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Richard Gridley
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{{Short description|British and Continental Army officer (1710–1796)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} '''Richard Gridley''' (3 January 1710 – 21 June 1796) was born in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. He was a soldier and engineer who served for the [[British Army]] during the [[French and Indian Wars]] and for the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. ==Early life and military career== Gridley married Hannah Deming 25 February 1730. They had nine children.<ref name=DCB/> He served as a military engineer during the [[French and Indian Wars]] from the reduction of [[Fortress Louisbourg]] in 1745 to the fall of [[Quebec]]. For his services he was awarded a captain's commission in [[Shirley's Regiment|65th, or Shirley's Regiment of Foot]], a grant of the [[Magdalen Islands]], {{convert|3000|acres|km2}} of land in [[New Hampshire]], and a life annuity. Placed on [[half-pay]] in 1749, he was colonel of a [[Provincial troops in the French and Indian Wars|Massachusetts provincial regiment]] during [[Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet|William Johnson]]'s 1755 expedition against [[Fort Saint-Frédéric]]. In [[John Winslow (British Army officer)|John Winslow's]] failed 1756 expedition against Fort Saint-Frédéric, he served as provincial colonel of artillery and chief engineer. He vehemently supported Winslow's resistance against a merger of the regular and provincial forces.<ref name=DCB>{{cite DCB |first=Stuart R.J. |last=Sutherland |title=Gridley, Richard |volume=4 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/gridley_richard_4E.html}}</ref> Gridley sided with the [[Thirteen Colonies]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]] and was made Chief Engineer in the New England Provincial Army. He laid out the defenses on [[Breed's Hill]] and was wounded at the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]]. When the [[Continental Congress]] first created a [[Continental Army]] under command of [[George Washington]] in 1775 Gridley was named to [[Chief of Engineers|Chief Engineer]] (artillery). He directed the construction of the [[Fortification of Dorchester Heights|fortifications on Dorchester Heights]] which forced the British to evacuate Boston in March 1776. When Washington moved his army south, Gridley remained as Chief Engineer of the [[Departments of the Continental Army|Eastern Department]].<ref name=USCOE>Anonymous (1775). ''Colonel Richard Gridley, First Chief Engineer: The Forgotten Soldier of the Battle of Bunker Hill.'' United States. Army. Corps of Engineers, ''passim''.</ref> ==Later life and death== Gridley retired in 1781 at age 70. He died from blood poisoning induced by cutting dogwood bushes, in [[Stoughton, Massachusetts]], and is buried in [[Canton, Massachusetts]], at the Canton Corner Cemetery. He was buried within a small enclosure near his house in what is now Canton, off Washington Street. In this spot his body rested until 28 October 1876, when a committee disinterred his remains and removed them to his final resting place in the Canton Corner Cemetery. A small queue (braided hair) was removed and pocketed during the exhumation and today is on display at the Canton Historical Society.<ref name=Huntoon>Huntoon, Daniel T.V. (1975). ''History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.'' Friends of the Little Red House, Inc., pp. 360–379.</ref> ==Legacy== The monument to Gridley at Canton Corner is of Quincy Granite and the dado of Randolph Granite are faced with polished tablets bearing several inscriptions including "I shall fight for justice and my country", "I love my God, my country, and my neighbor as myself.", and a quote by General Washington: "I know of no man better fitted to be Chief Engineer than General Gridley." The whole monument is surmounted by a cannon in the imitation of "Hancock" or "Adams," - one of the guns Gridley served with his own hands at Bunker Hill.<ref name=Huntoon/> Gridley is widely to be understood as one of the most distinguished military characters of New England, renowned for personal bravery, skilled artillerist, a scientific engineer, and a contemporary of [[William Prescott|Prescott]] and [[Israel Putnam|Putnam]] and [[Henry Knox|Knox]], of [[Joseph Warren|Warren]] and [[George Washington|Washington]]. The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] considers Gridley 'America's First [[Chief of Engineers|Chief Engineer]].<ref name=USCOE/> == Notes == ''This article contains [[public domain]] text from'' {{cite web | title=Colonel Richard Gridley | work=Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers | url=http://www.hnc.usace.army.mil/history/coe.htm#1 | accessdate=9 May 2005 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050404183705/http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/coe.htm#1 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 4 April 2005}} ==References== {{reflist|30em}} ==External links== <!-- =============================================================================== WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A COLLECTION OF LINKS. Only a limited number of new links should be added to this article. PLEASE DO NOT ADD external links to sites with information already in the article or in its sources. See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for further details =============================================================================== --> * {{Find a Grave}} <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please follow the [[WP:EL]] guideline where possible and consider discussing on the talk page. Thank you. --> {{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-new|office}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers|Chief Engineer]] of the [[Continental Army]]|years=1775 – 1776}} {{s-aft|after=Colonel [[Rufus Putnam]]}} {{s-end}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Engineering|Massachusetts}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gridley, Richard}} [[Category:1710 births]] [[Category:1796 deaths]] [[Category:British Army personnel of the French and Indian War]] [[Category:Continental Army officers from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Military personnel from colonial Massachusetts]] [[Category:United States Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers]] [[Category:18th-century American engineers]]
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