Levi Wells (1734–1803) was an American officer in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

and 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 Revoluti ...

, and a

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

politician. Wells was born in 1734 in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, Connecticut Colony. He served as an officer in the French and Indian War, and following the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, was commissioned as captain of Company 8 of Colonel Joseph Spencer's 2nd Connecticut Regiment. In that capacity, Wells saw action in the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston. On January 1, 1776, the 2nd Connecticut became the 22nd Continental, with Levi Wells appointed major under Colonel

Samuel Wyllys Samuel Wyllys (January 4, 1739 – June 9, 1823) was an American military officer in the American Revolution, Connecticut politician, and a member of the Wyllys–Haynes family. Early life Wyllys was born on January 4, 1739, and baptized o ...

. During the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

, Major Wells was taken prisoner on August 27, 1776. He was imprisoned in the Provost jail in New York for about five months, and was a roommate of Colonel Ethan Allen. In his writings, Allen remarked that Major Wells' "fidelity and zealous attachment to iscountry's cause" was the reason for his confinement. In the spring of 1780, Wells, now a lieutenant colonel, was placed in command of a Connecticut

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 ...

regiment. He was captured again during the Battle of Horseneck on December 9, 1780. After his release, he served for the remainder of the war. Following his service in the American Revolution, Colonel Wells represented Ellington in the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

in 1789 and 1790. He died in Ellington on December 18, 1803.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Levi 1734 births 1803 deaths People from Colchester, Connecticut People from colonial Connecticut American people of English descent Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Continental Army officers from Connecticut Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution People from Ellington, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut People of Connecticut in the French and Indian War