Ebenezer Francis
Colonel, Massachusetts Militia

Ebenezer Francis was born on 22 December 1743 in Medford, MA, and later moved to Beverly, MA.

Francis was killed while commanding Massachusetts Militia at the Battle of Hubbardton, VT, in 1777, the only Revolutionary War battle fought entirely on Vermont soil. After driving the American Army under General Arthur St. Clair from Fort Ticonderoga, British commander General John Burgoyne ordered a force under General Simon Fraser, and Brunswick troops under Major General Baron von Riedesel, to pursue. St. Clair detached a force of about 2,000 men including Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire Militia to fight a rear guard action at Hubbardton to cover the retreat of the main army.

Most of the battle was fought with the Americans in defensive positions atop what is now known as Monument Hill. As had occurred during the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British regulars made a number of attempts to assault the Americans uphill and were beaten back. The fight lasted an entire day until von Riedesel turned the Americans' flank. His attack was met by the Massachusetts Militia under Colonel Francis, who was mortally wounded in the action. The battered British force quit its pursuit and limped back to Ticonderoga.

The rear guard's sacrifice saved the American Army and, three months later, General Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, NY. After the battle, General von Riedesel personally officiated at the burial of Colonel Francis as a show of respect.

Death and Burial

Colonel Ebenezer Francis was killed in action on 7 July 1777 in Hubbardton, VT. His body is believed to be buried under the battlefield monument in Hubbardton. A cenotaph in his memory is located at the North Beverly Cemetery in Beverly, MA.

Inscribed on the memorial are these words:

In memory of Colonel Ebenezer Francis, who fell in the sanguinary Battle of Hubbardton, July 7, 1777, aged 33. He was born in Medford, Mass., Dec. 22, 1743