Millard Maxwell
Millard Maxwell | |
|---|---|
| Senior Officer of the Newfoundland Army | |
| In office 8 July 1822 – 8 July 1832 | |
| Appointed by | Richard Dickson |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Neal Taylor as Commanding General of the Newfoundland Armies |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Liberty Party |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States Republic of Newfoundland |
| Branch/service | Cavalry |
| Years of service | 1804 – 1832 |
| Rank | .svg){kind=small} Brevet Major (USV).svg){kind=small} Brevet Major General (NA) |
Brevet Major General Millard Maxwell () was an American and Newfoundlander general who served as the first and only Senior Officer of the Newfoundland Army.
In 1822, Richard Dickson put forth Maxwell's name to be approved as the first commander of the Newfoundland Army. Richard only nominated Maxwell because he was a loyal Libertarian and wouldn't stray from the party. The Libertarian dominated senate quickly approved him and he was appointed on "Freedom Day" in 1822.
Maxwell would constantly push for a small regular army and instead rely heavily on volunteers, this small army mentality mixed with his cavalry bias would lead to the Newfoundland Army only having 1,000 regular soldiers (300 of them guards) and only able to call up a force of 13,000 volunteers, along with only one volunteer artillery regiment for the whole country. After the Whigs took over congress and Richard Dickson left the Consulship to his brother Alexander, Maxwell was quickly ousted and replaced by Neal Taylor.