Hero and Example

In reading about American history I have found inspiriation and examples in men who served the cause of freedom during the Revolutionary War.
One of the great examples is Henry Knox. When he was 12 he lost his father and worked as a clerk in a bookstore to support his mother. He eventually opened his own bookstore in Boston which was looted by the British and used to house British soldiers and commanders. This is also where he met his wife Lucy Flucker. Sadly her parents were Loyalists and when the Americans surrounded Boston on all three sides her parents chose to flee. Henry Knox and Lucy Flucker Knox chose to separate due to Henry siding with the Americans and her loyalty to Britian and her family. Lucy did not however go back to England as her family did. She never saw her parents again and remained homeless the entire 8 years of the war as Henry served in the war. They did remain loyal to each other and kept in correspondence.
He served under Aretums Ward in Bunker Hill and then introduced himself to General Washington who was impressed. He was named Colonel of Artillery and suggested to Washington that they obtain the artillery they captured at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga. He was sent to go get it. By ox-drawn sled through snow, sleet and heavy mud pits back to Boston aprrox. 300 miles in 56 days. There were a total of 59 cannons are mortars that the ox-drawn sleds bear the whole way. These were the cannons used on Dorchester Heights that were used to scare the British out of the city.
After the many retreats in New York he was with the Army when they crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to Trenton, New Jersey over Christams night through very strong winds and heavy snow and fog. The battle there was successful and he returned his troops back safetly as well.
He was also present in the battle of Princeton and others. During the winter of 1777 while the army was bunkered down for the winter he went back to Springfield, Mass. and improved the artillery there and established the Springfield Armoury which was of use throughout the war.
Washington spoke very fondly of Knox and relied a lot on his expertise and judgement sometimes.
He later served as the First Secretary of War for the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation and continued in Washington's first Presidency. In his position he was in charge of Native American relations. He was actively and publicly opposed to the position of the American Government which was more or less play nice but take as much land as possible. He wanted better treatment and tolerance for the Native Americans. He said it was against the whole belief system that started the American Revolution and warned that it would cause costly wars with the nations. He wanted the government to see them as forgien nations and set up enclaves and work with them as such. Obviously this didnt happen. But it shows that he kept his Revlotionary spirit throughout his life and political career.
For me he was a great man who knew the cause was right and even when he had to separate from his wife for the war and politically so to speak he still chose to serve the country that I now life in and vote in.