Biographies

all | people you should know

Artists | British | Colonials | Enslaved People | French | Germans | Natives | Spanish | Others

A

John Adams – Signer of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat, second President
Samuel Adams – Boston revolutionary leader, signer of the Declaration of Independence
Benedict Arnold – Talented Continental Army general who defected to the British

B

John Burgoyne – British playwright, politician; general who lost the Battles of Saratoga
Aaron Burr – Continental Army officer, lawyer, Vice President; killed Hamilton in a duel

C

Henry Clinton – British general; commander-in-chief, 1778—82
Charles Cornwallis – British general, surrendered with troops at Yorktown

D

John Dickinson – Lawyer, politician, writer, signer of the Declaration of Independence

F

Benjamin Franklin – Philadelphia printer, writer, scientist, inventor, diplomat to France

G

Thomas Gage – British general, Royal Governor of MA, ordered troops to Concord
King George III – King of Great Britain in 1760, at age 22, until 1820
George Germain – British lord; American Secretary, 1775—82
Nathanael Greene – Continental Army general; key to winning the war in the South

H

Alexander Hamilton – Washington’s aide-de-camp, lawyer, Secretary of the Treasury
John Hancock – Merchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence, MA governor
Sally Hemings – House slave of Thomas Jefferson; mother of at least six of his children
Patrick Henry – Lawyer, orator, VA governor
William Howe – Commander-in-chief of British forces, 1775—78

J

John Jay – Lawyer, diplomat, Continental congressman, first Chief Justice
Thomas Jefferson – Lawyer, polymath, drafter of the Declaration of Independence, third President
John Paul Jones – Naval commander for the U.S.

K

Henry Knox – Continental Army general, chief artillery officer, first Secretary of War

L

Marquis de Lafayette – French aristocrat, Continental Army officer, like a son to Washington
King Louis XVI – King of France in 1774, at age 19, until 1791

M

James Madison – Constitutionalist, congressman, Secretary of State, fourth President
George Mason – Politician, author, political philosopher, Anti-Federalist
Daniel Morgan – Militia soldier, military tactician, Continental Army general
Gouverneur Morris – Merchant, financier; helped draft then stylized the Constitution

N

Frederick North – British Prime Minister during the Revolutionary War

O

James Otis, Jr. – Lawyer, politician, Boston revolutionary

P

Thomas Paine – Author, revolutionary, political philosopher
Charles Willson Peale – American painter, soldier; created first American museum

R

Paul Revere – Artisan, Boston revolutionary, militia soldier, foundryman
comte de Rochambeau – Commander-in-chief of French forces

S

Baron von Steuben – Continental Army general from Prussia, drilled the troops at Valley Forge
Gilbert Stuart – American painter of quintessential portraits, including George Washington

T

John Trumbull – American artist, soldier at the Battle of Trenton

V

comte de Vergennes – French diplomat, Foreign Minister under Louis XVI

W

George Washington – Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army; first President

Wounds [from battle] were first cleansed with lint, either dry or wet with oil, and bandaged lightly. Later they were to be washed with a digestive — a substance used to draw pus — and then covered with a bread-and-milk poultice, with oil for moisture. For the first twelve days, a cooling regiment of medicines and diet was recommended, on the theory that this lowered the danger of infection. The empiricists among the medical men of the time had noticed that a man ran a fever with an infection, and concluded, with somewhat superficial logic, that keeping him cool would lower the chances of the infection taking root.

Unfortunately, there was little or no interest in using clean bandages or instruments.

— Thomas Fleming

Now We Are Enemies: The Story of Bunker Hill (1960; reissued 2010)