Return J. Meigs Sr.

Return Jonathan Meigs (December 28, 1740 – January 28, 1823)[a] was a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and an early settler of the Northwest Territory.

He was acknowledged to have given decent treatment to a British prisoner, Captain Law, Carleton's chief engineer.

One of his most important achievements during the war was leading the Meigs Raid against the British forces in Sag Harbor, New York, in May 1777.

The raid succeeded in burning 12 small boats and taking 90 prisoners without losing a single man.

When a corps of light infantry was formed under General Anthony Wayne in July 1779, Meigs was given command of its 3rd Regiment, which he led at the Battle of Stony Point.

Meigs drafted the code of regulations used for governance until the formal creation of the Northwest Territory the following year.

[2][8][9] Subsequently, he entered political life, being appointed as a territorial judge, a justice of the peace, and clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions.

Meigs' role as military agent ended in 1813 when the Federal soldiers stationed at Hiwassee Garrison were withdrawn.

The government's trading or factory operations were linked with Indian relations in the War Department during these years.

[7] His death was attributed to pneumonia contracted from sleeping outdoors in a tent while giving a visiting Indian chief his own living quarters.