It is believed that General Henry Knox, head of artillery under General George Washington, conceived the idea of the Society of the Cincinnati. During October 1776 in a New York tavern, as Knox met with Washington and others, he noted that, after the war, he would like to have a tangible memento, such as a ribbon or badge, to pass to his descendants as proof that he had fought in defense of his country’s freedom.
At the time, Knox still was a young man in his mid-20s who already had achieved an extraordinary wartime feat. He had directed teams of oxen several hundred miles through swollen rivers, ice and snow to transport canon captured at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York for delivery to Washington. The commanding general placed them on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston. The mission boosted moral of the new Continental Army and it allowed Washington to stare down the best army in the world. Outmaneuvered in Boston, the British army set sail to fight another day.
But when Knox made the comment about a memento a few months later, the war had turned against the patriots. With a defeat on Long Island (Brooklyn) and the retreat north to White Plains, Knox had no way of knowing if he would survive if the glorious cause was lost. As a general, a hangman’s noose for treason already could have been fitted for him.
Forming the Society of the Cincinnati
As hostilities were ending, a formal meeting of Washington’s officers was held during May 1783. Under the guidance of Major General Baron von Steuben, proposals for the Society of the Cincinnati were established. Naval officers from France, who supported America’s cause for independence, also were included in the Society at the urging of Charles Hector, the Comte D’Estaing, who was an admiral of a French fleet during the war.
The American officers drew the name for their new group from the Roman farmer-soldier Cincinnatus. As they, he had exchanged his farm tools for a weapon in defense of freedom and then turned his powers back to the state before he returned to his farm.
The Society’s insignia, which represents the French-American allegiance with its deep blue ribbon edged with white, shows Cincinnatus in the center of a gold emblem. The Roman general is surrounded by three senators who are presenting him with a sword and other military ensigns as he stands near his plough. His wife stands near the door of their cottage.
Over the years, membership to the Society has remained exclusive, with some exceptions, to the descendants of officers of Washington’s Continental Line through the oldest male progeny.
Chapters in Original 13 Colonies
The national society comprises 14 chapters, one for each of the original 13 colonies along with one in France.
According to the Institution, the Society’s founding document, the state chapters “meet as often as shall be agreed upon by the State Society…”
In New Hampshire, for example, the society continues to meet today each May and October in the Ladd-Gilman House. This home in Exeter was the residence of an original member. The state society purchased the property from descendants of the Gilman family during the early 1900s.
The Ladd-Gilman House is home to the American Independence Museum. In its collection is the original sketch for the Society’s insignia that was created by Charles Pierre L’Enfant, who also designed what was to become Washington, D.C. The museum also owns L’Enfant’s engravings for society diplomas that are signed by Washington and Knox.
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