Richard Parker (colonel)

Richard Parker
Born	1751 Virginia
Died	8 May 1780 Charleston, South Carolina
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Infantry
Years of service	1775–1780
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Battle of Great Bridge (1775) Burning of Norfolk (1776) Battle of Trenton (1776) Battle of Assunpink Creek (1777) Battle of Princeton (1777) Battle of Brandywine (1777) Battle of Monmouth (1778) Siege of Charleston (1780)

Richard Parker (1751 – 8 May 1780) was an American colonel who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Son of prominent Virginia jurist Richard Parker, Parker received an officer's commission in a Virginia regiment early in the conflict. He probably was present at Great Bridge and Norfolk. Promoted to major, he fought at Trenton in December 1776 and commanded the regiment at Second Trenton and Princeton in January 1777. At Brandywine in September 1777 he led a detachment of light infantry in delaying the British. The next month he fought at Germantown. Promoted to colonel at Valley Forge, he led a picked detachment at Monmouth in June 1778. In May 1779, George Washington ordered him back to Virginia to recruit a new regiment. After being sent south with a new unit of reinforcements for Charleston, South Carolina in late 1779, he died of wounds received at the Siege of Charleston in 1780.

Born in 1751, Richard Parker (1729–1815) was the son of Judge Richard Parker and Elizabeth Beale (d. 1778). His brothers were John (d. 1810), Alexander (1752–1820), William Harwar (1753–1815), and Thomas (1755–1820). The younger Richard Parker married Elelina Moss. He was appointed captain in the 2nd Virginia Regiment on 28 September 1775. The commander of this unit, William Woodford led his troops at the Battle of Great Bridge on 9 December 1775 and at Norfolk on 1 January 1776.

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