Francis Barber (colonel)

Francis Barber (1750–1783) was a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was in the Sullivan Expedition and at the Siege of Yorktown with the 3rd New Jersey Regiment. He was wounded at the Battle of Monmouth and again at the Battle of Newton. He was killed in New Windsor, New York, where the army was camped in 1783, when a tree that was being cut fell on him as he was riding his horse to dine with George Washington in Newburgh, New York.Who Was Who in American History, the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975.  

He was Born in Princeton, New Jersey though some records suggest Ireland he graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1767, earned a master's degree in 1770, and briefly taught as principal of the Elizabethtown Academy before enlisting as a major in the 3rd New Jersey Artillery Regiment on January 18, 1776.https://njcincinnati.org/francis-barber

He earned a master's degree in 1770, and briefly taught as principal of the Elizabethtown Academy before enlisting as a major in the 3rd New Jersey Artillery Regiment on January 18, 1776.

Barber was appointed headmaster of the classical prep school Elizabethtown Academy in 1771. His students included Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

He married Mary Ogden and, after her death, her cousin Anne Ogden on March 24, 1778; they had a son, George Clinton Barber. Barber died accidentally on February 11, 1783, in New Windsor, New York, when a tree fell on him during his regiment's winter encampment, shortly after his final promotion. His service exemplified the hazards and demands faced by Continental officers, marked by repeated wounding, administrative roles in punitive expeditions against Native American allies of the British, and efforts to maintain discipline amid supply shortages.

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 Further readings 


 Other websites 
Guide to the Francis Barber (1750-1783), Revolutionary War Officer Orderly Book 1779 , New Jersey Historical Society. Retrieved June 16, 2009

Category:People of New Jersey in the American Revolution
Category:1750 births
Category:1783 deaths
Category:Educators from colonial New Jersey
Category:18th-century American educators