Nathaniel WOODHULL
[3023]
30 Dec 1722 - 20 Sep 1776
- OCCUPATION: Revolutionary War General
- BIRTH: 30 Dec 1722, Brookhaven, Suffolk, Long Island, NY
- DEATH: 20 Sep 1776, New Utrecht, Kings, NY
Father: Nathaniel WOODHULL
Mother: Sarah SMITH
Family 1
: Ruth FLOYD
- Nathaniel WOODHULL
- Elizabeth WOODHULL
_Richard WOODHULL _____
_Richard WOODHULL ___|
| |_Dorothy HOWELL _______+
_Nathaniel WOODHULL _|
| | _John TOPPING _________+
| |_Temperance TOPPING _|
| |_Sarah WHITE __________+
|
|--Nathaniel WOODHULL
|
| _Richard SMITH ________
| _Richard SMITH ______|
| | |_Sarah HAMMOND ________+
|_Sarah SMITH ________|
| _John (Tucker) TOOKER _
|_Hannah TOOKER ______|
|_Sarah ________________
[3022]
"The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut"
Frederic Gregory Mather
"In memory of Gen. Nathaniel Woodhull, President of the Provincial Congress of New York
in 1775, who on Aug. 28, 1776, was cruelly wounded by the enemy at Jamaica while co-operating
with Washington on Long Island. He died a prisoner at New Utrecht, Sept. 20, 1776, a citizen,
soldier, patriot of the Revolution."
Abstract of Wills on File in the Surrogate's Office,
City of New York (Volume III. 1730-1744)
Appendix B: Floyd Family, p. 440
http://historical.library.cornell.edu/Dienst/UI/1.0/Display/cul.nys/nys056
"The Family of Richard Smith of Smithtown, Long Island"
Frederick Kinsman Smith
Smithtown Historical Society, Smithtown, NY, 1967
"Nathaniel, b. 30 Dec 1722, at St. George's Manor, d. 20 Sep 1776, married in 1761, Ruth Floyd,
b. 2 Feb 1730/1, d. 9 Nov 1805, daughter of Nicoll Floyd and his wife, Tabitha Smith. Nathaniel
Woodhull was in service in the war against the French, in 1758 as a major in the provincial
forces of New York, and in 1760 as colonel, under General Amherst, of the Third Regiment of New
York Provincials, which marched against Montreal and effected the final reduction of Canada. He
was active in public life, was elected president of the Provincial Congress of New York in
August, 1775, and in the earlier days of the Revolution was, as brigadier general, in command
of the Suffolk County forces when he received injuries which resulted in his death."
"Woodhull Genealogy: The Woodhull Family in England and America",
Mary Gould Woodhull and Frances Bowes Stevens,
Henry T. Coates & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1904
"Nathaniel Woodhull, (General), fourth generation from Richard Wodhull I., Patentee of
Brookhaven, Long Island, was the eldest son of Nathaniel Wodhull and Sarah Smith. He was
born at St. George's Manor, Mastic, Long Island, December 30, 1722...
On the 28th of August, 1775, General "Woodhull was elected President of the Provincial
Congress of New York, in which body sat Jay, Livingston, Benson and Sehuyler, and he also
held the same office in the Congress that succeeded July 9th, 1776, under the new form of
government. On August 25th, 1776, he was appointed to the command of the Militia at Jamaica...
"The General suddenly aroused by the sound of horses' hoofs, (which he seems not to have
heard until they were at the door, owing to the noise of the elements, a fierce thunder
storm having arisen) sprang to a side door, and was out of the house in an instant. He
was about to clear the rail-fence to reach his horse, when some of the dismounted dragoons
intercepted and captured him."
To quote once again, "The scene of sickening murder which, followed is scarcely paralleled
in history since civilization forbade the slaughter of prisoners as the privilege of a
conqueror."
"The wretched and cowardly officer, who first reached the General has had the rare good
fortune to have a strange obscurity thrown over his identity. The ruffian, whoever he was,
approached the General with the exclamation, 'Surrender you damned rebel!' upon which
Woodhull at once tendered him his sword."
"This, however, was not enough, for with uplifted sword, the British officer advanced
furiously exclaiming, 'Say, God save the King.'"
"In accents of dignity and courage, General Woodhull replied, 'God save us all.' 'Say, God
save the King,' shouted the brutal officer. "Whereupon he aimed the swift blows of his sabre
at the defenceless head of the General."
It is said on good authority that the wounds received by Woodhull were ten in number, seven
deep gashes on his arm, nearly severing it in two places from his body, and three wounds on
his head...
As a prisoner of war he with others, was then removed to the New Utrecht Church, "which was
unceremoniously used as a prison" by the British. Again he was removed, this time to the
wretched quarters of a prison-ship, where witnesses declared he was left in a pitiable
condition dying from neglect and lack of care...
"With his dying breath he greeted his beloved wife (Ruth, daughter of the Hon. Nicoll Floyd,
and sister of General William Floyd, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence;
she was born in February 1732, and died in the year 1822.), and then calmly directed that the needs
of the American prisoners, then in an almost starving condition, should he supplied by his wife with
money and provisions. With these words of noble self-forgetfulness upon his lips, the spirit of Nathaniel
Woodhull took its flight."
[3023]
[S216]
International Genealogical Index (R)
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