Society of the Cincinnati

The Society of the Cincinnati was formed on 10-13 May 1783 by American Revolutionary Army officers who met at Mount Gulian, the American Army's cantonment on the east bank of the Hudson River. After resigning his post as General, George Washington (1732-1799) accepted an invitation to become the society's first president. Major General Henry Knox (1750-1806) was the secretary and for years the guiding spirit of the organization. Membership extended to those officers of the Continental Army and Navy who had served to the end of the war or had resigned with honor after three years of service and to those who had been rendered supernumerary because of regimental reorganization by Congress. In addition, the institution provided that officers who had died in service could be represented in the Society by their eldest male descendants. The society was named in honor of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, who after a distinguished military career in the service of the Roman republic, had returned to civilian life. The Society of the Cincinnati was the first patriotic society organized in the United States. Today the Society is a not-for-profit organization supporting educational, cultural, and literary activities that promote the ideals of liberty and constitutional government.

From the guide to the Society of the Cincinnati Papers, 1783-1861, (Library of Virginia)