Muhlenberg, John Peter Gabriel b. October I, 1746;Trappe, Pennsylvania d. October 1, 1807;Trappe, Pennsylvania

Son of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, he was a Pennsylvania-German minister who left the pulpit to lead a regiment of Vir­ginians in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

After his brief service in the British army, Muhlenberg studied to be a pastor in the American Lutheran Church. Ordained a minister in February 1769, he assisted his father serving churches in the Philadelphia area. He married in 1770 and shortly thereafter accepted a call from the German Lutheran congregation at Woodstock, Dunmore County, Virginia. In Virginia he became involved in politics as a follower of Patrick Henry. Muhlenberg was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses that met in Williamsburg in early August 1774. Fol­lowing his father’s advice, he resigned from politics to concentrate more on the spiri­tual lives of his congregation.

On January 12, 1776, he was ap­pointed a colonel by the Virginia conven­tion meeting in Williamsburg, even though he only had very limited military experience. He returned home to raise his regiment. In his farewell sermon to his parish, delivered on January 21, 1776, Muhlenberg is reported to have concluded with the phrase: “There is a time to pray and a time to fight, and that time has now come!” (Wallace 1950, 116—119). With that statement, he allegedly threw off his gown at the pulpit, revealing the uniform of a Continental Army colonel. With this exhibition he was able to recruit about 300 members of his parish into the 8th Virginia Regiment, better known as the German Regiment.

The regiment saw action in the defense of Charleston, South Carolina, in June 1776. In Georgia during the summer of 1776, Colonel Muhlenberg contracted a disease of the liver that would trouble him for the rest of his life and would eventually cause his death. He was commissioned a brigadier general on February 21, 1777, and ordered to report to General George Washington’s camp at Morristown, New Jersey. Muhlenberg’s brigade fought at the battles of Brandywine in September 1777 and Germantown in October 1777. He spent the winter of 1777—1778 camped at Valley Forge and the winter of 1778-1779 at the army’s headquarters in Middlebrook, New Jersey.

In December 1779 Washington or­dered Muhlenberg back to Virginia. The British were threatening the South and Washington wanted an experienced com­mander to raise fresh troops to meet the enemy. Under the command of the Mar­quis de Lafayette, Muhlenberg played a sig­nificant role in the siege of the British at Yorktown. Muhlenberg’s brigade attacked and captured British Redoubt 10, one of the final two British redoubts, on October 14, 1781. The British surrendered shortly thereafter.

On September 30, 1783, Muhlenberg was promoted to the rank of brevet major general. He retired from the army on No­vember 3, 1783. After the war, he moved his family to Pennsylvania where he entered politics. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council in 1784. From 1785-1788 Muhlenberg served as vice pres­ident of the state under Benjamin Franklin. In 1789 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as an anti-Federalist. He joined his brother Frederick in the First Congress. A Democratic-Republican, Muh­lenberg was elected to the U. S. Senate on February 18, 1801. He was a senator for two days during the session in March 1801 be­fore resigning to become the collector of customs for the port of Philadelphia.

John David Rausch Jr.

See also Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior;

Steuben, Frederick von

References and Further Reading

Hocker, Edward W. The Fighting Parson of the

American Revolution: A Biography of General Peter Muhlenberg, Lutheran Clergyman, Military Chieftain, and Political Leader. Philadelphia: Edward W. Hocker, 1939.

Muhlenberg, Henry Augustus. Life of Major General Peter Muhlenberg. Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1849.

Wallace, Paul A. W. The Muhlenbergs of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1950.