Samuel Whittemore (July 27, 1696 – February 2, 1793) was an American farmer and soldier. He was 78 years old when he became the oldest known colonial combatant in 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 ...

(1775–1783).

Biography

Whittemore was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1696, the second son by that name of Samuel Whittemore and Hannah Rix, also of Charlestown. He served as a private in Col. Jeremiah Moulton's Third Massachusetts Regiment, where he fought in

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

(1744–48). He was involved in the capture of the French stronghold, the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1745. He moved to Menotomy, Massachusetts (present-day Arlington). Recent sources suggest he fought 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 ...

(1754–63) at the age of 64, once again assisting in the capture of the Fortress of Louisbourg, and later in a military expedition against Chief Pontiac in 1763. None of them offer documentation to support such claims, though a nineteenth century reference mentions that he had served as a "Captain of Dragoons."

Battles of Lexington and Concord

On April 19, 1775, British forces were returning to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

from 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 opening engagements of the war. On their march they were continually shot at by American militiamen. Whittemore was in his fields when he spotted an approaching British relief

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

under Earl Percy, sent to assist the retreat. Whittemore loaded his

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

and ambushed the British

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word '' grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited fr ...

s of the

47th Regiment of Foot The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Scotland in 1741. It served in North America during the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War and also fought during the Napoleonic Wars and ...

from behind a nearby stone wall, killing one soldier. He then drew his dueling pistols, killed a second grenadier and mortally wounded a third. By the time Whittemore had fired his third shot, a British detachment had reached his position; Whittemore drew his sword and attacked. He was subsequently shot in the face, bayoneted numerous times, and left for dead in a pool of blood. He was found by colonial forces, trying to load his musket to resume the fight. He was taken to Dr. Cotton Tufts of Medford, who perceived no hope for his survival. However, Whittemore recovered and lived another 18 years until dying of natural causes at the age of 96. Samuel Whittemore Monument

Legacy

*A monument stands in the corner plot (611 Mass Ave) called Whittemore Park at the northeast corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Mystic Street in Arlington, Massachusetts; it reads (inaccurately as to age both at the time and 18 years laterThe Senate bill and the monument inscription appear to have adopted erroneous information. Two sources, the Paige and the B.B. Whittemore ''Genealogy'', cited above, give his age as 78 at the time of the conflict and 96 at death, based on his documented date of birth. Inaccuracies in his obituary and on his gravestone apparently have led to a proliferation of misinformation. In addition, the annual state commemoration is a day late per documented date of death.): ::Near this spot, Samuel Whittemore, then 80 years old, killed three British soldiers, April 19, 1775. He was shot, bayoneted, beaten and left for dead, but recovered and lived to be 98 years of age. *In 2005, Massachusetts Senator

Robert Havern III Robert A. Havern III (July 17, 1949 – July 19, 2014), was a Massachusetts politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and who represented the Fourth Middlesex District in the Massachusetts State Senate from 1991 to 2007. ...

proposed that Whittemore be proclaimed the official state hero of Massachusetts and his memory be commemorated on February 3 each year.

References

External links

*
Photo of the monument on www.alyssaboehm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittemore, Samuel 1696 births 1793 deaths People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution People from Arlington, Massachusetts People of Massachusetts in the French and Indian War 18th-century English people Burials in Massachusetts People from Charlestown, Boston People from colonial Boston