(Capt.) Silvester (Sylvester) Richmond(4) [Ebenezer(3), John(2), John(1)] was born in Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts on 25 November 1711. Coming from a long line of military men as well as men who were leaders of Taunton for three generations, it is not surprising that Sylvester was not only an outstanding citizen of his community but also chose to join to fight in the French and Indian War.

The French and Indian Wars took place between 1689 and 1763. Both Great Britain and France wanted to get more possessions in North America mainly because of the fur trade. There was also a dispute as to the fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland plus religious differences, i.e. French Catholics vs. British Protestants. The Indians supported both groups. The first three wars were “King William’s War” (1689-1697), Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) and King George’s War (1744-1748). The fourth war was simply called the French and Indian War. It lasted from 1754-1763. It was the most important conflict over French and British possessions in America.” The French were winning from 1755-1757 but in 1758 British victories outnumbered French victories.

Capt. Sylvester Richmond

Considering the anti-Royalist feelings of his great-grandfather (and possibly even of his grandfather) it is interesting that Sylvester was fighting with the English in this war. He is listed on the “Muster Rolls, 1755-1756 and 1748-1763”. He was a volunteer and his first rank was Sgt., when, at age 44, he fought at Ft. Edward in the Samuel Nichols Nelson Co., Thacher Regiment for only a short time because of work he needed to attend to on his farm. In 1758 he was commissioned a 1st Lieut., and for seven months fought in Canada under Capt. Benjamin Pratt in the regiment of Col. Thomas Doty. In 1759\60 he returned to active duty and was commissioned a Captain. He fought at Crown Point for nine months and then again, after a month off when he had to attend to some business in New Braintree, enlisted for another ten months.

“He was decorated for his distinguished service at Crown Point and for his kindness to his soldiers. He endured great hardship and suffering on the return from Crown Point, being at one time three days without food. However, he brought back every man in his company!”

“The fall of Quebec and Montreal signaled the end of the war in 1760. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, Great Britain received Canada and all the French possessions east of the Mississippi River, Spain received all French lands west of the Mississippi. Thus Spain remained Great Britain’s only rival in North America”

Since Crown Point was a major battle in 1759, I felt that it might be of interest to the readers to learn about Crown Point. Crown Point is a village of Essex county, New York. “It is located about 90 miles N.E. of Albany and about 10 miles north of Ticonderoga, on the west shore of Lake Champlain. Fighting with the Indians took place here as early as 1609. This marked the beginning of the long enmity between the Five (later Six) Indian Nations and the French. The French built a fort there in 1731 called Fort Frédéric. It was the first military post at Crown Point and was, subsequently for many years, of considerable strategic importance, owing to its situation on Lake Champlain, from Canada to New York. Twice during the French and Indian War, in 1755 and again in 1756, English and colonial expeditions were sent against it in vain; it remained in French hands until 1759, when, after Lord Jeffrey Amherst’s occupation of Ticonderoga, the garrison joined that of the latter place and retreated to Canada. Crown Point was then occupied by Amherst, who during the winter of 1759-1760 began the construction, about a quarter of a mile from the old Fort Frédéric, of a large fort, which was garrisoned but was never completed; the ruins of this fort (not of Fort Frédéric) still remain.” “Although strategically the Crown Point Campaign Sylvester fought in was not a great success, it did serve as a military antidote to Braddock’s disastrous defeat in July of 1755. It also demonstrated the capacity of the colonial government to mount a major military campaign on land without the assistance or intervention of the British regular army.”