Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

markably correct ; and the more desperate
the situation, the more collected and
undaunted. With the courage of a lion,
he had a heart that melted at the sight of
distress ; he could never witness suffering
in any human being without becoming
a sufferer himself. Martial music aroused
him to the highest pitch, whole solemn
sacred music sent him into tears. In his
disposition he was open and generous
almost to a fault, and in his social rela-
tions he was never excelled.
General Israel Putnam was educated in
the schools of the rural district where he
was born and the opportunities in those
days were decidedly meagre. He remained
in the home of his parents until
he had attained young manhood and
then, shortly after his marriage, he removed
to Brooklyn, then part of the
town of Pomfret, Connecticut, where he
bought a tract of land of about five hundred
acres in the district known as Mort-
lake Manor. In 1741 he became the sole
owner of this land and built a large house
there. His district was incorporated in
the year 1786 as the town of Brooklyn,
and it was largely through the influence
of General Putnam that the superb shade
trees which line its streets were planted.
General Putnam's military career began
with the French and Indian War, where
he was a captain in Colonel Lyman's
regiment. He fought at Fort Edward
and Lake George in 1755. He received
his commission of major in 1757 at Fort
Edward, and the following year occurred
the celebrated episode concerning his
capture by the Indians and his narrow
escape from death. He was, it will be
remembered, actually tied to a tree and
a fire lighted about him, when he was
saved by the intervention of a chief of
the tribe, whom he had treated kindly on
the previous occasion of the chief's cap-
ture. His final escape however, was ef-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
30
fected through General Peter Schuyler,
whose influence with the Indians was
such that they set him free. General
Putnam christened his youngest son
after General Schuyler in gratitude for
this rescue. In 1759 Israel Putnam was
made a lieutenant-colonel and served at
Ticonderoga and Crown Point in the ex-
pedition directed against Montreal in
1759-60 under the command of General
Amherst. He later commanded a regiment
in the West Indies, and in 1764 was
again in the United States where he
marched to Detroit with a Connecticut
regiment against the Indians. In the
same year he returned to a more private
mode of existence and lived for a time
on his farm and also kept a tavern in
his spacious dwelling house. When the
news of the battle of Lexington reached
him, he was working in his fields, but
left immediately to start for Cambridge.
He was appointed brigadier-general, June
9, 1776, and was later raised to the rank
of major-general. He was the officer in
command at the battle of Bunker Hill,
and was given command by General
Washington of the center at Cambridge.
Later his command was sent to New
York and still later to Philadelphia. In
1778 he was again at Wr
est Point where
he took an active part in the campaign
of the following year. He also superintended
the defences constructed at West
Point, but during the winter of 1779 suffered
a stroke of paralysis which ended
his military career. He lived to see the
birth of the new nation, but was never
able to return to active service in the army.
His death occurred October 29, 1790, and
he was buried with military and Masonic
honors. He married (first) July 19, 1739,
Hannah, a daughter of Joseph and
Mehitable (Putnam) Pope, of Danvers.
She died September 6, 1765. Through-
out his entire life, Israel Putnam per-