American Patriot. He gained a place in American history as an early pioneer and patriot. His family immigrated from Ireland to British Colonial America of Virginia by 1738. After learning the skills of a surveyor early in his life, he surveyed the lands of the Greenbrier and Cowpasture River Valleys. He fought in the French and Indian War and was imprisoned by the French for 13 months. From 1772 to 1775, he served in the House of Burgesses. As a colonel in the Virginia militia during Lord Dunsmore's War in the fall of 1774, he and his 1,000 men fought and defeated Chief Cornstalk and his Shawnee Warriors in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Since the battle was on the western front and not battling the British, Dunsmore's War in 1774 should not be recognized as the first battle of the American Revolution as some sources may claim. On April 19, 1775 the Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the outbreak of armed conflict between the colonists and Great Britain. The Native Americans did ally with the British. As an officer in the Continental Army, he served in General George Washington's Virginia Regiment during the American Revolutionary War. In March of 1776, Lewis was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He fought against his former commander, Lord Dunsmore, the last Royal Governor in Virginia, as Dunsmore fled Virginia by sea and eventually becoming the British governor of the Bahamas. After his remarkable military career, he resigned his commission April 15, 1777 stating ill health and returned home. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1780 following the formation of the Commonwealth. Months later, he accepted a position on the Governor Council under both Governor Thomas Jefferson and Governor Thomas Nelson. In 1781 he returned to his home the "Richfield" near Salem when he was taken ill with a fever and died in present-day Bedford County, Virginia. His remains were interred in an unmarked grave in the family plot near his home. In 1887 General Lewis' remains were re-interred in the East Hill Cemetery at Salem. He married Elizabeth Givens in 1749. According to the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution Patriot's Index, his sons John and Andrew Lewis, Jr. served in the Revolutionary War under his command. A statue of Lewis is among those honoring Virginia patriots on Richmond's Washington Monument in Capitol Square. A statue of him is located at the Salem Civil Center. A State of Virginia Historical Marker honoring him was erected in Salem in 2000.