23 Facts About Lachlan McIntosh

Lachlan McIntosh was a Scottish American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States.

John Lachlan McIntosh led the colonists as they carved out the new settlement from dense forest.

In one of these clashes in 1740, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, Lachlan McIntosh's father was captured by the Spanish and held prisoner for two years.

The elder Lachlan McIntosh was eventually released, but his health had deteriorated during his captivity, and he died a few years later.

Lachlan McIntosh spent two years at the orphanage before traveling to Fort Frederica to serve as a military cadet.

John Lachlan McIntosh, who had immigrated with his brother Roderick, and with John "Mor" Lachlan McIntosh from Scotland.

In 1748, Lachlan McIntosh moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he took a position as a clerk for Henry Laurens, a wealthy merchant and slave trader.

Lachlan McIntosh soon returned with her to Georgia, where he studied surveying.

Lachlan McIntosh acquired land in the Altamaha River delta and slaves to work it; he became a prosperous rice planter.

Lachlan McIntosh raised the 1st Georgia Regiment of the Georgia Line, organized the defense of Savannah, and helped repel a British assault at the Battle of the Rice Boats in the Savannah River.

Lachlan McIntosh was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Continental Army, charged with defense of Georgia's southern flank from British incursions from Florida, by then a British possession.

Lachlan McIntosh returned to Georgia after his allies gained control of the Provisional Congress and succeeded in electing him speaker.

The operation was a disaster; and Gwinnett and Lachlan McIntosh publicly blamed each other for the failure, straining the already tenuous relationship between the two men.

Lachlan McIntosh refused to apologize, and Gwinnett challenged him to a duel.

Gwinnett received a ball to the thigh and Lachlan McIntosh was struck in the leg.

Lachlan McIntosh would recover from his wounds, but Gwinnett's wound was mortal and he died three days later.

Gwinnett's allies had Lachlan McIntosh charged with murder, but he was acquitted in the ensuing trial.

Lachlan McIntosh restored order along the frontier and conceived a plan to attack the British stronghold of Fort Detroit.

Lachlan McIntosh established several new forts including Fort Laurens, named for his friend and mentor Henry Laurens, who had become President of the Continental Congress, and Fort McIntosh to prepare for the attack.

Lachlan McIntosh returned to his plantation to find it ruined by the occupying British.

Lachlan McIntosh tried to restore his property and business interests, but he would spend the rest of his life in relative poverty.

Lachlan McIntosh was elected to the Continental Congress in 1784, but never attended.

Lachlan McIntosh was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati and in 1791 he was part of the delegation that officially welcomed President George Washington to Georgia.