John Armstrong (April 20, 1755 – February 4, 1816) was an American soldier and judge. He was born in New Jersey. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

he served as an officer in the Continental Army with the 12th Pennsylvania Regiment and the

3rd Pennsylvania Regiment The 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment, first known as the 2nd Pennsylvania Battalion, was raised on December 9, 1775, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for service with the Continental Army. The regiment would see action during the Battle of Valcour Island, ...

. His service record is sometimes confused with the more famous John Armstrong, Jr., a Pennsylvania officer who became U.S. Secretary of War. Armstrong rejoined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1784 and served during the Northwest Indian War. In 1790, General

Josiah Harmar Josiah Harmar (November 10, 1753August 20, 1813) was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for six years and seven months (August 1784 to Ma ...

sent him on an exploration mission in the Northwest Territory. Later that year he led a detachment of regular soldiers that accompanied Kentucky militia under Colonel

John Hardin John Hardin (October 1, 1753 – May 1792) was an American soldier, scout, and frontiersman. As a young man, he fought in Lord Dunmore's War, in which he was wounded, and gained a reputation as a marksman and "Indian killer." He served in the Con ...

in an expedition to attack a Native American village on the Eel River. The Americans were ambushed in the battle; the militia fled and Armstrong barely escaped with his life. He resigned from the Army in March 1793. After the war, he served as treasurer of the Northwest Territory, a judge in Hamilton County, Ohio, and as magistrate in Columbia, Ohio. He spent his final years in

Clark County, Indiana Clark County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana, located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. At the 2020 census, the population was 121,093. The county seat is Jeffersonville. Clark County is part of the Louisville/ ...

, where he died.

References

*O’Donnell, James H., III. "Armstrong, John". '' American National Biography Online'', February 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, John 1755 births 1816 deaths Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania American people of the Northwest Indian War Northwest Territory officials United States Army officers Ohio state court judges