Return J . Meigs , Sr . Return Jonathan Meigs [ born December 17 ( old style ) or December 28 ( new style ) , 1740 ; died January 28 , 1823 ] was a colonel who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , was one of the founding settlers of the Northwest Territory in what is now the state of Ohio , and later served as a federal government Indian agent working with the Cherokee in Tennessee . Early life and Revolutionary War service . Meigs was born in Middletown , Connecticut , on December 17 , 1740 , the son of Return Meigs and Elizabeth Hamlin Meigs , whose thirteen children also included Josiah Meigs . He served in the local militia , advancing to the rank of captain in 1774 . On April 19 , 1775 , after the Battle of Lexington , he led a company of light infantry to Boston . There he was appointed to the rank of major in the 2nd Connecticut Regiment , a provincial regiment of the Continental Army . Later that year , serving as a division ( battalion ) commander under Colonel Benedict Arnold , he accompanied Arnold on his 1 , 100 - man expedition through Maine to Canada . Meigs was captured by the British in the assault on Quebec City and imprisoned , but was paroled on May 16 , 1776 , by British Gen . Guy Carleton as consideration for Meigs ' decent treatment of a British prisoner , Captain Law , Carleton ' s chief engineer . Meigs returned to Connecticut by way of Halifax and subsequently returned to military service . He returned to active service when he was formally exchanged on January 10 , 1777 , as major of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment of the newly - organized Connecticut Line . Meigs was appointed lieutenant colonel of Sherburne ' s Additional Continental Regiment on February 10 , 1777 . On May 12 he was sent to command the 6th Connecticut Regiment when its colonel , William Douglas , became incapacitated by ill health . One of his most important achievements during the Revolutionary War was leading the Meigs Raid against the British forces in Sag Harbor , New York , in May 1777 . With 220 men in a fleet of 13 whaleboats , he crossed Long Island Sound from Connecticut to Long Island to attack the British fleet at night . The raid succeeded in burning 12 ships and taking 90 prisoners , without losing a single man . The U . S . Congress awarded him a presentation sword for his heroism . Colonel Douglas died on May 28 , and Meigs received appointment as colonel of the 6th Connecticut by Governor Trumbull on September 10 , 1777 , with a date of rank of May 12 . When a Corps of Light Infantry was formed under General Anthony Wayne in July 1779 , Meigs was given command of its 3rd Regiment , which he led at the Battle of Stony Point . Following its disbandment in December , he returned to the 6th Connecticut and became acting commander of the 1st Connecticut Brigade . In that capacity he put down an incipient mutiny and received the written thanks of Gen . George Washington . On January 1 , 1781 , the Continental Main Army reorganized , consolidating many regiments . The Connecticut Line was reduced from eight to five regiments , retiring four colonels , including Meigs . Ohio . After the war Meigs was appointed surveyor of the Ohio Company of Associates . In April 1788 he was an American pioneer to the Northwest Territory ; he participated in the founding of Marietta , Ohio and drew up the code of regulation used until the formal creation of the Northwest Territory the following year . Tennessee . In 1801 Meigs went to Tennessee to fill the combined position of agent to the Cherokee Nation and military agent for the United States War Department . Initially his office and the Cherokee Agency were at Fort Southwest Point in what is now Kingston , Tennessee , but in 1807 he relocated these operations to a new post further east , named Hiwassee Garrison . It was near the mouth of the Hiwassee River where it joins the Tennessee River . Charles R . Hicks , a mixed - race and bilingual Cherokee , worked as his interpreter for some time . Hicks later became a chief of the Cherokee . Meigs ' role as military agent ended in 1813 when the Federal soldiers stationed at Hiwassee Garrison were withdrawn , but he remained as Cherokee agent on the Hiwassee River until his death on January 28 , 1823 . The government ' s trading or factory operations were linked with Indian relations in the War Department during these years . As Cherokee agent , Meigs promoted the well - being of the Cherokee , defended their rights in treaty negotiations , and encouraged Cherokee efforts to establish a republican form of government . Legacy . He is buried in the Garrison Cemetery in Rhea County , Tennessee , near the site of the former Hiwassee Garrison . His son Return J . Meigs , Jr . became an Ohio governor and U . S . Senator . A grandson , Return J . Meigs IV , married Jennie Ross , daughter of principal Cherokee chief John Ross , and emigrated to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears . Two Tennessee place names honor Meigs . Meigs County , which was formed in 1836 from part of Rhea County , and Meigs Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains are both named in his honor .