11/20/2025
Philip Schuyler was born into a wealthy colonial New York family, inheriting a vast Hudson Valley estate at age 21 when his father died. An ambitious and diligent man, Schuyler worked to grow his wealth, building grist mills, acquiring ships, and establishing the first flax mill in North America. In 1767 he was elected to the New York Assembly. When British soldiers clashed with American militia at Lexington and Concord, Schuyler was prosperous, secure and socially prominent.
That so many of the leaders of the American Revolution would place their wealth, prosperity, and lives at risk in defense of principle, despite all the social and material advantages they enjoyed under the status quo, has long been a subject of great interest to historians of the era. Schuyler is certainly a case in point. When news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord reached him, Schuyler wrote a friend: “The loyal and the timid in this province are many, yet I believe that when the question is fairly put—whether we shall be ruled by a military despotism, or fight for right and freedom—the great majority of the people will choose the latter… (I)n the spirit of Joshua I say, I care not what others may do, as for me and my house, we will serve our country.”
While many wealthy New Yorkers remained loyal to the crown, Schuyler cast his lot with the Patriots. In May 1775 he took a seat as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and six weeks later was appointed a major general in the Continental Army.
George Washington assigned General Schuyler command of the “Northern Department,” responsible for defending the vital Lake Champlain-Hudson river corridor—the corridor down which British General John Burgoyne launched an invasion in the summer of 1777, aiming to split the rebellious colonies in two and s***f out the revolution. Schuyler and his men harassed and delayed the British as they marched slowly across the largely untamed wilderness, which was taking an ever-increasing toll on their provisions and health. Along the line of their invasion the British passed Schuyler’s home, which they burned to the ground along with his mills.
Shortly before the climactic battles of the campaign began, Congress replaced Schuyler with Horatio Gates and it was Gates who received the glory that followed the surrender of Burgoyne and his army in Saratoga County, New York, (at present day Schuylerville), glory that history would reveal had been earned by others.
Schuyler remained in the army for the rest of the war, interrupted by stints in the Continental Congress. Following ratification of the constitution he served as a United States senator and a member of Congress.
He and his wife Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler had 15 children together, including a daughter Eliza, who became the wife of Alexander Hamilton.
Philip John Schuyler was born on November 20, 1733, two hundred ninety-two years ago today. He died at his home in Albany in 1804, at age 70.
