General Thomas Posey: Son of the American Revolution

Introduction

INTRODUCTION Next let us praise illustrious men.... Some of them left a name behind them, so that their praises are still sung, While others have left no memory, and disappeared as though they had not existed, They are now as though they had never been.... Ecclesiasticus, 44:1, 8-9* Acasual browser, coming upon this volume in a library or bookstore, might well wonder who Thomas Posey was and why a book would be written about his life. Widely known and respected in his own time, his name is unfamiliar to recent generations, and his memory has all but disappeared, as though he had never existed. Posey was a brave soldier and an outstanding public statesman. His lifetime spanned one of the most exciting and meaningful periods of modern history-the creation and early formative years of the United States. He was by birth a member, and by achievement a notable representative, of what must surely be regarded as the most remarkable and prolific generation to grace this nation. This generation, born between 1725 and 1760, was courageous enough to fight and win the "glorious cause" of freedom and independence, wise enough to create a durable system of democratic government, and enterprising enough to launch a flourishing new society on the unsettled western frontier. In all these grand endeavors Thomas Posey played an active and constructive role. While admittedly not in the first rank of the founding fathers, the cumulative total of his many contributions to the historic events of his era stands out as a truly exceptional and productive life's work. A life of such proportions has significance and deserves recall and recognition, not only on its own merits, but also as a prototype of many other uncelebrated yet dedicated patriots of Posey's generation , whose worthy but obscure lives adorned their singular era in time. Clearly there were countless other such now-forgotten men *The Jerusalem Bible, (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966),442-443. 1 General Thomas Posey: Son of the American Recvolution who, after fighting for a cause even before there ,was a country, went on to help establish a government and forge a nation-men who, like Thomas Posey, up to this time have had no biographers. Yet, but for their aggregate efforts and sacrifices history strongly suggests that the revolutionary dream of a democratic society would have failed and life as we know it today in our world would be altered beyond all imagination. Although Posey's origin is uncertain and his early life and upbringing are not fully documented, he is generally believed to have spent his formative years on the Potomac River adjacent to George Washington's Mount Vernon estate in Fairfax County, Virginia. At an early age and with a limited education, he was forced by financial and family adversity to strike out on his own to the sparsely settled Virginia frontier, where he emerged as a young entrepreneur in the saddlery trade. His first military experiencewith an expedition of frontier militiamen sent against the warlike Shawnee Indians beyond the towering Appalachian range-culminated in a bloody, day-long battle along the banks of the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, (now West Virginia). Posey was an early, eager, and valiant fighter in the American Revolution. His seven years of continuous service in the Virginia Continental line took him from the frozen Great Lakes in the north to the malaria-ridden swamps of south Georgia. His outstanding war record contains documented evidence of repeated acts of personal bravery and resourceful leadership in many military engagements . He fought in, among other battles, the decisive American victories at Saratoga and Yorktown and was wounded in an heroic assault upon the British stronghold of Stony Point on New York's Hudson River, emerging from the conflict a renowned and respected lieutenant-colonel. In the peaceful interlude following the war Posey married into a patrician family and settled into a new role as a gentleman-planter in his native Virginia, raising a large family while remaining active in national, state and local civic affairs. Posey interrupted this comfortable country lifestyle only once, to serve a tour of duty as brigadier-general in a major expedition against a hostile Native American federation in the Northwest Territory. Soon thereafter, seeking new challenges and following a course pursued by many of his fellow Revolutionary War veterans, he moved his household to the primitive but rapidly expanding western frontier. There, in the last decades of his life, he made many...