- George Washington
George Washington was a central and critical figure in the founding of the United States, and is commonly referred to as father of the nation. He led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. He served two four-year terms from 1789 to 1797, winning reelection in 1792.
- Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a successful Connecticut merchant who fought for American independence from the British Empire as a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In the United States, Arnold is best known for his betrayal of the rebel cause by plotting to surrender the American fort at West Point, New York to the British during the American Revolution.
- Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 (N.S.) - June 19, 1786), a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer.
- William Henry
William Henry was an American gunsmith from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1784, 1785, and 1786. Prior to his service in the Continental Congress, Henry was a gunsmith and provided rifles to the British during the French and Indian War and later the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Over a thirty-year period, Henry's gun factory in Lancaster not only supplied arms to Pennsylvanian and, later, …
- Henry Knox
Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 - October 25, 1806) was an American bookseller from Boston who became the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nation's first Secretary of War
- Henry Lee
Henry Lee III, called "Light Horse Harry", (January 29 1756 - March 25 1818) was a cavalry officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was the Governor of Virginia and a U.S. Congressman, as well as the father of American Civil War general Robert E. Lee.
- Charles Lee
Charles Lee (February 6 1732 - October 2, 1782) was a British soldier turned Virginia planter who was a Major General of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. Lee was born in Cheshire England. By the age of twelve, he was already commissioned as an ensign in the British Army. Lee served under Major General Edward Braddock in the French and Indian War along with fellow officers George Washington, Thomas Gage, and Horatio Gates.
- Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale (June 6 1755 - September 22 1776) was a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Widely considered America's first spy, he volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission, but was caught by the British. He is best remembered for his speech before being hanged following the Battle of Long Island, in which he purportedly said, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country".
- John Dickinson
John Dickinson (November 2 1732 - February 14 1808) was an American lawyer and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. He was a milita officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of Delaware, and President of Pennsylvania. Among the wealthiest men in the British American colonies, …
- John Sullivan
John Sullivan (b. February 17 1740, Somersworth, New Hampshire - d. January 23 1795, Durham, New Hampshire) was an American general in the Revolutionary War and a delegate in the Continental Congress. Sullivan served as a major general in the Continental Army and as Governor (or "President") of New Hampshire. He is most famous for leading the Sullivan Expedition in 1779, …
- Benjamin Lincoln
Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810) was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
- Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery (December 2, 1736 - December 31, 1775) was an Irish-American soldier who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
- John Thomas
John Thomas was an American doctor and soldier from Massachusetts who became a major general in the Continental Army. He was a leader during the siege of Boston. Thomas briefly commanded the withdrawal from Canada after the unsuccessful invasion by the Continental Army. He died from smallpox during the retreat. Thomas was born in Marshfield, Massachusetts. As a young man he studied medicine with Doctor Tufts in Medford before beginning his own practice in Kingston.
- Thomas Mifflin
Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744 - January 20, 1800) was an American merchant and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania, fifth President of the U.S. Congress under the Articles of Confederation, and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
- John Stark
John Stark (August 28, 1728 - May 8, 1822) was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.
- Arthur St. Clair
Arthur St. Clair (March 23 1734/1736 -August 31 1818) was the ninth President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, holding office from February 2 1787 to October 29 1787. He was preceded in office by Nathaniel Gorham and succeeded by Cyrus Griffin. He was also a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, the highest-ranking officer in the US Army (1791-1792), and the only territorial governor of Ohio. St.
- William Heath
William Heath was an American farmer, soldier, and political leader from Massachusetts. He served as a Major General in the Continental Army during the Revolution. Heath made his home for his entire life at his family’s farm in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His family started the farm in 1636, and he was born there on March 7, 1737. He became active in the militia, and was a captain in the Suffolk County militia in 1760. By 1770 he was a colonel and its leader.
- John Glover
John Glover (November 5, 1732 - January 30, 1797) was an American fisherman, merchant, and military leader from Marblehead, Massachusetts, who served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Initially he was the second in command of the Marblehead militia but after the death of Col. Jeremiah Lee Jeremiah Lee House in April 1775, he was given command.
- Edmund Randolph
Edmund Jenings Randolph (August 10, 1753 - September 12, 1813) was an American attorney, Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.
- William Bradford
William Bradford was a lawyer and judge from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the second United States Attorney General in 1794-1795. He was the son of the printer William Bradford and was born in Philadelphia. He began his education at the Academy of Philadelphia, then attended Princeton University where he formed a life-long friendship with a younger student, James Madison, before graduating in 1772. When he returned to Philadelphia he read law with Edward Shippen.
- William Brown
William Brown was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Stamford and enlisted in the 5th Connecticut Regiment as a corporal on May 23 1775, and re-enlisted as a private on April 9 1777, for the duration of the war in the 8th Connecticut Regiment. He was promoted to corporal on May 8 1779, and to sergeant on August 1 1780, transferring with the consolidation of units to the 5th Connecticut Regiment on January 1 1781, …
- Samuel Smith
Samuel Smith (July 27, 1752 - April 22, 1839) was a United States Senator and Representative from Maryland, as well as a former mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, and a general in the Maryland Militia. He was the brother of cabinet secretary Robert Smith. Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Smith moved with his family to Baltimore, Maryland in 1759. He attended a private academy, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until the American Revolutionary War, …
- Alexander McDougall
Alexander McDougall (about 1731-1786) was an American seaman, merchant, and leader from New York City during the Revolutionary War. He served as a major general in the Continental Army, and as a delegate to the Continental Congress. After the war, he was the president of the first bank in the state of New York and served a term in the New York State Senate.
- David Hackett Fischer
David Hackett Fischer (b. December 2, 1935) is University Professor and Earl Warren Professor of History at Brandeis University. His major works have tackled everything from large macroeconomic and cultural trends ("Albion's Seed," "The Great Wave") to narrative histories of significant events ("Paul Revere's Ride," "Washington's Crossing") to explorations of historiography ("Historians' Fallacies").
- William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 - September 1, 1838) was an American explorer who accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. William Clark was born in Caroline, Virginia on August 1, 1770. He was the second-youngest of the ten children born to John and Ann Rogers Clark. When the Revolutionary War began, William Clark was the only male member of his family who did not go off to battle, as he was too young. When he was 12 he entered the Continental Army.
- Benjamin Church
Dr. Benjamin Church was effectively the first Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, serving as the "Chief Physician & Director General" of the Medical Service of the Continental Army from July 27, 1775 to October 17, 1775. Church's loyalty to the American Revolution fell under suspicion, and he was forced from office in public disgrace, convicted of "communicating with the enemy".
- Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean (March 19 1734 - June 24 1817) was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, Delaware, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a milita officer during the American Revolution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, and the second President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation. He was at various times a member of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties, …
- Oliver Wolcott
Oliver Wolcott (December 1, 1726 - December 1, 1797), was a signer of the United States' Declaration of Independence as a representative of Connecticut. Oliver Wolcott was born in Windsor, Connecticut, the first of fourteen children of the Royal Governor Roger Wolcott. He attended Yale College, graduating in 1747. He was commissioned to raise a militia company to fight in the French and Indian War, and he served the King as captain in this unit on the northern frontier.
- Richard Gridley
Richard Gridley (January 3, 1710 - June 21, 1796) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son of Richard Gridley and Rebecca Scarborough. He was a soldier and engineer who served for the British Army during the French and Indian Wars and for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He married Hannah Deming 25 February, 1730 they had nine children.
- James Warren
James Warren (September 28, 1726 - November 28, 1808) was the President of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts and a Paymaster General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, among other positions. He was born, and died, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was not related to Joseph Warren and John Warren, two other notable Warrens from Massachusetts during the Revolution with which he is sometimes confused because of their simliar names and roles.
- Samuel Prescott
Dr. Samuel Prescott was a Massachusetts Patriot during the American Revolutionary War. Prescott was on the road at 1 A.M. on April 19 1775 after an evening with his fiancée, Lydia Mulliken, when he met Paul Revere and William Dawes on their ride from Lexington to Concord and joined them to warn of the British attempt to seize the store of arms. Although he joined the ride late, he was the only one of the three men to reach Concord and warn the town.
- Stephen Moylan
Stephen Moylan (1737 - 1811) was a the 2nd Quartermaster General in the United States Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Stephen Moylan was born to a wealthy Catholic family in Cork. His family sent him to be educated in Paris. Moylan then worked in Lisbon for three years before finally moving to Philadelphia. Moylan joined the American Continental Army in 1775 and initially held a variety of staff positions.
- James Wilkinson
James Wilkinson (24 March, 1757 - December 28, 1825) was a U.S. soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, eventually rising to the rank of General. He was appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1805.
- Robert Patterson
Robert Patterson (1743-1824) was an American educator and director of the mint. He was born near Hillsborough, County Down, Ireland, emigrated to the United States in 1768, and lived for a time in Philadelphia. In 1774 he became principal of an academy in Wilmington, Del. In the dispute between the Colonies and the British ministry he allied himself with the Whig or Patriot party, …
- William Eustis
William Eustis was an early American statesman. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and studied at the Boston Latin School before he entered Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1772. He studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Warren and helped care for the wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where Warren was killed. He served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War as surgeon of the artillery regiment at Cambridge and then as a hospital surgeon.
- Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Steuben, Baron von Steuben was a German-Prussian General who served with George Washington in the American Revolutionary War and is credited with teaching the Continental Army the essentials of military drill and discipline. He reorganised the Continental Army and guided it to victory.
- Royall Tyler
Royall Tyler, American jurist and playwright who wrote "The Contrast" in 1787 and published "The Algerine Captive" in 1797. He also wrote several legal tracts, six plays, a musical drama, two long poems, a semifictional travel narrative, "The Yankey in London" (1809), and essays. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Tyler attended the Boston Latin School and then Harvard, where he earned a reputation as a quick-witted joker.
- Robert Smith
Robert Smith (November 3, 1757 - November 26, 1842) was the second United States Secretary of the Navy from 1801 to 1809 and the sixth United States Secretary of State from 1809 to 1811. He was the brother of Senator Samuel Smith. Smith was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the Continental Army and participated in the Battle of Brandywine. He graduated from Princeton in 1781 and began to practice law in Maryland.
- Rufus Putnam
Rufus Putnam (April 9, 1738 - 1824) was a colonial military officer during the French and Indian War, and a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was instrumental in the initial settling of the Ohio Country following the war.
- Joseph Plumb Martin
Joseph Plumb Martin (November 21, 1760 - 1850) was an American Revolutionary War soldier who published an account of his experiences as a soldier in the 8th Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army in 1830. This narrative has been frequently cited by scholars as an excellent primary source for the Revolution. It is notable that Martin was a mere private in the army, and his account does not involve the usual heroes of the Revolution.