Person:Thomas Posey (10)

About Thomas Posey

Thomas Posey (July 9, 1750 – March 19, 1818) was an officer in the American Revolution, a general during peacetime, the third Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Governor of the Indiana Territory, and a Louisiana Senator.

Family and background

Thomas Posey was born on the banks of the Potomac River on a farm adjacent to Mt Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia on July 9, 1750.[3] According to his own account, he was "born of respectable parentage."[4] Throughout his life Posey was dogged by rumors that he was the illegitimate son of George Washington. The rumor persisted even after his death and was the subject of several newspaper articles. Most historians are unsure of who his parents truly were as there is little recorded of them. Posey grew up on land adjacent to Washington's Mt. Vernon home, in the home of John Posey. John was a close friend of George Washington, and Thomas benefited from Washington's patronage early in his life. The rumors were dismissed by Posey's biographer, John Thornton Posey.[4]

Posey received a plain English education from the neighborhood school and at 19 he moved to the Virginia frontier near Staunton, Virginia where he intended to engage in a trade or farm.[4] He opened a business producing saddles and married Martha Mathews, daughter of Sampson Mathews of the Mathews family.[5][6] The couple had three sons, although only one survived to adulthood. Martha died in 1778 while giving birth to the third son. Life on the frontier was tumultuous, and the Indians continual raiding led to a reprisal by the Virginia's Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore. In 1774 Posey was in the quartermaster's department of an armed expedition against the Indians who were threatening the frontier settlements.[7] He was present at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and the expedition succeeded in suppressing the Indians for the short term.[8]

Revolutionary War

Posey was elected a member of the Virginia committee of correspondence in 1775.[9] He served in the army during the War of Independence, first as a captain in the Continental Army, mostly with the 7th Virginia Regiment, then later rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1782. Some claimed his quick rise was due to the patronage of George Washington. During the war Posey led campaigns against Lord Dunmore who was fortified on Gwyn's Island and drove him and his naval support out of the area. Lord Dunmore had been the officer he served under during the Indian war. In the winter of 1775 the 7th Virginia Regiment marched to join with General George Washington in New Jersey. It was at this time that Washington promoted Posey to the rank of Captain.[10] During the winter of 1776, Posey commanded the pickets guarding the Valley Forge encampment and led skirmishes almost daily. The following campaigning season, his corps was involved in the battle to drive Gen. Howe back to New York City, and played a critical role in the Battle of Monmouth. In 1778 Capt. Posey replaced Daniel Morgan as commander of the Provisional Rifle Corps when it was reduced to two companies. His small unit was sent to upstate New York to help secure that frontier flank of the Continental Army's Highland Department.[8][11] He was promoted to major and given command of the 7th Virginia Regiment on December 20, 1778.

In July 1779 Posey was assigned to command a battalion of light infantry in Corps of Light Infantry commanded by Brig-Gen. Anthony Wayne. As part of the provisional 1st Regiment under Col. Christian Febiger, he led his battalion in a bayonet night assault to storm Stony Point, a key British position on the Hudson River near West Point. Posey was one of the first to enter the British works and seized the colors of the 17th Regiment of Foot.[8][12]

In his absence, the 7th Virginia regiment was ordered on December 8, 1779, to join the rest of the Virginia Line to march to Charleston, South Carolina, to join the Southern Army. When the Corps of Light Infantry disbanded in December, Posey was sent to join his regiment, but the army surrendered on May 12, 1780, before he could rejoin it. As one of the few uncaptured Virginia officers, Posey had few duties until exchange of captured soldiers occurred in early 1781, at which time Col. Febiger recruited him to help reconstitute the Virginia Line in a new "18-month" battalion. He became de facto commander of the battalion and served in the siege of Yorktown. During 1781–1782 he would serve with General Wayne again, this time in Georgia against the forces in Savannah. He was promoted to Lt. Col. in 1782[13][14]

When the war ended, Posey returned to Virginia having resigned from the army on March 10, 1783. In the same year he became an original member of the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati.

He took guardianship of his surviving son who had been living with friends since the death of his mother. Posey married Mary Alexander Thornton, the wealthy widow of George Thornton, in 1784. Posey had nine children by her. He remained married to her until his death. The family lived on her Fredericksburg, Virginia plantation, where Posey farmed for nearly eighteen years. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the United States House of Representatives in 1797, and held several appointed position in the Virginia state government.[14]

Posey briefly returned to the military following several setbacks to the army which was campaigning against the Wabash Confederacy in the Old Northwest. He reentered the army as a brigadier general in 1793 and served with "Mad" Anthony Wayne campaigning against the Indians beyond the frontier in the Northwest Indian War.[15] Posey was disturbed by the actions of second in command, General James Wilkinson. Wilkinson had been secretly undermining Wayne's authority in reports to Washington, and Posey discovered that Wilkinson had been involved in similar plots against other ranking officers, including the former frontier commander George Rogers Clark. Years after Wilkinson's death, it was discovered that he had been accepting bribery money from Spain to stir up trouble on the frontier. Because of the ill feelings caused by Wilkinson, Posey resigned from the army again on February 20, 1794, only a few months before the war was ended following American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.[16]

Research Notes

[as per Rick France, Find A Grave contributor]

• Rumors persisted for a long time that Posey was the illegitimate son of George Washington.
• young Posey grew up in the household of a John Posey who was a friend of George Washington's and whose indebtedness to Washington ultimately led John Posey to turn over his neighboring estate to Washington which became part of Mount Vernon.
• Posey was twice married and had 12 children of his own plus 3 stepchildren.
• At age 24 he served as commissary general under General Anthony Lewis when Lewis defeated the Indians under Chief Cornstalk in 1774 at what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
• commanded troops as a Major under General Daniel Morgan at Saratoga and at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War.
• was present at the British surrender at Yorktown.
• served under "Mad" Anthony Wayne during the Indian wars in the Old Northwest territory, but had resigned his commission before Wayne decisively defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers.
• moved to Henderson, Kentucky, where he held a variety of offices in Kentucky including a term as a member of the State Senate (1805-1806).
• was a United States Senator from Louisiana (1812-1813) before being appointed governor of the Indiana Territory by President James Madison.
• ran for Governor in the first State election for governor but lost.
• ran for Congress but lost again.
• finished his career as Indian agent for Illinois

1.   Arnett, Maralea. The annals and scandals of Henderson County, Kentucky, 1775-1975. (Corydon, Kentucky: Fremar Pub. Co., c1976)
   55-127.
2.   Hallmark, Linda. 200 years Henderson County, Kentucky First Families, Early Settlers and a brief History.
3.   Graves, William T. Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters.

   Pension application of Thomas Posey BLWt1733-450 f2VA
   Transcribed by Will Graves 11/7/12
   
   [cover sheet]
   Va. Posey, Thomas B.L.Wt.1733-450—Lt. Col.
   Issued Dec. 7, 1791
   No papers
   [Note: this file contains the standard letter responding to an inquiry about this veteran informing
   the correspondent that the papers relating to this warrant claim were destroyed in the fire of
   1800.]
   _________________________________________________________
   [From bounty land records in the Library of Virginia]
   Lieut. Col. Thomas Posey has drawn land Warrants for his 7th years services –
   S/ Wm Price, Regr. [Registrar of Virginia Land Office]
   Four months additional land bounty due.
   S/ S. Coleman
   I do Certify that Thomas Posey was appointed a Captain in the 7th Virginia Regiment on
   Continental establishment in the winter 1775 – 6 and continued in service till the close of the
   War at which time he was ranked as Lieutenant Colonel.
   Given under my hand this 7th day of June 1807
   Teste: S/ Edmund Taylor S/ Tho. Martin late Captain [Thomas Martin]
   9th Virginia Continental Regiment
   
   http://revwarapps.org/blwt1733-450.pdf

4.   Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

   the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

   Thomas Posey (July 9, 1750March 19, 1818) was an officer in the American Revolution, a general during peacetime, the third Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Governor of the Indiana Territory, and a Louisiana Senator.
   

   This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Thomas Posey. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

5.   Illinois, U.S., Revolutionary War Veteran Burials Index, 1775-1850.

   Name: Gen. Thomas Posey
   Burial Place: Gallatin County, Illinois, USA
   Comments: Gen. Thomas Posey; was born in Virginia July 9, 1750. He is said to have been the natural son of George Washington, his mother being Elizabeth Lloyd. He served as captain in the Seventh Virginia Regiment; in 1776 was promoted to a major in Col. Daniel Morgan's regiment. He was made lieutenant-colonel, and after the close of the war was made brigadier-general. He was in the battles of Monmouth, Stony Point, and was at Yorktown. In 1794 he removed to Kentucky, where he was a Senator in 1805-06. He also served in the War of 1812. He was governor of Indiana Territory, serving until it was made a state in 1816. He removed to Illinois, settling in Gallatin county, where he died March 18, 1818. He is buried near Shawneetown, and his grave is marked by a monument, though it is in a decaying condition. "Virginia Records" and "The National Cyclopedia of Biography."

6.   Governor Thomas Posey: The Son of George Washington? by John Thornton Posey, in Indiana Historical Society (Indianapolis, Indiana), and Indiana University (Bloomington). Indiana magazine of history. (Indianapolis [Indiana]: Indiana Historical Society)
   Vol. 86, No. 1 (March 1990), pp. 28-49 (22 pages) Published By: Indiana University Press.