Peter Muhlenberg

Infobox Politician (general)
name= John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg


title= United States Senator
term_start= 4 March 1801
term_end= 30 June 1801
predecessor= William Bingham
successor= George Logan
title2= United States House of Representatives
4 March 1789—-3 March 1791
at large Congressional District
4 March 1793—-3 March 1795
at large Congressional District
4 March 1799—-3 March 1801
4th Congressional District
term_start2=
term_end2=
predecessor2=
successor2=
title3= 8th Vice-President of Pennsylvania
term_start3= 31 October 1787
term_end3= 14 October 1788
predecessor3= Charles Biddle
successor3= David Redick
birth_date= October 1, 1746
birth_place= Trappe, Pennsylvania
death_date= October 1 1807
death_place= Gray's Ferry, Pennsylvania
party=
residence=
spouse=
profession= minister, politician, soldier
religion= Anglican

John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (October 1, 1746 – October 1, 1807) was a clergyman, a soldier and a politician of the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Post-Revolutionary eras in Pennsylvania.

Muhlenberg was born to Anna and Henry Muhlenberg in Trappe, Pennsylvania, and received a classical education from the Academy of Philadelphia. Then, following his father's example, he studied at the University at Halle (Saale) in Germany from 1763 to 1766. He also served briefly in the German dragoons before returning to Philadelphia. He was ordained in 1768 and headed a Lutheran congregation in Bedminster, New Jersey, before moving to Woodstock, Virginia. In 1770 he married Anna Barbara "Hannah" Meyer, the daughter of a successful potter. Together they had six children. He visited England in 1772 and was ordained into the priesthood of the Anglican Church. Besides his new congregation, he led the Committee of Safety and Correspondence for Dunmore County, Virginia. He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1774, and was a delegate to the First Virginia Convention.

Military career

Toward the end of 1775, Muhlenberg was authorized to raise and command as its Colonel the 8th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army. After Washington personally asked him to accept this task, he agreed.

According to folk legend, on January 21, 1776 in the Anglican church in Woodstock, Virginia, Revereng Muhlenberg took his sermon text from the third chapter Ecclesiastes, which starts with "To every thing there is a season...". As the story goes, he read the eighth verse, "...a time of war, and a time of peace,... and this is the time of war". According to the story, he then removed his clerical robe to reveal his Colonel's uniform, and the next day led out 300 men from the county to form the nucleus of the Eighth Virginia. However, as there are no contemporary accounts of Muhlenberg's sermon, the story is most likely a myth. The first accounts of Muhlenberg discarding his robe for a uniform during his sermon appeared in the mid-19th century. cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/pdf/505_muhlenbergrobe.pdf |title=History Detectives Season 5, Episode 5 - Transcript |accessdate=2008-08-20 |publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting |year=2007 |format=PDF]

Muhlenberg's unit was first posted to the South, to defend the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. In early 1777, the Eighth was sent north to join Washington's main army. Muhlenberg was made a Brigadier General of the Virginia Line and commanded that Brigade in Nathanael Greene's division at Valley Forge. Muhlenberg saw service in the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. After Monmouth, most of the Virginia Line was sent to the far south, while General Muhlenberg was assigned to head up the defense of Virginia using mainly militia units.

At the Battle of Yorktown, he led the first brigade of Lafayette's Light Infantry division. His brigade was made up of units drawn from Massachusetts (10 companies), Connecticut (5 companies), New Hampshire (5 companies), and 1 company each from Rhode Island and New Jersey. They held the right flank, and manned the two trenches built to move American cannons closer to Cornwallis defenses.

At the end of the war (1783), he was brevetted to major general and settled in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Muhlenberg was also an original member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Political career

After the war, Muhlenberg was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1784. He was elected Vice-President of the Council, a position comparable to that of Lieutenant Governor, on 31 October 1787. His term as Vice-President ended on a mysterious note. On 14 October 1788 the minutes of the Executive Council report that Muhlenberg had left Philadelphia without tendering his resignation—why his resignation was needed or expected is not noted—so a messenger was sent after him. That night, after the messenger returned with the resignation, the Council met at President Benjamin Franklin's home to chose Muhlenberg's successor, electing David Redick to the position.

Muhlenberg was elected to the first U. S. Congress (1789-1791) by the entire state of Pennsylvania as an at-large representative. (His brother Frederick was the Speaker for that same Congress.) He was the first founder of the Democratic-Republican Societies in 1793. He served in Congress as a Republican from 1793 to 1795 and 1799-1801 for the 1st district. He entered the U.S. Senate in January 1801, but resigned on June 30 of that same year.

President Jefferson appointed him the supervisor of revenue for Pennsylvania in 1781 and customs collector for Philadelphia in 1802. He served in the later post until his death.

Death and legacy

Peter Muhlenberg died in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on 1 October 1807 and is buried at the Augustus Lutheran Church in Trappe, Pennsylvania.

Muhlenberg is the namesake of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

References

External links

* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M001066 His Congressional Biography]
* [http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/muhlenberg.cfm National Statuary Hall Collection Biography]
* [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1700s/people/muhlenberg_johnpg.html Biography and statue at the University of Pennsylvania]
* [http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/pdf/505_muhlenbergrobe.pdf History Detectives: The Muhlenberg Robe]