Background
Born in 1775 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jacob Jennings Brown was the son of Samuel and Abi (White) Brown.
Born in 1775 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Jacob Jennings Brown was the son of Samuel and Abi (White) Brown.
Brown graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1790.
Subsequently he purchased a large tract of land in Jefferson county, New York, where he founded the town of Brownville.
On the outbreak of the second war with Great Britain (1812) he was placed in command of the New York state frontier from Oswego to Lake St Francis (near Cornwall, Ontario) and repelled the British attacks on Ogdensburg (October 4, 1812) and Sackett's Harbor (May 29, 1813).
In July 1813 he was commissioned brigadier-general in the regular army, and in January 1814 he was promoted major-general and succeeded General James Wilkinson in command of the forces at Niagara.
Early in the summer of 1814 he undertook offensive operations, and his forces occupied Fort Erie, and, on the 5th of July, at Chippawa, Ontario, defeated the British under General Phineas Riall (c. 1769 - 1851). His successes, in what was the northwest U. S. at that time, made him a national hero.
On the 25th of July, with General Winfield Scott, he fought a hotly contested, but indecisive, battle with the Вritish under General Gordon Drummond (1771 -1854) at Lundy's Lane, where he was twice wounded.
He was appointed Commanding General of the United States Army and held that post until his death. He participated in Second Battle of Sacket's Harbor, Capture of Fort Erie, Battle of Chippawa, Battle of Lundy's Lane, Siege of Fort Erie (during War of 1812).
Congress authorized the award to Brown of a Congressional Gold Medal on November 3, 1814. General Brown was the 24th American to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
In 1818, Brown was admitted as an honorary member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati.
Quotes from others about the person
President John Quincy Adams said of him:
General Brown was one of the eminent men of this age and nation. Through 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.
In December 1802, he married Pamelia Williams, then seventeen. They eventually had four sons (Gouverneur, Jacob, William and Nathan) and five daughters (Mary, Eliza, Pamela, Margaret and Katherine).
