Historical records matching Major General Henry Knox
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About Major General Henry Knox
A Patriot of the American Revolution
STATE: MASSACHUSETTS
RANK: MAJOR GENERAL. DAR Ancestor #: A067057
Find A Grave Memorial ID # 20979
Henry Knox
1st United States Secretary of War
In office
March 8, 1785 – December 31, 1794
President George Washington
Succeeded by Timothy Pickering
Born July 25, 1750(1750-07-25)
Boston, Massachusetts, British America
Died October 25, 1806(1806-10-25) (aged 56)
near Thomaston, Maine, U.S.
Nationality British (at birth)
American (at death)
Spouse(s) Lucy Flucker
Profession Bookseller, Soldier
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch Continental Army
United States Army
Years of service 1772-1784
Rank US-O6 insignia.svg Colonel 1775-1776
US-O7 insignia.svg Brigadier General 1776-1781
US-O8 insignia.svg Major General 1781-1784
Commands Chief of Artillery
Battles/wars American Revolutionary War
Battle of Bunker Hill
Siege of Boston
Battle of Long Island
Battle of Trenton
Battle of the Assunpink Creek
Battle of Princeton
Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Germantown
Battle of Monmouth
Siege of Yorktown
Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806) was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War.
Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, he owned and operated a bookstore there, cultivating an interest in military history and joining a local artillery company. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he befriended General George Washington, and quickly rose to become the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army. In this role he accompanied Washington on most of his campaigns, and had some involvement in many major actions of the war. He established training centers for artillerymen and manufacturing facilities for weaponry that were valuable assets to the fledgling nation.
Following the adoption of the United States Constitution, he became President Washington's Secretary of War. In this role he oversaw the development of coastal fortifications, worked to improve the preparedness of local militia, and oversaw the nation's military activity in the Northwest Indian War. He was formally responsible for the nation's relationship with the Indian population in the territories it claimed, at one point arguing that the country could take by force lands that Indian tribes were unwilling to sell.
He retired to what is now Thomaston, Maine in 1795, where he oversaw the rise of a business empire built on borrowed money. He died in 1806 from an infection received after swallowing a chicken bone, leaving an estate that was virtually bankrupt.
Watchtide was once the home of General Knox. The original colonial cape home on the Watchtide site was built in the early 1790's by a group of six colonial craftsmen -- carpenters, joiners, masons, painters -- who are said to have built nearly all the 18th century homes that remain in what is now Searsport, Maine. At the time the town was called Prospect and was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In August, 1794, the property was deeded to Brigadier General Henry Knox, one of George Washington's most reliable senior officers who later became the new nation's first Secretary of War. A former bookseller, Knox married his wife, Lucy Flucker, in the early years of the Revolutionary conflict. Her parents were staunch British loyalists who disapproved of the marriage and returned to England as the Revolution progressed, never to see their daughter again.
Source:
Knox County, Ohio was named for Henry Knox.
Major General Henry Knox's Timeline
1750 |
July 25, 1750
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Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Colonial America
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1776 |
1776
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Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United States
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1779 |
March 1779
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1780 |
May 24, 1780
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Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States
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1781 |
1781
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1788 |
1788
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1791 |
1791
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1796 |
April 1796
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1806 |
October 21, 1806
Age 56
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Thomaston, Knox County, ME, United States
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