Military Leaders

His Excellency, Commander-in-Chief George Washington said that if he perished during the Revolution, he wanted Major General Nathanael Green to replace him. Greene assumed the herculean task of Quartermaster General during the Valley Forge winter encampment. He later commanded the Southern Department after Horatio Gates and led the army at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781.

Philip Van Cortlandt served as a commander in the Continental Army during multiple campaigns of the American Revolution. Later in life he served as a New York State assemblyman, a state senator, and as a representative for the state in the U.S. Congress,

The man who's name became synonymous with the word "traitor" in the United States was also one of the nation's most brilliant tacticians of his day. Learn more about the life of Benedict Arnold in the following article.

Leonard Bleeker was commissioned an officer in the Continental Army in 1775. He served through the entirety of the American Revolution. As the new nation began, he worked in finance, laying the groundwork for the modern stock exchange.

Gansevoort was only 28 years old when he lead the American Fort Schuyler through a siege by British forces in 1777. His fort became the only American fort to never surrender while under attack to the British during the American Revolution.

George Thomas was a southerner who remained loyal to the United States during the Civil War. He earned the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga" for his stand in that battle, and later commanded the Union Army of the Cumberland.

An officer in the early United States Navy, Bainbridge is infamously known as the commander who lost USS PHILADELPHIA during the First Barbary War, and famously known as the commander of CONSTITUTION who defeated HMS JAVA during the War of 1812. He also left an indelible mark as the second Commandant for the Charlestown Navy Yard, transforming it from an underutilized supply dump to a shipyard capable of building the nation's the first ship-of-the-line: USS INDEPENDENCE.

Brigadier General John Gibbon stands among the longest serving commanders of the Department of the Columbia at Vancouver Barracks. From 1885 to 1891, he oversaw the military response to civil unrest in the region, and the ongoing consequences of the displacement of Native peoples onto reservations.

Marinus Willett was a Continental officer during the American Revolution. He was called upon for service in the Mohawk Valley multiple times during the war.

John Ailes was the second captain of USS Cassin Young, assuming command in October 1944. Commander Ailes was a talented officer whose aggressiveness and determination helped secure victory for the Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II.