Israel Putnam - Military Service

Military Service

Putnam took part in the French and Indian War as a member of Rogers' Rangers, and later led a similar company of rangers from Connecticut. He was promoted to captain in 1756 and to major in 1758. Captured on August 8, 1758 by the Kahnawake (Mohawk Indians) during a military campaign near Crown Point in New York, he was saved from being ritually burned alive by a rain storm and the last-minute intervention of a French officer.

In 1759, Putnam led a regiment in the attack on Fort Carillon; and in 1760 he was with the British army that marched on Montreal. In 1762, he survived a shipwreck during the British expedition against Cuba that led to the capture of Havana. Major Putnam is believed to have brought back Cuban tobacco seeds to New England, which he planted in the Hartford area. This reportedly resulted in the development of the renowned Connecticut Wrapper (shade tobacco).

In 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion, Putnam was sent with reinforcements to relieve Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit.

Following the war, in 1765 Putnam publicly professed his Christian faith and joined the Congregational Church in Brooklyn. Putnam was among those who objected to British taxation policies. For instance, around the time of the Stamp Act crisis in 1766, he was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly and was one of the founders of the state's chapter of the Sons of Liberty. In the fall of 1765, Putnam threatened Thomas Fitch, the popularly elected Connecticut Governor, over this issue. He said that Fitch's house "will be leveled with the dust in five minutes" if Fitch did not turn over the stamp tax paper to the Sons of Liberty.