Revolutionary War Veterans - Rutland
County Vermont
Revolutionary War Veterans - Rutland
County Vermont
Captain John Vincent
Indian and Revolutionary War Hero
August 15 1810
Died at Parkerstown,Vermont, Captain John Vincent, an Indian, aged 95 years.
In 1755 he had a command among the Cognawagga (Caughnawagas) Tribe, then opposed by French influence, to these then colonies and provinces, Gen. Braddock was, at that time, defeated at Fort du Quesne, near where Pittsburgh now is. Captain Vincent had reconnoitered the country southerly to the mouth of the Scioto, and had returned before the engagement. He formed the ambuscade which defeated Braddock. Upon the death of Braddock, he commanded and contended against Colonel Washington, and has often said, that if Braddock had known the great man then advising him, he would have been preserved. That Braddock did not consider Col. Washington as a soldier, and therefore lost his life - that Col. Washington harassed the French and Indians, where they supposed themselves to be conquerors.
At that time Captain Vincent returned with his warriors to his tribe - that at the commencement of the revolutionary war he, Capt. John, soon learned that Col. Washington was commander in chief - that his tribe being in British interest, he left them, fully believing that the Great Spirit had preserved Col. Washington - that a number of his young warriors, after the death of Braddock, had shot at Washington, but nobody could kill him - that about the year 1779 Capt. John received from General Washington a captain's commission.
He piloted the American troops from Cambridge through the Province of Maine to Quebec. He was at Quebec when Montgomery fell. He well understood the history of the revolutionary war, having, in 1775, espoused the American cause. The Legislature of Vermont, having known this distinguished chieftain, long since made him a pensioner.
Capt. John was early educated by a Roman Catholic priest, in the French language and in the tenets of that church. These early impressions were not erased. At no time was the tenant of the forest known to rise without his orizons, to sleep without his vespers, or to eat without at least offering up his silent but revered pension. From his Roman instructor he had received a large quarto French Bible, this he often read, and preserved as his best inheritance, and it is said has bequeathed it to the Rev. Herman Ball. It is not supposed that Capt. Vincent was perfect, but he was brave, generous, humane, and pious. A uniform coat, presented him by Gen. Washington, he bequeathed, with some other articles, to Mr. Richardson.
[Source: The Centinel, Gettysburg, Pa - Contributed by Nancy Piper]
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