Last updated: November 25, 2024
Person
Edward Day
Quick Facts
Date of Birth:
1759
Place of Death:
Lansingburg, NY
Date of Death:
October 25, 1777
Edward Day (born 1759) of West Springfield, Massachusetts, came from a large family which staunchly supported the American Cause against Britain. Edward’s father, Joel, served multiple tours of militia duty since the war’s start in April 1775; when Joel was discharged at Ticonderoga on April 2, 1777, he returned home to find that 18-year-old Edward enlisted into the Continental Army that February. To top it off, on April 14, another son, Jedediah (born 1755), also enlisted in the service. We are left to wonder if Joel met this news with praise, admonishment, or a mix of both.
Edward was mustered as a private soldier in Captain Oliver’s company of Colonel John Greaton’s (3rd) Massachusetts Regiment for a three-year term. In the Spring of 1777, Greaton’s Regiment formed part of the Lower Hudson River Valley defenses under the command of General Israel Putman. But with the massive British Army assault from Canada that summer, Putnam ordered the four regiments of General Nixon’s Brigade (one of which was Greaton’s) to proceed north. The Brigade arrived at Fort Edward in mid-July and was instrumental in destroying bridges, burning sawmills, felling trees to obstruct transportation routes, and evacuate civilians between Fort Anne and Fort Edward.
By the time of the September 19 Battle of Freeman’s Farm (First Battle of Saratoga), Greaton’s Regiment formed part of the Northern Army’s defenses at Bemus Heights under the command of General Horatio Gates. Jedediah’s unit (Colonel Shepard’s 4th Massachusetts Regiment) was there too.
Although neither regiment was directly engaged in the fighting, draftees from both fought in both Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7) and in several small clashes. According to family history, Edward was “hurt in a skirmish” at this time. The teenager was sent to New City’s Flying Hospital (present-day Lansingburg, New York) where he died on October 25. His remains were probably interred nearby.
Jedediah served out the remainder of his three-year term and was honorably discharged. He died in 1839.