More to Explore
People and Groups
Themes
Events
This Day in History
Feb 9
American Revolution
Future New Jersey governor is promoted, 1776
Future New Jersey Governor Joseph Bloomfield becomes captain of the third New Jersey Regiment of Foot in the Continental Army on this day in 1776.…
Recommended Articles
-
Thomas Sumter
(born August 14, 1734, Hanover county, Virginia [U.S.]—died June 1, 1832, South Mount, South Carolina, U.S.) legislator and officer in the American Revolution, remembered for his leadership of troops against British forces in North and South Carolina, where he earned the sobriquet “the Carolina Gamecock.
-
Sir James Craig
(born 1748, Gibraltar—died January 12, 1812, London, England) British soldier in the American Revolutionary War who later served as governor-general of Canada (1807–11) and was charged by French-Canadians with conducting a “reign of terror” in Quebec.
-
William Moultrie
(born December 4, 1730, Charleston, South Carolina [U.S.]—died September 27, 1805, Charleston) American general who resisted British incursions into the South during the American Revolution (1775–83).
-
John Brown Gordon
John Brown Gordon was a Confederate general and opponent of southern Reconstruction after the American Civil War.
(Born Jan. 29, 1756, Prince William county, Va. [U.S.]—died March 25, 1818, Cumberland Island, Ga., U.S.) American cavalry officer during the American Revolution. He was the father of Robert E. Lee and the author of the resolution passed by Congress upon the death of George Washington containing the celebrated apothegm “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
A graduate of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Lee joined Washington's army immediately upon the outbreak of the American Revolution (1775–83). In 1778 he advanced to the rank of major and commanded three troops of cavalry and three companies of infantry with which he won notable engagements and gained his nickname. His storming of Paulus Hook, N.J. (Aug. 19, 1779), won praise from Washington, and as a lieutenant colonel of dragoons in the Southern theatre (1780–81) he added further lustre to his name.
After the war Lee served in the Virginia legislature (1785–88; 1789–91), in the Congress under the Articles of Confederation (1785–88), in the Virginia Convention of 1788 that ratified the federal Constitution, and as governor of the state (1791–94). In 1794 his political career was interrupted while he commanded the army assembled to put down the Whiskey Rebellion, an uprising of farmers resisting the federal whiskey tax, in western Pennsylvania. From 1799 to 1801 he served in the U.S. House of Representatives.
After 1800 he became involved in unfortunate land speculation and was twice imprisoned for debt. In 1812 he was badly crippled in a Baltimore riot while defending the editor of an antiwar newspaper. The next year he went to the West Indies for his health, although some said he had gone to escape his creditors. He died while returning home.
Lee was the author of Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States, published in 1812 and reprinted in 1869 with a biographical sketch by Robert E. Lee.
Copyright © 1994-2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com.
Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!
Shop HISTORY
-
Civil War: Rebellion to Reconstruction DVD Set
Experience the turbulent events that ignited the bloodiest, most divisive war this country has known.
$111.99
-
The American Civil War DVD Set
Experience for yourself the historical and personal impact of the Civil War.
$99.95
-
Email Updates
Keep up with the latest History shows, online features, special offers and more.
Sign upClassroom Study Guides
-
Vietnam in HD Teacher's Guide (PDF)
Classroom companion for the new HISTORY series Vietnam in HD.
-
Thomas Jefferson Teacher's Guide (PDF)
Jefferson is an insightful 2-hour presentation on HISTORY which examines his many identities and asks viewers to answer for themselves: who was the real Thomas Jefferson, and what is his most lasting legacy in our world today?
-
Save Our History: Vallery Forge (PDF)
Teacher's guide to the bitter cold months of 1777, when George Washington led his troops to winter quarters at Valley Forge. There with Baron Von Steuben, they drilled the struggling group of individual militiamen into a unified fighting force.
