Thomas Hickey

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Thomas Hickey (died June 28, 1776) was an Irish-born soldier who served in the French and Indian War and American Revolutionary War, and was the first Continental Army soldier to be executed for "mutiny, sedition, and treachery". Born in Ireland, Thomas Hickey came to America as a British Army soldier and fought as a combat field servant to Major-general William Johnson in the French and Indian War. He later joined the Continental army when the Revolutionary War broke out, and became part of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, which protected General George Washington, his staff, and the Continental Army's payroll. Hickey was briefly jailed for passing counterfeit money; during this incarceration, he told another prisoner he was part of a conspiracy. He was later tried and executed for mutiny and sedition against the Continental Army. Plausible, but unverified, reports suggest that he may have been involved in an assassination plot against Washington in 1776. Washington made a general announcement after his death: The unhappy fate of Thomas Hickey, executed this day for mutiny, sedition, and treachery, the General hopes will be a warning to every soldier in the Army to avoid those crimes, and all others, so disgraceful to the character of a soldier, and pernicious to his country, whose pay he receives and bread he eats. And in order to avoid those crimes, the most certain method is to keep out of the temptation of them, and particularly to avoid lewd women, who, by the dying confession of this poor criminal, first led him into practices which ended in an untimely and ignominious death.