Benjamin George Eyre (June 1, 1747July 11, 1789), was a figure of 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Eyre served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

, commanding the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Militia.

Biography

Benjamin was the brother to

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and Jehu Eyre, also both major players in the Revolution. Apocryphally, his family was descended, through his father, from the royal

House of Wessex The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic, the House of the West Saxons, the House of the Gewisse, the Cerdicings and the West Saxon dynasty, refers to the family, traditionally founded by Cerdic of the Gewisse, that ruled Wessex in ...

. The Eyre family as a whole played a pivotal role in the war (most notably through their invaluable contributions to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, which they essentially founded) and Washington mentioned them several times in his personal correspondences.

Shipbuilder

Benjamin Eyre was commissioned by the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

to build the frigate ''General Greene'', a service for which he was paid 56,561 pounds. Large contracts such as this one during the Revolutionary War era helped the Eyres' shipping company, Eyre and Massey, to become one of the largest in the world and bolstered the political and financial situation of the

Eyre family The Eyre family refers to the descendants of George Eyre (American), George Eyre and Mary Smith Eyre who comprised a political and business dynasty prominent in the Northeastern United States from the Colonial history of the United States, colonial ...

Revolutionary

As aide-de-camp to General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, he was so close to the future

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that he was once given an expensive punch-bowl by him. The punchbowl was loaned to the American Wing of New York's Metropolitan Museum in 1928 and donated by the surviving heirs in 1973. A large color photo can be seen in the magazine American Heritage, August 1955. The bowl depicted the China international trade and includes one of the first illustrations of the American flag, along with other international standards. The Eyre brothers were major ship builders.

Legacy

A portrait of him standing alongside Washington can be found at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Benjamin Eyre family 1747 births 1789 deaths People from Burlington, New Jersey Continental Army officers from New Jersey People from colonial New Jersey American people of English descent