Seth Pomeroy (
May 20,
1706 –
February 9,
1777) was an
American gunsmith and soldier from
Northampton, Massachusetts. His military service included the
French and Indian War and the early stages of the
American Revolutionary War. He fought as a
private soldier in the
Battle of Bunker Hill, but was later appointed a
major general in the
Massachusetts militia.
Private life
Seth was born in
Northampton, Massachusetts to Ebeneezer and Sarah (King) Pomeroy. His father was a prominent local citizen, and had been a Major in the
militia. Seth became a mechanic and gunsmith, as well as joining the local militia in
Hampshire County. He earned a reputation as one of the best gunsmiths in the colony.
Pomeroy married Mary Hunt (1705-1777) on
December 14,
1732. They would have one son, Dr. Medad Pomeroy (1735-1819). Mary would survive her husband by only seven months.
When
Massachusetts undertook an expedition against the
French in
Nova Scotia, Major Pomeroy answered Governor
William Shirley's call for volunteers. He was part of the expedition led by
William Pepperrell that captured
Fortress Louisbourg in
Nova Scotia in 1745. He used his professional skills in support of
Richard Gridley, the expedition's chief engineering officer. He reconditioned the guns captured from an outlying position after the French had spiked them and supported 46 days of heavy bombardment.
Seth and Mary (Hunt) Pomeroy had more than one child.
Children: Seth b.1733, Quartus b.1735, Medad b.1736, Lemuel b.1738, Martha b.1740, Mary b. 1742, Sarah b. 1744, A child b.1747, Asahel b.1749.
In 1755
Lt. Colonel Pomeroy was second in command of the regiment led by Colonel
Ephraim Williams. They marched to
New York to support a move to capture
Crown Pont.
While on the march, they were ambushed by a force of 800
French and
Canadian troops, supported by 600
Iroquois warriors, and led by
Baron Dieskau at the
Battle of Lake George. Of all the commanding officers, Pomeroy was the only one to survive the battle, and in lieu of Williams' death assumed the rank of Colonel. Although suffering significant losses, they withdrew to the English camp at the south end of
Lake George. There they built a hasty wall of wood and carts and made their stand, supported by cannon and additional forces under General
William Johnson. The Indians and Canadians would not attack in the open. When Baron Dieskau was wounded, the entire French force withdrew for Fort Carillon (later called
Fort Ticonderoga).
Dieskau was captured, and Johnson would build a more permanent
Fort William Henry to protect the site.
Revolutionary War
Although a senior officer in the Massachusetts militia at the start of the war, Pomeroy had a limited role. He was, after all, nearly seventy years old. But when the
Siege of Boston began in 1775, he was among the volunteers that went in support of it. On
June 17 a British naval bombardment marked the start of the
Battle of Bunker Hill. He borrowed a horse from General
Artemas Ward and set out for Charlestown. When he reached the neck of the peninsula, he found troops piled up because the narrow strip was under fire from British warships. Giving the horse to a soldier to return, he shouldered his
musket and marched through the barrage. He declined any command, but took a post at the rail fence, fighting with
John Stark's
1st New Hampshire Regiment.
The next week, the
Continental Congress named him a brigadier general in the
Continental Army. Since his health was not the best, when difficulties arose about seniority, he declined this commission and served instead as a major general in the Massachusetts militia.
When General
George Washington asked for support in
New Jersey the following year, Pomeroy marched with his militia unit. He didn't complete the trip, but fell ill and died in
Peekskill, New York. He was buried in St. Peter's Churchyard there. The churchyard is now part of Hillside Cemetery.
