Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge
Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge | |
---|---|
Born | South Hadley, Massachusetts | March 5, 1739
Died | March 8, 1819 | (aged 80)
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | Continental Army, Massachusetts militia |
Years of service | 1775–1783 |
Rank | Colonel |
Commands held | Woodbridge's (25th) Regiment |
Battles/wars | Revolutionary War: • Battle of Bunker Hill • Siege of Boston |
Relations | Theodore Strong (nephew) |
Other work | Farmer, doctor, lawyer, legislator |
Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge (March 5, 1739 – March 8, 1819)
Revolutionary War
Battle of Bunker Hill
Col. Woodbridge entered service on April 20, 1775,
On June 17, 1775, immediately prior to the
Lechmere's Point
Woodbridge's regiment was actively involved throughout the Siege of Boston. On November 11, 1775, George Washington wrote to Congress of an incident during the siege, in which Col. Woodbridge and part of his regiment joined with Col. William Thompson's Pennsylvania regiment, defending against a British landing at Lechmere's Point, and "gallantly waded through the water, and soon obliged the enemy to embark under cover of a man-of-war…"[10]
Pawlet Expedition
Colonel Woodbridge served under General
Later life
Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge presented a bell to his parish in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Tradition says that Colonel Woodbridge went to the foundry and cast fifty silver dollars into the molten metal to give the bell a silvery tone.[13] The memory of Colonel Woodbridge was honored with the following quotes:
The duties of his command he performed in a manner highly creditable to himself and to the advantage of the cause which he had espoused. At the call of his country during the Revolutionary War, he often and promptly exerted his military talents and ardor in vindicating the rights, the independence, and laws of his country.[4]
The name of Ruggles Woodbridge, already mentioned, is among the proudest associations of the town [South Hadley]. He was a man of great wealth, was a Colonel in the Revolution, and for many years exercised a commanding influence in the town.[14]
Personal life
Woodbridge did not marry and raised his nephew Theodore Strong, whom he adopted, as his own son.[15] Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge died in 1819 at the age of 80. He is sometimes referred to as Ruggles Woodbridge or Benjamin Woodbridge.
The Woodbridge home, known as 'Sycamores', served as a dormitory for Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley, Massachusetts) from 1915 to 1970.[16][17] The mansion, built in 1788 by Colonel Woodbridge, is on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d Dwight, Benjamin W.: History of the Descendants of John Dwight, Vol II, John F. Trow, New York (1874) pp. 1077–78.
- ^ a b c Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Vol 17, online database, The Generations Network Inc., Provo, Utah (1998); original data from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Vol. 17, Wright and Potter Printing Co., Boston (1896), pp. 798–800.
- ^ a b Blais, Ashley: "Open house for 'The Sycamores'", Daily Hampshire Gazette newspaper, Northampton, Massachusetts (May 5, 2006).
- ^ a b Lyman, Joseph: A Sermon Delivered at the Interment of Ruggles Woodbridge, Thomas W. Shepard and Co., Northampton, Massachusetts (1819) pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Swett, S.: History of Bunker Hill Battle, With a Plan, Second Edition, Munroe and Francis, Boston (1826) pp. 5, 30.
- ^ a b c Frothingham, Jr., Richard: History of the Siege of Boston and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, Second Edition, published by Charles C. Little and James Brown, Boston (1851) Chapters V and VII, regarding the Bunker Hill Battle, pp. 136, 183.
- ^ Ketchum, Richard M.: Decisive Day, the Battle for Bunker Hill, Henry Holt and Company, Owl Books Edition, New York (1999) p. 146.
- ^ Ketchum, Richard M.: Decisive Day, the Battle for Bunker Hill, Henry Holt and Company, Owl Books Edition, New York (1999) p. 163.
- ^ Ketchum, Richard M.: Decisive Day, the Battle for Bunker Hill, Henry Holt and Company, Owl Books Edition, New York (1999) pp. 172–74.
- ^ Sparks, Jared: The Writings of George Washington, Vol III, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston (1855) p. 157.
- ^ Hoyt, Edward A.: Vermont History, Vol. 75, No. 2: The Pawlet Expedition, September 1777, Vermont Historical Society (2007).
- ^ Allen, Paul: A History of the American Revolution, William Wooddy Jr. Printer, Baltimore (1822) p. 160.
- ^ Wight, Charles, Albert: Some Old Time Meeting Houses in the Connecticut Valley, The Rich Print, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts (1911) pp. 76–77.
- ^ Holland, Josiah Gilbert: History of Western Massachusetts, the Counties of Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire, Vol. II-Part III, Samuel Bowles and Company, Springfield, Massachusetts (1855) p. 274.
- ^ Dexter, Franklin Bowditch: Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, Vol VI, September 1805 – September 1815, Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut (1912) p. 501.
- ^ "Historic House to be Moved October 19". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
- ^ "Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2008-01-23.