.
  52. ^ Ferreiro 2016, p. 139.
  53. ^ Heitman 1914, p. 54.
  54. ^ a b Heitman, Francis B; Historical Register of the Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution: April, 1775, to December, 1783. New, Revised and Enlarged Edition of 1914. With Addenda by Robert H. Kelby, 1932. Clearfield. Baltimore, MD. 1982. ISBN 0-8063-0176-7. Page 10
  55. ^ Major 3rd Bn of Associators "The Silk Stocking Co 1775
  56. ^ Martin, Scott; Harris Jr., Bernard F. (24 August 2017). Savannah 1779: The British turn south. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 9781472818669.
  57. ^ Jensen, Merrill; Brown, Lucy Trumbull; Becker, Robert A.; DenBoer, Gordon; Hagermann, Charles D. (1976). The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790. Vol. 2. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 482. ISBN 9780299095109.
  58. ^ "A Horse's Tail: How a Legendary Piece of a King George III Statue Landed at the New York Historical Society".
  59. ^ "A Biographical Sketch of Captain Oliver Brown, Hayden, H.E." 1882.
  60. ^ "June 17, 1775 Letter from Joseph Palmer to John Adams".
  61. ^ "Mills, Borden H. "TROOP UNITS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA." The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association, vol. 9, no. 2, New York State Historical Association, 1928, pp. 136–58". JSTOR 43565993.
  62. ^ Temple, Josiah Howard (2015). History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts: Preceded by an Account of Old Quabaug, Indian and English Occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield Records, 1686-1783. Andesite Press. ISBN 978-1297743115.
  63. ^ "DICKINSON, Philemon (1739-1809)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  64. ^ Lewis, J.D. "The American Revolution in North Carolina, General Officers". carolana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  65. ^ "From Thomas Jefferson to Sampson Mathews, 12 January 1781 Founders Online, National Archives," last modified July 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-04-02-0417. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 4, 1 October 1780 – 24 February 1781, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951, p. 343]
  66. ^ Bryan, Charles (October 25, 2014). "Richmond's Benedict Arnold". Richmond Times Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  67. ^ A Look at the Birth of the Continental Navy http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=49113
  68. ^ Dragging Canoe; By Ezzell, Patricia Bernard. (Tennessee Valley Authority); Tennessee Encyclopedia; accessed September 2015
  69. ^ Bruce Elliott Johansen; Barbara Alice Mann (2000). Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 97–. ISBN 978-0-313-30880-2.
  70. ^ New York State Historical Association, ed. (1940). New York City Guide. p. 56.
  71. ^ Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society. Vol. 5. 1872. p. 507.

Cited literature

Literature

Further reading

External links