James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) is an American Revolutionary War soldier who obtains the rank of major general.
He was born in Ulster County in the colony of New York, in a location now part of Orange County, New York.
He is the grandson of James Clinton a soldier in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army and the son of Charles Clinton, an Anglo-Irish colonist and a colonel in the French and Indian War.
He is the brother of George Clinton, who is governor of New York from 1777 to 1795 and U.S. Vice President from 1805 to 1812.
James Clinton's wife is Mary DeWitt, daughter of an old Dutch family, and his second son is DeWitt Clinton, later Governor of New York.
