James Winchester

James Winchester (February 26, 1752 – July 26, 1826) was an officer in the American Revolutionary War and a brigadier general during the War of 1812. He commanded the American forces at the Battle of Frenchtown, which led to the Massacre of the River Raisin.

Born in Carroll County, Maryland, Winchester enlisted in the Maryland militia during the American Revolution. He served Gen. Hugh Mercer's Flying Camp battalion during the early months of the war. He was captured by British forces during Gen. John Sullivan's failed attempt to take Staten Island on August 22, 1777. Winchester was released in a prisoner exchange, and in May 1778 he was commissioned a lieutenant in the 3rd Maryland Regiment. He was taken prisoner a second time at the surrender of Charlestown, South Carolina on May 12, 1780. Exchanged in December, he was promoted to captain and served the remainder of the war under Gen. Nathanael Greene.

In 1785, Winchester moved to what is now central Tennessee, then a frontier district of North Carolina. He became an officer in the militia and eventually was promoted to brigadier general. Following Tennessee's admission to the union in 1796, Winchester was elected to its first Tennessee General Assembly serving in the Tennessee State Senate. In 1802, he completed the construction of his plantation home, Cragfont.

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