Samuel Wyllys (January 4, 1739 – June 9, 1823) was an American military officer in 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 ...

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, and a member of the Wyllys–Haynes family.

Early life

Wyllys was born on January 4, 1739, and baptized on January 7, 1739. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1758. In 1764, Wyllys sailed to England and remained there for six years.

Military career

In October 1771, Wyllys led the successful petition to 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 ...

to create the Governor's Guard. Wyllys was then elected as the unit's first captain. In 1775, he was appointed lieutenant colonel in Colonel

Joseph Spencer Joseph Spencer (October 3, 1714 – January 13, 1789) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he served both as a delegate to the Continental Congress and as a major general in the C ...

's 2nd Connecticut Regiment. on July 1, he was promoted to Colonel, and commanded the regiment until January 1, 1776, when the 2nd Connecticut was reorganized as the 22nd Continental Regiment. Wyllys remained in command of the regiment, serving in the Siege of Boston until the British evacuation on March 17, and then marched with

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 ...

to New York. He saw action in 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 ...

and served in the New York vicinity until the end of the year. From 1777-1781, Colonel Wyllys commanded the 3rd Connecticut Regiment in the Connecticut Line, serving under General

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Countr ...

. His regiment served in the New York area throughout the remainder of its service. Wyllys was discharged from the Army, along with his regiment, on January 1, 1781. He later served as a Major General of the Connecticut Militia from 1793 to 1796.

Political career

Following the war, Wyllys served as a representative in the

and town clerk of Hartford. Wyllys also succeeded his father, George Wyllys, as the

Secretary of the State of Connecticut The secretary of the State of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four ...

, serving from 1796 to 1809. He was the third consecutive member of the Wyllys family to hold the office, as his father had succeeded his grandfather Hezekiah Wyllys in 1735. Wyllys resigned his position as a result of some kind of paralytic affliction.

Personal life

On February 3, 1777, Wyllys married his first cousin, Ruth Belden. Ruth died on September 11, 1807.

Death

Wyllys died on June 9, 1823, and was buried in Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground. Wyllys's funeral procession included members of the First Company Governor's Foot Guard, of which he had served as the first commanding officer. Like all members of the Wyllys family buried in the Ancient Burying Ground, Wyllys's grave is unmarked because "if Connecticut could not remember the Wyllyses without monuments, their memory might rot."

References

1739 births 1823 deaths Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Continental Army officers from Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut {{s-end