Lee, Henry (Light-Horse Harry)

1756 – He was born this year near Dumfries, Virginia.

1773 – He graduated from The College of New Jersey.

1776 – He was promoted to captain of a Virginia Dragoon detachment that was attached to the first Continental Light Dragoons.

1778 – He was promoted to Major. He was given the command of a small irregular corps, with which he won a great reputation as a leader of light troops.

1779 – His greatest exploit was the brilliant surprise at the Battle of Paulus Hook in New Jersey, on August 19 of this year.

1782 – He married his second cousin, Matilda Ludwell Lee, who was known as “The Divine Matilda”.

1790 – His wife died this year.

1793 – He married the wealthy and beautiful Anne Hill Carter (17 years his junior) at Shirley Plantation.

1785 – He presented George Washington with twelve horse chestnut saplings as a token of friendship.

1788 – He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in the last-named year in the Virginia convention, he favored the adoption of the Federal constitution.

1789 – He served in the General Assembly.

1794 – He accompanied Washington to help in the suppression of the “Whiskey Rebellion” in western Pennsylvania.

1798 – He was a Major General in the U.S. Army this year.

1801 – He served in the House of Representatives of the Congress.

1818 – He died at “Dungeness” on March 25 of this year (Dungeness was built on Cumberland Island, Georgia by Nathaneal Greene as a summer home).