Elnathan Munger

Quick Facts

Date of Birth:

1714

Place of Death:

Greenbush, NY

Date of Death:

October 5, 1777

Elnathan Munger (born 1714) of South Brimfield, Massachusetts, was an old soldier, having previously served in the French and Indian War during the disastrous attack on Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) in 1758. With the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775, Elnathan joined Colonel David Brewer’s Massachusetts Regiment in May and served during the summertime siege of British occupied Boston. Afterward, Elnathan returned to his South Brimfield farm to continue his work as a housewright—a builder of post-and-beam houses.

With the ongoing war and the Continental Army in desperate need for additional soldiers, Massachusetts ordered a draft. On May 18, 1777, Elnathan and his eldest son Aaron (born 1744) both found themselves forced into the service. Elnathan took advantage of a short-term enlistment period (8 months) while Aaron chose to serve for 3 years. Both men became private soldiers in Captain Keep’s company of Colonel Shepard’s (4^th) Massachusetts Regiment, a unit which joined the Northern Army in late July.

Unfortunately, Elnathan—age 63—became very sick with the “camp fever” and was given a furlough on account of his age. While Walking home, he reached “Greenbush opposite Albany [and] met a farmer with a yoke of oxen and a cart, [and Elnathan] asked and obtained permission to ride. The farmer, learning he had camp fever became frightened and tipped up his cart, dumping him beside the road, and hastened away, leaving the poor soldier to die alone."

Elnathan died alone, dumped on a road in Greenbush, on October 5. His burial place is unknown.

Aaron died less than a month later from unknown causes on November 2.

Elnathan left behind a wife, Deborah, and seven surviving children. Aaron was unmarried.