Henry Knox

Person: Henry Knox

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 25, 1750. He was the Major General in the Continentinal Army and he later became the Secretary of War.

He first became involoved in government and war in 1772. He joined the Boston Grenadier Corps, he supported the Sons of Liberty and he was present at the Boston Massacre. The Sons of Liberty included Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, John Adams, Sam Adams and John Hancock. He joined the war when he was 18 and was eventually promoted to Major General in the Continental Army. He also was the chief artillary officer. He served under General Artemas Ward in the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1775 George Washington took over and Henry Knox caught his eye. Washington and Knox began to form a relationship with each other. They started to become good friends. Washington would go to Knox for advice and later he became the chief artillary officer. Knox was left in charge of the placement of cannons and he helped secure the defenses. Knox laid seige on Boston in May of 1775. He also helped in the Battle Of Brooklyn Heights where they were battling General Cornwallis who was under the charge of Lieutentant General Sir William Howe. Knox was then promoted to Commander-In-Chief.

During the winter of 1777 he was in charge of raising a batallion and creating an arsenal. He was then almost outed from his position of chief or artillary by a man named Ducondray who was supported by Silas Deane. He tried to take over Knoxs' job but General Washington repsected Knox enough to let Knox keep his job. Washington, Knox and Nathaniel Greene were the only generals to serve in all 8 years of the war. Knox also served in the Battles of Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and Yorktown. In June 1784 he retired from being an officer in the continental army. In 1789 he then became the Secretary of in War in Washington's first cabinet. Thomas Jefferson was the Sercretary of State, Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of Treasury and Edmund Randolph was the Attorney General. In 1795 Henry Knox resigned from the cabinet and retired to his home in Thomaston, Maine and died in October 25, 1806 from an intestinal infection.

Henry Knox joined the army because of his love for the country. He also dropped out of school and became the only one supporting his mother. He then opened a bookstore but later decided that he wanted to join the war.

Henry Knox does deserve a lot more recognition. He was the right hand man of George Washington. He helped him make decisions that influenced the way that our country is today. Henry Knox has 2 American Forts decicated to him. Fort Knox in Kentucky and Fort Knox in Maine. This is good but he deserves to have more credit. He fought and made influenctial decisions that were key to Washington winning the ground that he did. He was the chief artillary officer and helped trained people to run the cannons and the guns. He was a Commander-in-Chief in the Continental Army. He was a great leader and his word was very powerful in the time that he lived. If you ask most people who Henry Knox is, they will not even know who he is. This is sad because he was one of the only Generals to serve all 8 years in the war. This alone deserves recoginiton because it shows his dedication and love for his country. So in the end Henry Knox deserves much more recognition than he has right now.







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He weighed more than 300 pounds, as did his somewhat intimidating wife; in New York they were commonly known as the "largest couple in the city."