Cincinnati, Society of the, is an organization of men descended from commissioned officers who served in the Continental Army or Navy during the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783). It also includes men descended from the French forces that assisted the Americans in the war. Continental Army officers founded the organization in 1783. George Washington was its first president-general. The name Cincinnati comes from Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a Roman statesman and general who was a legendary model of patriotism. General Arthur St. Clair, a member and the first governor of the Northwest Territory, named the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, for the society.
The Society of the Cincinnati has members in the United States and France. Headquarters are in Washington, D.C. The society operates a museum and reference library relating to the Revolutionary War at the headquarters.
