William Colfax
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General William Colfax |
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ca 1785 portrait of Colfax to be given to his future wife
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| Born |
July 3, 1756 New London, Connecticut |
| Died | September 9, 1838 (aged 82) Passaic County, New Jersey |
| Buried at | Colfax Family Burying Ground, Wayne, New Jersey |
| Years of service | 1774-80, 1811-12 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | Bunker Hill to Yorktown |
| Spouse(s) | Hester Schuyler |
| Relations | Schuyler Colfax |
William Colfax was a revolutionary war figure who served as Captain of George Washington's Life Guard beginning on March 18, 1778. William was the fifth child born to George Colfax (born: December 25, 1727) and Lucy Avery (married April 13, 1749), who had a total of ten children. Colfax was about 5'-10" tall and weighed about 190-200 lbs. He had blue eyes, dark hair, and was clean shaven. His hair was powdered and worn in a cue, tied with a black ribbon, till his later years. He was married to Hester Schuyler, cousin of Philip Schuyler, of Pompton on August 27, 1783, together they had six children. Together they lived in Hester's inherited Schuyler-Colfax House in Wayne, New Jersey, which today is a museum. Their grandson was Schuyler Colfax, the 17th Vice President of the United States.
When Colfax was 17 years old, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Continental Army leading him to be present at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Colfax was wounded three times in battle during the war, one of those times was at the Battle of White Plains in October 1776. Another was on July 3, 1781, four miles from Valentine's Hill north of New York City near Kingsbridge. Upon one occasion, when he was in the act of giving the word of command to his men, a bullet struck his uplifted sword, shattering the blade, and glancing, skinned one of his fingers. On another occasion, also while riding on horseback in an exposed position a bullet was sent through his body, just above the hip and below the bowels, entering in front and coming out behind. The long buff waistcoat he wore at the time is preserved by his grandchildren, and the hole is apparent, made by the almost fatal shot.
In the excitement of the battle the Colfax did not notice the wound, but still galloped from point to point over the field delivering orders. Some Hessian soldiers, who had been taken prisoners, saw the blood streaming from his side and into his boot, and gleefully exclaimed, "Mein Gott! de Captain is wounded again." As he kept on in the fight some of his own men saw the blood flow and cried to him, "Captain! the blood is running out of your boot!" Looking down, he noticed his condition for the first time and recognized that it must be serious, and rode over toward the field hospital. Dr. Ledyard looked at the wound and bade him go at once into the hospital, and stay in, the latter order being needed to keep Colfax indoors. The excitement over, the wounded Colfax succumbed to the loss of blood and grew faint and weak as a child. After hurriedly examining and dressing the injury, Dr. Ledyard subsequently asked, "Do you want to be cured quickly, or to let this thing linger along?" To which the Captain replied, "As quickly as possible." The Surgeon promptly applied the bistouri, tore tho wound open and dressed it, whereupon it soon healed. However, recovery was attended by an eruption of boils, covering Colfax from head to heels. Washington seeing the state of his Captain, told him, "You are in a deplorable condition; I will give you a furlough that you may go home till you recover." Colfax persisted in staying with the army till they went into winter quarters at Morristown, in the winter of 1779-80. During that season he went home to Connecticut on horseback through snow in March so deep that he rode over the fence-tops. He returned greatly improved in health, and was with the army till the close of the war.
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