James O'Hara (quartermaster)

James O'Hara (1752?–1819) was an American military officer, businessman, and captain of early industry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

He was born County Mayo, Ireland, the son of Major John O'Hara, and in 1765 attended the Jesuit College of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France. He served in the Coldstream Guards, a regiment of the British Army, in 1770, and resigned his ensign's commission the next year to gain business skills as a clerk in a ship broker's office in Liverpool, England. His goal was to emigrate to the American colonies to seek business opportunities.

O'Hara arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1772. By 1773 he had established himself on the colonial frontier at Pittsburgh, where he worked for the traders Devereaux Smith and Ephraim Douglas. He spent two years learning to do business with the Native Americans of Western Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1774 he was appointed a colonial government agent to the Indians and he began to purchase tracts of lands in the region. During this period his knowledge of French and his ability to learn Indian dialects made him very successful.

At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War he enlisted in the 3rd Virginia Regiment, where he was elected captain. He served at Fort Pitt and Fort Kanawha. In 1781 he served as commissary of the general hospital at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from 1781 to 1783 as assistant quartermaster under General Nathanael Greene. On 19 April 1792, he was appointed by U.S. President George Washington as the sixth Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army. He served until 1796. There is some confusion about his rank, but he was not a general officer. By law, he was entitled to the pay and privileges of a lieutenant colonel. Many referred to him as "Colonel" O'Hara. However, he signed his correspondence, "James O'Hara, Q.M.G."

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