William Pierce (politician)
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William Pierce Jr. (1753 – December 10, 1789) was
Founding Father of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the war for independence from Great Britai ...
, military officer during the Revolutionary War, member of the Continental Congress, merchant, and planter and
slave owner The following is a list of slave owners, for which there is a consensus of historical evidence of slave ownership, in alphabetical order by last name. A * Adelicia Acklen (1817–1887), at one time the wealthiest woman in Tennessee, she inh ...
. As a delegate representing
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at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he signed the
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.


Early life

William Pierce was born in York County, Virginia in 1753, the third and youngest son of Matthew and Elizabeth Pierce. As a young man, he studied art under
Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...
in Maryland.


Military service

After returning to Virginia from Maryland in the summer of 1775, Pierce accepted a commission in the Continental Army. As tensions with Great Britain turned into armed conflict, he participated in the fighting at Hampton, Virginia, in September 1775. Pierce was commissioned a Captain in the 1st Continental Regiment of Artillery the following year as the new country organized its forces for war. After months of guarding against British incursions in the Hampton Roads area, the First Regiment of Continental Artillery was ordered to join the Main Army at
Valley Forge Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the ...
in the Spring of 1778. After his regiment arrived at Valley Forge, Pierce's battery was then detached to Major General John Sullivan's command in Rhode Island. Suffering from poor health, Pierce voluntarily suspended his company command and accepted a position as an aide-de-camp to General Sullivan in early 1779. He attended his commander in the punitive expedition in Upstate New York to subdue the British-aligned Iroquois during the summer. Returning to
Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...
on furlough in early 1780, Pierce evidently studied at the
College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...
and was accepted as a member of
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. As the War for American Independence shifted to the southern states, Pierce was again invited to become an aide-de-camp to a general officer in December 1780, this time to Major General
Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependab ...
. Pierce accepted the assignment and joined his new corps on its fighting retreat in North Carolina in early February 1781. Pierce proved himself valuable to Greene over the course of the next two years, not only in his secretarial duties but as a military officer. For example, he assisted in the rallying a contingent of Virginia troops at a critical moment during the Battle of Hobkirk Hill and was also Greene's selection to carry news of the
Battle of Eutaw Springs The Battle of Eutaw Springs was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, and was the last major engagement of the war in the Carolinas. Both sides claimed victory. Background In early 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the ...
to the Continental Congress.


Merchant, planter, and politician

With the end of the war, Pierce established himself as a merchant and planter, marrying the daughter of a wealthy South Carolinian. Conditions for business were dim during the nation's Confederation period, so Pierce sought political office with the hope of improving his prospects. He was elected to represent Chatham County in Georgia's General Assembly on February 1, 1786. The state legislature promptly elected him to the
Confederation Congress The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...
, as well as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. In January 1787, he attended Congress in New York, the nation's temporary capital, and in May traveled to Philadelphia for the convention. Pierce attended the proceedings and spoke on a number of points. He also recorded a series of "Character Sketches", providing a narrative on the personalities of the convention's delegates. Although he agreed with the end result of the proceedings, Pierce did not sign the Constitution, having left at the end of June to attend to "a piece of business so necessary that it became unavoidable." The business was a duel with merchant John Auldjo, after tempers had flared over mishandled "mercantile dealings." Ironically, Auldjo's second, Alexander Hamilton, intervened and prevented the contest. Returning to Georgia, Pierce continued in the state legislature and, in 1789, received a respectable number of votes for Governor.


Death

Pierce died at his plantation near Savannah on December 10, 1789 after a lingering illness.Georgia Gazette, Decr 17 & 24, 1789


References


External links


William Leigh Pierce at the National Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, William 1753 births 1789 deaths College of William & Mary alumni Continental Army officers from Virginia Continental Congressmen from Georgia (U.S. state) 18th-century American politicians American slave owners Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Founding Fathers of the United States