Jacob Brown (general)

Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jacob Jennings Brown was the son of Samuel and Abi (White) Brown. His middle name was in honor of his paternal grandmother, a descendant of Samuel Jennings and his wife. Jennings had served as deputy governor of West Jersey and later receiver general of Pennsylvania in the early 18th century. Raised a Quaker, Brown graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1790. He taught school for several years. In 1798, he moved to upstate New York, which was being settled and developed after the sale of thousands of acres of land formerly held by nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Most had been forced to cede their lands and moved to a major reserve in Upper Canada. Brown was a pioneer settler and landowner in the Black River country. He and his extended family established mills and a store, laid out roads and improved navigation on the lower Black River, which flowed into Lake Ontario. == Military service ==

Apparent work for Alexander Hamilton One biographer claimed Brown received early military training while serving as a military secretary to Alexander Hamilton during the winter of 1798–99. Hamilton was then organizing the U.S. Army for a possible war with France. But Hamilton's biographies say that he did not have a secretary, and biographical sketches of Brown published in 1815 do not mention a connection between him and Hamilton. He also was known for directing meticulously planned, defensive field works, including for Sackets Harbor. His fortifications there were instrumental in fending off British and Canadian advances. Sackets Harbor had become a major military shipyard for the construction of American naval warships to sail on the Great Lakes, and its protection was critical. Some 3,000 shipyard workers were recruited to the shipyard, and thousands of federal troops were eventually bivouacked in the area. They overwhelmed the small town. When the War of 1812 began, Brown was a brigadier general in the New York militia, having been appointed to that rank in 1811. Though he opposed the war, he organized defenses in the Great Lakes region. On May 29, 1813, troops led by Brown defeated the British at the Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor, based on his fortifications. As a result of his actions there, Brown was commissioned as a brigadier general in the regular army. Brown's last battle of the war was the related Siege of Fort Erie, from 4 Aug to 21 Sep 1814, when the British tried unsuccessfully to take back control of the fort. He had directed fortifications to improve defenses at Fort Erie, which contributed to the American success in defeating the British. Brown was also considered impetuous. After the initial British assault against his forces was repulsed, Brown ordered a sortie on September 17 against the British that resulted in more than 500 casualties on each side, but changed nothing in the outcome of the siege. After both sides withdrew, the Americans destroyed Fort Erie so that it could no longer be used. Overall, Brown's successes along the northern border made him a national hero. == Death ==

On February 24, 1828, Brown died. He was given a military funeral: his casket was carried down Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation's capital by a detachment of U.S. Marines. The government shut down to mark the day of his funeral. The mile-long funeral procession was composed of family, military detachments, and government officials. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C. President John Quincy Adams said of him: General Brown was one of the eminent men of this age and nation. Though bred a Quaker, he was a man of lofty and martial spirit, and in the late war contributed perhaps more than any man to redeem and establish the military character of his country. == Family ==

In December 1802, Brown married Pamelia Williams, then seventeen. They had four sons (Gouverneur, Jacob, William, and Nathan) and five daughters (Mary, Eliza, Pamela, Margaret and Katherine). Nathan was the only son to survive into a full adult life. Brown's firstborn son, Gouverneur, drowned in an ice-skating accident at the age of twelve. Jacob (class of 1832) and William Spencer Brown (class of 1835) graduated from West Point. Jacob resigned after four years' service in the army, and William resigned after six months. Both died as young men. Nathan W. Brown also had a successful military career. In 1849, at age thirty-one, Nathan was appointed as a major in the pay department. In 1864, during the Civil War, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and served as deputy paymaster general. In 1880, he was promoted to brigadier general and paymaster general; he retired in 1882 after 33 years in the army. Eliza Brown married Edmund Kirby, who served as a colonel in the Mexican–American War and a U.S. Army Paymaster. Their son Edmund also attended West Point, graduated in 1861, and was commissioned as an artillery officer. He served with the Army of the Potomac from First Bull Run through Chancellorsville, where he was severely wounded. Nominated for brigadier general by President Lincoln, he died before the Senate could confirm the promotion, at 23 years of age. Pamela Brown married David Hammond Vinton (son of David Vinton and brother of Rev. Francis Vinton), who served as assistant quartermaster general of the Union Army during the Civil War. Her younger sister Katherine married Larkin Smith, a Southerner and West Point classmate of their brother William. In 1861, Smith resigned his army commission to serve as assistant quartermaster general of the Confederate army. == Legacy ==

For his victories in the War of 1812, Brown was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal on November 3, 1814. General Brown was the 24th American to receive this award. • The town of Pamelia, New York, was named for his wife, née Pamelia Williams. • Brown County, Illinois • Brown County, Indiana • Brown County, Ohio • Brown County, Wisconsin • Brown Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania • Brownstown Township, Jackson County, Indiana • Brownstown, Indiana • Brownsville, Tennessee == See also ==