Isaac Gates

According to an application for membership in the U.S. Sons of the American Revolution prepared by Brigham Cecil Gates, in 1919, who was a 4th great grandson of Isaac Gates, Isaac was a soldier in the Lexington Alarm Corps. He served a short term on the "Lexington Alarm," the "Rhode Island Alarm," and the "Bennington Alarm," and he apparently he belonged to that reserve force sometimes called "Minute Men," and sometimes called "Alarm List Men," who were men ready to go at a moments notice, but were never called out for more than a few days service at a time.

ID: I659587997, Name: Issac Gates, Given Name: Issac, Surname: Gates, Sex: M

Ancestry Hints for Issac Gates - 2 possible matches found on Ancestry.com

Father: Amos Gates, born 1709 in Stow, Massachusetts

Mother: Mary Hubbard

Marriage first to Mary Wheeler

Children - Thomas Gates

Marriage second to Sarah Woodward

Possibly Capt. Isaac Gates, with Col. Asa Whitcomb's 4th Co., Provisional Regiment of Footmen of the Militia. Marched from Harvard To Cambridge, April 19,1775 History of the Town of Harvard, Massachusetts: 1732-1893, Volume 2

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Isaac Gates. Isaac was born in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts 22 Oct 1746. He married his sweetheart Mary Wheeler.
Isaac was a "Minute Man" in the Lexington Alarm Corps, Massachusetts Militia, during the Revolutionary War.
Minutemen were civilian colonists who independently organized to form militia companies self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Minutemen provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that enabled the colonies to respond immediately to war threats; riding night or day through storms, or fair weather, giving valuable messages of the British movements throughout the war. They were also the first of the militia to arrive at or await a battle. Members of the minutemen, were no more than 30 years old, and were chosen for their enthusiasm, political reliability, and strength.
Isaac served as a Private Soldier, in the Lexington Alarm Corps and marched on the alarm of April 19th, 1775 to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He returned home May 17, 1775. If the date sounds familiar, it is the battle of Lexington & Concord, the same that Emerson penned as the "shot heard around the world". Another minute man that night before the battle, was the famous minuteman rider, Paul Revere.
The rides of these minute men were carefully developed months before, in reaction to the colonists' impotent response to the Powder Alarm. This system was an improved version of an old notification network for use in times of emergency. The colonists had periodically used it during the early years of Indian wars in the colony, before it fell into disuse in the French and Indian War. In addition to other express riders delivering messages, bells, drums, alarm guns, bonfires and a trumpet were used for rapid communication from town to town, notifying the rebels in dozens of eastern Massachusetts villages that they should muster their militias because over 500 regulars were leaving Boston. This system was so effective that people in towns 25 miles (40 km) from Boston were aware of the army's movements while they were still unloading boats in Cambridge. These early warnings played a crucial role in assembling a sufficient number of colonial militia to inflict heavy damage on the British regulars later in the day.
Isaac enlisted July 22, 1777, service for 2 days in Hezekiah Whitney's company, Joseph Whitney's Regiment. He marched on the alarm at Rhode Island July 22, 1777, returned home July 24, 1777.
Isaac served as a Private under Captain John Kirkland Company, and Col. Dickenson's regiment. Marched on 16th August 1777, on the Alarm to Bennington, Vermont. He was discharged August 20, 1777.
The Battle of Bennington was a major strategic success for the American cause and is considered part of the turning point of the Revolutionary War; it reduced Burgoyne's army in size by almost 1,000 men, led his Native American supporters to largely abandon him, and deprived him of much-needed supplies, such as mounts for his cavalry regiments, draft animals and provisions, all factors that contributed to Burgoyne's eventual defeat at Saratoga. The victory galvanized colonial support for the independence movement and played a key role in bringing France into the war on the patriot's side.
In 1781 Isaac Gates moved his family to New Hampshire, where we as the first settler on "Gates Hill", near present day Ackworth, New Hampshire. It was there that he and his wife, Mary Gates, raised their 12 children. Isaac died 17 Feb 1831, in his beloved Ackworth, New Hampshire, at the age of 84.

Ancestor # A043468
Service:  NEW HAMPSHIRE Rank(s): PATRIOTIC SERVICE, PRIVATE