General Henry Knox

Front:
Spiit of 76 A Greit General of the Revolution USA 13° USA 13c USA 13c Epritet 76: Gpnitof 76 : Spirilof76 JA! FIRST DAY OF ISSUE 1976 1776 1976 Generäl Henrij Knor 1750-1806 TRUSTED AND LOYAL GENERAL WHOSE “NOBLE TRAIN OF ARTILLERY" PLAYED A CONSPICUOUS PART IN VICTORY. ficial Fust Day Govér •Philadelphia 76 CA

Back:
© 1976, Fleetwood, Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A. - F THE SPIRIT OF '76 General Henry Knox (1750-1806) Henry Knox, an amiable Boston bookseller turned soldier, was commissioned Brigadier General in the Continental Army in 1776 just eleven months after he successfully moved the captured artillery of Fort Ticonderoga, New York, in the dead of winter over 300 miles of snow-laden countryside to Boston. Only 25 at the time, and newly commissioned Colonel and head of the virtually non-existent artillery, his epic achievement came to be remembered as Knox's “Noble Train of Artillery,” which drove the British from Boston and became the foundation of America's Continental artillery, with which Knox played an important part in the eventual victory of the Revolution. Sometimes described as “forceful, and often profane,” he had great administrative abilities and, unlike some other generals, was devoted and loyal to Washington and to the Revolution. Of his grestest quality Washington wrote: “If he acquired slowly the fine points of the employment of artillery, he quickly developed high skill in dealing with men. His administra- tion of his arm of the service was quiet and was marred by few jealousies on the part of his subordinates.” Knox succeeded Washington as head of the Army in 1783.