Generals

British & Germans

Continental Army, Militia & French

  • William Alexander, Lord StirlingContinental Army general — one of Washington’s best
  • Benedict ArnoldTalented Continental Army general who defected to the British
  • Horatio GatesContinental Army general, won the Battles of Saratoga
  • Henry KnoxContinental Army general, chief artillery officer, first Secretary of War
  • Tadeusz KosciuszkoPolish patriot, fought seven years in the American Revolution
  • Marquis de LafayetteFrench aristocrat, Continental Army officer, like a son to Washington
  • Charles LeeContinental Army general, formerly a British officer
  • Richard MontgomeryIrish-born Continental Army general, formerly a British officer
  • Daniel MorganMilitia soldier, military tactician, Continental Army general
  • Israel PutnamMilitia general, fought with distinction at the British at Bunker Hill
  • comte de RochambeauCommander-in-chief of French forces
  • Philip SchuylerContinental Army general, U.S. Senator for NY
  • Arthur St. ClairContinental Army general, surrendered Fort Ticonderoga to the British
  • Baron von SteubenContinental Army general from Prussia, drilled the troops at Valley Forge
  • John SullivanContinental Army general, Continental Congress delegate, NH governor
  • George WashingtonCommander-in-chief of the Continental Army; first President
  • Anthony WayneContinental Army general, defeated the British at Stony Point

Greene, Nathanael

  • Nathanael GreeneContinental Army general; key to winning the war in the South

The issue of taxation had immense symbolic importance on both sides of the Atlantic. Like most of his fellow members of Parliament, [Lord Frederick] North regarded the right of Britain to tax America as integral to the absolute and indivisible supremacy of Parliament over America. The concept of parliamentary sovereignty was more than an abstract doctrine. It had emotional resonance as a constitutional victory won against the monarchy in the Glorious Revolution, following the deposition of James II in 1688. It was regarded as essential for the protection of liberty in general. For Britain, the right to tax the colonies was fundamental to its authority to govern America. At the same time, taxation united colonial opposition more than any other grievance.

Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy
The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (2013)