Andrew craigie biography

Andrew Craigie (1754–1819) is best known for serving as the first Apothecary General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
After serving as the first Apothecary General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Andrew Craigie made a fortune in land and securities.
Andrew Craigie (1754–1819), America's First Apothecary General.

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Commissary of Medical Stores

If you’re anything like me, you hear the word ‘apothecary’ and think about the Middle Ages.

The truth is, apothecaries were around until surprisingly recently. As such, apothecaries were necessary for retrieving medicine during the Revolutionary War.

The Continental Army even had an Apothecary General. This position was held throughout the entire war by a man named Andrew Craigie.

In the days following the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety went into overdrive.

Suddenly, they had dozens of militias from throughout New England assembled outside Boston. The task at hand was to collect this loose group of rebels into a more cohesive army.

To carry out their mission, the Committee made several appointments to a variety of positions. Included among these was Andrew Craigie, who was given the office of Commissary of Medical Stores.

Craigie, an ardent Patriot who took his new office very seriously, risked life and limb by entering the city of Boston, retrieving the medicines he had at his home and return

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Andrew Craigie

After serving as the first Apothecary General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, Andrew Craigie made a fortune in land and securities speculation in New York. Returning to his native Massachusetts, he purchased one of the most elegant homes in Cambridge, built the bridge connecting Boston to Lechmere Point, and developed East Cambridge. Yet years before his death, Craigie had become a ghostly figure, self-confined to his mansion to avoid arrest. Cambridge boys, including future physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, would knock on his shuttered windows and then run, as if from a haunted house. How had “Doctor” Craigie fallen so low?

The son of a Scottish ship captain and his Nantucket wife, Craigie attended Boston Latin, and by April 1775 had gained sufficient pharmaceutical experience to be appointed apothecary of the Massachusetts army. After tending the wounded at Bunker Hill, he was introduced to Samuel Adams as “a very clever fellow,” and his name came to the attention of General George Washington; he was commissioned Apothecary Gen

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From the April 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

The U.S. Medical Corps has a long and storied history. In fact, the history of the U.S. Medical Corps starts before there was officially a United States.Long before there was a Surgeon General, there was a Director General and Chief Physician, a title created by the Continental Congress on July 27, 1775. But the history of the U.S. Medical Corps arguably goes back in time just a short leap further. That’s where the fame and infamy of Andrew Craigie takes root.

Craigie was born June 7, 1743. He was the son of a Scottish sea captain and a mother born in the British colonies. Not much is known of his early years. It’s recorded that he attended the Boston Latin School, but the trail of history disappears until Craigie is in his early thirties. It’s then that he’s appointed apothecary of the Massachusetts Army. According to accounts, he served admirably in this position, tending to the wounded at Bunker Hill. His efforts didn’t go unnoticed by those in power. He came to the attention of Samuel Adams, who subsequently