Andrew Lewis (soldier)

Andrew Lewis (October 9, 1720 – September 26, 1781) was an Irish-born American pioneer, surveyor, and soldier of Colonial Virginia. A colonel of militia during the French and Indian War, and brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War, Lewis is most famous for his 1774 victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in Dunmore's War. He also helped found Liberty Hall (later Washington and Lee University), when it was made into a college in 1776.

Lewis was born in County Donegal, Ireland to Col. John Lewis and Margaret Lynn. In 1732 John Lewis, having killed his landlord in an altercation, fled to Virginia with his sons Andrew and Thomas. They became among the first settlers in western Augusta County.

Andrew Lewis received a basic education and learned the skills of a surveyor. He spent at least fifteen years farming and working as a surveyor in southwestern Virginia. He surveyed much of the Greenbrier District of Augusta County, which much later became later Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Lewis also served as county lieutenant and later captain in the Augusta County militia.

Early in the 1740s Andrew Lewis married Elizabeth Givens, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Cathey) Givens, formerly of County Antrim, Ireland. They established their own home, called Richfield, in what later became Roanoke County near Salem. They raised seven children: Samuel (c.1748-1763), John (1750–1788), Thomas (1752–1800), Andrew Jr. (1759–1844), Anne (1760), William (1764–1812), and Charles (c.1768-1781).

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