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American Revolutionary War
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.jpg
Armed Forces
United States
Continental Army
 → Commander-in-Chief
 → Regional departments
 → List of units
Continental Navy
Continental Marines
State forces
 → List of militia units
 → Maritime units
 → Pennsylvania Navy
 → Massachusetts State Navy
British Empire
List of British units
France
List of French units
Related topics
List of battles
Military leadership

Many military leaders played a role in the American Revolutionary War. This list is a compilation of some of the most important leaders among all of the many participants in the war. In order to be listed here, an individual must satisfy one of the following criteria:

  • was a nation's top civilian responsible for directing military affairs
  • held a commission of at least major general or rear admiral in an organized military during the conflict
  • was the highest ranking member of a given nation's force that participated in the conflict (if that rank was not at least major general)
  • was the highest ranking member of a given state/colonial militia
  • was a provincial or territorial governor who is documented to have directed a military action
  • was a Native American tribal leader who is documented to have had a leadership position in a military action

Some individuals simultaneously held positions in more than one organization; a number of Continental Army generals also held high-ranking positions in their state militia organizations.

Contents

United States

When the war began, the American colonists did not have a regular army (also known as a "standing army"). Each colony had traditionally provided for its own defenses through the use of local militia, 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.

Commander-in-Chief

Continental Army

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.

Major generals

  • William Alexander, Lord Stirling spent most of the war with the Main Army under Washington. Captured during the 1776 Battle of Long Island, he was exchanged for Montfort Browne not long after, and served with distinction in many battles in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He died in 1783 shortly before the end of the war.
  • Benedict Arnold was a leading force in the early days of the war, participating in the 1775 capture of Fort Ticonderoga and the invasion of Quebec, and played a crucial role in the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, in which he was severely wounded. In 1780 he acquired the command of the Highlands Department with the intent of surrendering West Point to the British. The plot was uncovered, and he fled to join the British, for whom he served until the end of 1781 as a brigadier general.
  • James Clinton was active in his native New York, and was a leading figure of the 1779 Sullivan Expedition to destroy Iroquois settlements in that state. He also served in Quebec and at Yorktown, and commanded American troops at Fort Clinton in their 1777 defeat there.
  • Louis Lebèque Duportail was French military engineer who served as the Continental Army's chief engineer. He oversaw the improvement of defenses throughout the states, and directed the engineering efforts at Yorktown. He was a brigadier general until November 1781, when he received a brevet promotion to major general.
  • Horatio Gates served at first as Washington's adjutant, and then in the Northern Department. There he was in command during the pivotal battles at Saratoga in 1777, following which he lobbied Congress as a potential replacement for Washington. He was afterward given command of the Southern Department, where his army was disastrously defeated at Camden in 1780, ending his field leadership.
  • Nathanael Greene was one of the best strategists in the Continental Army. He served under Washington in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and served for a time as the army's Quartermaster General. He led the ultimately successful campaign in 1780 and 1781 against the British "Southern Strategy" as commander of the Southern Department.
  • Edward Hand spent much of the war defending Pennsylvania, serving as the commander at Fort Pitt for a time. He was present at Yorktown, and was given a brevet promotion to major general as the war was coming to an end in 1783.
  • William Heath was a Massachusetts general with a prominent role training troops in the early days of the war at the Siege of Boston. He spent most of the war leading the Highland Department, since Washington was apparently not confident of his ability in the field.
  • Robert Howe was a major general from North Carolina. As commander of the Southern Department, he led a campaign against East Florida that failed due to disagreements with state militia commanders, and was forced to surrender Savannah. He then served under under Anthony Wayne in the Highlands Department, seeing action at Stony Point, and under Washington in the Main Army, where he put down a mutiny in 1781.
  • Johann de Kalb  † was a German who served as major general. He served under Washington at Valley Forge, and was sent to the Southern Department with Horatio Gates when he took over that department. De Kalb was killed in the Battle of Camden in August 1780.
  • Henry Knox was the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army. Active with Washington throughout most of the war, he brought Ticonderoga's cannons to Boston in early 1776, and saw much action from New York to Yorktown. He oversaw the creation of an artillery training center that was a precursor to the United States Military Academy, and later served as the first United States Secretary of War.
  • Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette was a young French nobleman who served as major general. He served with Washington in the Philadelphia campaign, fought in the Battle of Rhode Island, and successfully resisted significant engagements with British forces in Virginia before the armies of Washington and Rochambeau arrived. He was a favorite of Washington's, who treated him like a son.
  • Charles Lee was an experienced British military officer who had hoped to be appointed commander-in-chief instead of Washington. He was a somewhat difficult subordinate of Washington's, delaying 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 surprised 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.
  • Benjamin Lincoln was a major general from Massachusetts, who was present at three major surrenders during the war. Active in the New York campaign, Washington sent him to assist Horatio Gates in the Northern Department, where he was wounded in the Battle of Bemis Heights, and was present at Burgoyne's surrender. Next put in command of the Southern Department, he was forced to surrender is surrounded army to Sir Henry Clinton at Charleston in 1780. Exchanged later that year, he was present at Yorktown, where as second-in-command to Washington he accepted Cornwallis' sword, which Cornwallis had sent his second-in-command to deliver. From 1781 to 1783 he served as Secretary of War.
  • Lachlan McIntosh was a Georgia general. Injured in a duel with Button Gwinnett in 1777, he served as head of the Western Department in 1778 and 1779 before returning to the south. He was captured in the 1780 siege of Charleston, and was not released until after hostilities had effectively ended in 1782.
  • Alexander McDougall was a major general from New York. Active in the New York and Philadelphia campaigns, he spent most of the war in the Highlands Department under Michael Heath.
  • Peter Muhlenberg
  • John Paterson was a Massachusetts general active in the most of the early northern campaigns, from Quebec to Philadelphia. He received a brevet promotion to major general in 1783.
  • Israel Putnam was the most senior general in the Continental Army, only outranked by Washington. Active from the first days of the revolution, he led the forces in the field at the Battle of Bunker Hill. After performing poorly in the Battle of Long Island, Washington assigned him to do primarily recruiting in the Highlands Department. He suffered a stroke in 1779, which ended his military career.
  • Philip Schuyler was a New York major general. As head of the Northern Department, he planned the 1775 invasion of Quebec, but was prevented by illness from leading it. He was active in the defense of New York in 1777, but the withdrawal from Ticonderoga led Congress to replace him with Horatio Gates. He was also active in Indian relations, cultivating the neutrality or support of tribes in New York.
  • William Smallwood
  • Arthur St. Clair
  • Andrew Stephen
  • Friedrich von Steuben
  • John Sullivan
  • John Thomas(died of smallpox while in command)
  • Artemas Ward
  • Anthony Wayne (brevet at end of war)
  • David Wooster  †

Brigadier generals

Militia

  • Delaware
  • Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, led the Delaware state militia until 1781, when he resigned due to poor health. He was active suppressing Loyalist dissent, and raising men and provisions for the national effort.
  • Thomas Collins led the Delaware militia following Rodney's resignation, and served as president of the state after the war.
  • New York
  • South Carolina

Continental Navy

Operating out of France

Frontier

British Empire

At the head of the British forces was the king, who was captain general of all forces both naval and military. It was usual for him to delegate his military powers as captain general or commander-in-chief. From 1772 to 1778 the office was vacant, but from 1778 to 1782 Sir Jeffery Amherst officiated as Commander-in-Chief 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, 1st Earl of Liverpool who held this position until the fall of Lord North's government.

Government officials

Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

Secretaries at War

Commander-in-Chief, North America

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

  • Thomas Gage was commander-in-chief of North American forces from 1763 until 1775, and governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1774 to 1776. He presided over the rising tensions (with his actions sometimes contributing to them, in the opinions of some historians) that led to the outbreak of the war. He was recalled after the Battle of Bunker Hill.
  • William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe replaced Gage, and personally directed the war effort in 1776 and 1777, including the British captures of New York City and Philadelphia. He failed to gain control over New Jersey, and his actions in taking Philadelphia contributed to the failure of John Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign. He resigned in early 1778.
  • Sir Henry Clinton served as commander-in-chief from 1778 to 1782. He oversaw the British army's retreat from Philadelphia, and then directed the Siege of Charleston, the landing of a large body of troops early in the "Southern strategy". He directed most British activities afterward from his base in New York, and played a role in negotiating Benedict Arnold's change of allegiance. Following Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown, he was replaced by Guy Carleton.
  • Sir Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester was governor of Quebec from 1768 to 1777, overseeing the province's defense against the 1775 invasion, and its first counterattack. Denied command of what became John Burgoyne's campaign, he resigned in 1777. In 1782 King George appointed him to replace Clinton as commander-in-chief. He directed the withdrawal of British troops from the states, and helped to organize the relocation of thousands of Loyalists to other British territories.

Lieutenant and Major Generals

Brigadier generals

Royal governors

Canadians and other Loyalists

Rangers and Indian Department officials

Native Americans

Chief Cornplanter portrait by F. Bertoli, 1796
  • Dunquat (the Wyandot "Half-King")
  • Wapasha (Sioux), led Native forces at St. Louis

German principalities

Great Britain hired the services of military troops from a number of German principalities 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.

  • Anhalt-Zerbst: Colonel Johann von Rauschenplatt commanded the single regiment from Anhalt-Zerbst.
  • Ansbach-Bayreuth: Colonel Friedrich Ludwig Albrecht von Eyb commanded a regiment of Ansbach infantry, and led the brigade consisting of his regiment and one from Bayreuth that included an artillery company, until May 1778.
  • Ansbach-Bayreuth: Colonel Friedrich August Valentin Voit von Salzburg commanded the Ansbach brigade after Eyb's departure.
  • Braunschweig-Lüneburg (Brunswick): Baron Friedrich Adolf Riedesel commanded the Brunswick troops in North America. As part of John Burgoyne's army, they were surrendered at the end of the failed Saratoga campaign. Riedesel was released to Quebec in 1781, where he served in that province's defense until his return to Europe in 1784.
  • Electorate of Hanover: Major General de la Motte commanded three regiments of Hanoverian troops that King George III, in his capacity as Elector of Hanover, ordered to Gibraltar.
  • Electorate of Hanover: Colonel Reinbold commanded two regiments of Hanoverian troops that King George III, in his capacity as Elector of Hanover, ordered to India, where they participated in the Siege of Cuddalore under Hector Munro.
  • Electorate of Hanover: Heinrich Bernhard von Sydow was a major general who commanded two regiments of Hanoverian troops that King George III, in his capacity as Elector of Hanover, ordered to Minorca.
  • Hesse-Kassel: Leopold Philip von Heister was the first leader of the Hessian troops, and was active in the New York campaign in 1776. Differences with British General William Howe led him to depart after the disastrous Battle of Trenton.
  • Hesse-Kassel: Wilhelm von Knyphausen replaced von Heister, and continued to lead the Hessian forces under Howe, and later Sir Henry Clinton, in the Philadelphia campaign. He left due to poor health in 1782.
  • Hesse-Kassel: Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg succeeded Knyphausen as commander of the Hessians until their departure at the end of the war.
  • Hesse-Hanau: Wilhelm von Gall commanded the single regiment and artillery provided by Hesse-Hanau. He served under Riedesel in the Saratoga campaign, spending most of the war as a prisoner after Burgoyne's surrender.
  • Waldeck: Johann von Hanxleden was a colonel who led the single regiment that Waldeck provided. Under his command, the regiment served in Howe's army in New York and New Jersey until 1778, when it was transferred to West Florida. He was killed in a failed attack on Mobile in 1781.
  • Waldeck: Albrecht von Horn was the lieutenant colonel of the Waldeck regiment, who assumed command after Hanxleden's death. After the fall of Pensacola, the Waldeck regiment's remnants were paroled to New York.

France

Civilian leaders

Generals

  • Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen was Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales (roughly equivalent to Vice-Admiral) in the French Navy. He was most active in the West Indies, but also saw action in the naval blockade of Gibraltar.
  • Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing was a vice-admiral in the French Navy. Active off the North American coast, he failed to support the land forces in the Battle of Rhode Island, and led French forces in the failed Siege of Savannah. He was also active in the West Indies, participating in a number of engagements there.
  • François Joseph Paul de Grasse, Comte de Grasse was a rear admiral of the French Navy, active in the West Indies. His fleet brought French troops to Virginia prior to the siege of Yorktown, then drew off the fleet of Thomas Graves in the Battle of the Chesapeake before providing the naval blockade of Yorktown that trapped Cornwallis in 1781. He was defeated and captured in the Battle of the Saintes in 1782.
  • Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun was briefly the commander of French army forces in North America following Rochambeau's departure in 1783. Lauzun's brigade led the French march from Rhode Island to Virginia in 1781.
  • Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was the commander of French army forces in North America for most of the French participation in the war. Arriving in 1779, they were largely inactive due to the successful British blockading of Rhode Island's ports. In 1781 Rochambeau led the French forces south to participate in the siege of Yorktown, and then remained to garrison southern states until 1783.
  • Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte (admiral, west indies)
  • Claude Gabriel, marquis de Choisy (served under Rochambeau, maj gen in 1781)
  • Antoine-Charles du Houx, Baron de Viomenil (maj gen, second under Rochambeau)
  • Charles-Joseph-Hyacinth du Houx, Vicomte de Viomenil (maj gen, served under Rochambeau)
  • François-Jean de Beauvoir, Chevalier de Chastellux (maj gen, third under Rochambeau)
  • Claude-Anne-Montbleru, Marquis de St. Simon (maj gen, arrived at Yorktown with de Grasse, injured, left)
  • Jacques-Melchior Saint-Laurent, Comte de Barras (full admiral, battle of RI, Yorktown, captured Montserrat)

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.

  • Johan Zoutman was an admiral in the Dutch Navy. The navy's activities were largely ineffective, as many ships were blockaded in their home ports or captured when some of their colonial outposts were taken. Zoutman led the only notable attempt to break a convoy out of Dutch ports; he was thwarted by the British in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
  • Reynier van Vlissingen was the governor of Negapatam, the principal outpost of the Dutch East India Company in India. He directed the unsuccessful defense of Negapatam against a British-led siege in 1781.
  • Iman Willem Falck was the governor of Trincomalee, the principal outpost of the Dutch East India Company on the island of Ceylon. He directed the unsuccessful defense of that port against a British amphibious assault.

References

  • Black, Jeremy. War for America: The Fight for Independence, 1775–1783. St. Martin's Press (New York) and Sutton Publishing (UK), 1991. ISBN 0-312-06713-5 (1991), ISBN 0-312-12346-9 (1994 paperback), ISBN 0-7509-2808-5 (2001 paperpack).
  • Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York: McKay, 1966; revised 1974. ISBN 0-8117-0578-1.

Further reading

  • Anderson, Troyer Steele. The Command of the Howe Brothers During the American Revolution. New York and London, 1936.
  • Buchanan, John. The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution. Wiley, 2004. ISBN 0-471-44156-2.
  • Fischer, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-517034-2. Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for History.
  • Lengel, Edward G. General George Washington: A Military Life. New York: Random House, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-6081-8.
  • McCullough, David. 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-2671-2.







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