Benajah Carpenter
Encyclopedia
Benajah Carpenter, founding member of the United States Army Field Artillery Corps
under Henry Knox
and veteran of the Siege of Boston
and Battle of Long Island
. Carpenter was born April 27, 1748 and was killed in action on Long Island on August 27, 1776. He was a descendant of the Rehoboth Carpenter Family
. His father was a Stephen Carpenter and mother Jane Thurston of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
Benajah Carpenter was an apprenticed Rhode Island chairmaker until 1771. Carpenter is sometimes described as a "mariner." Although unsubstantiated, this may have been historically accurate. Private mariners of the period were those who possessed knowledge of cannon and artillery, a necessary part of early American shipping and seaborne trade (discussed in Gallagher, The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776, p. 56). Carpenter may have been a merchant of the same wares he manufactured. The coast of Rhode Island was a center of such activity. Early Rhode Island newspapers contain notices of Carpenter's own difficulties with a chairmaker apprentice in 1774.
The activities of Benajah Carpenter abruptly changed with the coming of the American Revolution
. He became a Captain-Lieutenant of artillery under Colonel Henry Knox and certainly participated in the Siege of Boston. As the struggle moved to New York, Carpenter was ordered by General George Washington
to serve with General William Alexander of Pennsylvania ("Lord Stirling") and his Maryland contingent prior to the fateful morning of August 27. Henry Johnston in his Campaign of 1776, describes Carpenter as commanding the two-gun battery that opposed the British under Grant. Johnston surmises that it was Carpenter's battery that caused to British light troops to retire to their main line. This was the first instance, Johnston tells us, where the newly minted American army met the British "in the open field" in classic military formation. We are told they "proved themselves the best of soldiers." During the subsequent long hours of battle Benajah Carpenter was among the day's casualties. Carpenter's military cap is extant and can be seen at the Rhode Island Varnum House Museum & Varnum Memorial Armory.
United States Army Field Artillery Corps
The Field Artillery branch was founded on 17 November 1775 by the Continental Congress, which unanimously elected Henry Knox "Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery". The regiment formally entered service on 1 January 1776...
under Henry Knox
Henry Knox
Henry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....
and veteran of the Siege of Boston
Siege of Boston
The Siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War, in which New England militiamen—who later became part of the Continental Army—surrounded the town of Boston, Massachusetts, to prevent movement by the British Army garrisoned within...
and Battle of Long Island
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle in the American Revolutionary War following the United States Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the entire conflict, and the...
. Carpenter was born April 27, 1748 and was killed in action on Long Island on August 27, 1776. He was a descendant of the Rehoboth Carpenter Family
Rehoboth Carpenter Family
The Rehoboth Carpenter family is an American family that helped settle the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1644.The first immigrant and founder of this line was William Carpenter The Rehoboth Carpenter family is an American family that helped settle the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in...
. His father was a Stephen Carpenter and mother Jane Thurston of Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
Benajah Carpenter was an apprenticed Rhode Island chairmaker until 1771. Carpenter is sometimes described as a "mariner." Although unsubstantiated, this may have been historically accurate. Private mariners of the period were those who possessed knowledge of cannon and artillery, a necessary part of early American shipping and seaborne trade (discussed in Gallagher, The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776, p. 56). Carpenter may have been a merchant of the same wares he manufactured. The coast of Rhode Island was a center of such activity. Early Rhode Island newspapers contain notices of Carpenter's own difficulties with a chairmaker apprentice in 1774.
The activities of Benajah Carpenter abruptly changed with the coming of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. He became a Captain-Lieutenant of artillery under Colonel Henry Knox and certainly participated in the Siege of Boston. As the struggle moved to New York, Carpenter was ordered by General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
to serve with General William Alexander of Pennsylvania ("Lord Stirling") and his Maryland contingent prior to the fateful morning of August 27. Henry Johnston in his Campaign of 1776, describes Carpenter as commanding the two-gun battery that opposed the British under Grant. Johnston surmises that it was Carpenter's battery that caused to British light troops to retire to their main line. This was the first instance, Johnston tells us, where the newly minted American army met the British "in the open field" in classic military formation. We are told they "proved themselves the best of soldiers." During the subsequent long hours of battle Benajah Carpenter was among the day's casualties. Carpenter's military cap is extant and can be seen at the Rhode Island Varnum House Museum & Varnum Memorial Armory.
External links
- For uniforms and Benajah Carpenter http://www.srcalifornia.com/uniforms/p21.htm
- His extant cap at http://www.varnumcontinentals.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=195