The 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, also known as the 2nd Continental Regiment, was authorized on 22 May 1775, organized 1–8 June 1775, and adopted into the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

on 14 June 1775, as the third of three regiments raised by the state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The enlistment dates for officers and rank and file soldiers extended to 23 April 1775, based on their response to the alarm for the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

. The regiment saw action at the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

, the

Battles of Saratoga The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...

, and the

Battle of Newtown The Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) was a major battle of the Sullivan Expedition, an armed offensive led by General John Sullivan that was ordered by the Continental Congress to end the threat of the Iroquois who had sided with the British ...

. In addition, the 3rd participated in or was present at the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

, the Invasion of Canada,

Valley Forge Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the B ...

, and Sullivan's Expedition. The 3rd Regiment was ordered disbanded on 1 January 1781, based on Congress prescribing a new arrangement for the Continental Army on 3 October 1780, that dictated there be just two regiments from New Hampshire, rather than three. Washington's general orders of 1 November 1780, conveyed this arrangement to the army.Washington's General Orders of Nov 1, 1780 The officers of the three New Hampshire regiments met and agreed on who would continue to serve and who would agreeably retire based on this new arrangement; this resulted in several officers from the 3rd Regiment continuing service by moving to the 1st or 2nd regiments.

3rd Regiment 1775-1776

Its first commander was

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

James Reed. Companies were initially commanded by: Captains *Captain Josiah Crosby (1775 only) *Captain Jacob Hinds *Captain Hezekiah Hutchins (1775 only) *Captain Benjamin Mann *Captain John Marcy (1775 only) *Captain Robert Oliver (1776 only) *Captain David Place (1776 only) *Captain Levi Spaulding *Captain Philip Thomas (1775 only) *Captain Ezra Town (1776 only) *Captain William Walker (1775 only) *Captain James Wilkinson (1776 only) *Captain Jonathan Witcomb (1775 only) Under Reed, the regiment saw action on 17 June 1775, at the

, which is more properly known as the Battle of Breeds Hill. There they were on the field at two locations. The bulk of the regiment was at the rail fence positioned between

John Stark Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Batt ...

1st New Hampshire Regiment The 1st New Hampshire Regiment was an infantry unit that came into existence on 22 May 1775 at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. John Stark was the regiment's first commander. The unit fought at Chelsea Creek and Bunker Hill in 1 ...

which extended on the fence to the

Mystic River The Mystic River is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in Massachusetts, in the United States. In Massachusett, means "large estuary," alluding to t ...

and

Thomas Knowlton Thomas W. Knowlton (November 22, 1740 – September 16, 1776) was an American patriot who served in the French and Indian War and was a colonel during the American Revolution. Knowlton is considered America's first Intelligence professional, ...

's company of Connecticut militia. One company, under Josiah Crosby of

Wilton, New Hampshire Wilton is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,896 at the 2020 census. Like many small New England towns, it grew up around water-powered textile mills, but is now a rural bedroom community with some m ...

, was detached into Charlestown to snipe at the British Marines as they advanced on the

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldi ...

where the bulk of the American forces were deployed. Array of American Forces on the Field at the Battle of Breeds Hill

Crosby's company's actions (along with one other company) resulted in the British ships on the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

loading their cannon with hot

grapeshot Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat. In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...

and burning Charlestown. The battle occurred in three phases, and the 3rd Regiment participated in the first two, which resulted in the decisive defeat of the right wing of the British Army under Major General William Howe. However, the New Hampshire regiments were nearly out of ammunition and could only pull back to Bunker Hill to watch the final phase of the battle play out and then cover the retreat of the Massachusetts soldiers as they escaped the redoubt after it had been finally overrun. On 1 Jan, 1776, the 3rd Regiment was redesignated as the 2d Continental Regiment and assigned to Sullivan's Brigade.Wright page 199 On 27 April 1776, the regiment was assigned to the Canadian Department and was sent to Canada via

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and then Albany via the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

under Major General John Sullivan during the Invasion of Canada campaign. As the regiment arrived in Canada they suffered through a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic. They made it as far as

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

where they were from June 12–17 and are shown there on Major

Alexander Scammell Alexander Scammell (March 22, 1747 – October 6, 1781) was a Harvard educated attorney and an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was wounded on September 30, 1781, near Yorktown and subsequently died on Octo ...

's Return of the Continental Forces in Canada. The return of Reeds Regiment, dated 21 April 1776, showed 518 officers, staff, and rank and file, and then on General

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles ...

' return, dated 24 August 1775, there were only 409 men in the regiment, an unfortunately typical loss for regiments in the Canadian Department. The 3rd Regiment returned to

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French mi ...

on 16 July 1776, and were there until November 1776. The 3rd Regiment spent the late summer and fall of 1776 at Fort Ticonderoga. Reed's health was failing, and in November the state sent representatives who with the help of

secured the re-enlistment of many New Hampshire officers and soldiers and re-formed the 1st and 2nd New Hampshire Regiments with those men, which included many from the 3rd Regiment. It is because of this that the 3rd Regiment is usually given credit for participating in the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American m ...

and the

Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comman ...

, though in reality these men had re-enlisted or had been reorganized into these new 1st and 2nd New Hampshire Regiments. The 1st New Hampshire Regiment was also known as the 5th Regiment of Foot and was commanded by John Stark, and the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment was also known as the 8th Regiment of Foot and was commanded by

Enoch Poor Enoch Poor (June 21, 1736 (Old Style) – September 8, 1780) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was a ship builder and merchant from Exeter, New Hampshire. Biography Poor was born and raised ...

. They left Fort Ticonderoga to join

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

on November 16, 1776. In November 1776, what remained of the 3rd Regiment was not much more than a corps of invalids and men who had not re-enlisted and whose enlistments would expire by the end of the year—about 250 in all. Those who did re-enlist in November were incorporated into the 1st and 2nd Regiments. The main army at Fort Ticonderoga marched south to join Washington on 16 and 17 November 1776; the 3rd left Fort Ticonderoga two days later for Fort George, at the southern end of Lake George, where they were assigned until relieved by a New Hampshire militia call-up at the end of December when the majority of the men's enlistments ran out. In December 1776, Col.

was commissioned to command the 3rd Regiment. on 11 December 1776. Some of the company commanders had been commissioned as of November 8, 1776, and were already in New Hampshire recruiting, and several more captains were added by March 1777 to complete the regiment and recruiting. The result was a new 3rd Regiment for 1777 with an experienced officer corps, but with newly recruited rank and file soldiers, some of whom had had experience in the Continental Army during the

in 1775.

3rd Regiment 1777-1781

By 15 June 1777, the 3rd Regiment under Colonel Alexander Scammell was completed and present for duty at

. The companies of the 3rd Regiment were commanded as follows: *1st Company: Captain James Gray *2nd Company: Captain Zachariah Beal *3rd Company: Captain Michael Mcclary *4th Company: Captain Daniel Livermore *5th Company: Captain Richard Weare *6th Company: Captain Benjamin Stone *7th Company: Captain Isaac Frye *8th Company: Captain William Ellis The 3rd Regiment did not stay long at Fort Ticonderoga; the fort's commander, Arthur St. Clair, was forced to abandon the fort because British commander

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several batt ...

's forces had taken control of nearby Mount Defiance, making it possible to easily cannonade Fort Ticonderoga. Thus, late on July 5, 1777, orders to leave Fort Ticonderoga were given, and by early morning on 6 July 1777 the 3rd Regiment was marching toward Hubbardton with the main portion of the American army under St. Clair's command. By 8 July 1777 they had reached Fort Edward, New York, and began a campaign of damming streams and felling trees to make the countryside as impassable as possible for the invading British Army. On 28 July 1777, the American Army moved to Fort Miller, then on 10 August 1777 to Stillwater, and on 18 August 1777 to

Van Schaick Island Van Schaick Island is an island in the city of Cohoes, New York. Van Schaick is a part of the delta of the Mohawk River at its mouth with the Hudson River. The island has been referred to by numerous names including Quehemesicos, Long, Anthony' ...

at the confluence of the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

and Hudson rivers. The American Army, now swelled by post-harvest militia, then began moving north, arriving at Bemis Heights to camp on 8 September 1777. Most of the summer was spent without proper camp and supplies such as tents, given the hasty retreat from Fort Ticonderoga. Under Scammell the 3rd regiment saw heated action at the

, as evidenced by the loss of several officers and many men.Hammond Vol 16 pages 7-44 It is remarkable, given the positioning of the 3rd Regiment on the battlefield at Freeman's Farm, that such an inexperienced unit was able to hold the middle of the field. The 3rd was also on the field, in the thick of the battle as part of Enoch Poor's brigade in the

Battle of Bemis Heights The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...

Array_of_Units_on_the_Freeman's_Farm_Battlefield

Just two days after the battle, the regiment marched for

, where they suffered through the winter. At Valley Forge, Colonel Scammell was chosen to join Washington's inner circle as the

Army Adjutant General This list of Adjutants General of the United States Army lists the chief administrative officer of the Army, from 1775 to present. List References Further reading * * * *{{cite book , title= A Brief History of the Adjutant General's Depart ...

. The de facto command of the 3rd Regiment fell to Lieutenant-Colonel

Henry Dearborn Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American military officer and politician. In the Revolutionary War, he served under Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec, of which his journal provides an important record ...

. Under Dearborn the 3rd regiment was at the

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...

, where some of its most soldierly men participated. The 3rd then wintered near

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

. In 1779 the 3rd Regiment was assigned to the

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Genocide) was a United States military campaign during the American Revolutionary War, lasting from June to October 1779 ...

, and saw heated action at the

, again evidenced by the toll shown in their muster rolls. In 1780 the 3rd Regiment was garrisoned at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. On 1 Jan 1781, the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment was disbanded, based on the Commander in Chief's general orders of 1 Nov, 1780. The 1st and 2nd regiments were reorganized, incorporating all of the officers and rank and file from the 3rd Regiment who had time remaining on their enlistments. Alexander Scammell resigned the post of Adjutant General in 1781 and returned to command the 1st Regiment. Scammell was then given the honor of commanding a detachment of light infantry that also served as the vanguard of the American army that marched south to Yorktown in 1781.Washington's General Orders of May 17, 1781

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Roster of 3rd New Hampshire officers3rd New Hampshire Regiment 1776, a reenactment group
compiled by the

United States Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Arm ...

Officers of the 3rd NH Regiment who wintered at Valley Forge
at USGenWeb {{Authority control Military units and formations established in 1775 New Hampshire regiments of the Continental Army