Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/462

 PUTNAM

PUTNAM

and was present at the disastrous defeat of the Colonial army by Baron Dieskau in the woods near Ivike George, Sept. 8, 175.1, followed by the successful battle that resulted in the anniiii- lation of the arniy of Dieskau, and the baronetcy of William Jolinson. Putnam displayed such unusual skill in Indian warfare tliathewas made an indejHMuK'iit scout, and operated with the rangers umler Maj. Robert Rogers. After spend- ing the winter of 1755-r)G at home, he joined General Aljercrombie at Fort Edward in the spring, and his exploits in saving the powder magazine during a tire in the fort, his rescue of a party of soldiers by passing the rapids of Fort Miller in a bateau, and his recapture of provisions and military stores seized by the French, his capture, torture, miraculous escape and final exchange, form an important part of the histor}' of the French and Indian war. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel and took part in command of his regiment in the successful expeditions of General Amherst against Ticonderoga and Crown Point in 1759, and against Montreal in 17G0. He accompanied General Lj-man to the West Indies in 17G0 ; and took part in the capture of Havana, Aug. 13. 1762, and in 1704 was promoted colonel and joined Bradstreet in his march to the relief of Detroit besieged by Pontiac. He had spent his winters at home, and in 1765 resumed his farming operations, also conducting a profitable inn in Mortlake ^lanor, which liad been set off from Pomfret in 1751. Colonel Putnam became a member of the church, aselectmanof the town, deputy to the general assembly, and in the winter of 1772-73 accompanied General Lyman to inspect the lands on the Mississippi river near Natchez given to the soldiers of Connecticut for their services in the French and Indian war. He was a Son of Liberty, having joined the order in 1765, and when General Gage was in Boston, he visited him, and declared his allegiance to the cause of the colonies. He heard the news of the battle of Lexington while plowing in his fields, and at once mounted his horse. After riding all night he reached Cambridge, Mass., the next morning, proceeding on the same day to Concord, Mass., whence he sent a messenger back to Pom- fret to have the militia in readiness to meet the emergency. The n»'xt week he returned home and wjis appointed brigmlier-general by tiie legisla- ture, having command of the militia of the colony. He joined the patriot army at Cam- bridge, and commanded at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17. 1775, and on .June 19, was made major-general in the Continental army, and placed m command of the division stationed at Cambridge. He was ordered to New York to assume chief command of the army, and on his arrival, April 4, 1770, he proceeded to place the

city in a condition of defence, to this end declar- ing the inhabitants under martial law. Wash- ington arrived April 13, and continued the work so efficiently begun by Putnam, who remained second in command. On August 17, Putnam an- nounced to Washington the arrival of General Howe's fleet off Sandy Hook, and on August 22, 15,000 royal troops crossed the narrows from Staten Island to Gravesend, Long Island. On August 24, he succeeded General Sullivan in com- mand of Brooklyn Heights, and his army was defeated August 27, and forced to cross the East River to New York, where his army of 5000 men found temporary refuge. On the retreat to Har- lem, he commanded the rear guard, and after distinguishing himself in the battle of Harlem Heights, he was sent with a detachment to the support of General McDougall at White Plains, but arriving too late, crossed the Hudson River to Fort Lee, where after the capture of Fort Washington, Nov. 26, 1776, and the discovery of the treachery of General Charles Lee, he was placed in command of the troops in Philadelphia, where he constructed fortifications and prepared tlie city against threate.ned British attack. In January, 1777, he went into winter quarters at Princeton, N.J.,and in May. 1777, was transferred to the command of the troops in the Highlands of the Hudson river, with headquarters at PeelvS- kill, from which post he was forced by the British to retreat to Fishkill in October, but re- occupied Peekskill on the retirement of Sir Henry Clinton to New York. His delay in com- plying with Washington's directions to reinforce the army at Philadelphia now threatened by Howe and Clinton, cost him his command and a severe reprimand from the commander-in-chief, and he was placed on recruiting duty in Connecti- cut. He defended the state against the raids of Governor Tryon, when Danbury was burned, April 26, 1777, and during the winter of 1778-79, made his escape from Tryon's cavalry, by dash- ing down the jiiecipice at Greenwood. He com- manded the right wing of the American army at the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, and at West Point on the Hudson. July to December, 1779, and while on his return to Washington's headquarters at IMorristown after a visit to Pom- fret, he was stricken with paralysis at Hart- ford, Conn., and this disease closed his military career. He married as his second wife, in 1767, Deborah (Latliroj)) Avery Gardner, widow of John Gardner, and she accompanied him on most of his campaigns, and died at his headquarters in the Highlands in 1777. An equestrian statue by J. Q. A.Ward was unveiled in Brooklyn, Conn., June 14, 1888. Lives of General Israel Putnam have been written by David Humphreys (1790); by O. W. B. Peabody in Sparks's "American