Major Benjamin Whitcomb

A Patriot of the American Revolution for NEW HAMPSHIRE with the rank of MAJOR. DAR Ancestor # A124470

Maj. Benjamin Whitcomb is best known for being the man who, without approval, shot and killed British Brigadier General Peter Gordon while scouting north of Ticonderoga.  As a result of the shooting, he became known as "the Rascal Whitcomb" and was deemed an assassin by none other than Gen. Washington himself.  For years following the incident, he was subject to threats of retaliation and was even kidnapped by Native Americans allied with the British. See http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/09/infamous-skulkers-shooting-brig... for the full story.

He was the second cousin once removed of Brig. Gen. John Whitcomb, who also fought at Ticonderoga: http://www.geni.com/path/Major-Benjamin-Whitcomb+is+related+to+Brig-Gen-John-Whitcomb?from=6000000011435759713&to=6000000008174405808

Early Life

Benjamin Whitcomb was born on July 2, 1737 in Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  His parents were Benjamin Whitcomb (1710 - 1778) and Dorothy White (1717 - 1804). 

He married Lydia Howe (1739 - 1823). 

Personal Traits

Before and during his military service, he became skilled as a scout.

Col. Frye Bailey described him thusly:

Whitcomb was a presumptuous fellow, entirely devoid of fear, of more than common strength, equal to an Indian for enduring hardship or privation, drank to excess even when in the greatest peril, balls whistling around his head.

He possessed a "peculiar kind of bravery," according to Col. Matthew Ogden.

Military Service

Per scholar Michael Barbieri:

... Whitcomb served in a Massachusetts regiment during several campaigns of the French and Indian war. After the conflict, he moved to southern New Hampshire and Vermont and then to the Coös region of the upper Connecticut River. In January, 1776, he moved his family back to southern New Hampshire and received a commission as a lieutenant and recruiting officer in Samuel Young's Company of Timothy Bedel's New Hampshire Rangers. In the early spring, he took his recruits to join the regiment in Canada and made it back to Ticonderoga at the close of the disastrous Canadian campaign.

Then a lieutenant, Whitcomb described the infamous shooting from July 1776 in his journal:

24th stayed at the same place till about 12 o'clock then fired on an officer and moved immediately into Chamblee road. Being discovered retreated back into the woods and stayed till night, then taking the road and passing the guards till I came below Chamblee. Finding myself discovered, was obliged to conceal myself in the brush till dark, the 25th instant, on which I made my escape by the guards.

The killing of a senior officer, who was travelling alone outside the combat zone and was shot from a distance, offended combatants on both sides of the conflict. Gen. Washington said that Whitcomb's actions were "highly unbecoming the Character of a Soldier and Gentlemen." In a letter to Aaron Burr, Col. Matthew Ogden described Whitcomb's behavior as being brave yet villainous. Writing to Abigail Adams, Adj. Nathan Rice claimed that Whitcomb had expressed a desire to obtain Gordon's sword and watch and therefore needed to kill him to carry out the robbery. Rice deemed the act "rather Murder."

Others agreed that the act violated treaties, but stressed that they felt Whitcomb was merely playing dirty because the British had set that precedent themselves. Military leadership went out of their way to protect Whitcomb from the many threats against his life.

The full story can and should be read at http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/09/infamous-skulkers-shooting-brig...

Final Years

Despite his kidnapping and the threats against him, Maj. Whitcomb lived to 101 years of age. Maj. Whitcomb died on July 22, 1828 in Lisbon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire.  He is buried there at Salmon Hole Cemetery.

Sources

• Bailey, Frye.  "Colonel Frye Bailey's Reminiscences."  Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society for the Years 1923, 1924 and 1925.  Bellows Falls, Vermont: Vermont Historical Society, 1926, p. 55.
• Barbieri, Michael. "Infamous Skulkers: The Shooting of Brigadier General Patrick Gordon." The Journal of the American Revolution. Published September 11, 2013. Accessed October 4, 2015. < http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/09/infamous-skulkers-shooting-brig... >