Thomas Stickney (June 15, 1729 – January 26, 1809) was an American military officer and statesman born in

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,161 at th2022 United States census History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information from Abram Engl ...

. He moved to

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

, as a young man with his father Jeremiah and brother William. Their house was made into a " garrison house" where others could come for protection from

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

raids. During

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in ...

, Stickney served under John Goffe in a company of scouts (

rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

). Stickney married Anna Osgood, also of Concord; they had eight children. On January 20, 1774, Thomas was promoted to Lt. Col. in the

New Hampshire Militia The New Hampshire Militia was a militia of what is now the U.S. state of New Hampshire. First organized in 1631, it was redesignated as the New Hampshire National Guard in 1879. History The Militia was first organized within the Province of Ne ...

and often was moderator of the Concord town meetings. With the start of 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 ...

, Col. Stickney was appointed to the

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Committee of Safety. In the spring of 1777, Col. Stickney was with his regiment, the 11th New Hampshire Militia Regiment, at

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York. It was constructed between October 1755 and 1757 by French-Canadian ...

to reinforce 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 ...

garrison there. "Soon after they arrived back in New Hampshire, the regiment was called up to serve in Gen.

John Stark Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Ba ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

during the

Saratoga Campaign The Saratoga campaign in 1777 was an attempt by the British to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley during the American Revolutionary War. It ended in the surrender of a British army, which historian Edmund M ...

. Col. Stickney led his men at the

Battle of Bennington The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, part of the Saratoga campaign, that took place on August 16, 1777, on the John Green farm in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake, Bennington, Vermont. An American ...

, where 2 detachments of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Gen.

John Burgoyne General (United Kingdom), General John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British Army officer, playwright and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1792. He first saw acti ...

's army were defeated. In 1778, Col. Stickney raised men for Gen. John Sullivan for the unsuccessful

Battle of Rhode Island The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and Militia forces under the command of Major General John Sullivan had been besieging the British forces in Newport, Rhode Is ...

. Thomas Stickney was the moderator at the New Hampshire constitutional convention on October 31, 1783, which ratified the New Hampshire Constitution. He died on January 26, 1809, at his beloved home in Concord.

References

1729 births 1809 deaths People from colonial New Hampshire People of New Hampshire in the French and Indian War New Hampshire militiamen in the American Revolution People of New Hampshire in the American Revolution People from Bedford, Massachusetts {{NewHampshire-politician-stub