George Mathews

Who was George Mathews?

George Mathews was a Continental Army officer during the American Revolution and afterward a United States general officer; he was 20th and 21st governor of Georgia, and a U.S. Congressman. He was the main U.S. participant in the Patriot War of East Florida, an 1810-1812 filibuster expedition to capture Spanish Florida for the United States.

Born in Augusta County, Virginia, Mathews was in early life a merchant and planter. He quickly became a senior officer in the colonial forces, and was credited along with Colonel Andrew Lewis for the victory of the Virginia provincial militia against the Shawnee and Mingo Indian tribes in the Battle of Point Pleasant of Dunmore's War. He was afterward a member of the House of Burgesses from Augusta County. He attended the First Virginia Convention when the Virginia General Assembly was dissolved by Royal Governor Lord Dunmore.

On the outbreak of the American Revolution Mathews led the 9th Virginia Infantry of the Continental Army to the Battle of Brandywine. He has been called "the hero of Brandywine" for his efforts during the American defeat. Mathews and his entire regiment were captured in the Battle of Germantown the following month. He spent the next four years as a prisoner of war, including two years on the British prison ship HMS Jersey. After the war, he moved to the state of Georgia and was quickly elected to the Georgia General Assembly. The same year he was elected 20th governor of the state. He served two terms as governor, and one intermittent term in Congress, during which he voted to ratify the United States Constitution. During his second administration he quietly allowed the creation of the rogue state of the Trans-Oconee Republic, headed by General Elijah Clarke. He oversaw the removal of the state when public opinion, coupled with pressure from the Federal government, shifted. His administration was later tainted by the Yazoo Land Fraud, which ultimately led to his retiring from politics.