One neglected hero of the Revolution is Philip Schuyler of New York (1733-1904), one of the four major generals selected by Congress right after they picked George Washington as Commander-in-Chief. (His surname is pronounced "Skyler.")
He was not popular with the New Englanders and Congress transferred command to Horatio Gates in Aug. 1777, so Gates got the glory of the victory at Saratoga, but Schuyler went and congratulated him in person on the victory. Burgoyne stayed at Schuyler's country mansion (8 miles from Saratoga battlefield) and then burned it down...but after the surrender Schuyler let Burgoyne stay in his Albany mansion.
His daughter Elizabeth married Alexander Hamilton. Their oldest son Philip was killed in a duel in Weehauken, NJ, in 1801, at the age of 18. In July 1804, Alexander Hamilton was mortally wounded in a duel in Weehauken. His father-in-law died a few months later.
Daniel Webster wrote of Schuyler: "I was brought up with New England prejudices against him, but I consider him second only to Washington in the services he rendered to the country in the war of the revolution."
His descendant Gen. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1900-1993) had a distinguished career in the US Army. When the famous military historian John Keegan met him in 1979, he was the last surviving pre-Pearl Harbor general.
That should be Weehawken, not Weehauken.
Obviously Philip Schuyler’s dates are 1733-1804, not 1733-1904.
My late mother-in-law’s mom was a Schuyler, in direct decent from Philip. My youngest son’s middle name is Schuyler in honor of the awesome legacy!