Thomas Knowlton Thomas W . Knowlton ( 22 November 1740 – 16 September 1776 ) was an American patriot who served in the French and Indian War and was a Colonel during the American Revolution . Knowlton is considered America ' s first Intelligence professional , and his unit , Knowlton ' s Rangers , made a significant contribution to intelligence gathering during the early Revolutionary War . Knowlton was killed in action at the Battle of Harlem Heights . Early life . Knowlton was born into a military family on November 22 , 1740 in West Boxford , Massachusetts . When he was eight , his family relocated to a farm in Ashford , Connecticut ( current property of the June Norcross Webster Scout Reservation ) . In 1755 , at fifteen , Knowlton served in the French and Indian War with his older brother Daniel . He enlisted in Captain John Durkee ' s company , and is known to have joined Daniel on scouting missions into enemy territory . He later served in Captain John Slapp ' s 8th Company , where he served with Throope Chapman . He served during six campaigns in the war and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1760 . He also fought in Israel Putnam ' s company against the Spanish during the British expedition against Cuba in 1762 . By August 1762 , Knowlton had returned home and married Anna Keyes . He and his wife raised nine children . At the age of thirty - three , Knowlton was appointed a Selectman of Ashford , Connecticut . Battle of Bunker Hill . On April 18 , 1775 , General Thomas Gage dispatched a contingent of British troops to Lexington and Concord , about fifteen miles from Boston , Massachusetts . This action led to the outbreak of hostilities that became the American Revolution . On learning of the Battles of Lexington and Concord , the militia s of Massachusetts and Connecticut communities mobilized their members . Thomas Knowlton joined his militia , the Ashford Company , which became part of the 5th Connecticut Regiment , along with the men from Windham , Mansfield and Coventry , Connecticut . Knowlton was chosen unanimously as Captain and led 200 men into Massachusetts . His force consisted of farmers , without uniforms , primarily armed with shotguns . Knowlton was ordered to Charlestown to join Colonel William Prescott . Knowlton ’ s troops were sent by Colonel Prescott to oppose the advancing British grenadier s , and took their posts on the side of Breed ' s hill . Using a rail fence as a base , the men threw up a parallel fence and , filling the space between with new - mown grass , formed an effective breastwork . There they held their ground until the general retreat , and were among those providing cover as the troops retreated . Only three men from Knowlton ’ s company died in the battle . Years later , Colonel Aaron Burr said : " " I had a full account of the Battle from Knowlton ' s own lips , and I believe if the chief command had been entrusted to him , the issue would have proved more fortunate . It was impossible to promote such a man too rapidly . " " In June 1775 , for his bravery at Bunker Hill , Knowlton was promoted by Congress to Major . One of his men later remembered that Knowlton was courageous to a fault , never crying , " Go on , boys ! " but always , " Come on , boys ! . " On January 8 , 1776 , he led a troop in a successful incursion into Charlestown to burn housing used by British officers . Knowlton ' s Rangers . On August 12 , 1776 , General of the Army George Washington promoted Knowlton to Lieutenant Colonel . He was ordered to select an elite group of men from Connecticut , Rhode Island , and Massachusetts to carry out reconnaissance missions . America ' s first official spies , " Knowlton ' s Rangers " were also the first organized American elite troops , analogous to a modern special forces unit . The famous American spy , Captain Nathan Hale , was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton . The date " 1776 " on the modern U . S . Army ' s intelligence service seal refers to the formation of Knowlton ' s Rangers . On September 16 , 1776 , Knowlton ' s Rangers , outfitted as a regiment of light infantry , were scouting in advance of Washington ' s Army at the Battle of Harlem Heights . They stumbled upon the Black Watch , an elite Highlander British unit with an attachment of Hessians . They managed a successful retreat but re - engaged the enemy with the support of a unit led by Major Andrew Leitch of Virginia . General Washington ordered the units to fall on the enemy ' s rear , while a feint in front engaged the British troops ’ attention . An American premature shot into the right flank of the British ruined Washington ' s element of surprise , and placed Knowlton ' s Rangers and the Virginians at risk . Once the premature shot had been fired , Knowlton rallied his troops to carry on the attack . Both commanding officers were killed in front of their men . Knowlton ' s loss was lamented by Washington in his general orders for September 17 , 1776 with the statement " " The gallant and brave Col Knowlton , . . . would have been an Honor to any Country , having fallen yesterday , while gloriously fighting . . . " " . The Knowlton Award . In 1995 the Military Intelligence Corps Association established the LTC Thomas W . Knowlton Award . The Knowlton Award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to the promotion of Army Military Intelligence in ways that stand out in the eyes of the recipients , their superiors , subordinates and peers . These individuals must also demonstrate the highest standards of integrity and moral character , display an outstanding degree of professional competence , and serve the MI Corps with distinction . A 1 August 2012 posthumous recipient of the Knowlton Award was Marian Rejewski , the mathematician - cryptologist at the Polish General Staff ' s Cipher Bureau who in late 1932 reconstructed the German military Enigma cipher machine and for at least the next seven and a half years , into the German invasion of France in 1940 , with his mathematician colleagues Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki , invented techniques and devices to facilitate recovery of the Germans ' key s . A month before the outbreak of World War II , in late July 1939 , Rejewski and his Cipher Bureau colleagues and superiors , at an official Warsaw conference , initiated French and British military cryptologists into their techniques and technology and gave each of their western allies a German Enigma machine that they had reconstructed . This enabled the British , who had made no headway in breaking the German Enigma cipher s , to develop industrial - scale Enigma decryption . Without the work consequently done at England ' s Bletchley Park , Germany ' s aerial and submarine warfare might well have bombed and starved Britain into submission ; and without Britain as a forward base , the United States would have been locked out of the European and North African military theater s . Marian Rejewski ' s posthumous Knowlton Award was accepted at his home town , Bydgoszcz , Poland , on 4 September 2012 by his mathematician daughter , Janina Sylwestrzak .