Thomas Mifflin

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Mifflin, Thomas (1744–1800) American army officer and politician; Governor of Pennsylvania. Born in Philadelphia, he was one of the youngest and most radical members of the First and Second Continental Congresses. Although nominally a Quaker, he was active in recruiting and training troops after Lexington and accepted a commission as major in the Continental army in May 1775. He became aide-de-camp to Gen. George Washington, who appointed him the first quartermaster general of the Continental Army on August 14, 1775. Relieved as quartermaster general in May 1776, he amply demonstrated his personal bravery in command of the covering party during the withdrawal from New York and at Trenton (both 1776) and Princeton (1777), rising to the rank of major general in February 1777. Mifflin served a second, less successful tour as quartermaster general from September 1776 to March 1778. He neglected his duties and was in large part responsible for the difficulties of the army at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777–78. From November 1777 to April 1778, Mifflin served on the Board of War and Ordnance, and he was involved in the infamous Conway Cabal which sought to replace George Washington with Horatio Gates. He resigned his commission as major general in February 1779 under accusations of financial malfeasance as quartermaster general. Mifflin was elected to Congress in 1782 and served as its president (December 1783– June 1784) and as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He served three terms as Governor of Pennsylvania (1790–99) and played a prominent role in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion (1794).

Thomas Mifflin 1744–1800, American Revolutionary general and political leader, b. Philadelphia. Turning from business to public affairs, he was a member of the Pennsylvania provincial assembly and of the First Continental Congress. He joined the army early in the American Revolution and rose to the rank of quartermaster general. He held that post, except for a brief interruption, until 1778, when he resigned after being accused of misuse of funds. The charges were never substantiated. Dissatisfied with George Washington's conduct of the war, he became involved in the Conway Cabal and tried to undermine Washington, but later he renewed his friendship with the commander in chief. Mifflin again served in the Continental Congress (1782–84) and was its president (1783–84). He was later a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (1787), and was governor of Pennsylvania (1790–99) during the Whiskey Rebellion and the revolt of the Pennsylvania Germans under John Fries . Although he initially refused to commit the Pennsylvania militia to suppressing the Whiskey Rebellion, he eventually cooperated with President Washington against the insurgents.

Bibliography: See study by K. R. Rossman (1952).