Enoch Poor - WikiHQ

Enoch Poor (June 21, 1736 (Old Style) – September 8, 1780) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He began his life as an apprentice cabinet maker but rose through competence to become a successful ship builder and merchant from Exeter, New Hampshire. Over five years of continuous service, he became one of George Washington's most trusted and reliable brigade commanders.

Early life and career

Poor was born and raised in Andover, Province of Massachusetts Bay. His father Thomas Poor had been part of the 1745 expedition that captured Louisburg, Nova Scotia, during King George's War. Enoch received little formal education and was instead apprenticed to a cabinet maker. In 1755, he enlisted as a private in one of the Massachusetts units raised to accompany Jeffery Amherst's successful expedition to retake Louisburg during the French and Indian War.

In Exeter, Poor leveraged his craft skills to become a successful entrepreneur. He "traded cabinet making for ship building," He was in business with a partner named Thomas Parsons. This venture was successful enough to position him for a leadership role in the colony.

Enoch and Martha Poor had two daughters, Martha and Harriet. Bradbury and Jacob were the sons of Colonel Joseph Cilley, who commanded the 1st New Hampshire Regiment while serving alongside Poor.

American Revolutionary War

Poor supported the separatists as early as the Stamp Act protests in 1765. In 1775, he was twice elected to the New Hampshire Provincial Congress.

Poor's regiment was ordered into the Northern Department and went with General Richard Montgomery's invasion of Canada. After the disaster in Canada, Poor led the survivors of his regiment in early 1776 back to Fort Ticonderoga.

Saratoga campaign

The Continental Congress named Poor a brigadier general on February 21, 1777. His new brigade, composed of New Hampshire and New York regiments, was sent back to Ticonderoga. He withdrew with the rest of Arthur St. Clair's force on July 5. Moving south, they joined General Horatio Gates before the Battle of Saratoga, and his brigade was expanded by two regiments of Connecticut militia (Cook's and Latimer's).

In the Battle of Freeman's Farm, Poor's brigade was dispatched to support Daniel Morgan's riflemen, holding the American left flank in a heated firefight. Acland led the grenadiers in a bayonet charge. Poor ordered his 1,400 men to hold their fire until the charge was at point-blank range. The resulting volley was devastating; it "cut Acland's men to pieces," wounded Acland in both legs, and shattered the British attack, initiating the collapse of Burgoyne's entire line. Poor then turned to his left and gave support to Ebenezer Learned and Morgan's men.

Valley Forge and later service

Poor's brigade spent the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge.

Valley Forge and the Conway Cabal

During the Conway Cabal, a period of political intrigue where some officers and members of Congress schemed to replace Washington with Horatio Gates, Poor's loyalty remained firm. While Gates, the hero of Saratoga, was bypassing Washington to communicate directly with Congress, Poor—one of the actual field commanders responsible for the victory—was engaged in different correspondence. He wrote desperate letters to the New Hampshire Council, not for political advantage, but to beg for supplies for his men: "Did you know how much your men suffered from want of shirts, Britches, Blankitts, Stockens. & shoes, your heart would ache for them". Like much of Washington's officer corps, Poor "froze out" the political generals like Conway.

Sullivan Expedition and Culper Spy Ring

He accompanied the Sullivan Expedition in 1779, leading his brigade on a difficult flanking march to win the Battle of Newtown.

In 1780, Poor was given a prestigious command in Lafayette's elite Division of Light Infantry. Annotations for this letter confirm the man was being recruited by Major Benjamin Tallmadge for the Culper Spy Ring, Washington's most vital intelligence network in New York.

The official cause of death, as reported by the army's high command and medical staff, was unanimous: typhus, which was then termed "putrid fever" or "bilious fever."

Lieutenant Colonel David Humphreys, Washington's aide-de-camp, wrote on September 10: "Genl Poor who Died of a fever is to be buried this day". This camp rumor evolved in the 19th century into two contradictory "cover-up" theories. One theory, from the New Hampshire Adjutant-General's report, claimed he was killed by a "French officer," which was covered up to protect the U.S.-French alliance.

This latter theory is demonstrably false. Porter's service records show he was not dismissed in 1780; he remained with the army and was discharged two years later, in October 1782, for an "unauthorized trip to Europe," an offense entirely unrelated to a duel.

He was buried with full military honors in the First Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery in Hackensack. George Washington and Lafayette both attended his funeral. Washington wrote to inform Congress, stating that Poor "was an officer of distinguished merit, one who as a citizen and soldier had every claim to the esteem and regard of his country."

References

External links

A General on The Sullivan-Clinton Campaign Vs. Iroquoia
State Builders: An Illustrated Historical and Biographical Record of the State of New Hampshire. State Builders Publishing Manchester, NH 1903