James Mitchell Varnum

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James Mitchell Varnum (December 17, 1748 – January 9, 1789) was an American lawyer and a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

[edit] Biography

James Mitchell Varnum was born in Dracut, Massachusetts. As a young man he went Rhode Island to attend Brown University and in Rhode Island he met his future wife. Along with Nathanael Greene he served in the Kentish Guards. He served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, serving from 1777 until 1779. Varnum advocated allowing African Americans to enlist in the Continental Army, which resulted in the reformation of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment as an all-black unit. After Varnum resigned his Continental Army commission because of personal business matters, he was appointed major general of Rhode Island militia. He represented Rhode Island in the Continental Congress (1780-1781 and 1787).

In 1787, Varnum was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territory, and moved to Marietta, Ohio, to take up his duties. He died less than two years later, and is buried in the Mound Cemetery there.

His home in East Greenwich, Rhode Island is seen as a tourist attraction today. His brother was Joseph Bradley Varnum.

[edit] See also

• 1st Rhode Island Regiment
• 9th Continental Regiment

[edit] External links

• Website of Varnum Continentals

• James Mitchell Varnum at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress