Henry Knox
Henry Knox was an
American bookseller from Boston who became the chief Artillery officer of the
Continental Army and later the nation's first
United States Secretary of War. He was born to
Scots-Irish immigrants William and Mary Campbell Knox in
Boston on
July 25,
1750. His father was a ship's captain, engaged in the West Indies trade until his death in 1762. Henry left school at the age of 12 and became a bookstore clerk to support his mother. He later opened his own bookshop, the
London Book Store, in Boston. Largely self-educated as an avid reader, he began to concentrate on military subjects, particularly Artillery.
Henry married Lucy Flucker (
1756-
1824), the daughter of Boston Loyalists, on
June 16,
1774. In spite of separations due to his military service, they remained a devoted couple for the rest of his life, and carried on an extensive correspondence. Over the years, they had thirteen children. Since the couple fled Boston in
1775, she remained essentially homeless throughout the
Revolutionary War. Her parents left with the British during their withdrawal from Boston after the success of Washington's army on Dorchester Heights, which hinged upon Knox's cannons. She would never see them again.
Knox supported the American rebels, the
Sons of Liberty, and was present at the
Boston Massacre. He volunteered as a member of the
Boston Grenadier Corps in
1772 and served under General
Artemas Ward at the
Battle of Bunker Hill in
1775. Being a member of the Army of Observation, Henry met and impressed General
George Washington when he took command. Knox and Washington became good friends.
As the
Siege of Boston continued, he suggested that the cannons then at recently captured
Fort Ticonderoga could have a decisive impact. Washington gave him charge of an expedition to retrieve them. His force brought them by ox-drawn sled through the Green Mountains, across the frozen Connecticut River, and finally to Boston. Upon their arrival in Cambridge, Washington immediately commissioned Knox Colonel of the Artillery. When Washington's army took the Heights of Dorchester, the cannons were placed in a heavily fortified position overlooking Boston, from which they seriously threatened the British fleet in the harbor (see
fortification of Dorchester Heights). As a result, the British were forced to withdraw to Halifax on
March 17,
1776. After the siege was lifted, Knox undertook the construction and improvement of defenses in Connecticut and Rhode Island to prepare for the British return. He rejoined the main army later during their withdrawal from New York and across New Jersey.
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Henry Knox in the Washington Administration by James Harvy Young; 1873; From the Gilbert Stuart. |
For the
Battle of Trenton Colonel Knox was in charge of
Washington's crossing of the Delaware River. Though hampered by ice and cold, with
John Glover's Marbleheaders (
14th Continental Regiment) manning the boats he got the attack force of men, horses, and artillery across the river without loss. Following the Battle, he got the same force along with hundreds of prisoners, captured supplies, and all the boats back across river by the afternoon of
December 26. This accomplishment got him promoted to Brigadier General.
Knox stayed with the Main Army throughout most of the active war, and saw further action at
Princeton,
Brandywine,
Germantown,
Monmouth, and
Yorktown. In
1777, while the Army was in winter quarters at
Morristown, New Jersey, he returned to Massachusetts to improve the Army's artillery capability. He raised an additional battalion and established the
Springfield Armory before his return in the spring. That arsenal remained a valuable source of weapons and ammunition for the rest of the war. In early
1780 he was a member of the court-martial of Major
John Andre. Knox made several other trips to the Northern states as Washington's representative to increase the flow of men and supplies to the army.
After Yorktown, Knox was promoted to Major General. In
1782 he was given command of the post at
West Point. In
1783 he was one of the founders of the
Society of the Cincinnati, and led the American forces into
New York City as the British withdrew. He stood next to Washington during his farewell on
December 4 at Fraunces Tavern. After Washington retired, he was the senior officer of the Continental Army from December 1783 until he left it in June,
1784.
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Henry Knox |
The
Continental Congress made him secretary of war under the
Articles of Confederation on
March 8,
1785. He held that position without interruption until
September 12,
1789 when he assumed the same duties as the
United States Secretary of War in Washington's first cabinet.
As secretary, Knox urged and presided over the creation of a regular
Navy, was responsible for Indian policy and a plan for a national militia, and created a series of coastal fortifications. He oversaw the inclusion of the Springfield Armory as one of two national facilities. In 1791, Congress, acting on a detailed proposal from Knox, created the short-lived
Legion of the United States.
On
December 31,
1794 Knox left the government to devote himself to caring for his growing family. He was succeeded as Secretary of War by
Timothy Pickering.
Knox settled his family at
Monpelier, an estate near
Thomaston, Maine. He spent the rest of his life engaged in cattle farming, ship building and brick making. Although he had left national service, he represented his new community in the Massachusetts General Assembly (Maine then being part of Massachusetts.) In
1806, while visiting a friend in
Union, Maine, he swallowed a chicken bone which punctured his intestine. He died of infection (
peritonitis) three days later on
October 21,
1806 and is buried in Thomaston.
We can form an opinion of
Knox's character from many incidents in his career. As one example, when he and Lucy were forced to leave Boston in 1775, his home was used to house British officers who looted his bookstore. In spite of personal financial hardships, he managed to make the last payment of 1,000 pounds to Longman Printers in London to cover the price of a shipment of books that he never received.
Two separate American forts,
Fort Knox (
Kentucky), and
Fort Knox (Maine) were named after him. A Knox County has been named from him in
Illinois,
Indiana,
Kentucky,
Maine,
Missouri,
Nebraska,
Ohio,
Tennessee, and
Texas.
Knoxville, Tennessee is also named for him.
References
*
North Callahan; Henry Knox: General Washington's General; A. S. Barnes and Co., New York, 1958.
*A good book for young readers describes moving Ticonderoga's guns: ISBN 0152164359
*
His Montpelier Home Museum
