Revolutionary War Veteran Obituaries Capt. Jonathan Adams - In Sonnet, Cayuga Co., (Buffalo Patriot, Nov. 11, 1828) General Jacob Bailey, a revolutionary officer, aged 89. [North American Review - May 1815 - sub. by K. Torp] LT. RICHARD BAILEY - aged 82, died in Berlin, Vt., 14 June. At the time of the battle of Bunker Hill, he lived in the town of Haverhill, Mass. Receiving the news of the battle, while in the field with his plough, he immediately turned out his team, took his gun and cartouch box which had been previously filled with cartridges, and his knap sack, which had also been supplied with provisions, and without stopping to change his clothes, or even to get the dirt out of his shoes, to use his own language, marched to the American army, where he remained about 3 months before he returned to his family. (National Intelligencer Vital Statistics, 12 July 1828. Sub. by K. Torp) John Bryant, Esq. Richmond Enquirer - July 23, 1833 Another Revolutinary Solder gone - Died, of Cholera, at his residence, in Garrard county, Kentucky, on the 4th of July, John Bryant, Esq. He was born in Powhatan county, Va., the first day of January, 1760, and served in the revolutionary war till peace was made; he moved to Kentucky about the year 1781, and settled at the place where he died in 1786. He has served his country as State Legislator, and was several months employed, during the late war, in the North Western Army. He has left a numerous offspring and an aged widow to bemoan his loss. COL. THOMAS BUTLER Biographical Sketch of Col. Thomas Butler From the Louisianna Gazette The characters and actions of meritorious men, in all ages, have been read with pleasure. It is a tribute due to virtue to record the actions of those who are worthy of emulation. Our country is young and has long been at peace. War achievements and warlike men are almost forgotten unless when a newspaper announces in a few lines, the death of some revolutionary chief – and the type has not been employed in recording the death of one more lamented than the late Colonel Thomas Bulter. If virtue, honor, benevolence, honesty, a found heart and a clear head, united with bravery, constitutes a good man, he possessed them. He was, in the year 1776 (the year so much boasted of – that tried men’s fouls) a student at law with the eminent Judge Wilson of Philadelphia: early in that year he quit his studies and jointed the army as a Sabaltern. Soon rose to the grade of Captain and continued in it till the happy and glorious close of the revolution. There were five brothers of the Butlers that jointed the American cause, and fought during the war, and left the service with the following grades, viz. Col. Richard Butler, Lieut. Pierce Butler and Lieut. Edward Butler – none of them now living but Pierce Butler. Thomas Butler whole memory we wish to perpetuate, was in almost every action that was fought in the middle States during the war – at the battle of Brandywine he received the thanks of the illustrious Washington, on the field of battle through his aid de camp Gen. Hamilton, for his intrepid conduct in rallying a detachment of retreating troops, and giving the enemy a severe fire. At the battle of Monmouth he received the thanks of Gen. Wayne for defending a defile in the face of a heavy fire from the enemy, while Colonel Richard Butler’s regiment made good their retreat. History records the unfortunate events of that day. At the close of the war he retired into private life as a farmer, where he enjoyed rural and domestic happiness into 1791 when he again took the field to meet a savage foe, that menaced our frontier, and the unfortunate 4th of November of that year is too well known!! He was dangerously wounded and with difficulty and great hazard, his brother Capt. Edward Butler got him off the field, where they left General Richard Butler a corpse. In 1792 he was continued on the establishment as a Major and was promoted in 1794 in Lieut. Col. Commandant of the 4th Sub. Legion. He commanded Fort Fayette at Pittsburgh that year, when his name alone (for he had but few troops) prevented the deluded insurgents from taking the Fort. In 1797 he was named by president Washington as the officer best calculated to command in the State of Tennessee, when he marched with his regiment from the Miami on the Ohio, and by that prudence and good sense that has ever marked his character through life, he in a very short time removed all difficulties, to the satisfaction of those concerned – as a firm and lasting proof if it, he holds the respect and esteem of all virtuous men in the State. He made several successful treaties with the Indians while in the state of Tennessee. In the year 1802 at the reduction of the army he was continued as Colonel of the 2d regiment of infantry on the peace establishment. Here his biographer stops – pauses – what can he write more? He can announce to the world that Colonel Butler was arrested by the Commanding General in 1803 at Fort Adams on the Mississippi, sent to Fredericktown, Maryland, where he was tried by a general Court martial and acquitted honorably of all the charges, except that of wearing his hair, which he held as a gift of nature, and was of opinion that no power on earth had a legal right to take it from him – which opinion he held till his death. After his trial he was ordered to New Orleans there to take command of the troops, which he did on 20th of October 1804, and on the 20th of November following, was again arrested for not cropping off his hair!! - and not until the first of July did a court convene for his second trial – the result of their decision is not yet known. Since his last arrest he left his wife, who, like himself, was universally lamented by the good and virtuous. She died near Nashville, Tennessee. In consequence of her death and the deranged situation of his affairs he solicited leave from the Hon. Secretary of war and the commanding General to return to Tennessee so soon as the court martial was over. Alas! The application was passed over in silence, no answer ever given him!! He was advised to move out of the city which he did in the latter part of July, and on the 7th of September paid the great debt of nature, aged 51 years. He has left three sons and one amiable daughter to lament his loss: yes, and he has left the virtuous world of his acquaintance to lament his loss; and none will feel it more severely than the valuable part of the army of all grades. The writer of this short biography does not wish to wound the feeling of the protector of the deceased: he himself is old and will soon have to pay the debt that Col. Butler has already paid. Comparison can then be made by the friends to virtue – which of their walks in life were most worthy of imitation. [Submitted by Nancy Piper] THOMAS CALLENDER - aged 74, died 20 Aug. In Smithville, N. C. He was in many engagements during the Revolution. (National Intelligencer Vital Statistics, 6 Sept. 1828) John Campbell Richmond Enquirer - May 1, 1826 Transcribed by Frances Cooley An aged patriot of the revolution and a good man descended to the tomb. Departed this life on the 17th last, at his residence in the county of Washington, VA. John Campbell, Sr., aged 84 years and 8 months. He was born, raised and educated in the county of Augusta, in this state and removed to the county of Washington about the year 1773, upwards of 52 years ago. He was amoung the first adventurers who explored the South Western part of Virginia, in which he has resided more than half a century. He explored the country first in company with the late Col. Walker, of Albemarle, about the year 1771 or 72. He was appointed clerk of Washington County in the year 1778. Since his removal to his late residence 9 states of the Confederacy to the West and South of it have been nearly entirely settled with inhabitants and admitted to the Union. Removing at so early a period to an unsettled country a considerable portion of his life was spent in the military service of this county in defending the frontier against Indians. His first engagement was on the frontiers of Augusta, before he removed from that county, under Capt. Christian, (afterwards Col. Christian of the Continental Army,) when quite a youth. He was subsequently in Lewis' Campaign against the Shawnees, which was terminated by the hard contested action of Point Pleasant, at which time he was 1st Lieutenant in the company which went from Washington County, and was commanded by Capt. Wm. Campbell, who afterwards commanded the Virginia Militia at the Battle of King's Mountain. He was second in command at the Battle of Long Island with the Cherokee Indians, and contributed greatly by his cool and collected courage and presence of mind in a critical moment of that battle (as all his old fellow soldiers will attest who still linger on this side of the grave) to its successful termination. His conduct as a soldier and a patriot previous to the commencement of the Revolutionary War, and during that trying and eventful period of our history was altogether unexceptionable. In early life he was ardent and ever enthusiastic in the cause of liberty, and took side with her at the commencement of the American Revolution, and was an active Whig throughout the war. Those who have any knowledge of the hardships, the toils and sufferings which attended the Indian Campaigns, on the first settlement of our Western County, can readily appreciate the services of those who planted the first germ of population in that vast and magnificent region which is now the abode of science, of civilization and refinement, and the happy home of so many of the human family. The dangers by which they were surrounded; the long and laborious marches they had top make thro' trackless wilds and during the most inclement seasons; the desperate conflicts in which they were frequently engaged with a savage foe, and the heroic courage displayed on many occasions, have been unrecounted yet by the pen of the historian. John Campbell, Sr., was a republican in his principles. He was, however, a warm advocate for the adoption of the Federal Constitution and defended it with all his powers against the opinions of a majority of his county. But is it had been the destiny of this beloved and virtuous man, to have lived without an opportunity of bestowing upon his country any services which could have embalmed his memory in the public gratitude, there would still remain enough to contemplate of his private character, to insure him the esteem and affection of to whom he was known. His kind and benevolent disposition; his spotless honesty in all his transactions with the work; his tender and indulgent feelings as a father and a husband; his humane treatment of his slaves, and with all his purely pious and virtuous life, will never be forgotten in the country in which he lived. No man was ever more beloved by his neighbors and old acquaintances, and few it is believed who have ever lived would have gone farther to have served them. It will afford some gratification to them to hear of the manner in which he met the stroke of death, of the approach of which he had been for some time perfectly conscious. The following account of it is from the pen of one who witnessed his separation from the world and the affectionate family by whom he was surrounded: "On yesterday at 4 o'clock our aged and good father breathed his last. Our apprehensions had been excited but a short time. He wore off so gradually, that he was nearly prepared to leave the world before he gave us an indications that he was so soon to leave us. He suffered considerably for about 24 hours; but it was the suffering of the weary traveler who had been long absent from home and was struggling to reach his own habitation and friends. When he looked around on us who were to be left behind, the feelings of the husband and the parent would rise in his bosom, but he would immediately suppress his emotions and tell us to be calm. A few hours before he died he became so weak that he could not speak to be heard. He then closed his eyes and slept off, without a groan, or the least motion of any limb, not even the smallest construction of a feature. As long as he could speak, his mind was unusually clear, calm and good. He talked with us of his approaching separation several times, and all in the same strain of Christian fortitude." Thus ended, the long and virtuous life of this excellent citizen. Surely no man every left the world with better hopes of everlasting happiness. He was religious from his youth; yet not one was more innocently social and cheerful in his temper and disposition, or freer from the spirit of bigotry and intolerance. He was deeply impressed with the great truth of the sentiment so handsomely expressed in our act of our religious freedom; "That all coercions upon the mind in exacting religious forms or duties, "lended only to begot habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and were a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being Lord of both body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either as was his Almighty power to do." At the close of the American Revolution, every spark of political ambition seem to have been extinguished in his bosom. He never courted a public honor of any kind either civil or military; and yet no one look more heart-felt delight in contemplating the rising fame and prosperity of his country. His meek and unambitious temper in beautifully described in the youthful production of Pope on Solitude, which the writer of this humble tribute to his memory has heard from him a hundred times repeat, with a smile of content and tranquility of mind, which times can never obliterate from his rememberance. THOMAS CARNEY - a colored man, aged 74, died near Denton, Md., 30 June. At the commencement of the Revolution, he enlisted as a soldier under Gen. Peter Adams, and soon afterwards was marched to the North, and was in the Battle of Germantown. In this action the Maryland Troops bore a conspicuous part, but the American were compelled to yield to a superior force. Soon after this, Washington retired to Valley Forge, and took up his winter quarters. When the Maryland and Delaware lines were ordered to the South, Thomas marched with his brave Regiment. At the battle of Guillford Court House he bore a conspicuous part, and bayoneted seven of the enemy when the Maryland Troops came to the charge. At Camden, Hobkick's HIll, and Ninety-Six, he bore his part. At Ninety-Six, his captain (the late Major General Benson) received a dangerous wound. Thomas took him on his shoulders to the surgeon, and after laying him at the surgeon's feet, fainted from fatigue and heat. (National Intelligencer Vital Statistics, 22 July 1828) COL. WILLIAM FEW, aged 81 years, died 16 July at Fishkill, N. Y., the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. Chrystie. Born in Maryland, in 1748, he was an inhabitant of Georgia when the Revolution commenced. In 1776 he was elected a member of the Convention which formed the first Constitution of that State. He was afterwards a member of the Legislature and Executive Council. But the dangers of the times soon called him to the field. Georgia, invaded by the British on the sea border and by their savage allies on the Western frontier, was preserved by the unsubdued spirit of a few militia. Amongst these, William Few, who was soon raised to the rank of Lt. Col., distinguished himself by his bravery and activity in several actions with the British and Indians. Augusta having been recovered and the savages repulsed, he was, in the year 1780, appointed a delegate to Congress, where he continued until the peace of 1783. He was reappointed in 1786 and in 1787 was chosen a member of the convention which formed the constitution of the United States for Georgia from 1789 to 1793, and having married in the city of New York, moved there, where he spent 30 years. He represented the city several years in the Legislature of the State till he was appointed by Mr. Jefferson Commissioner of Loans. (National Intelligencer Vital Statistics, 23 July 1828) HENRY GARDNER - aged 93 years, 5 months, 20 days, died in Charleston, S. C., 10 Feb. He was born at North Kingston, R. I., 20 July 1734. He was from early life a mariner, and at the commencement of the Revolution, he shouldered his musket, but as soon as vessels of war were commissioned, he entered on board some of the first. Being in France at the time Paul Jones took command of the Bon Homme Richard, he entered on board as sailing master and bore a conspicuous part in the memorable engagement with the Serapis, after which he was in various actions and served as sailmaker on board the frigate Alliance, under the command of the late Capt. Barry, until the peace of 1783. Upon the commencement of the late war, although at the age of 78, he immediately entered as sailmaker, on board one of the vessels of the U. S., and served until the peace. (National Intelligencer Vital Statistics, 27 Feb. 1828) JOHN GRAVES - aged 68 years, died 26 May in the county of Madison, Va. He was a Revolutionary soldier. He joined the ranks in defence of his country and was one of the captors of Cornwallis in the memorable battle of Yorktown. (National Intelligencer Vital Statistics, 5 June 1828) ABEL GUNN (New York) "Died -- Another patriot gone. Died in this village on Wednesday last, Mr. Abel Gunn, a soldier of the Revolution, in the 88th year of his age. Mr. Gunn was under the personal command of Washington during all the early part of the war and engaged in most of the actions that marked the disastrous campaigns of 1776, from the defeat of the Americans on Long Island, and their retreat through New York and New Jersey into Pennsylvania. He was in the party that crossed the Delaware with Washington the night of the memorable 25th of December, 1776, and captured the Hessians at Trenton; was also one of the party that overturned the statue of George Third in New York at the commencement of the war in 1775. He had been for more than fifty years a resident of this town, and for the past thirty years an exemplary member of the Episcopal Church. He was buried with military honors." [Source: "The Records of Christ Church" Poughkeepsie, NY, F.B. House 1911- 1916, transcribed by K. Torp] Colonel Francis Johnson, aged 66, an officer of the revolutionary war. [The American Review, May 1815 - sub. by K. Torp] Nathaniel Marsh In Haverhill, Hon. Nathaniel Marsh, aged 75; an officer during the Revolutionary War, and for some years a Senator of this Commonwealth. [The North American Review, Sept 1815 - Sub. by K. Torp] Col. Jonathan Meigs (Connecticut) He was a revolutionary war hero, one of the first settlers of Ohio and called "The White Path" by the Cherokee Nation. Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) February 26 1823 Page 5 Died on the 28th of January last, at the Cherokee Agency, Col.. Return Jonathan Meigs. The following sketches of his military services, are deemed due to his merits and character: Col. Meigs was a native of Connecticut. Immediately after the battle of Lexington, which opened the bloddy drama of the Revolution, he marched a company of light-infantry, completely uniformed and equipped, which he had previously organized and disciplined, for the environs of Boston. He was soon appointed a Major by the state of Connecticut, and marched with Col. Arnold in his tedious and suffering expedition to Canada. In the bold enterprise of storming Quebec, he commanded a battalion; and, after penetrating within the walls of the city, was made prisoner, together with captains Morgan and Dearborn, since become Generals, and well distinguished in American history. In 1776, Major Meigs was exchanged and returned home. In 1777, Gen. Washington appointed him Colonel, with authority to raise a regiment. Col. Meigs, having raised a part of his regiment, marched to New Haven to carry into exectution a plan projected for the surprisal and destruction of a part of the enemy at Sag Harbor, on Long Island, where large quantities of stores and forage had been collected for the army at New York; the account of which is given in Marshall’s Life of Washington, as follows: “General Parsons entrusted the execution of this plan to Col. Meigs, a very gallant officer, who had accompanied Arnold in his memorable march to Quebec, and had been taken prisoner in the unsuccessful attempt made on that place by Montgomery. He embarked with about 230 men on board thirteen whale boats, and proceeded along the coast to Guilford, from whence he was to cross the Sound. Here he was detained some time by high winds and a rough sea; but on the 22d of May, about one o’clock in the afternoon, he re-embarked one hundred and seventy of his detachment, and proceeded, under convoy of tow armed sloops, across the sound to the north division of the Island near Southold. The east end of Long Island is deeply interested by a Bay, on the north side of which had been a small foraging party, against which the expedition was in part directed: but they had marched to New York two days before. “Here, however, information was received, that the stores had not been removed from Sag Harbor, which lies in the northern division of the Island, and that a small guard still remained there for their defence. The boats were immediately conveyed across the land, a distance of about 15 miles into the bay, where the troops re-embarked, and crossing the bay, landed within four miles of Sag Harbor, at two o’clock in the morning; which place they completely surprised, and carried with fixed bayonets. At the same time a division of the Detachment secured the armed schr. And the vessels, with the forage which had been collected for the supply of the army at New York. These brigs and sloops, twelve in number, were set on fire and entirely consumed. Six of the enemy were killed, and 90 of them taken prisoner. A very few escaped under cover of the night; having thus completely effected the object of the expedition, without the loss of a single man, and having moved with such uncommon celerity, as to have transported his men by land and water ninety miles in twenty-five hours.” “As a mark of their approbation of his conduct, Congress directed a sword to presented to him, and passed a resolution expressive of their high sense entertained of his merit, and of the prudence, ectivity and valor displayed by himself and his party, in this expediton. In 1779, Col. Meigs commanded one of the regiments which stormed and carried Stony Point, under Gen. Wayne.” He was one of the first settlers of the wilderness which has since become the state of Ohio; having landed at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, with the earliest emigrants. A government for the North Western Territory had been prepared, by an ordinance of the Congress of 1787. Governor St. Clair and the Judges of the Territory had not arrived. The emigrants were without civil laws or civil authority. Col. M. drew up a concise system of regulations, which were agreed to by the emigrants, as the rule of conduct and preservation, until the proper authorities should arrive. To give these regulations publicity, a large oak, standing near the confluence of the rivers, was selected, from which the bark was cut off sufficient space to attach the sheet, on which the regulations were written – and they were beneficially adhered to until the civil authorities arrived. This venerable oak was, to the emigrants, more useful, and as frequently consulted, as the Oracle of ancient Delphos, by its votaries. During a long life of activity and usefulness, no man ever sustained a character more irreproachable than Col. Meigs. He was a pattern of excellence as a patriot, a philanthropist, and a christen. In all the vicissitudes of fortune the duties of religion were strictly observed, and its precepts strikingly exemplified. The latter part of his life was devoted to the amelioration of the condition of the aborigines of the country, for which purpose he accepted the Agency of the Cherokee station; and in the discharge of his duties he inspired the highest degree of confidence in that nation, by whom he was emphatically denominated “The White Path”. In all cases they revered him as their Father, and obeyed his counsel as an unerring guide. His death is a loss to the country, and especially to that station. His remains were interred with the honours of war, amidst a concourse of sincere friends, and in the anguish of undissembled sorrow. His death was serenely happy in the assurance of Christian hope. – Nat. Inte. [Submitted by Nancy Piper] Gen. Henry Miller April 21, 1824 --- From the York Gazette Died on the 5th inst., at Carlisle, Gen. Henry Miller, for many years a distinguished and highly respectable inhabitant of this borough. By the death of Gen. Miller, another patriot and revolutionary worthy has passed into that invisible state beyond the grave, where soon all the heroes of the revolution will be gathered. They soon will exist only in the remembrance of a grateful county. Gen. Miller was a native of Lancaster county, but when very young removed to York. In the year 1775, he marched from this place as a Lieutenant in Capt. Doudle’s Company to Boston, where he soon was promoted to a captaincy on the resignation of his captain. He held the commissions of Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel, in the war of the Revolution. Gen. Wilkinson, in his memoirs, states that Maj. Miller’s regiment was ordered by General Washington, to check the rapid movements of the enemy in pursuit of the American Army, whilst retreating across the state of N. Jersey; and the order was so successfully executed, and the advance of a powerful enemy impeded and embarrassed, that the author of the memoirs attributes the preservation of the American troops, which afterwards gained the independence of the Country, to the good conduct of Maj. Miller, which was admirably seconded by the late Gen. Hand. Gen. Wilkinson, in a note to his valuable work, says “Gen. Henry Miller, of the City of Baltimore, was distinguished for his cool and deliberate bravery, and certainly possessed the entire confidence of Gen. Washington.” This shows the high estimation in which the father of his county held him. He was along side of General Craig (then Colonel) at the battle of Monmouth, and had two horses killed under him. On the western expedition he was appointed Quartermaster General; these arduous and responsible duties he performed to the entire satisfaction of the public. Gen. Miller’s last services were performed at Baltimore, in 1813, when that city was menaced with imminent danger, by a large army and fleet in the Chesapeake Bay. He was appointed a Brigadier General by the later Governor, Levin Winder, and had the command of the troops stationed for its defence. His spirited and manly reply to a threatening letter of Admiral Warren, will never be forgotten. Gen Miller was in many of the most important battles of the revolutionary war, and endured a large share of the trials and sufferings incident to that eventful period. He was also an excellent civil officer. He filled for many years the Prothonotary’s and Sheriff’s Offices of York county. He was the supervisor of th revenue for the district of Pennsylvania during the administration of President Adams and after this office was abolished he removed to Baltimore, where he resided for some years as a respectable and honest merchant. From that city he retired to a farm near the forks of the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers, devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits. He was then appointed by Gov. Hiester to the office of Prothonotary of Perry county. He was also a member of the Legislature of this state, and of the convention that framed the state constitution. He was the candidate in opposition to Mr. Gallatin for the U. State’s Senate. Mr. Gallatin being declared ineligible, and Gen. Miller declining to be a candidate again, Mr. Ross of Pittsburgh, was elected to that situation. No man had more self possession and more fortitude to support himself against the darkening storms of adversity than the subject of these remarks. He was kind, liberal and sincere and with a mind characterized with peculiar strength and quickness of perception, he was prompt and firm in his decisions. He was decidedly at one time amongst the most popular men in the state, and so in part he remained during the many vicissitudes of party collisons. He now abides in that mansion where the wicked cease troubling and the weary are at rest, until the trumpet of the mighty angel shall awaken to a general resurrection those who have been sleepers for thousands of years. Gen. Miller deceased at the age of 74 years, and at the time when the munificence of the Legislature had just made compensation for the important revolutionary services he rendered his native county – he did not live long enough to receive this righteous retribution. – G. [Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - Submitted by Nancy Piper] General Roger Nelson, a patriot of the revolution, and a member of Congress [The North American Review, July 1815, - sub. by K. Torp] General John Nixon, aged 90. He commanded the first brigade of the Massachusetts line, in the war of Independence and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. (North American Review - May 1815) W. Preston, Esq., aged 78, an active officer in the war of the revolution. [The North American Review, May 1815 - sub. by K. Torp] Jonathan Rawson - In Victor, NY. Aged 77 (Buffalo Patriot, Oct. 21, 1828) Capt. William Smith (Virginia) Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) March 19 1823 Page 3 Died on the 12th ultimo, in Albemarle county, Va., Capt. William Smith, in the 96th year of his age. Mr. Smith served against the Indians as a captain in a campaign under the command of colonel George Washington, sometime before Braddock’s defeat. He was also in several battles during our revolutionary struggle, and was distinguished for his bravery and devotion to the cause of his county. For many years past, he has been a great lover of his bible, and could read with ease without spectacles. Submitted by Nancy Piper John Stark (New Hampshire) Taken From the Gettysburg Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) May 29, 1822 Page 4 Death of General Stark From the New Hampshire Patriot, May 13 [1822] Death of General Stark The immortal Stark is no more! He surrendered his mighty soul to the God who gave it, on Wednesday, May 8, 1822, aged 93 years, 8 months and 24 days; his last illness was short by extremely distressing – fourteen days previous to his death, he sustained, as was supposed, a paralytic shock, which discovered itself in choking and inability to swallow while eating; after this he ate no more; and during his remaining time, he was speechless, although it was apparent to his watchful friends and relations who stood around him, that he retained his senses to the last. – Until the last attack, he had ever been able to walk about the house, and in pleasant weather out of doors. His funeral obsequies were attended by a large concourse of people at his late residence in Manchester, on the bank of the Merrimack, on Friday last. Rev. Dr. Dana, on Londonderry, addressed the Throne of Grave in a fervent and excellent prayer. His remains were interred with military honors in the cemetery which without a few years had been enclosed at his own request; it is situated on a mound being the second rise from the river, and can be seen for a distance of four or five miles up and down the Merrimack. John Stark was born at Londonderry, N. H., Aug. 18, 1728, old style, corresponding with Aug. 17, N. S. His father was a native of Scotland, and was educated at the University of Edinburgh; married in Ireland and emigrated to America at the beginning of the last century. He made his first settlement at Londonderry, but soon after removed to Derryfield (now Manchester,) and settled on the east bank of the Merimack, near Amoskeag Falls. On the breaking out of the seven years war, John Stark, then 21 years of age, his brother William, Amos Eastman of this town, and John Stinson, of Londonderry, while out on a hunting excursion on the upper branches of this river, were surprised by the Indians. Stinson was killed on the spot; Eastman and John Stark were taken prisoners, and William Stark escaped. Stark was conducted by the Indians to St. Francois, and from thence to Montreal, where, after remaining four months in captivity, he was purchased by Mr. Wheelright, of Boston, and returned home by way of Albany. Soon after he engaged a company of Rangers, of whom he was first commissioned lieutenant, and afterwards Captain. Here he found a field suited to his daring and adventurous spirit – he remained in this service until the close of that war, during which he retained the confidence and friendship of the British General, Lord Howe, until the death of that nobleman, who was killed while storming the French lines. In that sanguinary and doubtful contest Stark was always found cautious on a march, vigilant in camp, and undaunted in battle – and it was probably owing to the experience he here acquired, that invariable success attended, so far as he was concerned, his battles of the subsequent revolution, which separated these States from Britain. At the close of the French war he returned to his father’s house, was soon after married, and remained in the enjoyment of domestic life, until the report of the battle of Lexington spread, like an electric shock, through the country. When this report reached Stark, he was at work in his saw mill at Amoskrag Falls: he stopped his mill, went immediately to his house, took his musket, and with a band of heroes proceeded to Cambridge. The morning after his arrival, he received a colonel’s commission, and in less than two hours he enlisted eight hundred men! On the memorable 17th of June, at Breed’s Hill, the British soldiers first felt the destructive hand of the backwoodsmen of New Hampshire. Stark, during the whole of this engagement, evinced the most consummate bravery and intrepid zeal for his county, and his name and heroism will live forever in the annals of that eventful period. The night after this battle, the works on Winter Hill were commenced, and so zealous were the soldiery, that on the morrow they presented a bold and commanding front, that kept the British in awe, and prevented further depredations. After the British evacuation of Boston, Stark went to the northern posts to assist the retreating army from Quebec. On the arrival of the army at Ticonderoga, the important pair of Mount Independence assigned to his command, and the arduous task of fortifying that peninsula. After the British quit the lakes, he joined General Washington in Pennsylvania, preparatory to the battle of Trenton. And here it may be important to notice an event which was related on the day of his funeral by a venerable companion in arms then present, and in whose veracify the most implicit reliance may be place. It is well known that, just previous to this important action, the American army was on the point of being broken up by suffering, desertion and the expiration of the term of enlistment of a great portion of the troops. A few days previous, the term of the New Hampshire troops expired: Stark was the first to propose a re-engagement for six weeks – he, for the moment, left his station as commander, and engaged as recruiting officer; and it is added that not a man failed to re-engage. He led the van of that attack – and the event is well known. Seven days after he was with Gen. Washington at Trenton, when Lord Cornwallis with 12,000 men nearly hemmed them in: by consummate address the impending fate of the Americans was avoided. Washington fell on the enemy’s rear at Princeton, and so broke up the British plans, that the enfeebled American army was enabled to turn to hem up the British in the environs of New York. In 1777, the overwhelming force of Burgoyne drove the Americans from their strong post at Ticonderoga – universal alarm prevailed in the North at the rapid approach of the British. Stark was found ready to meet and conquer them. He voluntarily marched to Vermont, and at the head of undisciplined, but ardent troops, he immortalized his name by planning and consummating the attack at Bennington – the most extraordinary and least expected event of the whole revolution, in which two different corps of British, Hessian and Indian “invincibles” were attacked and beaten in rapid succession, the first in their redoubts, and the second while coming up to the relief of the other. This victory, from a state of the lowest depression, inspired Americans with the highest confidence; Stark, with myriads of other volunteers, joined Gen. Gates at Saratoga, and by his exertions aided in the overthrow of Burgoyne. He was of the convention which negotiated the British surrender, but was decidedly averse to any other treaty than a surrender at discretion. The following year the northern frontier was assigned to his command with a feeble force; still, his old friends, the militia, prompt at his call, presented such an attitude as secured the frontier from assault. In ’79 he was at Rhode Island, and principally employed with Gen. Gates in surveying the country from Riverton to Point Judith to guard against attack. Late in the season, however, he joined Washington with the northern army, who was enabled to make good his winter quarters. In the year ’80 he was with Washington at Morristown and in the battle of Springfield; that season terminated with Gen. Lincoln’s disaster at Charleston and the treason of Arnold. In ’81 he again had charge of the northern department, and kept the enemy in close quarters with a small body of militia; the surrender of Cornwallis this year closed the war. For the materials of this hasty sketch, our obligations are due to Major Caleb Stark, his eldest son, who participated with his illustrious father in many of the perils of the revolution. At the conclusion of the war, Gen. Stark, like the Roman Cincinnatus, retired to the pursuits of domestic life, mingling with the industrious and hardy ycomanry of New England, and aspiring to none of the honors or emoluments of public office, but reaping, in common with his countrymen, the fruits of that immortal struggle, which made us a free people. For the last few years of his life he enjoyed a pecuniary bounty from government – a few will offering of the nation to one of its most distinguished defenders. Such was Gen. Stark – the last surviving general officer of the revolution – the first and most intrepid hero of our State, of whom she may justly boast as unsurpassed in cool and determined bravery. He has gone the way of all the living. His character in private life was unblemished – His manners were frank and artless, though tinged with an eccentricity peculiar to his family alone. To sum up all, he was that humblest work of God’s – an Honest Man.” Submitted by Nancy Piper Seth Thompson - In Salem, O., aged 69 (Buffalo Patriot, Nov. 11, 1828) Back to the Obit Index ©2007 K. Torp