Philip Schuyler
Philip John Schuyler was an American general in the Revolutionary War and a United States Senator from New York. Schuyler was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 and served until he was appointed a major general of the Continental Army in June. General Schuyler took command of the Northern Department and planned the Invasion of Quebec. His poor health required him to place Richard Montgomery in command of the invasion. In 1777, he again served in the Continental Congress. After returning to the command of the Northern Department in 1777, Schuyler was active in preparing a defense against the Saratoga Campaign, part of a British "Three Pronged Attack" strategy to cut the American Colonies in two by invading and occupying New York. In the summer of 1777, John Burgoyne marched his army south from Quebec and through the valleys of Lakes Champlain and George. On the way he invested the small American garrison occupying Fort Ticonderoga at the nexus of the two lakes.
When General Arthur St. Clair abandoned Fort Ticonderoga in July, Congress replaced Schuyler with General Horatio Gates, who had accused Schuyler of dereliction of duty. In 1778, Schuyler and Arthur St. Clair faced a court of inquiry over the loss of Ticonderoga, and both were acquitted. When Schuyler demanded a court martial to answer Gates' charges, he was vindicated but resigned from the Continental Army on April 19, 1779. He then served in two more sessions of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780. As a prominent politician and Patriot leader in New York, Schuyler was the subject of an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt, which was plotted and led by John Walden Meyers on August 7, 1781. Schuyler was able to vacate his Albany mansion before the kidnappers arrived. In 1789, he was elected a U.S. Senator from New York to the First United States Congress, serving from July 27, 1789, to March 3, 1791. Schuyler died at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany on November 18, 1804, four months after his son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton, was killed in a duel and 2 days before his 71st birthday.
When General Arthur St. Clair abandoned Fort Ticonderoga in July, Congress replaced Schuyler with General Horatio Gates, who had accused Schuyler of dereliction of duty. In 1778, Schuyler and Arthur St. Clair faced a court of inquiry over the loss of Ticonderoga, and both were acquitted. When Schuyler demanded a court martial to answer Gates' charges, he was vindicated but resigned from the Continental Army on April 19, 1779. He then served in two more sessions of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780. As a prominent politician and Patriot leader in New York, Schuyler was the subject of an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt, which was plotted and led by John Walden Meyers on August 7, 1781. Schuyler was able to vacate his Albany mansion before the kidnappers arrived. In 1789, he was elected a U.S. Senator from New York to the First United States Congress, serving from July 27, 1789, to March 3, 1791. Schuyler died at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany on November 18, 1804, four months after his son-in-law, Alexander Hamilton, was killed in a duel and 2 days before his 71st birthday.
