In 1799, the county was named for Henry Knox, U.S. Secretary of War from 1785 to 1796. Born in Boston in 1750, he joined the Continental Army in 1775 and took part in the battles of Bunker Hill, Brandywine, Yorktown, and others. He held command of artillery from 1775, was commissioned Major-General in 1781, proposed a military academy in 1779, served as first commandant at West Point in 1782, organized the Society of Cincinnati in 1783, and died in Maine in 1806.