**Samuel Holden Parsons** ([May
14](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/May_14)
[1737](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/1737)--[November
17](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/November_17)
[1789](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/1789)) was an
[American](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/United_States) lawyer,
jurist, and military leader. He was born in [Lyme,
Connecticut](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Lyme%2C_Connecticut),
and was actively involved in the resistance against British forces on
the eve of the
[Revolution](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/American_Revolution).

He was appointed Major of the 14th Connecticut, Militia Regiment in
1770. In 1775, he was commissioned Colonel of the [6th Connecticut
Regiment](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/6th_Connecticut_Regiment),
a new regiment raised \"for the special defence and safety of the
Colony\". In June he was ordered to lead his regiment to
[Boston](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Boston), where he fought
in the [Battle of Bunker
Hill](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Battle_of_Bunker_Hill). He
remained in Boston until the British evacuated the city in March 1776.

After the retreat from New York, Parsons\' brigade was assigned to
General [Rufus
Putnam](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Rufus_Putnam)\'s division
north of the city. He fought in the [battle of White
Plains](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Battle_of_White_Plains). In
January 1777, he returned to Connecticut to help recruit the
[Connecticut
Line](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Connecticut_Line) to bolster
depleted Continental forces. He led raids on
[Tory](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Tory) enclaves on Long
Island, and took part in efforts to defend Connecticut towns against
raids by British forces under General [William
Tryon](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/William_Tryon).

In December 1779, Parsons took command of [Putnam\'s
Division](http://www.reference.com/go/http:/wikipedia.org/wiki/Putnam's_Division),
and spent the following months recruiting, training, and trying to
engage British General [George
Clinton](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/George_Clinton_(royal_governor))
in battle. The high point of this period was the discovery, in September
1780, of [Benedict
Arnold](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Benedict_Arnold)\'s
treacherous scheme to surrender West Point to the British. Parsons
served on the board of officers which tried Arnold\'s accomplice, Major
[John André](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/John_André), and
ultimately sentenced him to death. On October 23, 1780 Parsons was
promoted to Major General. During Shays's Rebellion, he commanded a
regiment under General William Shepard in the Massachusetts 4^th^
Division.

In March of 1787, Parsons became a director of the Ohio Land Company, a
scheme that enabled ex-Revolutionary officers to trade their pay
certificates for Ohio lands. Though aspiring to the governorship, which
was later awarded to General [Arthur St.
Clair](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Arthur_St._Clair), Parsons
was appointed Chief Justice. In the midst of this, Parsons was also an
active member of the Connecticut Convention for adopting the U.S.
Constitution.

Parsons lost his life in drowning accident and is buried in an unmarked
grave on the banks of the [Beaver
River](http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Beaver_River_(Pennsylvania))
in Pennsylvania.

Courtesy:
[Wikipedia](http://www.reference.com/go/http:/wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights)