Jacob Bayley

Jacob Bayley (July 19, 1726 – March 1, 1815 ) was an officer, first serving with the British in the French and Indian War, then later as a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

After the French and Indian War, Bayley was one of the founders of Newbury, Vermont, and Haverhill, New Hampshire, He became wealthy from the proprietorship thereof, but during the Revolutionary War he paid for military expenses and soldiers' pay out of his own pocket, for which he was never compensated, and he died an impoverished man.

Early life and family He was born in Newbury, Massachusetts. On July 19, 1726, he married Prudence Noyes (1729–1809). The following year, they and their first child, Ephraim, moved to Hampstead, New Hampshire. At the first town meeting on February 5, 1749, he was elected one of the town's five selectmen.

French and Indian War He was initially a lieutenant in the New Hampshire Provisional Regiment and spent the fall of 1755 scouting the area around Lake Champlain. When the British surrendered on the promise by the French victors that they would be protected from the latter's Native American allies. However, the terms of capitulation were violated; the Native Americans attacked the British soldiers and their dependents as they withdrew, killing many soldiers and capturing women, children, servants and slaves. Captain Bayley was among those who managed to escape. The promotion was approved. first regarding constructing the Bayley Hazen Military Road, then about the situation in Canada and a possible second invasion attempt. (The United States had unsuccessfully invaded Quebec in 1775.) He and Moses Hazen built the Bayley Hazen Military Road, starting in 1776, to support a second invasion of Canada that never materialized. In 1777, he was appointed Commissary General of the Northern Department of the Continental Army.

Bayley only saw action once in the war, leading a division in the October 7, 1777, portion of the Battles of Saratoga He was stationed with 2000 New Hampshire militiamen north of Fort Edward.

In the early 1780s, the British were conducting the secret Haldimand Negotiations with the Vermont Republic. Because of Bayley's implacable opposition to negotiations with the British, an attempt was made to take him prisoner and take him to Canada, but it narrowly failed. (Ethan Allen was one of the Haldimand negotiators, further exacerbating his relationship with Bayley. )

Legacy There is a monument to General Bayley in the Newbury town common.