John Lacey (February 4, 1755 – February 17, 1814) was an American military officer 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

.History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. J. H. Battle, Editor. Spartanburg, South Carolina, Reprint Publishers (1985) p. 1175. "General John Lacey-Our Quaker General," W.W.H. Davis. Bucks County Historical Society Papers (1909) Vol. 3, p.32. Also see Memoirs of Brigadier General John Lacey of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 25 (1901), pp. 1-2. An alternate birthdate of December 4, 1752 is given and explained. He was appointed a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania militia by the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Supreme Executive Council in January 1778.Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, Volume XI, Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council, p.398
an
Pennsylvania Archives, Volume VI, p. 168.
/ref> A native of Buckingham Township in

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

, Lacey was a member of local militia unit which was incorporated into the Pennsylvania Line of 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 ...

. He served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

under Colonel

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military expl ...

on the Canadian frontier in 1776, but he and Wayne got along poorly and Lacey resigned his commission and went home. In 1777, he served as a lieutenant colonel in a Bucks County Regiment of militia, during which he fought at Germantown, and Matson's Ford.Memoirs of Brigadier General John Lacey of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 26 (1902), pp.105-109. Note: Lacey did not have a command during the Battle of Germantown but served as a volunteer. Lacey is not listed at Whitemarsh. He gained such a reputation for skill and courage that Pennsylvania Supreme Executive made him a Brigadier General in the Pennsylvania Militia on January 9, 1778. He commanded the American forces in the

Battle of Crooked Billet The Battle of Crooked Billet was a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on May 1, 1778 near the Crooked Billet Tavern (present-day Hatboro, Pennsylvania). In the skirmish action, British forces under the ...

.Pennsylvania Archives, Volume VI, pp.470-471.
/ref> He was 59 years old when he died. Later, several communities were named in his honor, including Lacey Park, Pennsylvania and

Lacey Township, New Jersey Lacey Township is a township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is considered part of the Jersey Shore and South Jersey regions, as well as of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township' ...

.Lacey Community Profile
, Ocean County Library. Accessed September 2, 2015. "In 1809, John Lacey, a Revolutionary War general, built Ferrago Forge---for his contribution to the growth and importance of the area, the township was named for him when it was incorporated in 1871." The Gen. John Lacey Homestead was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, John 1755 births 1814 deaths Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania Militia generals in the American Revolution Pennsylvania militiamen in the American Revolution Military personnel from Bucks County, Pennsylvania People from colonial Pennsylvania