Whitcomb, John

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Whitcomb, John

WHITCOMB, JOHN. (1713–1785). Militia general. Massachusetts. Older brother of Asa Whitcomb, John Whitcomb (also spelled Whetcomb) served as a field officer in the Massachusetts provincial regiments during several campaigns of the final French and Indian war (1755, 1758, and 1760). After the war he became a prominent political leader in Bolton, Massachusetts, and was commissioned brigadier general by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress on 15 February 1775. As colonel of the local Worcester County minuteman regiment, he participated in the pursuit of the British after Lexington and Concord, 19 April 1775. He was elected first major general of the Massachusetts provincial army on 13 June 1775, and commanded at Lechmere Point during the battle of Bunker Hill. Passed over by Congress in the first round of appointments, he was elected a brigadier general on 5 June 1776, but declined the commission because of his age.

SEE ALSO Lexington and Concord.

                        revised by Harold E. Selesky