Moses Hazen | |
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Born | June 1, 1733 Haverhill, Massachusetts, British America |
Died | February 5, 1803 Troy, New York, U.S. | (aged 69)
Allegiance | Kingdom of Great Britain United Colonies United States |
Service | British Army Continental Army |
Years of service | Provincial militia: 1755–1757 British Army: 1758–1763 Continental Army: 1775–1783 |
Rank | Brigadier General |
Unit | Rogers' Rangers 44th Regiment of Foot 2nd Canadian Regiment |
Commands | 2nd Canadian Regiment |
Battles / wars | |
Signature |
Moses Hazen (June 1, 1733 – February 5, 1803) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, he saw action in the French and Indian War with Rogers' Rangers. His service included particularly brutal raids, during the Expulsion of the Acadians and the 1759 Battle of Quebec. He was formally commissioned into the British Army, shortly before the war ended, and retired on half-pay outside Montreal, Province of Quebec, where he and Gabriel Christie, another British officer, made extensive land purchases in partnership. During his lifetime he acquired land in Quebec, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, but lost most of his Quebec land due to litigation with Christie and the negative effects of the Revolution.
In 1775 he became involved in the American invasion of Quebec early in the American Revolutionary War, and served with the Continental Army, in the 1775 Battle of Quebec. He went on to lead his own regiment, (the 2nd Canadian, also known as "Congress' Own") throughout the war, seeing action in the 1777 Philadelphia campaign and at Yorktown in 1781. He was frequently involved in litigation, both military and civil, and constantly petitioned Congress for compensation of losses and expenses incurred due to the war. He supported similar efforts by men from his regiment who were unable to return to Quebec because of their support for the American war effort.