John Parker Boyd

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John Parker Boyd

John Parker Boyd (born December 21, 1764 in Newburyport , Massachusetts , USA , † October 4, 1830 in Boston , USA) was an American mercenary in India and general of the War of 1812 .

biography

John Parker Boyd, from a merchant family of Scottish descent, was born on December 21, 1764 in Newburyport, Massachusetts . Although he completed a commercial apprenticeship in Boston , he joined the US Navy as an ensign in 1786 . In 1789 he quit the service and went to India , where he supported the British colonial power as mercenaries u. a. of the Prince of Hyderabad and commanded up to 10,000 men. After his return to the USA in 1808, he joined the US Army as a colonel in the same year and was promoted to brigadier general in 1812 .

In the War of 1812 with Britain, he took with his brigade in the conquest of 1813 Fort George in part and, in the autumn of this year to 7,000 man embracing army of Major General James Wilkinson , of Sackets Harbor from a foray along the St. Lawrence River on Montreal undertook. After Major General Hampton's army , which was also to invade Canada from Lake Champlain , suffered a humiliating defeat in the Battle of the Chateauguay River on October 26, 1813 , Boyd was among the officers who urged Wilkinson to continue the invasion. On November 11, Wilkinson handed command of the army to Boyd and ordered him to attack about 800 British soldiers under Colonel Joseph Wanton Morrison who had obstructed the American advance and were stationed on the Canadian side of the river. Boyd relied too much on the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Americans in the battle of Chrysler's Farm and had his troops attacked individually in three separate attacks. The excellently managed, disciplined British professional soldiers were able to repel all three attacks and, after less than an hour of fighting, inflicted a serious defeat on the Americans, which forced them to retreat hastily across the river and abandon the plan of the invasion. In the further course of the war he was no longer particularly prominent.

After the end of the war, Boyd was honorably discharged from the military in 1815 in connection with a reduction in the US Army. After that he tried u. a. for compensation for a valuable shipload belonging to him that had fallen into the hands of a British privateer during the war , which had severely reduced his private fortune. Shortly before his death, President Andrew Jackson appointed him port commander of Boston, where he died on October 4, 1830.

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personal data
SURNAME Boyd, John Parker
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mercenary and general
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1764
PLACE OF BIRTH Newburyport , Massachusetts , USA
DATE OF DEATH October 4, 1830
Place of death Boston , USA