Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Gamaliel Bradford (privateersman)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Name
  
Gamaliel Bradford

Grandparents
  
Gamaliel Bradford

Children
  
Gamaliel Bradford


Parents
  
Gamaliel Bradford

Role
  
Privateersman

Nieces
  
Charlotte Bradford

Gamaliel Bradford (privateersman) photosgenicomp130f611ed75344483abf653209g

Died
  
March 7, 1824, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Siblings
  
Gershom Bradford, Daniel Bradford

Captain Gamaliel Bradford, privateersman, was born in Duxbury, Mass., 4 November 1763.

Contents

He commanded the American private armed ship Mary in 1799, during the Quasi-War with France. In July 1800, in command of Industry, he routed four French privateers at Gibraltar. Captain Bradford died at Cambridge, Mass., 7 March 1824.

Biography

Captain Gamaliel Bradford, privateersman, was born in Duxbury, Mass., 4 November 1763.

During the American Revolution, he enlisted in the 14th Massachusetts Regiment (commanded by his father, also named Gamaliel)as a private at the age of thirteen on May 28, 1776. He fought at the battles of Saratoga and Monmouth before encamping with the army for its final cantonment at New Windsor, New York. After Monmouth, he was promoted to Serjeant on June 28, 1778, followed by promotions to Ensign (8/8/1779) and Lieutenant (9/3/1780). When the number of Massachusetts regiments was reduced in 1781, Gamaliel and the other men of the 14th were folded into the 7th Massachusetts Regiment. He stayed on another year in the army before finally returning home in 1784.

After the war, he commanded the American private armed ship Mary in 1799, during the Quasi-War with France. In July 1800, in command of Industry, he routed four French privateers at Gibraltar, though he sustained an injury that would cost him his leg. Captain Bradford died at Cambridge, Mass., 7 March 1824.

He married Elizabeth Parker Hickling on August 6, 1798. They would go on to have seven children. The same year, he was offered command of the frigate Boston by President John Adams, but declined.

His son and namesake, Gamaliel Bradford, became a physician and early abolitionist.

His sister, Jerusha Bradford, married Duxbury shipbuilder, Ezra Weston II, AKA: King Caesar.

Namesake

In 1943, the destroyer USS Bradford (DD-545) was named in his honor.

References

Gamaliel Bradford (privateersman) Wikipedia