George Baylor (January 17, 1752 – November 9, 1784) was an officer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

, serving throughout the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Military career

Baylor was first aide-de-camp to

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, and brought the news of the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, crossing of the ...

to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

. He was later appointed to lead the 3rd Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons, which often acted as the escort for

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

. While commanding his Dragoons in September 1778, his forces were attacked on the night of the 28th as they slept in local homes and barns on Overkill Road in what is now

River Vale, New Jersey River Vale is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. River Vale is the easternmost municipality in an area of the county referred to as the Pascack Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population ...

. The attack came to be known as the

Baylor Massacre The Baylor Massacre (also known as the Skirmish Near Tappan, the Tappan Massacre or the Raid on Old Tappan) was an attack by British forces against Continental Army troops on September 27, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. A force of B ...

. Colonel Baylor and his men were on an information gathering assignment for General Washington when they were attacked by General "No Flint" Grey's men. The British had many loyal friends among the farmers of that area, and it is suspected that one of the farmers alerted the British about the placement of Baylor's men, who were attacked and quickly overrun. The wounded were taken to the Tappan Dutch Reformed Church a few miles north over the New York border. There, Baylor's second-in-command Major Alexander Clough died. Baylor received a

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wound in the lung and was captured, but was later able to rejoin the Continental forces. Along with a number of other colonels, he was promoted to brevet brigadier general at the end of the war. The location of their bodies remained a secret until they were unearthed in an archaeological dig in the 1960s. Many artifacts were found, but their location is now unknown. There is a park dedicated to the Baylor Massacre on Rivervale Road in River Vale.

Death

Baylor never completely recovered from his injuries, and following the end of the war in 1783, he journeyed to Barbados to regain his health. However, he continued to weaken and died there in 1784.

Family

*One of his nephews was US Congressman Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor. *Another of his nephews was the Alabama politician and judge Walker Keith Baylor, the younger brother of Robert. *His father was Col. John Baylor III (1705–1772). On Col. Baylor III, see Thomas Katheder, ''The Baylors of Newmarket: The Decline and Fall of a Virginia Planter Family'' (New York and Bloomington, Ind., 2009). *Two of his grandnephews were Confederate officers: John Robert Baylor and George Wythe Baylor

References

External links

Letter from Washington to Baylor, June 19, 1777engravings of Baylor H.R. 504
21st Congress, ''A Bill for the relief of the legal representatives of Colonel George Baylor'', December 21, 1830. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baylor, George 1752 births 1784 deaths American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain American people of English descent Continental Army officers from Virginia Aides-de-camp of George Washington People from New Market, Virginia