Lieut. John Patten

Per the Friends of Bedford Cemeteries: "John Patten, son of Matthew Patten was born in Bedford in April, 1752. He enlisted in the army with his brother, Robert, in 1775, a few days after Lexington and Concord. He served under (then) Colonel Stark at Bunker Hill where he was shot in the left arm. He recovered and with his brother Robert, formed part of the ill fated American invasion of Canada, serving under Benedict Arnold and Major General John Sullivan. The American forces were plagued by a smallpox epidemic after defeat at Trois-Rivieres, were hotly pursued by British and Indian forces. John contracted smallpox and was carried by the retreating army to Saint Johns, near the Canada/New York border. Sick troops were sent to Isle aux Noix in the Richelieu River and largely abandoned. There, John Patten died on June 20, 1776 and was buried in a mass grave with other American soldiers who died of small pox. His brother, Robert wrote to Matthew Patten of the death, and Matthew made this poignant notation in his diary: "he was led, after suffering much fatigue to the place where he now lies, in defending he just rights of America, to whose end he came in the prime of life by means of that wicket tyrannical brute (nea, worse than brute) of Great Britain." His family placed a headstone for John next to his father, so that future generations would not forget his sacrifice."

GEDCOM Source

@R1103587405@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

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