Jotham Bisbee, Revolutionary War Soldier
“Assault on Balcarres Redoubt” on October 1, 1777 by artist Andy Thomas, available online with many other pieces of American history art. Balcarres Redoubt was a British fortification in 1777, in Saratoga County, New York near Bemis Heights. In October 1777, it was part of the Battle of Saratoga. It was a strong British position 500 yards long and 12 to 14 feet high, mounting 8 guns. This painting imagines the American Revolutionary soldiers on the right attacking the British Army holding the high ground of the Redoubt on the left.
Jotham Bisbee, the 3G Generation's 4th Great-grandfather, was born in Pembroke, Mass. in 1750 or 1751. He fought in the Revolutionary War in the Saratoga Campaign in 1777. His father was Gideon Bisbee, born in 1719, also in Pembroke, in Plymouth County and who died in the French and Indian War in 1760. Jotham’s grandfather, Deacon John Bisbee, Jr., was born in Scituate, Mass. in 1690 and his great-grandfather John Bisbee was born in Scituate in 1647. John’s father was Elisha Besbeech and Elisha’s father was Thomas. Thomas Besbeech (later Bisbey or Bisbee) came to Marshfield, Mass. in 1634 on the ship Hercules of Dover, England. Another one of Jotham’s roots, through his grandmother Mary Oldham, go back to the earliest colonial times, to Henry Samson arriving on The Mayflower in 1620.
Gideon and his son Jotham came in about 1755 to what later (in 1762) formed as the town of Chesterfield, Mass. They spent one summer clearing a portion of land near the "Kidd Lookout," in the eastern part of the town.
Returning to Pembroke in the fall for his family, Gideon arrived back home in Pembroke just in time to join in the French and Indian war, where he died of the small pox. (William F. Bisbee, in A Bisbee Family History, cites the New England Historic Genealogy Register, 1982, p. 34, for Gideon's death occurring 6 September 1760, at age 41.
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. One young officer who fought in the war was George Washington. Soon after his death, Gideon's widow and two sons and daughters went ahead and moved to Chesterfield. The widow died there and was buried at " The Gate " cemetery.
Of Gideon's children, Jotham married Lydia, daughter of Luther Curtiss (but note question in the Myrtie Bisbee Family Tree charts about whether this Curtiss connection is adequately identified), and remained at the home. Of Gideon Bisbee and Rebecca Turner Bisbee’s four children, Jotham had ten children, among whom was Asahel, father of George Asahel Bisbee, Civil War soldier.
The records of soldiers and sailors of the Revolutionary War from Massachusetts shows, "Jotham Bisbe, Private Capt. Joseph Warren's Co. Col. Ruggles Woodbridge's Reg't.; enlisted Aug. 17, 1777 discharged Nov. 29, 1777 service 3 mos. 15 das. in Northern Department.” Ref. MA01. Many of the records refer to MA01, "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution."MA01 - Massachusetts Commonwealth; Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution (17 vols); Wright and Potter Printing Co.,(Boston, 1896); Additional information can be found at the New York State Library, CMA callnum: 973.3444 qA2.
The point at which Bisbee enlisted was when the regiment was called up again at South Hadley, Massachusetts on August 16, 1777 (it had disbanded after the battle at Fort Ticonderoga in 1776) as reinforcements for the Continental Army during the Saratoga Campaign. This was the point at which Jotham Bisbee entered the Army. Details follow below on the activities of Bisbee’s Company during this campaign. The regiment marched quickly to join the gathering forces of General Horatio Gates as he faced British General John Burgoyne in northern New York. The regiment served in General Warner's brigade. With the surrender of Burgoyne's Army on October 17, the regiment was disbanded on November 29, 1777.
Bisbee was in Warren’s Company of Woodbridge's Regiment of Militia, also known as the "1st Hampshire County Militia Regiment" and "Woodbridge's (25th) Regiment" or "The 25th Regiment of Foot." Colonel Woodbridge and his regiment served under General Benjamin Lincoln for their contribution to the Saratoga Campaign, which was known as the Pawlet Expedition of September 1777. Beginning that month, the American Expedition to Pawlet had as its goal to divide, divert, and harass the army of General John Burgoyne. This marked the beginning of a new military climate. The long retreat and defensive posture of the main American army had been reversed.
The following details of the Battle of Saratoga are mostly excerpted from Vermont History Vol. 75, No. 2 (Summer/Fall 2007): 69–100 (http://www.vermonthistory.org/journal/75/10_Hoyt.pdf) By Edward A. Hoyt, Preface, Discussion and Conclusions by Ronald F. Kingsley.
This is the official U.S. Army campaign streamer for units that served in the Revolutionary War.
General Burgoyne established a series of supply depots at Fort Ticonderoga, Mount Independence, Diamond Island on Lake George, and Fort George at the southern end of Lake George. The depots served to support his army along the invasion route as they marched south toward the objective, Albany.
The Massachusetts militia colonel Benjamin Lincoln had joined Washington at Morristown in 1777 and was promoted to the rank of major-general. In July 1777 he joined Benedict Arnold to serve under General Schuyler against Burgoyne. Lincoln’s plan at Pawlet called for detaching three colonels, each with 500 men. Massachusetts militiamen under John Brown would attack the bateaux at the north end of Lake George; Benjamin Woodbridge (with Private Bisbee!) would march to Skenesborough (present day Whitehall) to cover Brown’s retreat; and Vermont militiamen under Samuel Johnson were to divert the enemy at Mount Independence. Lincoln himself, with about 600 remaining men, would reinforce Woodbridge. The plan was implemented on September 18, 1777.
General Horatio Gates summoned Lincoln from Bennington where he commanded the Massachusetts militia and other troops gathering there. The meeting between the two generals on 1 September marked the beginning of a new military climate. The long retreat and defensive posture of the main American army, which continued through July and August, had been reversed. Burgoyne, who still remained on the east side of the Hudson just north of Saratoga, was no longer confronted with a retreating and uncoordinated enemy on the defensive. He was now faced with an enemy which dared to advance in front of him and with a coordinated and aggressive one menacing his rear. The Massachusetts militia consisted almost entirely of men like Bisbee, called up for three months of service under the resolution of the General Court passed on 9 August 1777. They came from all the Massachusetts counties, except those of the southeastern part of the state where the militia was needed for service in Rhode Island.
The three-month men were organized into regiments by county. Bisbee’s home in Chesterfield was in Hampshire County. There were seven regiments from various counties with the Hampshire County men under Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge. The Massachusetts three-month men either were drafted or volunteered facing a possible draft. From the records it is not possible to determine the number of those drafted compared to those who volunteered. However, they do clearly indicate that many men were drafted, and what is more, that the draft had teeth in it.
Colonel Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge
There was a provision in the resolution of the General Court which assured enforcement. It declared that if any person being drafted, should “neglect to march” and not make “a reasonable excuse” or obtain a substitute, he would be “considered as a Soldier in the Army for the time aforesd and treated as such.” In other words, he would be ar- rested and forced into the army. The men so drafted along with any volunteers were formed into companies of sixty-eight men each or as near that figure as might be. Some companies had four sergeants and four corporals as well as a fifer and a drummer. The brigadiers formed eight companies or as near that number as possible into a regiment and chose from their brigades a captain and two lieutenants to command each company.
It appears that Lincoln’s army had no tents. The indications are that they slept in the open or in barns or makeshift shelters. Not even the officers had tents.
The evidence concerning food is rather slim. Beef and flour were the major articles available. These were, of course, the basic items of the army ration. The “beeves,” as General Lincoln called them, were slaughtered as needed. The flour was on occasion baked into bread, probably in the kettles which were the sole cooking utensils at hand, as far as it is now known. On other occasions flour may have been used to make “fire cakes,” which would be similar to our present day pancakes. Pork and potatoes appear to have been in some supply and “chocklatte” [chocolate] as well.
Vegetables—often referred to as “sauce” or “saus” and usually pronounced ‘sass’—were probably available. Food was prepared in the several companies by “messes” which comprised about six men each. A camp kettle or “kittle,” as it was often spelled and pronounced, was issued at Bennington each mess. The six men were expected to pool their meat ration and boil it in their kettles or, if other items were available, to pool them as well and prepare a sort of stew. In the Revolutionary army the men usually took turns acting as cook, though skill and preference doubtless varied this practice. At the time of the Revolution boiled meat was deemed to be best.
When General Lincoln came back to Bennington after his conference with General Gates, he was confronted with the powers and responsibilities of a commanding general. His orders from Gates were to march his army to Pawlet and from there “divide and distract the enemy” by “diversions.”
The success of the Pawlet expedition, it was evident, would largely depend upon the speed of its movements. It would not be involved in pitched battles or sustained actions, but in swift raids or, at most, brief encounters or assaults.
In consequence, the army was to travel as light as possible. No artillery with heavy and slow ammunition carts would accompany it at any time. The armament was a musket and 24 cartridges per man.
General Lincoln “with the advice of the officers” came to the decision on 12 September to send out three expeditions of 500 men each: one under Colonel John Brown to Ticonderoga, one under Colonel Samuel Johnson to Mount Independence and one under Colonel Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge to Skenesborough (now Whitehall). These expeditions marched out of Pawlet on the 12th and 13th of September.
Colonel Woodbridge was sent to Skenesborough, which had been abandoned by the British on the arrival of the American troops at Pawlet, in order to cover Colonel Brown and secure his retreat if necessary. His force was also to “march on towards Fort Edward [through Fort Anne] and give the enemy a diversion in that quarter.”
The primary purpose of these expeditions was an attack on the outposts of Ticonderoga. This was the prime goal of Colonel Brown’s undertaking. Colonel Brown was making his attack across the lake. We don’t know, but it is possible that Jotham Bisbee and his Company went with Brown’s forces, as Colonel Brown’s expedition included companies from his own regiment as well as from the regiments of Colonel Warner, Colonel Herrick, Colonel Marsh, Colonel Johnson, Colonel Woodbridge and Colonel Cushing. Colonel Woodbridge stationed some of his troops at the “Narrows” of Lake Champlain in this way covering Brown’s retreat or withdrawal.
From the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum website, this information describes the role of Skenesborough, NY at this time in the Revolutionary War. The Americans had a small fleet on Lake Champlain. In 1776, while the British worked at the north end of Lake Champlain to assemble a fleet, the Americans worked hard to build their own fleet at the south end of the lake.
Whoever controlled the waters of Lake Champlain would control the whole Champlain Valley. Skenesborough was chosen as the location to build the American ships. In the summer and fall of 1776, using the saw mill pictured here and an ironworks, the Americans completed a fleet of 16 small ships. However, in a battle of several days in October 1776, the British defeated the small American fleet. The British decided to halt their campaign for the winter, and they returned to Canada. By July 1777 the British had returned and once again briefly held Fort Ticonderoga before surrenduring it during the fall of 1777 in the Saratoga Campaign.
Fort Ticonderoga, a "star fort" originally built by the French in 1754-1757 at the south end of Lake Champlain. It controlled the river between Lake Champlain and Lake George to the south. "Ticonderoga" is from the Iroquois language meaning, "it is at the junction of two waterways."
A brief account of Colonel Brown’s accomplishments is essential to an understanding of the Pawlet expedition. Although the colonel did not attempt to take the main fort—he had been virtually ordered not to make the attempt if it involved too great a risk—he made havoc of the enemy positions in its vicinity. Achieving almost complete surprise, he struck on 18 September and captured altogether six enemy outposts, including Lake George Landing and Mount Defiance. In these operations he released all 118 American prisoners and captured over 330 enemy soldiers. He took possession of two hundred boats, including seventeen gun boards and one armed sloop. In addition, he seized numerous carriages, cattle, and horses as well as cannon, arms, and ammunition. He also captured near the fort a considerable amount of plunder, including clothing, rum, and other stores. Before withdrawing from Ticonderoga, he armed and employed the released American prisoners and sent off into captivity the prisoners he had taken. He also destroyed all the carriages and boats in his possession at the time and killed or sent off into the woods all the cattle and horses. And, finally, he burned many of the stores he had seized. He was able to retreat overland to Skenesborough and to bring off considerable plunder.
Colonel Brown’s success, which seriously crippled the British position at Ticonderoga, made it impossible for either reinforcements or supplies to be sent to Burgoyne. Furthermore, the losses in horses and oxen and in carriages and boats inflicted by Colonel Brown also had consequences. Any prospect of bringing provisions to Burgoyne as well as troops was impossible.
Although not one of the great events of the American Revolution, the Pawlet expedition performed a part in it. It launched Colonel John Brown’s raid on Ticonderoga from an advanced and secure base. That undertaking had important consequences. Because of those consequences the Pawlet expedition became but one of the threads of the web that entangled and destroyed Burgoyne. And that destruction was momentous for American history.
The defeat of and surrender by General Burgoyne at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, stunned British leaders who had anticipated a quick victory and an end to rebellious thinking and behavior. This campaign was a decisive American victory because of the surrender of a British army and because it encouraged France to go ahead and enter the war on the side of the Americans.
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