Philip Schuyler

Philip was related to many illustrious contemporaries, including: Peter Schuyler, a cousin who commanded the Jersey Blues; Hester Schuyler, a cousin who married William Colfax, a veteran of George Washington's Life Guards and later a general in the New Jersey militia who also commanded the Jersey Blues (William and Hester were the grandparents of Vice President and Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax); Arent Schuyler DePeyster (cousin), a noted Loyalist; Mary (Watts) Johnson, a second cousin who was a Loyalist and wife of Colonel Sir John Johnson; and Dr. John Cochran, a brother-in-law who was the Director General of the Military Hospitals of the Continental Army.[7]

In 1756, Schuyler was elected to Albany's common council as assistant alderman for the first ward.[5] He also continued his business career by obtaining the contract to operate a Hudson River ferry between Albany and Greenbush.[5]

From 1761 to 1762, Schuyler made a trip to England to settle accounts from his work as quartermaster. He began construction on his home in Albany, later called Schuyler Mansion, during this time. He also began construction of his country estate (now known as the General Schuyler House), at Saratoga.[8]

In 1768, Schuyler continued his political career as a member of the New York Assembly, serving in that body until 1775. During that time, his views came to be more opposed to the colonial government, particularly in matters of trade and currency. He was made a colonel in the militia for his support of Governor Henry Moore.[9]

Letter from Philip Schuyler to Israel Shreve, 1776

Schuyler was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, and served until he was appointed a major general of the Continental Army in June. General Schuyler took command of the Northern Department, and planned the Invasion of Canada (1775). His poor health required him to place Richard Montgomery in command of the invasion.[10]

As department commanding general, he was active in preparing a defense against the Saratoga Campaign, part of the "Three Pronged Attack" strategy of the British to cut the American Colonies in two by invading and occupying New York State in 1777. In the summer of that year General John Burgoyne marched his British army south from Quebec over the valleys of Lakes Champlain and George. On the way he invested the small Colonial garrison occupying Fort Ticonderoga at the nexus of the two lakes. When General St. Clair abandoned Fort Ticonderoga in July, the Congress replaced Schuyler with General Horatio Gates, who had accused Schuyler of dereliction of duty. In 1778, Schuyler and Arthur St. Clair were court-martialed for the loss of Ticonderoga, but were both acquitted.[11][12]

The British offensive was eventually stopped by Continental Army then under the command of Gates and Benedict Arnold in the Battle of Saratoga. That victory, the first wholesale defeat of a large British force, marked a turning point in the revolution, for it convinced France to enter the war on the American side. When Schuyler demanded a court martial to answer Gates' charges, he was vindicated but resigned from the Army on April 19, 1779. He then served in two more sessions of the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780.

As a prominent politician and Patriot leader in New York, he was the subject of an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt by British soldiers led by John Walden Meyers on August 7, 1781 at his Albany mansion.[13]

Schuyler was an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati.

After the war, he expanded his Saratoga estate to tens of thousands of acres, adding slaves, tenant farmers, a store, mills for flour, flax, and lumber. His flax mill for the making of linen was the first one in America. He built several schooners on the Hudson River, and named the first Saratoga.

He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1780 to 1784, and at the same time New York State Surveyor General from 1781 to 1784.[14] Afterwards he returned to the State Senate from 1786 to 1790, where he actively supported the adoption of the United States Constitution.[15]

In 1789, he was elected a U.S. Senator from New York to the First United States Congress, serving from July 27, 1789, to March 3, 1791. After losing his bid for re-election in 1791 to Aaron Burr, he returned to the State Senate from 1792 to 1797. In 1797, he was elected again to the U.S. Senate and served in the 5th United States Congress from March 4, 1797, until his resignation because of ill health on January 3, 1798.[16]

Geographic locations and buildings named in Schuyler's honor include:

• Schuyler, New York
• Schuylerville, New York
• Schuyler County, New York, as well as Schuyler County, Illinois, and Schuyler County, Missouri
• Fort Schuyler, a military fortification begun in 1833 at the tip of Throggs Neck in the Bronx, which now houses the Maritime Industry Museum and the State University of New York Maritime College
• The Philip Schuyler Achievement Academy (named for Schuyler and his son Philip) in Albany, New York

Schuyler was depicted by John Trumbull in his 1821 painting Surrender of General Burgoyne, which hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.

Major General Philip Schuyler, a bronze statue by sculptor J. Massey Rhind, was erected outside Albany City Hall in 1925. In June 2020, Albany mayor Kathy Sheehan signed an executive order for the statue to be removed and given to a "museum or other institution for future display with appropriate historical context", due to Schuyler's ownership of slaves.[29] The statue was requested the next day by the mayor of Schuylerville, New York, who suggested that it be relocated to Schuyler House.[30]

The non-speaking role of Philip Schuyler was originated by ensemble member Sydney James Harcourt in the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton, in which Schuyler's son-in-law Alexander Hamilton is the title character.[31]