Gen. Lachlan McIntosh (1727-1806)

Lachlan McIntosh, Georgia's ranking Continental officer in the American Revolution, was the son of John Mor Mackintosh who settled with a group of Highlanders on the Altamaha in 1736. Lachlan served as a cadet in Oglethorpe's Regiment and received part of his schooling at Bethesda. During the Colonial era he became a leading planter at Darien, accumulating a considerable property which he lost in the Revolution. A firm supporter of American rights, McIntosh was commissioned colonel of the first Continental regiment raised in Georgia. A feud with Button Gwinnett, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, resulted in a duel fought near Savannah, May 16, 1777. McIntosh was transferred to Gen. Washington's headquarters after Gwinnett's death. He served with credit at Valley Forge and Washington, who described him as an "Officer of great worth and merit," later gave him command of the Western Department at Fort Pitt. Returning to Georgia in 1779, Gen. McIntosh took part in the Siege of Savannah. His military career in the American Revolution, in which he had shed his blood defending Georgia's borders, terminated with his capture when Charleston fell in 1780. In 1784 the Continental Congress promoted McIntosh to major general, vindicating him from unjust suspension from command four years before as a result of representations to it by Gov. Walton. The patriot-hero lived out his remaining years at Savannah.