Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution

by
Robert K. Wright, Jr.
and
Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.

Center of Military History
United States Army
Washington, D.C., 1987


U.S. Army Center of Military History

Brig. Gen. William A. Stofft, Chief of Military History

 
Chief Historian
Chief, Histories Division
Editor in Chief 
David F. Trask
Lt. Col. Richard O. Perry
John W. Elsberg 

 
 
 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Wright, Robert K., 1946-
Soldier-statesmen of the Constitution.
(Army historical series)
Bibliography: p.
1. United States-Constitution-Signers-Biography. 2. Statesmen-United States-Biography. 3. United States. Army-Biography. 4. Soldiers-United States Biography. 5. United States-Politics and government 1783-1789. 1. MacGregor, Morris J., 1931-
II. Title. III. Series

E302.5.W85 1987 973.3'092'2 87-1353

First Printing-CMH Pub 71-25

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402

ii

 

Contents

 
 
Page
FOREWORD
iii
PREFACE
iv
THE US. ARMY AND THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLIC 
The Colonial Heritage
The Revolutionary Experience
12 
The Articles of Confederation 
25 
The Constitution
33 
Federalists and Jeffersonians
46 
SOLDIER-STATESMEN OF THE CONSTITUTION 
59 
George Washington, Presiding Officer 
61 
Abraham Baldwin
64 
Richard Bassett 
67 
William Blount 
70 
David Brearly 
73 
Pierce Butler 
76 
Jonathan Dayton 
79 
John Dickinson 
82 
William Few 
85 
Thomas Fitzsimons 
88 
Nicholas Gilman 
91 
Alexander Hamilton 
94 
Rufus King 
97 
John Langdon 
100 
William Livingston 
103 
James McHenry 
106 
Thomas Mifflin 
109 
Gouverneur Morris 
112 
Charles Pinckney 
115 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
118 
Richard Dobbs Spaight 
121 
Hugh Williamson 
124 
William Jackson, Secretary 
127 
Bibliography of Soldier-Statesmen 
130 
OTHER SIGNERS OF THE CONSTITUTION 
147 
Gunning Bedford, Jr. 
149 
John Blair 
150 
Jacob Broom 
151 
Daniel Carroll 
152 
George Clymer 
153 
Benjamin Franklin 
154 
Nathaniel Gorham 
155 
Jared Ingersoll 
156 
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer 
160 
William Samuel Johnson 
161 

vii

 
Page 
James Madison 
162 
Robert Morris 
164 
William Paterson 
166 
George Read 
167 
John Rutledge 
168 
Roger Sherman 
169 
James Wilson 
171 
SELECTED DOCUMENTS
173 
The Revolutionary Years
Resolution of the Continental Congress Adopting the Continental Army, 14 June 1775 
175 
Resolution of the Continental Congress Appointing George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, 15 June 1775 
176 
Washington's Commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, 17 June 1775 
176 
Continental Congress' Declaration on the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms, 6 July 1775 
176 
The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776 
179 
The Eighty-Eight Battalion Resolution of the Continental Congress Authorizing an Expanded Continental Army to Serve for the Duration of the War, 16 September 1776 
181 
Resolutions of the Continental Congress Expanding the Continental Army and Extending Emergency Powers to Washington, 27 December 1776 
182 
John Dickinson's Draft of the Articles of Confederation, 12 July 1776 
183 
The Articles of Confederation, 1 March 1781 
186 
Washington's Speech to the Officers of the Continental Army, Newburgh, New York, 15 March 1783 
189 
Washington's Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States, 2 November 1783 
191 
Washington's Address to the Continental Congress Resigning His Commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, 23 December 1783 
193 
Resolution of the Continental Congress Disbanding the Continental Army, 2 June 1784 
193 
The Peace Establishment
George Washington, Sentiments on a Peace Establishment, 2 May 1783 
193 
Alexander Hamilton, Report of a Committee to the Continental Congress on a Military Peace Establishment, 18 June 1783 
200 
Frederick Steuben, A Letter on the Subject of an Established Militia, and Military Arrangements, Addressed to the Inhabitants of the United States
202 
Letter, George Washington to Frederick Steuben, 15 March 1784 
207 
Resolution of the Continental Congress Creating the Peace Establishment, 3 June 1784 
208 
Resolution of the Continental Congress Ascertaining the Powers and Duties of the Secretary at War, 27 January 1785 
208 
Resolutions of the Continental Congress Renewing the Peace Establishment, 1, 7, and 12 April 1785 
209 
Resolution of the Continental Congress Expanding the Peace Establishment, 20 October 1786 
210 
Resolution of the Continental Congress Renewing the Peace Establishment, 3 October 1787 
211 

viii

 
 
Page 
The Constitutional Convention
The Virginia Plan, 29-30 May 1787 
212 
The New Jersey Plan, 15 June 1787 
213 
The Constitution of the United States of America, 17 September 1787 
214 
Ratification
Richard Henry Lee, "Observations leading to a fair examination of the system of government, proposed by the late Convention; and to several essential and necessary alterations in it. In a number of Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican," 1787 
219 
Elbridge Gerry, "Observations on the new Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions By a Columbian Patriot," 1788 
220 
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers
 
Number 3 (Jay) 
223 
Number 24 (Hamilton) 
224 
Number 25 (Hamilton) 
226 
Number 26 (Hamilton) 
228 
Number 28 (Hamilton) 
230 
Number 29 (Hamilton) 
231 
The Early Republic
An Act to establish an Executive Department to be denominated the Department of War, 7 August 1789 
233 
An Act to recognize and adapt to the constitution of the United States, the establishment of the troops raised under the resolves of the United States in Congress assembled and for, other purposes, 29 September 1789 
234 
Henry Knox, Plan for the General Arrangement of the Militia of the United States, 18 January 1790 
234 
An Act for regulating the Military Establishment of the United States, 30 April 1790 
241 
An Act for raising and adding another regiment to the military establishment of the United States, and for making farther provision for the protection of the frontiers, 3 March 1791 
242 
An Act for making farther and more effectual provision for the protection of the frontiers of the United States, 5 March 1792 
242 
An Act supplemental to the act for making further and more effectual provision for the protection of the frontiers of the United States, 28 March 1792 
243 
An Act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, to suppress insurrections and repel invasions, 2 May 1792 
243 
An Act more effectually to provide for the national defense, by establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States, 8 May 1792 
244 
An Act for raising and organizing a Corps of Artillerists and Engineers, 9 May 1794 
245 
An Act to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; and to repeal the act now in force for those purposes, 28 February 1795 
246 
An Act to ascertain and fix the military establishment of the United States, 30 May 1796 
247 
An Act authorizing the President of the United States to raise a provisional army, 28 May 1798 
248 
An Act supplementary to, and to amend, the Act entitled "An Act authorizing the President of the United States to raise a provisional army," 22 June 1798 
250 

ix

 
 
Page 
An Act to augment the army of the United States, and for other purposes, 16 July 1798 
250 
An Act giving eventual authority to the President of the United States to augment the army, 2 March 1799 
251 
An Act to suspend, in part, an Act, entitled "An Act to augment the army of the United States, and for other purposes," 20 February 1800 
252 
An Act supplementary to the Act to suspend part of an Act, entitled "An Act to augment the army of the United States, and for other purposes," 14 May 1800 
252 
An Act fixing the Military Peace Establishment of the United States, 16 March 1802 
252 
An Act making provision for arming and equipping the whole body of the Militia of the United States, 23 April 1808 
254 
An Act declaring war between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their Territories, 18 June 1812 
254 
An Act fixing the Military Peace Establishment of the United States, 3 March 1815 
254 
APPENDIXES 
263 
A. Annapolis Convention 
265 
B. Committee Membership of the Constitutional Convention 
269 
C. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention Who Did Not Sign 
270 
D. Statistics 
272 
1. Executive Branch Members With Active Military Service in the Revolution 
272 
2. Supreme Court Justices With Active Military Service in the Revolution 
272 
3. State Governors With Active Military Service in the Revolution 
272 
4. US. Congress Members With Active Military Service in the Revolution (Arranged by Congress) 
273 
5. US. Congress Members With Active Military Service in the Revolution (Arranged by State) 
273 
6. Soldier-Statesmen of the Early Republic 
274 
E. Amendments to the Constitution 
285 
SELECTED FURTHER READINGS 
291 
Illustrations
"First Muster" 
"Stand Your Ground" 
10 
Richard Henry Lee 
15 

x

 
 
Page 
Major General Arthur St. Clair 
17 
Daniel Morgan 
21 
John Eager Howard 
21 
Marquis de Lafayette 
27 
Secretary at War Benjamin Lincoln 
28 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Robert R. Livingston 
28 
"The Birch View of Philadelphia in 1800" 
34 
William Paterson 
37 
First Page of the Constitution 
38 
Last Page of the Constitution Showing the Forty Signatures 
39 
Elbridge Gerry 
40 
John Jay 
44 
John Adams 
47 
Henry Knox 
47 
Thomas Jefferson 
48 
William Clark 
50 
"Mad" Anthony Wayne 
51 
James Wilkinson 
51 
Secretary of War Henry Dearborn 
54 
"Scene of the Signing of the Constitution of the United States" 
60 
George Washington 
62 
Abraham Baldwin 
65 
Richard Bassett 
68 
Pierce Butler 
77 
Jonathan Dayton 
80 
John Dickinson 
83 
William Few 
86 
Thomas Fitzsimons 
89 
Nicholas Gilman 
92 
Alexander Hamilton 
95 
Rufus King 
98 
John Langdon 
101 
James McHenry 
107 

xi

 
 
Page 
Thomas Mifflin 
110 
Gouverneur Morris 
113 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
119 
Richard Dobbs Spaight 
122 
William Jackson 
128 

The following illustrations appear between pages 138 and 147:

Frederick von Steuben
Nathanael Greene
"Guilford Court House, 15 March 1781"
Comte de Rochambeau
John Laurens
Joseph Reed
David Humphreys

The following illustrations appear between pages 156 and 160.

Gunning Bedford, Jr.
Jared Ingersoll
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
William Samuel Johnson
George Read
James Wilson

The following illustrations appear between pages 256 and 263:

President James Monroe
Chief Justice John Marshall
William Richardson Davie
John Armstrong, Jr.
Timothy Pickering
Samuel Smith
Thomas Sumter
William Findley

xii

Jeremiah Wadsworth
Elias Boudinot
William Moultrie
William Smallwood
Henry Lee
Enoch Crosby
Rufus Putnam
Louis Le Begue de Presle Duportail
 

xiii


page created 11 August 2000
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