John Doughty
2nd Senior Officer of the United States Army
In office 20 June 1784 – 12 August 1784
Preceded by	Henry Knox
Succeeded by	Josiah Harmar
Personal details
Born	(1754-07-25)July 25, 1754 New York City,New York,British America
Died	September 16, 1826(1826-09-16) (aged 72) Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	Continental Army  United States Army
Years of service	1776-1791, 1798-1800
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine Battle of Germantown Battle of Monmouth Battle of Springfield Siege of Yorktown Northwest Indian War Quasi-War

John Doughty (July 25, 1754 – September 16, 1826) was an American military officer who briefly served as thesenior officer of the United States Army in 1784. Holding the rank ofmajor at the time, he bears the distinction of being the lowest ranked individual ever to serve as the senior most United States Army officer.

Born inNew York City on July 25, 1754, he graduated from King's College (Columbia University) in 1770 and entered military service through New Jersey state channels in January 1776.

He served as adjutant general of twoMorris County battalions and was appointedcaptain lieutenant of theNew Jersey Eastern Artillery Company in March 1776. Doughty became a captain of the2nd Continental Artillery Regiment in January 1777 and served as anaide-de-camp toMajor GeneralPhilip Schuyler. Later, he was assigned to command the New York State Artillery Company in March 1777.

Doughty would participate in the battles ofBrandywine (1777),Germantown (1777),Monmouth (1778),Springfield (1780), andYorktown (1781). He was appointed brigade major of the Corps of Artillery in 1779 and was appointed fort major for theWest Point garrison in 1782. He was transferred to the Corps of Artillery in June 1783 and was promoted to brevetmajor in September. Doughty's artillery company was attached to Henry Jackson's1st American Regiment following in the disbanding of theContinental Army late in 1783.

Doughty became the Army's senior ranking officer following the discharge of Jackson's regiment in June 1784, leaving Doughty in command of a company of 55 artillerymen atWest Point and a detachment of 25 men atFort Pitt in Pennsylvania guarding military stores left over from the Continental Army.

On August 12 of the same year, anInfantry regiment was organized under Brevet Brigadier GeneralJosiah Harmar, who then became the senior officer in the United States Army. On that date, Doughty was promoted to major and placed in command of a battalion of two companies of artillery. In this position he superintended the construction ofFort Harmar (1785) andFort Washington (1789) on the Ohio frontier.

Doughty was designated major commandant of theBattalion of Artillery in September 1789, and then was dispatched byPresident Washington to the frontier to negotiate with theChoctaw Nation for trading post sites in 1789. He was repelled with serious losses when attacked byCherokee,Shawnee, andMuscogee people, while leading a detachment up theTennessee River on a negotiating mission to theChickasaw Nation in 1790.

In March 1791 Doughty was offered the position of lieutenant colonel commandant (i.e. commanding officer) of the newly formed2nd Infantry Regiment. Doughty declined the appointment and decided to retire from the Army instead.

Doughty was appointed brigadier general of artillery, 2d Division, New Jersey militia in 1793 and was appointed lieutenant colonel,2d Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers, aswar with France threatened in June 1798.

In May 1800 Doughty resigned from the Army and returned to private life on his estate atMorristown, New Jersey, to engage in agriculture and pursue literary studies. He died there on September 16, 1826. He is buried in theFirst Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Morristown.

 This article incorporatespublic domain material fromJohn Doughty.United States Army Center of Military History.

• Service record from Francis B. Heitman'sHistorical Register of Officers of the Continental Army

• 1754 births
• 1826 deaths
• Military personnel from New York City
• Columbia College, Columbia University alumni
• American militia generals
• Continental Army officers from New Jersey
• United States Army generals
• People from the Province of New York
• People from colonial New Jersey
• Commanding Generals of the United States Army
• Lieutenant colonels

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the United States Army Center of Military History