Military Records

[bluegargantua]

Hi,

A sudden question has popped into my head:

What, if any, military service was on the resume of the founding fathers? Just being "Commander-in-Chief" doesn't cut it, you need to have actually been a part of the army. It doesn't matter if you saw action, it doesn't matter if you served under the British or other non-American army. How many soliders are in the roster?

George Washington -- too extensive to summarize here.

John Adams -- none as far as I can tell. Lawyer and Diplomat.

Thomas Jefferson -- Another Lawyer/Diplomat.

James Madison -- I believe he briefly commanded an artillery battery as the British marched on Washington. I'm going to count that, although I'd put an asterisk by it.

Alexander Hamilton -- Artillery Captain. Definitely counts.

Benjamin Franklin -- Pretty much did everything but fight.

John Jay -- Seemed mostly associated with espionage and intelligence among the Patriot rebels. Again, I'll count this, but with a very big asterisk.

George Mason -- None.

Samuel Adams -- Unclear, but I'm leaning towards no. Even as part of the rebel movement, he didn't appear to take direct action or be part of the chain of command.

John Hancock -- Commanded Massachussetts militia during the Revolutionary War.

All this gleaned from a quick perusal of Wikipedia and is cheerfully open for peer review. It's quite possible that all of these men were part of a local militia and I just don't know about it.

But it does appear that out of the 10 men listed, 3 definitely have a military record, 2 are suspect and 5 never served in uniform. Now, all of these men probably did a lot of work for the Revolution and may have co-ordinated a lot of rebel activity. But it doesn't appear as though they acted as part of the rebellion's "military wing".

Huh, interesting
Tom

Comments

[mazianni.livejournal.com]

In 1770, at the age of 27, the Governor of Virginia appointed Thomas Jefferson as the county lieutenant, with the rank of colonel, of the Albemarle County Militia. Colonel Jefferson was responsible for all militia affairs in the county including insuring that the Albermarle County Regiment of Militia drilled on a regular basis, that the regimental and company muster rolls were kept up, and that militia fines were collected by the sheriff.

http://www.ngb.army.mil/resources/photo_gallery/presidential/jefferson.html

It also says he resigned his commission in 1779 when he was elected governor of Virginia.

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James Madison was apparently the commander of the Orange County, NJ militia during the Revolution, but poor health kept him from active service.

http://www.history.army.mil/books/revwar/ss/madison.htm

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It might be interesting to see how many former U.S. Presidents had military experience. There are the obvious like Washington, Taylor, Grant, T. Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Eisenhower. Perhaps the less well known include G.H.W. Bush and Carter. Those are off the top of my head.

Presidents with military experience

[mazianni.livejournal.com]

24 Presidents served in the military. 16 served in combat.

Looks like only three were graduates of either West Point or Annapolis.



George Washington, 1st President. Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President. James Madison, 4th President. (mentioned above)

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James Monroe, 5th President. Secretary of War under Madison. Served as a combat officer in the 3rd Virginia and was wounded at Trenton.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0275240-00
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Andrew Jackson, 7th President. Served in combat against the Native Americans and the British.

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William Henry Harrison, 9th President. Captain in the regular army, later a major general in the militia. Served in combat against various Native American tribes.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0194730-00

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Zach Taylor, 12th President. Regular army. Served in combat against the British, various Native American tribes, and the Mexicans.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0380680-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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Franklin Pierce, 14th President. Enlisted as a private in the regular army, rose to the rank of brigadier general. Served in combat against the Mexicans.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0312700-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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James Buchanan, 15th President. Brief service during the War of 1812.

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Ulysses S Grant, 18th President. West Point grad. I think he was the first West Point graduate to become President.

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Rutherford B Hayes, 19th President. Served in an Ohio volunteer regiment during the Civil War, rose to the rank of Major General.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0196450-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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James Garfield, 20th President. Another Civil War vet who made major general.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0171100-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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Chester Arthur, 21st President. Served as the state quartermaster general for NY. Basically he was in charge of handling logistics for the NY state militia.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0022680-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President. Volunteered during the Civil War and made brigadier general.

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/benjaminharrison/p/pbharrison.htm

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William McKinley, 25th President. Volunteered during the Civil War, made the rank of brevet major. Served for a while in the same Ohio volunteer regiment as Hayes.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0264920-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President. Formed and led a volunteer calvary regiment in the Spanish-American War.

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Harry Truman, 33rd President. Saw combat as an artillery captain in the National Guard during World War I.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0393810-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President. West Point grad. Rose to the rank of 5 star general in the U.S. Army and was the supreme commander of the Allies in Europe during World War II.

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John F. Kennedy, 35th President. U.S. Navy, saw combat against the Japanese in World War II.

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Gerald R. Ford, 38th President. U.S. Navy during World War II, made lieutenant commander. Served on the carrier USS Monterey.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0161740-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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James Carter, 39th President. Graduated U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and retired from the Navy in 1953.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0078990-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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Ronald Reagan, 40th President. Spent three years in the Army making training films, during World War II. Achieved the rank of Captain.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0329270-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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George H. W. Bush, 41st President. Enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a pilot and flew 58 combat missions in the Pacific during World War II.

http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0068080-00&templatename=/article/article.html

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George W. Bush, 42nd President. Avoided Vietnam by wangling himself a commission in the Texas Air National Guard. Or something.

Re: Presidents with military experience

[bonisagus.livejournal.com]

Both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt were Assistant Secretaries of the Navy.