Lt. Col. John Robinson
| John Robinson | |
|---|---|
Robinson's house in Westford, Massachusetts, c. 1902
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| Born |
July 24, 1735 Topsfield, Massachusetts |
| Died | June 13, 1805 (aged 69) Westford, Massachusetts |
| Allegiance | Provisional government of Massachusetts |
| Years of service | 1775 - 1776 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, Siege of Boston |
| Signature |  |
John Robinson (July 24, 1735 – June 13, 1805) was a Massachusetts militia and Continental Army officer from Westford, Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary War. On April 19, 1775, during the Battle of Concord, Robinson was the second highest-ranking officer in the field after Colonel James Barrett. Robinson marched next to Major John Buttrick at the head of the American column which advanced on and defeated the British Regulars at the Old North Bridge that day. Robinson would later fight at the Battle of Bunker Hill, serve under General George Washington during the Siege of Boston and, in 1786, would take part in the agrarian insurrection known as Shays' Rebellion.
Robinson was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts in 1735. At age 29 he married Miss Huldah Perley of Boxford, Massachusetts, the niece of French and Indian War Major General Israel Putnam of Pomfret, Connecticut.
Soon after migrating from Topsfield to Westford in search of open farmland, Robinson was appointed to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, or second in command of the Minuteman regiment commanded by Col. William Prescott of Pepperell, Massachusetts.
The exact manner in which Robinson was alarmed on the early morning of April 19, 1775 has been lost to history. Most documents relay the story of an unknown, lone alarm rider rousing the officer and his family in the dead of night. However, historian David Hackett Fischer asserts that the township as a whole was alerted by the firing of an alarm signal from the nearby village of Carlisle, a Northern precinct of Concord, thereby creating a more general internal alarm throughout the vicinity. Regardless, once roused, Robinson moved in haste to join his fellow Minutemen. Robinson, Rev. Joseph Thaxter, and a handful of Westford Minutemen rode on horseback and arrived at Concord in time to participate in the engagement at the Old North Bridge.
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Wikipedia