Ezra Lee (August 1749 – October 29, 1821) was an American Colonial soldier, best known for commanding the Turtle submarine.
Lee was born in Lyme, Connecticut. In August 1776 he was selected by brother-in-law Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons, also of Lyme, as one of several volunteers to learn to operate the Turtle, an early submarine invented by Saybrook, Connecticut native David Bushnell. When General George Washington authorized an attack on British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship HMS Eagle, then lying in New York harbor, Lee was chosen to operate the "infernal machine".
Read more about Ezra Lee: Governors Island Attack, Later Action
Famous quotes containing the word lee:
“Look, Buster. Don’t you get over-stimulated with me. I’m the little gal that flew all the way from New York to this lousy place, this dark continent.”
—John Lee Mahin (1902–1984)