Thomas Truxtun (Truxton; 1755–1822) was owner and master of several privateers during the Revolution and later was a merchant trading with the Orient. In 1794 he was appointed captain in the United States Navy. In Feb. 1799 Truxtun, commanding the frigate Constellation, met and captured the French frigate L’Insurgent in a battle in the West Indies; he returned to America to find himself acclaimed a hero. At the end of June, Truxtun sailed his vessel to New York for refitting, recruiting, and provisioning. On 1 Aug. he resigned his commission in a dispute over rank but reconsidered and sailed for the West Indies on 24 Dec. 1799. Truxtun was at Mount Vernon by GW’s invitation (FERGUSON description begins Eugene S. Ferguson. Truxton of the Constellation: The Life of Commodore Thomas Truxton, U.S. Navy, 1755-1822. Baltimore, 1956. description ends , 176–87).