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

[trom.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_military_service

show's Thomas Jefferson having served in the Virginia Militia

however

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_military_rank

says others may disagree

[etherial.livejournal.com]

The Adamses organized the supply chain. Abigail and John were the reason we had powder to fire our guns.

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

Don't forget Major General Henry "Ox" Knox, a professional artillerist who masterminded the breaking of the siege of Boston and the crossing of the Delaware, and went on to be President Washington's secretary of war. He's the namesake of not one but two Forts Knox and, I'm pleased to say, made Maine his home after the revolution. I suppose it could be argued that he wasn't one of the prime movers of the political end of the revolution and, as such, may not count as a "founding father", but history has shown that he was ahead of the curve in at least one area, having envisioned and tried to implement a more decent and humane policy of Indian relations more than a hundred years before anyone else would even consider it.

[methanopyrus.livejournal.com]

I like your posts lately and need to go back and read some soon when I make time! I like the baseball idea!

[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.

[mikecap.livejournal.com]

You can guarantee that they all knew how to shoot a gun. Which is more than you can say for a lot of folks today.

Benjamin Franklin: "No baby, no, I'm a lover, baby... I'm your luscious lightning-slingin' baby daddy."