Lucy Flucker Knox (1756-1824) defied eighteenth-century gender roles throughout her life. Lucy was recognized by George Washington for her bold actions in the name of American independence. She married fellow Bostonian Henry Knox, who would later become a major general of the Continental Army. Eventually, she would join him at Continental Army camps. During this time, she developed a relationship with George and Martha Washington. They respected her and Henry’s revolutionary contributions, and shared values with the couple. This was the basis for a lasting friendship. Ultimately, Lucy’s challenging of traditional gender and class roles and her strong relationships with revolutionary leaders helped shape the American Revolution.
Early Life
Lucy was born in Boston in 1756. Her father was Secretary of Massachusetts Thomas Flucker, and her mother was the wealthy Hannah Waldo Flucker. Her wealthy, Loyalist parents, expected her to marry a man of high social status in order to enhance their family’s wealth. Before the war, the Flucker family owned three-fifths of Hannah Waldo Flucker’s family’s land, the Waldo Patent, a thirty-six square-mile area with exclusive trading rights in what would later become Maine.
Marriage and Revolutionary Involvement
Lucy grew up an avid reader and met Henry Knox while visiting his Boston bookstore in 1773. The Fluckers disowned Lucy due to her wish to marry a low-born man, but they still maintained a relationship. Regardless, the couple wed in June 1774. At this point, Henry was involved in resistance against the crown, and Lucy agreed with his views.
Continental Army
In early 1775, the Knoxes faced another life-altering decision. British forces wanted Henry to join their ranks, and, upon his refusal, threatened to arrest him. To ensure Henry’s safety, in April 1775, the two escaped to a Continental Army encampment in Cambridge. Soon after, Henry officially enlisted in the American army. This left Lucy alone in Worcester, Massachusetts, an area he believed to be safer than Cambridge.
The war was not easy for Lucy, especially after having her first daughter, Lucy, in 1776. She wrote her husband about her struggles, saying in a 1777 letter that “the only friend I have in the world is at such an immense distance from me.” This loneliness led Lucy to reach out to her estranged family. Writing to her sister that same year, Lucy expressed sorrow for how the war tore families apart. She wrote, “how horrid is this war, Brother against Brother - and the parent against the child.”1
Lucy also remained in close contact with Henry through letters. In one letter, dated August 23, 1777, Lucy exclaimed, “I wrote you a line by the last post just to let you know I was alive, which [illegible] was all I could then say with propriety for I then had serious thoughts that I never should see you again.” Later in the letter, she reminded Henry that upon his return home he would not be “commander in chief of [his] own house.”2 This sense of independence, combined with her loneliness, led Lucy and her daughter to join Henry at Valley Forge in May 1778.
While at Valley Forge, Lucy adopted a role that was similar to that of women who were camp followers of the Continental Army. Camp followers traveled with the army and assisted with daily chores. She helped to boost morale and organize social events.
Relationship with the Washingtons
At Valley Forge, Lucy spent much of her time with Martha Washington. A close relationship with the Washingtons grew from this time spent together. George Washington admired Lucy’s commitment to the young nation, and in a 1787 letter he wrote that visitors had “deprived him of the pleasure of taking a personal leave of her” and that he wished to “wish Mrs Knox a pleasant journey, and happy meeting with her family in New York.”3 George’s fondness for Lucy shows that he recognized her hopes for America’s future and admired the sacrifices she had made in the fight for independence.
As the war continued, Lucy was forced to separate from Henry again, only seeing him during his travels to various camps.
After the American Revolution
After the war ended, Henry and Lucy lived in New York, where Henry served as Secretary of War Eventually, the couple settled in Thomaston Maine upon Henry’s retirement from the president’s cabinet in 1795. The two remained together until Henry’s death in 1806. While they ultimately had thirteen children, only three lived past childhood. Lucy outlived Henry by eighteen years, remaining a widow until her death in 1824. Their letters provide insight into the struggles of family life in Revolutionary America. Beyond this, they illuminate the role of women in the fight for independence.
Caitlin Berg The George Washington University, revised by Sophia Dotterweich, 25 June 2025
Notes:
1. “Lucy Flucker Knox to Hannah Urquhart, April 1777,” Gilder Lehrman, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
2. “Lucy Flucker Knox to Henry Knox, 23 August 1777,” Gilder Lehrman, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
3. “George Washington to Lucy Knox, 30 June, 1787, The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2008. Original source: Confederation Series (1 January 1784–23 September 1788), Volume 5 (1 February 1787–31 December 1787)
Bibliography:
Damiano, Sara T. "Writing Women's History Through the Revolution: Family Finances, Letter Writing, and Conceptions of Marriage." The William and Mary Quarterly 74, no. 4 (2017): 697-728. doi:10.5309/willmaryquar.74.4.0697.
Hamilton, Phillip. The Revolutionary War Lives and Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017.
Puls, Mark. Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Stuart, Nancy Rubin. Defiant Brides: the Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married. Boston: Beacon Press, 2014.
_______. “Rebellion, Love and Revolution: Young and Vivacious, Lucy Knox Surrendered Privilege and Comfort to Be with Her Lover, Henry, on the Long Journey to Revolution and victory. (Biography).” American History 48, no. 4 (October 1, 2013): 42–47.
