American soldier, born at Derby, CT, in 1752. In the Revolutionary War he was aide-de-camp to General Putnam, and then to General Washington. He distinguished himself at the siege of Yorktown in 1781. In 1784 he went to Paris and London as secretary of legation to Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who negotiated treaties of commerce and amity with European powers. In 1790 President Washington appointed him minister to Portugal, where he remained till 1794. In 1797 he was sent to the court at Madrid as minister plenipotentiary, where he stayed till 1802. On his return from Spain he imported one hundred merino sheep, and for some time thereafter he engaged in the manufacture of woolens at Derby. In the War of 1812 he commanded the Connecticut troops as brigadier-general. He was noted as a poet and wit. He helped in producing the Anarchaid and other satiric verse; he also published An Address to the Armies of the United States (1772) and other poems. He died in New Haven on the 21st of February 1818.
