James Clark

Quick Facts

Place of Death:

Albany, NY

Date of Death:

October 3, 1777

James Clark signed up to fight for the cause of independence on November 21, 1776, by enlisting in Captain Titus’s company of Colonel Henry Livingston’s 4^th New York Regiment. Unlike most of his compatriots, James elected to join for the duration of the war, an option that came with a land grant if the conflict concluded successfully. Shortly after joining, Captain Titus appointed James to the rank of corporal.

With the American Northern Army withdrawing in the face of the summertime 1777 British invasion from Canada, Continental regiments from New York’s Highlands Department were directed to augment the faltering Northern Army. This reinforcement included the 2^nd and 4^th New York Regiments.

On the eve of the September 19, 1777 Battle of Freeman’s Farm (1^st Battle of Saratoga), Titus’s company was not in optimal fighting condition. In 1777, Continental Army infantry companies were established as having a total of eight noncommissioned officers (four serjeants and four corporals) each. However, Titus’s company had only one serjeant and one corporal present and fit for duty ― all others, including Corporal Clark, were sick in hospitals.

James died in the General Hospital at Albany on October 3. While we don’t know what disease he succumbed to, soldiers of the 4^th New York Regiment committed to the hospital that fall suffered from “putrid fever” ― Typhus.

But who was James? Where was he from? What did he do for a living? How old was he? Was he married? Did he have children? Did he have prior military experience? Sometimes, available research takes us only so far ― hopefully, someday we'll know more.