The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775 | Page 5

in
1788.]
Friday 30th. This day there was a very unhapy mishap fel out in the
province forces & that was 1 **** shot one **** partly through the
body but did not kil him the man which was shot lived at Bridgwater to
day they drawd out 9 men to go in Battoes up the Lake.

Saturday July 1st. Colonel Worster[31] & his rigiment came up to day
& 3 of our sick men 1 of them Brot nuse that one man shot another by
accident at Schenacata & an hour after he died to day our Chapling[32]
came up &. 1 of Magor Rogers[33] men came in that had bin gorn 7
days & Expected to be gorn but 2 he was so beat out that he could not
tel what had becom of tother. this night I went upon a batto and
guarded Colonel Phiches Tub of Butter.
[Footnote 31: Colonel David Wooster, of Connecticut, the eminent
general of the Revolution, who was killed at Ridgefield, while engaged
in the pursuit of Tryon, after the burning of Danbury, in the spring of
1777. He was born in Stratford, Connecticut, in March, 1710,
graduated at Yale college in 1738, and soon afterward received the
appointment of captain of a vessel of the coast-guard. He was in the
expedition against Louisburg in 1745. He afterward went to England,
where he was a favorite at the court of George II., and received the
appointment of captain in the regular service, under Sir William
Pepperell. He was promoted to a colonelcy in 1755, and rose to the
rank of brigadier before the close of the French and Indian war. He was
one of the most active men in getting up the expedition against
Ticonderoga, in 1775, which resulted in the capture of that fortress, and
also Crown Point, by Colonel Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.
Wooster was appointed one of the first brigadiers of the continental
army, in 1775, and third in rank. He was also appointed the first
major-general of the militia of his state, when organized for the War for
Independence; and in that capacity he was employed, with Arnold,
Silliman, and others, in repelling British invasion in 1777. He lost his
life in that service. His remains were buried at Danbury; and in 1854 a
monument was erected over his grave by his grateful countrymen, at
the expense of his native state.]
[Footnote 32: Chaplain.]
[Footnote 33: Commander of a corps of rangers, who performed signal
services during the greater part of the French and Indian war. He was
the son of an Irishman, an early settler of Dunbarton, in New
Hampshire. He was appointed to his command in 1755, and was a

thorough scout. In 1759, he was sent by General Amherst to destroy the
Indian village of St. Francis. In that expedition he suffered great
hardships, but was successful. He served in the Cherokee war in 1761,
and in 1766 was appointed governor of Michilimacinac, where he was
accused of treason, and sent to Montreal in irons. He was acquitted,
went to England, and, after suffering imprisonment for debt, returned to
America, where he remained until the Revolution broke out. He took
up arms for the king, and in 1777 went to England, where he died. His
"Journal of the French and Indian War" is a valuable work.]
Sonday 2. In the fore noon I went to meting & heard Mr. Eals his text
was in the 5th Chapter of James 16th verse a good sermon I rote a letter
& sent home & in the after noon to meeting again.
Monday 3d. Yesterday Mager putnoms S Company came up and this
morning Mager putnom[34] come up and the Connetticuts rigiment
were Imbodied for to learn how to form your front to the Right and left
for Jineral Abbacromba[35] and his A de Camp to vieu.
[Footnote 34: Israel Putnam, afterward the Revolutionary general. He
was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in January, 1718. He was a vigorous
lad, and in 1739 we find him cultivating land in Pomfret, Connecticut,
the scene of his remarkable adventure in a wolf's den, so familiar to
every reader. He was appointed to the command of some of the first
troops raised in Connecticut for the French and Indian war in 1755, and
was an active officer during the entire period of that conflict, especially
while in command of a corps of rangers. He was ploughing in his field
when the news of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord reached
him. He immediately started for Boston, and, at the head of
Connecticut troops, was active in the battle of Bunker Hill. He was one
of the first four major-generals of the continental army appointed by
Congress in June, 1775, and he was constantly