Editing Timothy Pickering (section)

===Adjutant general===
In December 1776, he led a well-drilled regiment of the Essex County militia to New York, where General [[George Washington]] took notice and offered Pickering the position of [[adjutant general]] of the [[Continental Army]] in 1777 with the rank of colonel. In this capacity he oversaw the building of the [[Great chain]] which was forged at the [[Stirling Iron Works]]. The chain blocked the Royal Navy from proceeding up the Hudson River past West Point and protected that important fort from attack for the duration of the conflict.

He was widely praised for his work in supplying the troops during the remainder of the conflict.  In August 1780, the [[Continental Congress]] elected Pickering [[Quartermaster general (USA)|Quartermaster General]].<ref>Pickering and Upham, ''Life of Timothy Pickering'', 1:34–139, 251–522; 2:69–508; Gerard H. Clarfield, ''Timothy Pickering and the American Republic'' (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980), 47–144; Edward Hake Phillips, "Salem, Timothy Pickering, and the American Revolution," ''Essex Institute Historical Collections'' 111, 1 (1975): 65–78; David McLean, ''Timothy Pickering and the Age of the American Revolution'' (New York: Arno Press, 1982).</ref>