| Thomas Proctor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1739 County Longford, Ireland |
| Died | 16 March 1806 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | Artillery |
| Years of service | 1775–1781 |
| Rank | Colonel (Continental Army) Major General (State militia) |
| Battles/wars |
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| Other work | Society of the Cincinnati Freemason |
Thomas Proctor or Thomas Procter (1739 – 16 March 1806) was born in County Longford, Ireland and emigrated to British America with his parents as a child. He joined the carpenter's guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1772. He received a commission as an artillery captain in October 1775 and proceeded to raise a company of Pennsylvania state artillery. In the summer of 1776, a second company was recruited and Proctor was promoted to major. One of the companies fought well at the Battle of Trenton in December 1776, though Proctor was not there. He wed Mary Fox the same month. The Pennsylvania artillery companies informally joined George Washington's army. The state authorities elevated Proctor to colonel and charged him to recruit the Pennsylvania State Artillery Regiment in February 1777.
In June 1777 Proctor's Continental Artillery Regiment officially became part of the Continental Army. He played an important role at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777 and several of his companies fought at Germantown in October, though it is not clear if he was present. The following June he led his gunners at Monmouth. In 1779 he went on the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois Nation. On 10 August 1779 his regiment was renamed the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment. The hot-tempered Proctor often quarreled with the Pennsylvania civil authorities and this led him to resign from the army in April 1781.
Proctor served as sheriff of Philadelphia County from 1783 to 1785 and was elected to the Philadelphia city council in 1790. Secretary of War Henry Knox appointed him in 1791 to go on a peace mission to the native American tribes near Lake Erie. Governor Thomas Mifflin appointed Proctor a brigadier general of militia in 1793 and the following year sent him with a brigade of 1,849 men to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. By 1798 he was a major general of militia. He was a Freemason and founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati in Pennsylvania. He died at his home in Philadelphia on 16 March 1806, having outlived his second wife Sarah Ann Hussey by two years.