Timothy Bedel

Timothy Bedel (1737 – February 24, 1787) was a soldier and local leader prominent in the early history of New Hampshire.

Bedel was born in Salem, New Hampshire. During the French and Indian War he served as a lieutenant in the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment at Fort at Number 4, Crown Point, Fortress Louisbourg, the capture of Quebec and later at the capture of Havana, Cuba. Bedel served in the New Hampshire colonial assembly after the war.

Bedel and his wife Elizabeth had a son named Moody Bedel, born on May 12, 1764, who became a brigadier general during the War of 1812. Moody Bedel's son John Bedel was a brigadier general of volunteers during the American Civil War.

American Revolution

On May 26, 1775, Timothy Bedel was appointed to command a company of rangers in Coos County, New Hampshire as a colonel in the New Hampshire militia. William Stark also wanted this command and when he was turned down he joined the British Army. This company was quickly expanded to a regiment with eight companies and joined the Continental Army during the Invasion of Canada. Bedel saw action at the Battle of Fort St. Jean but missed the Battle of Cedars while he was ill at the hospital at Lachine, Quebec. At the Cedars, most of Bedel's Regiment was captured by the British and their Native American allies. Eight days later his men were exchanged for British soldiers captured at the Battle of St. Jean.

Both Bedel and his second in command, Major Isaac Butterfield, were court-martialed for the disaster at Cedars. Bedel was found not guilty and Butterfield was found guilty of cowardice. Bedel's regiment was disbanded on January 1, 1777, when enlistments expired.

Bedel commanded a militia regiment in the Battle of Bennington under General John Stark. On December 11, 1779, General George Washington ordered Bedel to Coos to help in an investigation of misconduct and fraud against the Continental Army Quartermaster at Coos, New Hampshire.

Later years

After the war, Bedel served worked unsuccessfully to have lands in northern New Hampshire and Vermont granted to Abenakis who had sided with the United States during the war.

Some early histories state that Bedel became a general in the New Hampshire militia, but historian Albert Batchellor could find no evidence of this and believed it to be an error because Bedel was always addressed by his contemporaries as "Colonel". Bedel died in Haverhill, New Hampshire.

References

*Batchellor, Albert S. "The Ranger Service in the Upper Valley of the Connecticut...." Concord, New Hampshire: The Rumford Press, 1903. Available [http://www.archive.org/details/rangerservice00batcrich online] from the Internet Archive.

*Calloway, Colin G. "The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities". Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-47149-4 (hardback).

*Derby, Samuel Carroll. "A List of The Revolutionary Soldiers of Dublin, N.H." Columbus, Ohio: Spahr & Glenn, 1901. Available [http://books.google.com/books?id=f7o_OOCHGIAC online] via Google Book Search.

*Heitman, Francis B. "Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution." New, enlarged, and revised edition. Washington, D.C.: Rare Book Shop Publishing Company, 1914. Available on Google Book Search, [http://books.google.com/books?id=tZALAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA95#PPA95,M1 page 90] has a summary of Bedel's service record.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=XSDnxlK1sMUC&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r State Builders: An Illustrated Historical and Biographical Record of the State of New Hampshire. State Builers Publishing Manchester, NH 1903]