John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (October 1, 1746 October 1, 1807) March 25, 2012 at 8:05pm One of the most famous members of the Black Robe Brigade was Peter Muhlenberg. The Black Robe Brigade was the name given by the British Army to colonial ministers who spoke out for independence. Unlike today, the clergy of that day was not afraid to speak on political matters. As patriots they spoke out against the violation of the colonists' rights by the British government. Sometimes they paid a heavy price for this. The British Army targeted ministers and burnt churches. Despite the threat, the ministers continued to do what they thought was right. Brigade. Peter Muhlenberg was a minister who oversaw congregations in several colonies, a statesman representing both Virginia and Pennsylvania, a soldier in the American Revolution. He is the first of the soldiers in our series on the Black Robe His Early Life Muhlenberg was born in the town of Trappe in the colony of Pennsylvania to Henry Muhlenberg and his wife Anna Maria Weiser. Henry, who was born Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, was German. He emigrated to serve as a Lutheran minister in Pennsylvania. His influence was more widely felt than in just that colony. He became a leader in the American Lutheran church influencing congregations from New York to Georgia. Before his arrival the Lutherans in Pennsylvania had been served by lay pastors. The church members requested a trained minister. Henry Muhlenberg had studied theology at Georg-August University of Gottingen and been ordained in 1739. He was sent in 1742. Once in Pennsylvania, Henry set to work organizing the Lutheran churches of the middle colonies. In 1748 he called the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the first permanent Lutheran Synod. He created a uniform liturgy for Lutheran services, wrote the tenets for an ecclesiastical constitution which was adopted by most Lutherans by 1761, and worked on a hymnal which was finally published in 1786. He also traveled up and down the colonies helping German and Dutch speaking colonists and recruited other ministers to come to America. He continued his efforts for 45 years before ill health called an end to it. Henry and Anna had ten children, but only six survived to adulthood. Henry Jr. and Frederick Augustus would become ministers like Peter, and Frederick would also serve as the first Speaker of the House. Gotthilf Henry Ernst became a scientist and was the first president of Franklin College, now known as Franklin and Marshall College. Their sister Elizabeth married General Francis Swaine, and sister Sarah married Congressman Mathias Richards. Henry and Anna also had a grandson, Peter s nephew, who became governor of Pennsylvania. Education was important in the Muhlenberg household. Henry oversaw the education of his children until the family moved to Philadelphia. There he enrolled his boys in the Academy of Philadelphia, now known as the University of Pennsylvania. Wishing an even more rigorous education for his sons, in 1763 Henry sent three of the boys, Peter, Frederick Augustus, and Henry Ernst, back to Germany, to the town of Halle, to attend Francke Foundation, a college there. Peter did not like the German school and left after just two years. He
worked briefly as a sales clerk, but the owner of the shop did not keep his promise to teacher Peter the trade. He then served in the dragoons before he returned home to Pennsylvania. Once again, Henry took over the education of his son. Then Henry turned his son over to a Lutheran minister called Provost Wrangle. He taught Peter to be a minister and preach sermons. In 1768 Peter Muhlenberg was ordained a Lutheran minister. Muhlenberg first served as assistant rector for the congregations of Zion and St. Paul s Churches in New Jersey. In 1769, he became the pastor at Bedminster. During his time in New Jersey, he spent time hunting and fishing. His knowledge of the countryside would turn out to be useful later in his life. He also he met and married Anna Barbara Hannah Meyer. The marriage would prove to be a happy one. The couple had six children. One of their sons was Francis Swaine Muhlenberg, named for his Aunt Elizabeth s husband, who would serve in Congress as a representative from Ohio. Virginia In 1772, Muhlenberg once again set sail across the Atlantic, travelling to London to be ordained as an Anglican minister at the behest of the people of Woodstock, Virginia. Unlike Pennsylvania, Virginia had an official state church, the Anglican or Church of England. In order to preach in the colony, Peter Muhlenberg had to be ordained as an Anglican minister. Muhlenberg was ideally suited for the congregation at Woodstock. They were a mix of German and English speakers. Muhlenberg was fluent in both languages. His sermons spoke of God and the principles of liberty. And Muhlenberg did not confine his activities just to the pulpit. He also was a member of the Committee of Safety and Correspondence for Dunmore County. In 1774, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. After the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the House of Burgess, Muhlenberg was sent as a delegate to the First Virginia Convention. In 1775, the Third Virginia Convention met and divided the colony into military districts. Muhlenberg was asked by General George Washington to serve as a colonel in the 8th Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army and to raise troops in his district. Muhlenberg agreed though his brother Frederick Augustus disapproved. After the British burned Frederick s church before his very eyes, he changed his mind and enlisted himself. On January 21, 1776, Muhlenberg, according to a biography written by his great nephew, made one of the most dramatic sermons of his career. He took the text from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ecclesiastes+3&version=niv After reading the day s passage, Muhlenberg stated, there was a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times had passed away; that there was a time to fight, and that time had now come! Upon speaking those words, he stepped from behind the pulpit and removed his black robe to reveal the uniform of a Continental officer. Drums began to beat outside the church as men walked down the aisle to enlist. 162 men signed up over the next half hour. The following day, Colonel Muhlenberg led 300 men off to war. Muhlenberg's pistol Revolution Colonel Muhlenberg and the 8th Virginia Regiment were initially position in the South to defend South Carolina and Georgia. Charleston was a prize the British wanted and would eventually get. In 1777, the 8th was sent north to join Washington. There Muhlenberg was made a brigadier general and placed in charge of a brigade under Nathaniel Greene. After suffering through the winter at Valley Forge, General Muhlenberg fought at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. Muhlenberg served in the army throughout the war, finally ending up leading the first brigade of Lafayette s Light Division at the Battle of Yorktown. After the war was ended in 1783, Muhlenberg was given the rank of Major General. He retired from the military and settled back in his home state of Pennsylvania in Montgomery County. There he was one of the original members of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. After the War In 1784, Muhlenberg was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was elected vice president of the council in 1787. Originally the chief executive of Pennsylvania was not called governor but president. Vice president then was the same as lieutenant governor. The next year Muhlenberg resigned as governor, though the reasons are not known.
In 1789, Muhlenberg was elected to the first House of Representatives along with his brother Frederick, who was made Speaker of the House. Muhlenberg was also elected as a Republican to the third and fifth congresses. He also served briefly in the Senate, from March to June of 1801. After leaving the Senate, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Muhlenberg to be collector of the revenues for Pennsylvania and later customs collector. Muhlenberg served in the customs house until his death, on his the anniversary of his own birth, in 1807. The statue of Muhlenberg on display in the Capital Rotunda Honors The state of Kentucky has a Muhlenberg County There is a memorial of Muhlenberg in Washington, D.C. on Connecticut Avenue There are statues outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in front of the courthouse in Woodstock, Virginia, and at Muhlenberg College In the House of Representatives, there is a statue of Peter Muhlenberg Muhlenberg is said to be one of the officers depicted in John Turnbull s painting Surrender of Lord Cornwallis on display in the Capital Rotunda There is a Peter Muhlenberg Middle School in Woodstock, Virginia Peter Muhlenberg's robe Quotes By: there was a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times had passed away; that there was a time to fight, and that time had now come! ~ Sermon delivered on January 21, 1776 I am a Clergyman it is true, but I am a member of the Society as well as the poorest Layman, and my Liberty is as dear to me as any man, shall I then sit still and enjoy myself at Home when the best Blood of the Continent is spilling?...so far am I from thinking that I act wrong, I am convinced it is my duty to do so and duty I owe to God and my country. ~ Letter to Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, Ryun, Jim and Sons. Heroes Among Us. Shippensburg, PA: Treasure House, 2002 Longer Excerpt of the letter: "Thus far I had written when I received Brother Henry's letter from you to him, wherein you make some Observations on my Conduct in the present alarming Crisis. You say, as a Clergyman, nothing can excuse my Conduct. I am a Clergyman, it is true, but I am a Member of Society as well as the poorest Layman, and my Liberty is as dear to me as to any man. Shall I then sit still, & enjoy myself at Home, when the best Blood of the Continent is spilling? Heaven forbid it.
"You make a comparison with Struensee. The Comparison is odious. Did he die in Defence of his Country? Far from it. He suffered for crimes, and his Life was justly forfeited to the Law. "But, even if you was on the opposite Side of the question, you must allow that I have in this last Step acted for the best. You know that from the beginning of these Troubles I have been compelled to have a Hand in publick Affairs. I have been Chairman to the Committee, & Delegate from this County from the first: do you think then, if America should be conquered, l should be safe? Nothing less. And would you not sooner fight like a Man than die the Death of a Dog? "I am called by my Country in its Defense. The Cause is just and noble. Were I a Bishop, even a Lutheran one, I should obey without Hesitation, and, so far am I from thinking that I act wrong, I am convinced it is my Duty so to do, and Duty I owe to my God and to my Country." ~ The Historical Magazine and Notes and Queries Concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America, Volume III Charles B. Richardson, London: Trubner & Co., New York (1859) Toward evening came a report that they were near-by and going to take me. I cannot flee, much less leave my sick wife behind, so I must await whatever God s holy providence and governance has ordained for me and commit it to him, the Lord of Lords ~ Ryun, Jim and Sons. Heroes Among Us. Shippensburg, PA: Treasure House, 2002 Quotes About: General Muhlenberg to accept his very particular thanks for his gallantry and good dispatches. ~ Baron Von Steuben, General Order Ryun, Jim and Sons. Heroes Among Us. Shippensburg, PA: Treasure House, 2002 He was Brave in the field, Faithful in the Cabinet, Honorable in all his transactions, a Sincere Friend and an Honest Man. ~ The epitaph on Muhlenberg s tombstone