David Henley

Who was David Henley?

David Henley was a Continental Army officer during the American Revolutionary War, who served as George Washington's intelligence officer and Prisoner of war commandant. He later served as the Agent for the United States Department of War for the Southwest Territory in the 1790s.

Henley was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the eldest child of Samuel and Elizabeth Cheever Henley. On January 8, 1776, he set fire to Charlestown which was occupied by the British. In that same year, he served a major under General William Heath, and briefly as an adjutant general under General Joseph Spencer. On January 1, 1777, he was made Colonel of the Massachusetts Regiment. He was in command at Cambridge, Massachusetts, when the troops that had been captured at Saratoga were brought thither. Henley stabbed an insolent but unarmed British prisoner. Court-martial proceedings were held at Cambridge from January 20, 1778, to February 25, 1778, but he was acquitted. British General Burgoyne challenged him to a duel, which was to take place in Bermuda. He accepted the challenge but the duel never happened.