Caleb Gibbs (1748–1818) was the first commander of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, the unit that protected General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography

Gibbs was born on February 28, 1748, in Newport, Rhode Island. He took up residence in Marblehead, Massachusetts. During the American Revolutionary War, Gibbs was appointed as the adjutant of the

14th Continental Regiment The 14th Continental Regiment, also known as the Marblehead Regiment and Glover's Regiment, was raised as a Massachusetts militia regiment in 1775, and taken into the Continental Army establishment during the summer of 1775. When the Continent ...

, commanded by Colonel John Glover of Marblehead, on January 1, 1776. On 12 March 1776, General Washington appointed Captain Gibbs as the commander of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, with the title of captain commandant. Three years later, in 1779, Gibbs was succeeded as commander by

William Colfax William Colfax (July 3, 1756 – September 9, 1838) was a Revolutionary War figure who served as Captain of George Washington's Life Guard beginning on March 18, 1778. William was the fifth child born to George Colfax (born: December 25, 1727) a ...

. During his command of Washington's "''Life Guard''" Gibbs was promoted to the rank of Major on July 29, 1778.Ward, Harry M. George Washington's Enforcers: Policing the Continental Army (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006); Chapt. 5 ''Washington's Life Guard'', p.60 Gibbs was succeeded by

as commander of the Life Guard. On January 1, 1781 Gibbs was reassigned to the

2nd Massachusetts Regiment The 2nd Massachusetts Regiment, also known as Thomas' Regiment and Bailey's Regiment, was a unit of the Massachusetts Line in the 1777 establishment of the Continental Army. It was a successor to a number of Massachusetts provincial regiments f ...

. On October 14, 1781 he fought at the

Battle of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

where he was wounded in action. Gibbs was brevetted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on September 30, 1783. In November 1783, following the British evacuation of New York, the 2nd Massachusetts was disbanded. Gibbs was retained in Jackson's Continental Regiment, commanded by Colonel Henry Jackson, the only infantry regiment remaining in the Continental Army. Gibbs was discharged from the Continental Army on June 20, 1784 when Jackson's Regiment was disbanded. In 1783 Gibbs became an Original Member of the Massachusetts

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

. In January 1787 Gibbs married Catherine Hall, the daughter of James Hall of Boston. They had a daughter named Catherine N. Gibbs who married Mr. J. C. Park. In 1798 Gibbs was recommended by then retired Major General Henry Knox to command a regiment when the U.S. Army was expanded during the Quasi War with France. Knox said of Gibbs - "No officer of the late American army would discipline and command a regiment with greater effect." On November 6, 1818, Gibbs died in

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins t ...

References

Letters between Caleb Gibbs and General Washington

*http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=61817 *http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=61838 *http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=61841

External links

* http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/gibbs.html * http://www.newenglandancestors.org/database_search/msc.asp?f=RESEARCH\DATABASE\MSC\CONTENT\CALEB+GIBBS.HTM * http://www.sar.org/committee/colorguard/Insignia.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Caleb 1748 births 1818 deaths Continental Army officers from Massachusetts People from Marblehead, Massachusetts Aides-de-camp of George Washington Military personnel from Newport, Rhode Island People of colonial Rhode Island