Ward, Artemas, << AHR tuh muhs >> (1727-1800), an American Revolutionary War commander, was the first commander in chief of the Massachusetts troops. When George Washington was given supreme command of all the American forces in 1775, Ward became second in command. In 1776, he resigned because of ill health, but he remained active in politics for several years.
Ward was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard College. He was an officer in the French and Indian War. In 1762, he became a justice, and later chief justice, of the Worcester County Court of Common Pleas. He served in the Massachusetts legislature, in the Continental Congress, and in the U.S. House of Representatives.
