Re: May be of Interest to Someone
(1734-1810) Born in Woodstock, MA (now Connecticut). In 1774, Asa Chaffee was one of one hundred and twenty-five men from South Wilbraham, MA who signed an agreement not to buy English-made goods. He married Mary Howlett in 1753, in Woodstock, and later in 1785; Sarah Ormsbef in Wilbraham, MA. Asa was a private in a Company under the command of Captain James Warriner, along with Joshua, Comfort (Rehoboth), Darius and John Chaffee. They "marched in defense of American Liberty on ye alarm last April (April 19,1775), occasioned by the Lexington fight ." 700 British troops had moved from Boston toward Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists' military supplies and arrest revolutionaries. Paul Revere, in his famous ride from Boston, first alerted the colonists to the British movement. In the early in the morning of April 19, 1775, 70 militia met the British at Lexington, which became the first battle of the Revolutionary War . Later that day in Concord, advancing British troops met resistance from 400 Minutemen (because they could march on a moment's notice). After the battle, thousands of colonists harassed the retreating British troops along the Concord-Lexington Road. The Wilbraham company was ordered home after a two-day march and fifty miles travel. The men were paid 7s each. Joseph (Somerset/Swansea), Noah (Rehoboth), Shubael and Stephen Chaffee were also soldiers in the Revolutionary War.