serviceyears branch death_date allegiance birth_date term residence term_end restingplace death_place profession battles order term_start spouse image rank name caption relations predecessor birth_place party office successor article_title
militia u.s. army : 1810 -- 1812 : 1774 continental army : 1775 -- 1783 virginia provincial militia continental army united states army august 30 , 1812 -lrb- aged 73 -rrb- kingdom america 1777 united states of great britain great britain united states of august 30 , 1739 august 1 , 1774 did not convene goose pond plantation , wilkes county , georgia january 26 , 1788 15 , 1796 march 3 , 1791 january st. paul 's episcopal church cemetery augusta , georgia planter , politician dunmore war battle of brandywine battle of germantown battle of guilford 's court house seminole wars patriot war of east florida war battle of point pleasant american revolutionary 21st to the first virginia convention virginia house of burgesses governor of georgia 20th governor of georgia delegate november 9 , 1787 7 , 1793 march 4 , 1789 january anne `` polly '' paul seal_of_georgia . svg 30pxbrigadier general george mathews seal of georgia mathews family edward lewis telfair position established edward telfair position established charles augusta county , virginia federalist member georgia 's 3rd district of the u. s. house of representatives from jared abolished irwin francis willis george handley position abolished position george mathews -lrb- georgia -rrb-

george mathews -lrb- georgia -rrb-

george mathews -lrb- -- -rrb- was a continental army officer during the american revolution and rose to the rank of brevet brigadier general ; he was 20th and 21st governor of georgia , and a u.s. congressman .
he was the leading participant in the patriot war of east florida , an 1810-1812 filibuster expedition to capture spanish florida for the united states .
born in augusta county , virginia , mathews was in early life a merchant and planter .
he quickly became a senior officer in the colonial forces , and was credited along with colonel andrew lewis for the victory of the virginia provincial militia against the shawnee and mingo indian tribes in the battle of point pleasant of dunmore 's war .
he was afterward a member of the house of burgesses from augusta county .
he attended the first virginia convention when the virginia general assembly was dissolved by royal governor lord dunmore .
on the outbreak of the american revolution mathews led the 9th virginia infantry of the continental army to the battle of brandywine in september 1777 .
he and his entire regiment were captured in the battle of germantown the following month .
he spent the next four years as a prisoner of war , including two years on the british prison ship hms `` jersey '' .
he was exchanged on december 5 , 1781 .
he was breveted to the rank of brigadier general on september 30 , 1783 .
he was an original member of the virginia society of the cincinnati .
after the war , he moved to the state of georgia and was quickly elected to the georgia general assembly .
the same year he was elected 20th governor of the state .
he served two terms as governor , and one intermittent term in congress , during which he voted to ratify the united states constitution .
during his second administration he quietly allowed the creation of the rogue state of the trans-oconee republic , headed by general elijah clarke .
he oversaw the removal of the state when public opinion , coupled with pressure from the federal government , shifted .
his administration was later tainted by the yazoo land fraud , which ultimately led to his retirement from politics .
mathews relocated to the mississippi territory and in 1810 was assigned a filibuster operation by president james madison to incite an insurrection in east florida and capture the territory for the united states .
this initiative is now referred to as the patriot war of east florida .
mathews had launched the insurrection , capturing ferninanda beach and amelia island , before the secret mission was recalled and disowned by president madison , fearing war with spain and its allies .
on learning of the recall , mathews set out to washington to confront madison on the decision .
he died in augusta , georgia on his way to the capital .
he is buried at st. paul 's episcopal church .
