Overview
John Greaton was an innkeeper and militia officer from Roxbury, Massachusetts, who rose to prominence during the American Revolutionary War. Greaton and the Roxbury Militia were actively involved in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and then the Siege of Boston. During the siege, Greaton led at least one raid on an island in Boston Harbor to remove food and supplies. He was sent to Canada in April 1776, where he helped cover the American retreat after the failed Invasion of Quebec. After spending time at Fort Ticonderoga, he joined Washington’s Army in New Jersey and fought in the Saratoga Campaign. He was transferred to West Point and remained in the North until the end of the war. Congress approved him as a Brigadier General in December 1783. However, he died soon after, making him the first American General to die after the war.
Personal Facts
- Born: March 10, 1741, in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
- Parents: John Greaton and Catherine Lenton.
- Spouse: Sarah Greaton (1760).
- Died: December 16, 1783, at 42 years old.
- Buried: Elliot Burying Ground, Roxbury, Massachusetts.
- Significance: John Greaton is important to American History because of his military service during the American Revolutionary War.
Biography
John Greaton was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, on May 10, 1744. He was the son of John and Catherine (Lenton) Greaton (also spelled Graeton). His father was the last landlord of the famous Greyhound Tavern and was also a trader, dealing in West Indian goods, with stores in Roxbury and Boston.
Greaton was a trader like his father, which accounts for his early interest in opposing British policies around Taxation Without Representation. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty and was elected Lieutenant of the militia in the first parish of Roxbury on November 28, 1774. About six weeks later, on December 26, 1774, he was appointed as a member of the 15-person committee responsible for enforcing the Continental Association in Roxbury.
AHC Notes:
- The First Continental Congress created the Continental Association to enforce the Articles of Association — a trade boycott against British merchants.
- The other members of the committee assigned to “carry into execution the agreement and association of the late Continental Congress” were Moses Davis, Daniel Brown, Nathaniel Ruggles, Robert Pierpont, Caleb Hayward, Ebenezer Dorr, John Williams, Joshua Felton, Stephen Williams, Jeremiah Parker, Ebenezer Whiting, David Weld, William Heath, and Eleazer Weld.
Between December 1774 and early 1775, he was appointed Lieutenant of a Minuteman Regiment for Suffolk County.
- AHC Note — In a letter to Harrison Gray Otis, dated “Roxbury, April 21, 1798,” William Heath said that this was, “The first company of minute-men raised in America in 1775 preparatory to the defence of their invaluable rights and liberties, was raised in this town, and that company, with others, distinguished itself in the Battle of Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775.”
On April 18–19, he responded to the Lexington Alarm and engaged the British during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Along with Joseph Warren and William Heath, he was actively involved in directing the movement and placement of the Massachusetts Militia as the British marched back to Boston.
- On May 19, 1775, Greaton became a Lieutenant Colonel in General William Heath’s Regiment.
On the night of June 2, 1775, Greaton led an expedition that removed about 800 sheep and lambs from Deer Island in Boston Harbor, together with some cattle. They also seized a barge belonging to one of the British Men-of-War and took some prisoners.
- AHC Note — Some accounts indicate Greaton led a raid on Long Island on July 12, 1775. However, the details of both raids are similar. It appears likely that the raid took place on July 12, but it was on Long Island.
Greaton enlisted in the Continental Army, and on July 1, 1775, he was given the rank of Colonel in General William Heath’s regiment.
On January 1, 1776, Greaton was commissioned Colonel of the 24th Massachusetts in the Continental Army. That same day, American forces were defeated at the Battle of Quebec and started a siege of the city.
Invasion of Quebec
Greaton’s Regiment was sent to Canada on April 15, 1776, to reinforce the Northern Army. General William Thompson was in command of the brigade. By the time they arrived, the Americans were retreating from Canada. Despite the arrival of these reinforcements, the British continued to drive the Northern Army back to Fort Ticonderoga.
- By mid-July 13-19, Greaton’s Regiment was at Fort Ticonderoga, where it remained until November 18.
- They worked with the rest of the garrison to fortify positions at Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence in preparation for the expected British attack.
- When the British approached the fort on October 28, Greaton and his men crossed Lake Champlain and took a position on Mount Independence.
- However, General Guy Carleton, the British commander, decided to fall back to Canada, rather than risk an assault on the fort or engage in a siege.
New Jersey Campaign
- On November 1, 1776, he was appointed Colonel of the new 3rd Massachusetts Regiment.
- In December 1776, he was with Washington’s Army during the New Jersey Campaign (1776–1777) and the battles of Trenton, Second Trenton, and Princeton.
Saratoga Campaign
- On January 1, 1777, he was named Colonel of the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment.
- He was with General John Nixon’s Brigade during the Saratoga Campaign (1777).
- On October 16, 1777, General Horatio Gates sent Greaton to the British camp, demanding their surrender. Greaton told the British that the Americans would launch an attack within 10 minutes if they failed to comply. General John Burgoyne surrendered, ending the Battles of Saratoga.
- Afterward, he became a senior officer at Albany and, for a time, commander of the Northern Department.
Events in 1782
In 1782, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, but Congress did not confirm it, due to disagreements and the reduction of the Massachusetts Line due to men leaving after the British surrendered at Yorktown.
In December 1782, Greaton joined other officers to submit a letter to Congress, asking the delegates to implement measures to ensure they were paid.
- Greaton and the others were concerned about Congress’s failure to pay the troops and keep its promises to them.
- Greaton was one of five officers of the Massachusetts Line who joined with officers from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.
The officers reported their dissatisfaction and suggested two options for paying them, who had been promised half-pay for life. Congress could commute the half-pay for life:
- For full pay for a certain number of years.
- A lump sum.
Several months later, Congress adopted one of the suggestions and offered the officers full pay for five years. Unlike other factions within the army, Greaton did not openly protest against Congress or General George Washington.
Death
Congress finally approved Greaton’s appointment as Brigadier General on January 7, 1783. In November, most of the Continental Army was formally disbanded, and he returned to his home in Roxbury.
- Greaton died on December 16, 1783.
- He was the first General who served in the Continental Army to die after the war ended.
Family Life
Greaton married Sara Humphreys in 1760. They had several children, including Richard Humphrey Greaton, an Ensign in his father’s regiment and later a Captain in the U.S. Army. Their daughter, Ann, married Samuel Heath, the son of General William Heath.
Appendix
Officers’ Appeal to Congress, December 1782
This is the petition that Greaton and the other officers sent to Congress in December 1792, proposing options for paying the soldiers. This is taken from the Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. 24, January 1–August 29, 1783.
To the United States in Congress assembled.
The Address and Petition of the Officers of the Army of the United States,
Humbly sheweth, that we, the officers of the army of the United States, in behalf of ourselves and our brethren the soldiers, beg leave, with all proper deference and respect, freely to state to Congress, the supreme power of the United States, the great distress under which we labor.
At this period of the war it is with peculiar pain we find ourselves constrained to address your august body, on matters of a pecuniary nature. We have struggled with our difficulties, year after year, under the hopes that each would be the last; but we have been disappointed. We find our embarrassments thicken so fast, and have become so complex, that many of us are unable to go further. In this exigence we apply to Congress for relief as our head and sovereign.
To prove that our hardships are exceedingly disproportionate to those of any other citizens of America, let a recurrence be had to the paymaster’s accompts, for four years past. If to this it should be objected, that the respective states have made settlements, and given securities for the pay due, for part of that time, let the present value of those nominal obligations be ascertained by the monied men, and they will be found to be worth httle indeed; and yet, trifling as they are, many have been under the sad necessity of parting with them, to prevent their families from actually starving.
We complain that shadows have been offered to us while the substance has been gleaned by others.
Our situation compels us to search for the cause of our extreme poverty. The citizens murmur at the greatness of their taxes, and are astonished that no part reaches the army. The numerous demands, which are between the first collectors and the soldiers, swallow up the whole.
Our distresses are now brought to a point. We have borne all that men can bear — our property is expended — our private resources are at an end, and our friends are wearied out and disgusted with our incessant applications. We, therefore, most seriously and earnestly beg, that a supply of money may be forwarded to the army as soon as possible. The uneasiness of the soldiers, for want of pay, is great and dangerous; any further experiments on their patience may have fatal effects.
The promised subsistence or ration of provisions consisted of certain articles specified in kind and quantity. This ration, without regard, that we can conceive, to the health of the troops, has been frequently altered, as necessity or conveniency suggested, generally losing by the change some part of its substance. On an average, not more than seven or eight-tenths have been issued; the retained parts were, for a short time, paid for; but the business became troublesome to those who were to execute it. For this, or some other reasons, all regard to the dues, as they respected the soldiers, has been discontinued (now and then a trifling gratuity excepted). As these dues respected the officers, they were compensated, during one year and part of another, by an extra ration; as to the retained rations, the account for several years remains unsettled; there is a large balance due upon it, and a considerable sum for that of forage.
The clothing was another part of the soldier’s hire. The arrearages on that score, for the year 1777, were paid off in continental money, when the dollar was worth about four-pence; the arrearages for the following years are unliquidated, and we apprehend scarcely thought of but by the army. Whenever there has been a real want of means, any defect in system, or neglect in execution, in the departments of the army, we have invariably been the sufferers, by hunger and nakedness, and by languishing in an hospital.
We beg leave to urge an immediate adjustment of all dues; that as great a part as possible be paid, and the remainder put on such a footing as will restore cheerfulness to the army, revive confidence in the justice and generosity of its constituents, and contribute to the very desirable effect of re-estabhshing pubhc credit.
We are grieved to find that our brethren, who retired from service on half-pay, under the resolution of Congress in 1780, are not only destitute of any effectual provision, but are become the objects of obloquy. Their condition has a very discouraging aspect on us who must sooner or later retire, and from every consideration of justice, eratitude and policy, demands attention and redress.
We regard the act of Congress respecting half-pay, as an honorable and just recompense for several years hard service, in which the health and fortunes of the officers have been worn down and exhausted. We see with chagrin the odious point of view in which the citizens of too many of the states endeavor to place the men entitled to it. We hope, for the honor of human nature, that there are none so hardened in the sin of ingratitude, as to deny the justice of the reward. We have reason to believe that the objection generally is against the mode only. To prevent therefore, any altercations and distinctions which may tend to injure that harmony which we ardently desire may reign throughout the community, we are willing to commute the half-pay pledged, for full pay for a certain number of years, or for a sum in gross, as shall be agreed to by the committee sent with this address. And in this we pray, that the disabled officers and soldiers, with the widows and orphans of those who have expended or may expend their lives in the service of their country, may be fully comprehended. We also beg, that some mode may be pointed out for the eventual payment of those soldiers who are the subjects of the resolution of Congress of the 15th May, 1778.
To the representation now made, the army have not a doubt that Congress will pay all that attention which the serious nature of it requires. It would be criminal in the officers to conceal the general dissatisfaction which prevails, and is gaining ground in the army, from the pressure of evils and injuries, which, in the course of seven long years, have made their condition in many instances wretched. They therefore entreat, that Congress, to convince the army and the world that the independence of America shall not be placed on the ruin of any particular class of her citizens, will point out a mode for immediate redress.
On part of the Massachusetts Line:
- Henry Knox, Major General
- John Patterson, Brigadier General
- John Greaton, Colonel
- John Cane, Colonel
- Hugh Maxwell, Lieutenant Colonel
On part of the Connecticut Line:
- Jedediah Huntington, Brigadier General
- Heman Swift, Colonel
- Samuel Webb, Colonel
- Ebenezer Huntington, Lieutenant Colonel
On part of the New York Line:
- Pierre Van Cortlandt, Colonel
On part of the New Jersey Line:
- John W. Cummings, Lieutenant Colonel
On part of the New Hampshire Line:
- William Scott, Colonel
On part of the General Hospital:
- William Eustis, Hospital Surgeon
Moses Hazen, Brigadier General, Cantonments, Hudson’s River, December 1782.
- Note — This address of the officers is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 42, VI, folio 61. The indorsement shows that it was referred to the Grand Committee on January 6, and Committee Book No. 186 states that a report was delivered January 22. See ante, January 25.
