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| == Career == | == Career == | ||
| Joseph served as a lieutenant in his brother's ranger company, known as ] from 1744 through 1752. Initially the rank and file members of the company were ] and ] Indians from Massachusetts, prized as much for their small-boat handling skills (learned in the ] industry) as for their scouting and tracking skills, and also a handful of ] Indians from Maine. Gorham was in the ] during ](1748-1752). Shortly after his brother's death in December of 1751, Joseph was promoted to captain and took command of the rangers, now mostly Anglo-Americans. During the ] he participated in the ] in both the ], where he was wounded,<ref></ref> and the ]. | |||
| Joseph led Gorham's Rangers in the ], the taking of ] in 1759, and after his promotion to Major Commondante of the Nova Scotia Ranger Corps in 1761, the expedition to ] in 1762, where disease all but whiped out the rangers. He also noted as the commander of British forces victorious at ].<ref name="" Deserted His Majesty's Service": Military Runaways, the British-American Press, and the Problem of Desertion during the Seven Years' War">{{cite journal|last=Agostini|first=T. |year=2007|title=" Deserted His Majesty's Service": Military Runaways, the British-American Press, and the Problem of Desertion during the Seven Years' War|journal=Journal of Social History}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Scott|first=K|year=1945|title=Major General Sullivan and Colonel Stephen Holland|journal=New England Quarterly1}}</ref> | |||
| He also fought in the ], leading the ]. | He also fought in the ], leading the ]. | ||
Revision as of 20:58, 8 September 2012
Joseph Gorham (sometimes recorded as Goreham, 1725 – 1790) was an American colonial military officer during King George's War and later a British army commander during the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War.
Family
The Gorham family had a distinguished history in the colonial military. Serving alongside the early colonial military innovator Benjamin Church, John Gorham I died while fighting in the famous Great Swamp Fight during King Philip's War. Joseph's grandfather, John Gorham II, also served with Church during the fourth Eastward Expedition into Acadia, which involved the Raid on Chignecto (1696) during King William's War and again during Queen Anne's War. His father Shubael Gorham was also a provincial military officer in Queen Anne's War and again in King George's War. Joseph and his brother John Gorham III fought as Rangers in Acadia/Nova Scotia throughout the 1740s as well as at the Siege of Louisbourg (1745) as officers in the Massachusetts provincal forces.
Career
Joseph served as a lieutenant in his brother's ranger company, known as Gorham's Rangers from 1744 through 1752. Initially the rank and file members of the company were Wampanoag and Nauset Indians from Massachusetts, prized as much for their small-boat handling skills (learned in the whaling industry) as for their scouting and tracking skills, and also a handful of Pequawket Indians from Maine. Gorham was in the Battle at Canso during Father Le Loutre's War(1748-1752). Shortly after his brother's death in December of 1751, Joseph was promoted to captain and took command of the rangers, now mostly Anglo-Americans. During the French and Indian War he participated in the Expulsion of the Acadians in both the Battle of Petitcodiac, where he was wounded, and the St. John River Campaign.
Joseph led Gorham's Rangers in the Siege of Louisburg (1758), the taking of Quebec in 1759, and after his promotion to Major Commondante of the Nova Scotia Ranger Corps in 1761, the expedition to Havana in 1762, where disease all but whiped out the rangers. He also noted as the commander of British forces victorious at Fort Cumberland.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
He also fought in the American Revolution, leading the Royal Fencible American Regiment.
Notes
- Brian D. Carroll, ""Savages" in the Service of Empire: Native American Soldiers in Gorham's Rangers, 1744-1762," New England Quarterly (September 2012), pp. 383-429.
- The William Pote Journal, p. 176
- Scott, K (1945). "Major General Sullivan and Colonel Stephen Holland". New England Quarterly1.
References
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- Gorham's Rangers
- Origins of Gorham's Rangers