Alexander Scammel

Alexander Scammell (May 16, 1742 - October 6, 1781) was a Harvard educated attorney and an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was wounded on September 30, 1781 near Yorktown and subsequently died on October 6 in Williamsburg, Virginia, making him, a colonel, the highest ranking American officer killed during the Siege of Yorktown.

Scammell was born May 16, 1742 in the part of Mendon, Massachusetts which eventually became Milford, Massachusetts. His father, Doctor Samuel Leslie Scammell died in 1753 and Alexander and his older brother, Samuel (b. 1739) were placed under the care and guidance of Reverend Amariah Frost. As a young man, Alexander graduated from Harvard College in 1769, and then moved to Plymouth County, MA where he taught school in the towns of Kingston and Plymouthand became a member of the Old Colony Club celebrating the Plymouth landing. In 1772 he moved to Portsmouth, NH where he worked surveying and exploring the lands of the Royal Navy Timber. When not surveying, he kept a school at Berwick, was one of the proprietors of the town of Shapleigh, ME. He also assisted Captain Samuel Holland in making surveys for his Topographical Map of New Hampshire.

"In 1772 he went to Plymouth, New Hampshire to aid the Royal Navy in surveying timberlands. Here he was associated with Samuel Holland, and accomplished surveyor and Surveyor General of the northern District. Holland's map of New York, New Jersey and part of Pennsylvania was later published by Sayer and Bennett and was widely used by both sides during the American Revolution. Scammell himself submitted a map of Maine's pine forests in 1772. Subsequently, Scammell began to read law with John Sullivan, later General Sullivan, of Durham, New Hampshire."

In 1773, he entered on the study of the law with John Sullivan in Durham New Hampshire. Scammell had a high opinion of Sullivan whom he styled, "an excellent instructor and worthy patron". Sullivan was a member of the Congress of 1774 and 1775, and the following year he was appointed a brigadier general by that Congress. Scammell was with Sullivan during the raid on Fort William and Mary on December 14, 1774.

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