By the time the Revolutionary War started, military confrontations between the world powers had become so common that combat was raised to the status of a fine art, consuming a large portion of time for adolescent males in training and comprising a sizeable component of the economy. Weaponry was developed to a degree of quality not accessible to most North Americans, and European aristocrats were reared in the mastery of swordsmanship with an emphasis on the saber for military use.

Nations such as France undoubtedly had an elevating effect on America’s capacity to make formal war, and Lafayette is the most famous foreigner to serve in the Continental Army, but one of the most important individuals who arrived was a Polish nobleman named Tadeusz Kościuszko, who had military and engineering experience. 

Raised in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Hull’s increasing fame is accessible in large part due to his association with Kościuszko, who is still a hero across America today for helping design and construct the defenses of West Point, among other things. Serving as Kościuszko’s orderly for a period of 50 months in nearly every major battle, Hull was described by noted historian Gary Gary Nash as a great “unnoticed American”. Nash further speaks of Hull’s service to the Continental Army at the side of Kościuszko as the core of his “hidden importance”. By the end of the war, Hull had served for six years and two months in Washington’s army, receiving a badge of honor for his extended service, and precious discharge papers signed by the commanding general himself.