Peter Gansevoort Peter Gansevoort ( July 17 , 1749 – July 2 , 1812 ) was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . He is best known for leading the resistance to Barry St . Leger ' s Siege of Fort Stanwix in 1777 . Gansevoort was also the maternal grandfather of " Moby - Dick " author Herman Melville . Early life . Peter Gansevoort was born into the Dutch aristocracy of Albany , New York . His father Harman ( 1712 – 1801 ) represented the third generation in America , while his mother , Magdalena Douw Gansevoort ( 1718 – 1796 ) was connected with the Van Rensselaer family { Her mother was a granddaughter of Jeremias Van Rensselaer } . His family had been in Albany since 1660 , when it was the Dutch colony of Fort Orange , and Harman owned a brewery and farms . His younger brother Leonard was more active politically , serving in the state assembly and senate , as well as the Continental Congress . His son Herman Gansevoort ( 1779 – 1862 ) built the Gansevoort Mansion in 1813 on his father ' s tract at Gansevoort in Saratoga County , New York . The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 . As the American Revolution grew closer , he joined the Albany militia . While he lacked the experience of many older officers , he was a tactful and persuasive leader . Even at his young age , he was over six feet tall , and had a commanding presence . This , along with his family connections , earned him a Lieutenant ' s rank . Invasion of Quebec . Gansevoort joined the Continental Army and was made a Major on June 30 , 1775 and served as a field commander in the 2nd New York Regiment . Goose Van Schaick was nominally Colonel , he had raised the regiment and served as its commander from Albany . Lt . Colonel Peter W . Yates was the primary field commander , but remained as post commander of Fort George when Major Gansevoort led much of the regiment north with Montgomery ' s forces for the invasion of Quebec . He led his men during the siege of Fort St . Johns , today known by its French name of Fort Saint - Jean . In late October , to improve the effect of the siege , Montgomery sent him down the river to seize Fort Chambly . At Chambly , they captured over 120 barrels of needed gunpowder and a huge mortar which they nicknamed " the Old Sow " . They also took about 100 prisoners of the Welch Fusilier garrison and their young Captain , John André . Montgomery used Old Sow to open fire on St . Johns , which was compelled to surrender on November 2 , 1775 . Gansevoort took part in the capture of Montreal , although he became ill during that attack . He started on the advance to Quebec , but by the time the force reached Three Rivers , he was being carried on a stretcher . He returned to Montreal and spent the winter as one of the sick with the occupation force . By the spring of 1776 , the invasion fell apart at Quebec ; Montgomery had been killed , and Benedict Arnold was wounded . He had recovered to the point where he led the remaining New York forces south in a fighting withdrawal that stopped the British advance at Lake Champlain . As recognition , in June 1776 , he was put in command at Fort George . Siege of Fort Stanwix . In November Gansevoort was made a full Colonel and given command of the 3rd New York Regiment . which he recruited and trained in early 1777 . Lt . Colonel Marinus Willett became his second in command . His area of responsibility was extended from the Hudson River valley and Fort Edward and Fort George , along the Mohawk River Valley to Fort Oswego in the northwest . This was to be the axis of Colonel Barry St . Leger ' s attack during the Saratoga Campaign . The 3rd New York did not have the men and equipment to extend that far , even with the support of local militia units . He conceded Fort Oswego to the British , and elected to defend Fort Stanwix ( near modern Rome , New York ) . The fort had been abandoned after the French and Indian War and was in ruins . He and Willett restored the fort and strengthened its defenses . They hurriedly set up a garrison , getting the last boatload of supplies into the fort under fire from St . Leger ' s advance force on August 2 . He and his more than 700 - strong garrison withstood the three - week - long siege , making a sortie on August 6 , while much of St . Leger ' s force was occupied in the Battle of Oriskany . The siege was lifted on August 22 , after word arrived that Benedict Arnold was leading a large relief force up the Mohawk valley . He received the grateful thanks of the Congress , as John Adams noted that " Gansevoort has proven that it is possible to hold a fort . " 1778 – 1781 . Gansevoort eventually turned Fort Stanwix over to a garrison of the 1st New York Regiment . He moved his headquarters to his new command at Fort Saratoga ( near modern Schuylerville , New York ) . He led his regiment in the Sullivan Expedition of 1779 . He had another bout of illness that winter ( 1779 – 1780 ) and returned home for a while , but , by July 1780 , he was back with the 3rd at West Point . He was assigned to command the New York Brigade , and reestablished his headquarters at Fort Saratoga . In the reorganization and downsizing of the New York Line in 1781 , Gansevoort was left with no assignment in the Continental Army . He returned home and became Brigadier General of the Albany County Militia . After the revolution . Gansevoort continued to make his home in Albany where he operated the family brewery . He expanded his farms , adding grist mills and a lumber mill , in the area that eventually became Gansevoort , New York . He served for a while as sheriff of Albany County , as a commissioner of Indian affairs , and continued his support of the military in the militia and as a quartermaster . In 1800 , he ran for U . S . Senator from New York but was defeated by Federalist Gouverneur Morris . He had married Catherine " Katy " Van Schaik on January 12 , 1778 in her family ' s home on Van Schaick Island , Cohoes , NY . She was the daughter of Wessel and Maria Van Schaik , and her cousin Goose Van Schaick had been Peter ' s commander and Colonel in 1775 . Over the years , they had at least three children : Peter Gansevoort Jr . ( 1788 – 1876 ) , Leonard and Maria . Leonard ' s son Guert Gansevoort had a distinguished naval career that spanned 45 years . Maria married Alan Melvill in 1814 , and their son was the author Herman Melville . In 1809 , he was made a Brigadier General in the United States Army and commanded the Northern Department . In 1811 , he was called on to preside over the court - martial of General James Wilkinson who was charged as an accomplice in Aaron Burr ' s western conspiracy . Wilkinson was found not guilty , and the court adjourned on Christmas Day . Hurrying back to his family , his old illness returned , and he never recovered . He died at home in Albany on July 2 , 1812 .