Freemason

Benedict Arnold

Talented Continental Army general who defected to the British; 1741—1801.

John Dickinson

Lawyer, politician, writer, militia officer, signer of the Declaration of Independence; 1732—1808.

William Ellery

Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island; 1727 - 1820.

Benjamin Franklin

Philadelphia printer, writer, scientist, inventor, signer of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat to France; 1706—90.

Nathanael Greene

Continental Army general; key to winning the war in the South; 1742—86.

John Hancock

Boston merchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Massachusetts governor; 1737—93.

Henry Knox

Continental Army general, chief artillery officer, first Secretary of War; 1750—1806.

Marquis de Lafayette

French aristocrat, Continental Army officer, like a son to Washington; 1757—1834.

John Marshall

Soldier, lawyer, politician, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; 1755—1835.

Richard Montgomery

Irish-born Continental Army general, formerly a British officer; 1738—75.

In 1775 the British government was not the limited monarchy we know today. The King was in charge of the executive branch of the government and his duties and powers corresponded, roughly, to those the President now handles in the United States. ... Political parties as we understand them today had yet to be born. England was split into four or five factions, some revolving around a noble Lord such as Marquis of Rockingham, some around a class (the country squires) and roughly on-third of Parliament around the King who, through his executive power, had innumerable jobs, from cabinet post to lucrative sinecures, to dispense among those who supported him.

— Thomas Fleming

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