Philip Schuyler

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Redirect Template:Infobox officeholder Philip John Schuyler (Template:IPAc-en; November 20, 1733 – November 18, 1804) was an American general in the Revolutionary War and a United States Senator from New York.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.

Born in Albany, Province of New York, into the prosperous Schuyler family, Schuyler fought in the French and Indian War. He won election to the New York General Assembly in 1768 and to the Continental Congress in 1775. He planned the Continental Army's 1775 Invasion of Quebec, but poor health forced him to delegate command of the invasion to Richard Montgomery. He prepared the Continental Army's defense of the 1777 Saratoga campaign, but was replaced by Major General Horatio Gates as the commander of Continental forces in the theater. Schuyler resigned from the Continental Army in 1779.

Schuyler served in the New York State Senate for most of the 1780s and supported the ratification of the United States Constitution. He represented New York in the 1st United States Congress but lost his state's 1791 Senate election to Aaron Burr, a foe of his son-in-law. After a period in the state senate, he won election to the United States Senate again in 1797, affiliating with the Federalist Party. He resigned due to poor health the following year. He was the father of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and the father-in-law of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.

Early life

Philip John Schuyler was born on Template:OldStyleDate<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in Albany, New York, to Cornelia Van Cortlandt (1698–1762) and Johannes ("John") Schuyler Jr. (1697–1741), the third generation of the Dutch Schuyler family in America. His maternal grandfather was Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the 17th Mayor of New York City.Template:Sfn

Before his father died on the eve of his eighth birthday, Schuyler attended the public school in Albany.<ref name="ARCE">Template:Cite web</ref> Afterward, he was educated by tutors at the Van Cortlandt family estate at New Rochelle. Fluent in both Dutch and English from childhood,<ref name="Howard">Template:Cite book</ref> in 1748 he began to study with Reverend Peter Strouppe at the New Rochelle French Protestant Church, where he learned French and mathematics.<ref name="ARCE"/> While he was at New Rochelle he also joined numerous trade expeditions where he met Iroquois leaders and learned to speak Mohawk.<ref name="Howard"/>

Schuyler joined the British forces in 1755 during the French and Indian War, raised a provincial company, and was commissioned as its captain by his cousin, Lieutenant Governor James Delancey.<ref name="ARCE"/> In 1756, he accompanied British officer Colonel John Bradstreet to Oswego, where he gained experience as a quartermaster, which ended when the outpost fell to the French.<ref name="ARCE"/> Schuyler took part in the battles of Lake George, Oswego River (Battle Island), Carillon and Fort Frontenac.<ref name="ARCE"/>

After the war, Bradstreet sent Schuyler to England to settle Bradstreet's reimbursement claims for expenses he incurred during the war effort, and he remained in England from 1760 to 1763.Template:Sfn After returning to British America he took over management of several farms and business enterprises in upstate New York, including a lumber venture in Saratoga.Template:Sfn In addition, Schuyler was responsible for constructing the first flax mill in the American colonies.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Schuyler became colonel and commander of a militia district regiment in 1767.<ref>Lossing 2009, p. 218.</ref> In 1768, he served as a member of the New York Assembly.Template:Sfn

American Revolution

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.Template:Sfn In 1777, he again served in the Continental Congress.

Saratoga campaign

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. During his preparation efforts, Schuyler complained to Major General William Heath about the quality of the reinforcements sent to him, writing that "one third of the few that have been sent are boys, aged men and negroes, who disgrace our arms ... Is it consistent with the Sons of Freedom to trust their all to be defended by slaves?"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The British offensive was eventually stopped by Continental Army then under the command of conflict and Benedict Arnold in the Battles of Saratoga. That victory, the first complete victory over a large British force, marked a turning point in the revolution, for it convinced France to enter the war on the American side. 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.

Later career

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Schuyler was an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati.

After the war, he expanded his Saratoga estate to tens of thousands of acres, adding slaves, tenant farmers, a store, and mills for flour, flax, and lumber. He built several schooners on the Hudson River, and named the first Saratoga. According to the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, Schuyler as many as 40 slaves between the Albany and Saratoga estates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1785, he was a founder of the New York Manumission Society, which advocated for gradual abolition.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1790, he enslaved 27 persons.<ref name="Growth">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1800, he owned about 11; at his death in 1804, he had none, having either conveyed them to others or manumitted them.<ref name="Growth"/>

He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1780 to 1784, and at the same time New York State Surveyor General from 1781 to 1784.Template:Sfn Afterwards he returned to the State Senate from 1786 to 1790, where he actively supported the adoption of the United States Constitution.Template:Sfn

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. After losing his bid for re-election in 1791 to Aaron Burr, he returned to the State Senate from 1792 to 1797. In 1797, he was selected again to the U.S. Senate and served in the 5th United States Congress from March 4, 1797, until his resignation because of ill health on January 3, 1798.Template:Sfn

Personal life

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Schuyler's wife, Catherine Van Rensselaer, depicted in a portrait by Walter Robinson, Template:Circa

According to the Schuyler Family's Bible, on September 7, 1755, he married Catherine Van Rensselaer (1734–1803) at Albany. In the Bible entry, he was called "Philip Johannes Schuyler" and she was called "Catherina Van Rensselaer". She was the daughter of Johannes Van Rensselaer (1707/08–1783) and his first wife, Engeltje Livingston (1698–1746/47). Johannes was the grandson of Hendrick van Rensselaer (1667–1740). Engeltje was the daughter of Robert Livingston the Younger. Philip and Catherine had 15 children together, eight of whom survived to adulthood, including:

Schuyler's country home had been destroyed by General John Burgoyne's forces in October 1777. Later that year, he began rebuilding on the same site, now located in southern Schuylerville, New York. This later home is maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Saratoga National Historical Park, and is open to the public.

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 two days before his 71st birthday. He is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.

Legacy

Statue in its former location outside Albany City Hall

Place names

Geographic locations and buildings named in Schuyler's honor include:

Works of art

Schuyler was depicted by John Trumbull in his 1821 painting Surrender of General Burgoyne, which hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.

Major General Philip Schuyler, a bronze statue by sculptor J. Massey Rhind, was erected outside Albany City Hall in 1925. In June 2020, Albany mayor Kathy Sheehan signed an executive order for the statue to be removed and given to a "museum or other institution for future display with appropriate historical context" because Schuyler owned slaves.<ref name=Pitofsky>Template:Cite news</ref> The statue was requested the next day by the mayor of Schuylerville, New York, who suggested that it be moved to Schuyler House.<ref name=wnyt>Template:Cite web</ref> In the early morning of June 10, 2023, the statue was removed from its pedestal, then transported by trailer to an undisclosed storage location.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the statue was removed, a time capsule was discovered underneath in a sealed metal box.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The non-speaking role of Philip Schuyler was originated by ensemble member Sydney James Harcourt in the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton, in which Schuyler's son-in-law Alexander Hamilton is the title character.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

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Further reading

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