Samuel Wyllys (January 4, 1739 – June 9, 1823) was an American military officer in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolu ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

politician, and a member of the

Wyllys–Haynes family The Wyllys-Haynes Family is a U.S. political family with its roots in the Connecticut Colony. Members George Wyllys *Born: 1590 at the manor of Fenny Compton, Warwickshire, England *Governor of Connecticut Colony, 1642-3 *Great grandfather of Geor ...

Early life

Wyllys was born on January 4, 1739, and

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

on January 7, 1739. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1758. In 1764, Wyllys sailed to England and remained there for six years.

Military career

In October 1771, Wyllys led the successful petition to the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. ...

to create the

Governor's Guard The Governor's Guards of Connecticut are four distinct units of the Connecticut State Guard, a part of the organized militia under the Connecticut State Militia. There are two foot guard units and two horse guard units. All four units are formed ...

. Wyllys was then elected as the unit's first captain. In 1775, he was appointed lieutenant colonel in Colonel

Joseph Spencer Joseph Spencer (October 3, 1714 – January 13, 1789) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he served both as a delegate to the Continental Congress and as a major general in the C ...

2nd Connecticut Regiment The 2nd Connecticut Regiment was a regiment in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. It is not to be confused with the 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Infantry Regiment which served during the American Civil War. History The 2nd Con ...

. on July 1, he was promoted to Colonel, and commanded the regiment until January 1, 1776, when the 2nd Connecticut was reorganized as the

22nd Continental Regiment The 22nd Continental Regiment was formed on 1 January 1776 when the 2nd Connecticut Regt (1775) of Spencer's Brigade in the Main Continental Army was re-designated. On 12 August 1776 Spencer's Brigade was re-designated as Parson's Brigade and on ...

. Wyllys remained in command of the regiment, serving in the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular tow ...

until the British evacuation on March 17, and then marched with George Washington to New York. He saw action in the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...

and served in the New York vicinity until the end of the year. From 1777-1781, Colonel Wyllys commanded the

3rd Connecticut Regiment The 3rd Connecticut Regiment was authorized on 16 September 1776 and was organized between 1 January - April 1777 of eight companies of volunteers from the counties of Windham and Hartford in the state of Connecticut. On 3 April 1777 it was as ...

in the

Connecticut Line The Connecticut Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Connecticut Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Connecticut at various times by the Continental Congress, the size of its allocation de ...

, serving under General

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Count ...

. His regiment served in the New York area throughout the remainder of its service. Wyllys was discharged from the Army, along with his regiment, on January 1, 1781. He later served as a Major General of the Connecticut Militia from 1793 to 1796.

Political career

Following the war, Wyllys served as a representative in the

and town clerk of Hartford. Wyllys also succeeded his father, George Wyllys, as the

Secretary of the State of Connecticut The secretary of the State of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of fou ...

, serving from 1796 to 1809. He was the third consecutive member of the Wyllys family to hold the office, as his father had succeeded his grandfather Hezekiah Wyllys in 1735. Wyllys resigned his position as a result of some kind of paralytic affliction.

Personal life

On February 3, 1777, Wyllys married his first cousin, Ruth Belden. Ruth died on September 11, 1807.

Death

Wyllys died on June 9, 1823, and was buried in Hartford's

Ancient Burying Ground The Ancient Burying Ground (or Phinney's Lane Cemetery) is a historical cemetery at Phinney's Lane in Barnstable, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the village of Centerville, and the only surviving civic element of its colonial or ...

. Wyllys's funeral procession included members of the First Company Governor's Foot Guard, of which he had served as the first commanding officer. Like all members of the Wyllys family buried in the Ancient Burying Ground, Wyllys's grave is unmarked because "if Connecticut could not remember the Wyllyses without monuments, their memory might rot."

References

1739 births 1823 deaths Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Council of Assistants (1662–1818) Continental Army officers from Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut {{s-end