Lemuel Roberts was a soldier and historian of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Youth

Lemuel Roberts was born 1751 in Canaan, Connecticut, to Lemuel Roberts and Lydia (Purchase) Roberts. He moved with his family to Stillwater at the age of 10. He left home in 1768 to manufacture staves with a brother on Grand Isle in

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

. The following year he helped his father clear a farm in

Charlemont, Massachusetts Charlemont is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,185 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Charlemont was first colonized by Moses R ...

Revolutionary War

In 1775 Roberts marched to

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

with Captain Avery in response to 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 ...

. At Cambridge he enlisted for 8 months with Captain Maxfield. On 1 June 1775 he marched to Chelsea with the 18th Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment commanded by Colonel Ephraim Doolittle, and participated in 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 ...

until discharged. On 19 January 1776 Roberts enlisted for one year in Captain Thomas Alexander's company of Colonel Elisha Porter's Regiment of the

Massachusetts Line The Massachusetts Line was those units within the Continental Army that were assigned to Massachusetts at various times by the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. These, together with similar contingents from the other twel ...

. He marched to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in April, 1776, where he contracted

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 ...

during the retreat to

Fort Crown Point Fort Crown Point was built by the combined efforts of both British and provincial troops (from New York and the New England Colonies) in North America in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on what later became the border between New York and Vermo ...

in May. He marched south with his regiment through

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, to

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

, in December, 1776. Roberts skirmished with British loyalist units in New Jersey en route home to Massachusetts following his discharge on 1 January 1777. Roberts enlisted for six weeks with Captain Samuel Taylor's company and marched to Fort Miller, New York, during the

Siege of Fort Ticonderoga (1777) For the disambiguation of all battles of Fort Ticonderoga, Click HereThe 1777 Siege of Fort Ticonderoga occurred between the 2nd and 6 July 1777 at Fort Ticonderoga, near the southern end of Lake Champlain in the state of New York. Lieutenant G ...

. Roberts joined Captain

Ebenezer Allen Ebenezer Allen may refer to: * Ebenezer Allen (Vermont politician) (1743–1806) * Ebenezer Allen (Texas politician) (1804–1863) * Eben Allen Ebenezer "Eben" Allen (15 November 1868 – 20 May 1931) was an Australian businessman and politicia ...

's company of Colonel Herrick's battalion of rangers following the

Battle of Bennington The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on a farm owned by John Green in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. A r ...

. Roberts became an assistant to Colonel Herrick through 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 ...

; because Allen was unable to offer him compensation. Colonel Herrick commissioned Roberts a lieutenant for a scouting expedition on 12 January 1778 to determine the status of British loyalist positions on

. The 4-man scouting party was captured later that month near

Saint Albans, Vermont Saint Albans, commonly abbreviated as St. Albans, is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,988. The town completely surrounds the city of St. Albans. History The town was named for St A ...

; and imprisoned in the

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. Roberts escaped captivity for a few days in March, 1778, and again for a few weeks that summer, and finally reached Fort Ticonderoga after a third escape in October.

Later life

Lemuel Roberts married Sarah Collins in

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

on 14 March 1781. In 1784, he was captain of the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

Ira, Vermont Ira is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 368 at the 2020 census. It was named for Ira Allen, brother of Ethan Allen, who fought with the Green Mountain Boys of the Revolutionary War. Geography According to t ...

. Roberts published memoirs in 1809 of his experiences from 1751 to 1778. Those memoirs have been reprinted by the ''New York Times'' and by Arno Press as one of the few first hand accounts of soldiers of the American Revolutionary War. He is believed to have died in Vermont about 1813.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Lemuel 1751 births American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution American military historians American male non-fiction writers Year of death uncertain American memoirists People from Canaan, Connecticut People from Stillwater, New York