PATRIOT John Boisseau^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

1764 - 1848  (83 years)

• Name	John Boisseau
  Title	PATRIOT
  Born	14 Mar 1764	Dinwiddie County, Virginia
  Gender	Male
  Died	1848	Simpson Co., Kentucky
  Buried	Boisseau Cemetery, Simpson County, Kentucky
  Person ID	I68047	My Reynolds Line | Descendants of Giles Carter of Henrico
  Last Modified	19 Jan 2017

  
  

  Father	James Boisseau,   b. 1736, Petersburg, Dinwiddie Co., Virginia ,   d. 1785, Dinwiddie Co., Virginia  (Age 49 years)
  Mother	Anna Fitzpatrick,   b. 1740, Bucks Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 1797, Chesterfield Co., Virginia  (Age 57 years)
  Married	Abt 1758	Colonial Virginia
  	Children Daniel Fitzpatrick BOISSEAU b: 4 MAR 1760 in Virginia James BOISSEAU b: 13 NOV 1761 in Virginia John BOISSEAU b: 14 NOV 1764 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia Mary Holt BOISSEAU b: 1765 in Virginia Lucy BOISSEAU b: 1767 in Virginia Benjamin BOISSEAU b: 1769 in Virginia Anner BOISSEAU b: 1771 in Virginia Peter BOISSEAU b: 1773 in Virginia Susanna "Susan" BOISSEAU b: 1777 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia Patrick BOISSEAU b: 1778 in Virginia David BOISSEAU b: 1780 in Virginia
  Family ID	F1910	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Nancy Elizabeth Carter,   b. 1765, Prince Edward County, Virginia ,   d. 11 May 1849, Simpson County, Kentucky  (Age 84 years)
  Married	11 Jul 1786	Prince Edward Co., Virginia
  	Children Susan BOISSEAU Mildred BOISSEAU b: 1787 in Virginia Nancy BOISSEAU b: ABT. 1790 Lucy C. BOISSEAU b: 1790 in Virginia Daniel Thompson BOISSEAU b: 13 FEB 1793 in Virginia Benjamin Waddell BOISSEAU b: 1795 in Virginia Robert BOISSEAU b: 1799 in Virginia Eliza BOISSEAU b: 1810 in Kentucky
  Children	+ 1. Benjamin Waddle Boisseau,   b. 1802, Bowling Green, Simpson Co., Kentucky ,   d. 1863, Jackson County, Missouri  (Age 61 years) + 2. Elizabeth 'Eliza' Boisseau,   b. Abt 1808, Logan County, Kentucky ,   d. 1865, Christian Co., Kentucky  (Age ~ 57 years) + 3. Daniel Thompson Boisseau,   b. 13 Feb 1793, Prince Edward County, Virginia ,   d. 26 May 1873, Simpson Co., Kentucky  (Age 80 years) + 4. Private
  Last Modified	26 Aug 2016
  Family ID	F22749	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Documents » Slide Show		Lineage Nancy Carter, d/o Waddill & Mildred Wade RCMosby.pdf
  		Marriages Prince Edward Co., Virginia 1754-1810 Cover
  		THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST Volume 8, No. 3 1964 VA-Genealogist-V08-N03.pdf
  		Marriage for John Boisseau and Nancy Carter, Spinster, d/o Waddil Carter Signature of Samuel Carter [brother of Waddill] and John Boisseau 5205Boisseau-Carter.jpg
  		Marriage Bond Nancy Carter, d/o Waddill Carter, dec'd. and John Boisseau; Samuel Carter, the Captain, brother of Waddill, is Bondsman with John Boisseau; Additionally Nancy is described as a Spinster. [over 21?] 5205Boisseau-Carter13911.jpg

  
  

• Notes

  When Eliza BOISSEAU was born in 1808 in Logan, Kentucky, her father, Sergeant, was 44, and her mother, Nancy, was 43. She married James Theodorick "Thee" CARTER and they had two children together. She then married Cary Ashley P. Foster and they had eight children together. She died in 1862 in Christian, Kentucky, at the age of 54. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jul/21/20060721-090027-7182r/?page=all A list of famous Civil War battles often includes Gettysburg, Shiloh, Antietam and Manassas; it never includes the battle at the Boisseau farm. In terms of significance, however, few individual battles in the war had more immediate and sweeping consequences than the April 2, 1865, fight southwest of Petersburg, Va. In fact, following on the heels of a Confederate disaster at Five Forks, the dramatic Union charge at Boisseau farm led directly to the fall of Richmond and Gen. Robert E. Lee?s surrender at Appomattox. The ?battle? of Petersburg was actually a 10-month siege between June 1864 and April 1865 that consisted of hundreds of smaller and larger clashes between Federal and Confederate soldiers. Some historians have calculated that as many as 80,000 casualties occurred during the siege operations. Some individual battles during the siege made national headlines: the Crater, Fort Stedman and Chaffin?s Farm. The greater part of the common soldier?s time during the siege, however, was spent digging earthworks and keeping his head down to avoid sharpshooters. The landscape along the siege lines between Richmond and Petersburg was stripped of trees, the soil was dug up and piled into revetments and earthworks, and then the dirt was shoveled up again to repair damage done after almost daily artillery exchanges. An elaborate network of zigzagging trenches and dugout shelters evolved over time. Homes and farms along the siege line were incorporated into the network. One such farm was the Boisseau plantation, located in Dinwiddie County southwest of Petersburg. Its highlight was Tudor Hall, an elegant Georgian and Federal two-story house built in 1812. The Boisseau farm had prospered before the war. For many years, hogsheads of tobacco were rolled down the nearby Boydton Plank Road to the busy warehouses in Petersburg, where inspectors graded, bought and sold tobacco. The war, however, visited hard times on owner Joseph Boisseau?s family, and by mid-1864, the success of the prewar years was a fleeting memory. In August, when Ulysses S. Grant?s Union forces cut the Weldon Railroad south of Tudor Hall and Lee?s Confederates were forced to extend the Petersburg siege lines farther west to Hatcher?s Run to protect vulnerable wagon routes and the remaining rail lines, Confederate trenches were constructed directly through and around the Boisseau farm. The situation was not conducive to family life. In early October, the Boisseaus moved out and the Rebels moved in. In a county where the vote to secede had been 804-to-1 in favor and where Joseph Boisseau had served actively in the pro-Confederate civil defense force, he had little choice but to turn over everything he had that could aid the war effort. This included allowing Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan to set up his brigade headquarters in Tudor Hall. McGowan had steadily moved up in the ranks during the war and was noted for his bravery under fire. Born in South Carolina to Irish immigrants, he had been variously a successful lawyer, soldier and member of the South Carolina House of Representatives before the war. He kept the men of his brigade busy, assigning teams of 200 to 300 a day to work on the entrenchments and artillery revetments. According to one aide, these Confederate earthworks simply could not be taken. ?They could scarcely be stormed, on account of the ditch and the brush abatis in front.? In places, the combination of a ditch in front and the earthwork behind created a 15- to 20-foot differential in height, or practically a sheer wall. McGowan?s men worked constantly to add new obstructions and strengthen the works The weakness was not in the works; the problem was that there was as much as 20 feet between each soldier in Lee?s stretched and thinned ranks. When McGowan wasn?t busy with administrative duties, he played whist and recited Shakespeare. His men enjoyed a relatively quiet stretch of roughly five months while the drama of the siege was played out on other parts of the 40-mile line, such as the Crater, Fort Harrison and other areas that were often out of earshot and sometimes out of mind. In February 1865, the men passed a resolution vowing to continue the war no matter what happened, and McGowan followed with a stirring speech. Little did they know that their impregnable works soon would be the stage for a dramatic, siege-lifting, war-ending assault. Across from McGowan, Union Gens. Horatio G. Wright (VI Corps) and John G. Parke (IX Corps) were busy in late March. In conjunction with Grant?s spring offensive, they massed troops, supplies and ammunition in preparation for an all-out assault on the section of the Confederate line in front of them. On March 25, many of the advanced Rebel rifle pits were captured and held ? an ominous sign had the Confederates paid more attention. Near the end of March, McGowan?s brigade was shifted west and participated in Gen. George Pickett?s ill-starred Five Forks? movements. A few of Brig. Gen. James H. Lane?s depleted regiments filled the earthworks at Boisseau farm, but the line was substantially thinned by the shift. The 37th North Carolina covered the section closest to Tudor Hall with just two cannon, and the men spaced up to 10 paces apart. Sometimes, the next man in line was out of immediate eyesight. Following the Rebel disaster at Five Forks on April 1, Grant ordered an immediate attack on the siege lines in the Boisseau farm sector. Gen. George Meade directed Wright and Parke to assault the enemy at 4 the next morning following a massive artillery barrage. Thousands of men who normally were within easy line of sight of the Confederates hunkered down silently that dark night, threatened with gag and buck if they so much as sneezed. The Union soldiers could hear their Rebel counterparts several hundred yards away on sentinel duty, discussing news of the war and rumors of battles. Still, this sector of the front had been quiet for so long that they remained relatively unsuspecting. In the middle of the night, an artillery barrage of epic proportions erupted and left no doubt about what was coming. What little Confederate artillery responded was quickly overwhelmed. After more than three hours of ?softening up,? the cannon went silent, and the Union soldiers rose silently, bayonets attached, but without percussion caps on their rifles, which meant that they could not fire and would be forced to climb over the earthworks before loading. The thin and demoralized Rebels still remaining ? probably many fewer than 3,000 along this stretch of line ? shot sporadically, fighting tenaciously in small pockets (including around Tudor Hall itself) but gradually were forced to fall back toward Petersburg when the deluge of Union soldiers inevitably crawled over and through their works. The significance of this successful attack, inevitable or not, was that it represented the first real piercing of Lee?s Petersburg line. Grant had been attempting unsuccessfully for almost a year to penetrate Lee?s defenses. He had resorted to repeated attempts to outflank Lee, which, though stretching Rebel resources, hadn?t broken the opposing army. Even the men who breached the wall in the early morning twilight little suspected the tremendous impact of their actions. The consequences, however, were rapid and profound. The entire 40-mile Confederate siege line began to unravel from Boisseau farm northward. Lee could not bring any reserves to fill the gap. Within hours, the Union flag would be flying over the Capitol in Richmond, and within a few days, the war itself would all but end with Lee?s surrender. History, however, seems to have forgotten where the 10-month siege was broken and where Confederate hopes were dashed permanently. The surviving earthworks where the breakthrough occurred are protected and can be visited at Pamplin Park in Petersburg.

  
  

• Sources

  [S107] Family Histories, http://reynoldspatova.com/documents/RCMosby.pdf. Lineage of John Boisseau, s-o James b 22 Aug 1736 d. 3 Nov 1784 Dinwittie Co., VA, and his wife, Anna Fitzpatrick b. Buck's Co., PA d. Chesterfield Co., Virginia [S100] Internet Source, http://www.amazon.com/Tudor-Hall-Boisseau-family-farm/dp/0875170994. [S48] Ancestry Link, http://interactive.ancestry.com/48444/VAWillRecords-001983-92/350001?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults&rc=655,255,820,286;1091,255,1257,285;261,303,417,333;437,303,538,342;548,303,712,333;926,303,1093,333;481,352,644,382;777,352,941,382;1195,352,1361,382;609,399,779,431;844,450,1010,482#?imageId=VAWillRecords-001983-92. Chancery Records names Children and Wife; Mary Watkins: Chancery Records names Children and Wife; Mary Watkins: Joseph Watkins and Mary, his wife, the said Mary being the devisee of James Boisseau, dec'd, Daniel Boisseau, John Boisseau, Lucy Boisseau, Benjamin Boisseau, Patrick Boisseau, David Boisseau, Ann Boisseau, Susannah Boisseau, children of James Boisseau, against William Watkins and Grey Briggs, executors of the estate of James Boisseau. 1789 [S100] Internet Source, http://www.siedelmann.org/Ancestry/Boisseau/Entries/1834/1/1_John_Boisseau_%28RS%29_3.html. John Boisseau Patriot 1 Jan 1849 James' Son, John, was a private for Virginia in the Revolution so he must have been quite young when he enlisted. The war did not officially end until 1783, He served 3 terms in the Army; one for himself, one for his Uncle Benjamin and one for his Brother, Daniel. John Boisseau, Patriot b. 14 Mar 1764 Dinwiddie Co., VA d. Abt 1849 Simpson Co. KY Father: James Boisseau (1736-1784) Mother Anne Fitzpatrick (-1797) Marriage: 11 Jul 1786 Spouse: Nancy Carter Born Dinwiddie Co., VA d/o Waddill Carter Patriot (-1782) and Mildred Wade Carter (later Lewis) ????????????????????????????????????? Children 1 M: Benjamin Waddle Boisseau Birth: 1802 Bowling Green, Simpson CO KY Death: 1863 Jonhson Co, MO Spouse: Sibyl Ann Duncan Marriage: 6 Jan 1842, Johnson Co MO near Columbus Spouse: Sarah Fuqua Marriage: 7 Mar 1831 Logan CO, KY 2 F: Elizabeth Boisseau Spouse: Theodrick Carter 3 F: Susan Boisseau Birth: 1810 Never married: 4 F: Lucy Boisseau Birth: 1790 Death: 1851 Spouse: Peter Dance Marriage: 1818 5 F: Mildred Boisseau Birth: abt 1786 Spouse: James Williams 6 M: Daniel Thomas Boisseau Birth: 1793 Simpson, KY Death: 1873 Simpson, KY Spouse: Mildred Wade Hoskins 7 F: Sallie Boisseau Spouse: Forster 8 M: Robert Boisseau Never married: #3. John Boisseau (RS) Born 14 Mar, 1764. James' son, John, was a private for Virginia in the Revolution so he must have been quite young when he enlisted. The war did not officially end until 1783. He served 3 terms in the army - one for himself, one for his uncle Benjamin and one for his brother Daniel. On July 11, 1786, John married Nancy Carter. She was born in Prince Edward County, Va., but lived with him for a time in Dinwiddie County, where the Boisseaus had lived since their arrival in the country. Nancy was the descendant of several people who were Virginia Cavaliers, Wealthy British gentlemen who settled in Virginia and built large estates with many slaves. After the revolution, the government didn't have much money to pay the soldiers, and so they were granted land in the West. This land was unsettled by English because of the barrier of the Appalachian mountains. Up until that time settlement had been from the coast to the 'Piedmont', which was where rivers no longer became navigable because of falls and rapids. There was abundant water power for mills. The British won the lands beyond the mountains from the French in the French and Indian War, and the United States, in turn won them from the British in the Revolution. After that war, Daniel Boone blazed the Wilderness trail through the Cumberland Gap, and people began to move West, drawn by the land they had earned as soldiers in the Revolution. Before 1792, John Boisseau, his wife Nancy, their family and probably others from Dinwiddie county pioneered Franklin, Simpson County, KY in 1806. Simpson was formerly part of Logan County, KY. They had six children: a. Mildred (1787 - ??) married James Williams b. Lucy (1790 - 1851) married Peter Dance in May 1818 and had eight children: James Edward, Robert C., Thomas Peter, James Waddel, Daniel B., Benjamin P, and William Oscar. c. Daniel Thomas (1793 - 1873) married his first cousin Mildred Wade Hoskins, the daughter of Lucy Carter Hoskins. Lucy was the sister Nancy Carter. - See below for his descendants. d. Elizabeth A. married twice, first to Theodrick Carter 2) Cary A. P. Foster e. Benjamin Waddle (1802 to 1863) (#4) married first to Sarah Fuqua and second to Sybil Ann Duncan f. Robert (1804 - 1810), died young. g. Susan (1810 - ??) never married. John Boisseau was proud of his revolutionary service. His granddaughter Susan remembered that he always dressed differently from other people. He wore knee pants with large buckles. He also served in the war of 1812. He died about 1834. ***Daniel Thomas Boisseau, son of John. Warning: He should not be confused with Daniel T. Boisseau, the son of Benjamin W, and father of Oscar G. Boisseau. *** c. Daniel Thomas, born in 1793, died in 1873. On 3 Feb 1820 he married Mildred Wade Hoskins. She was the daughter of Lucy Carter Hosklns, who was the sister of Nancy Carter, Daniel's mother. They also had 11 children: 1) Louisa, b.1820, married Jno. M. Drane 2) Elizabeth b.1822, m. William Williamson Price 3) Harriet born in 1823, died at age four. 4) Lucy Mildred, 1825-1902, married Robert Ewing Johnston in 1844 5) Jane P, born 1847 6) Elizabeth A, born 1849, married ?? Jones 7) Sally born 1851 8) Daniel T. born 1854, married Ida ?? 9) Jno. Henry,(1856 - 1921), married Olivia Wishware in Kansas in 1883, Caroline, born in 1859, and probably died a few years later 10) Medora, born lB61, died 1937, married ?? Evans John Boisseau?s Revolutionary Pension application: Boisseau, John. S.3040. 20 Jan. 1834. Simpson Co., Ky. John Boisseau of said county, aged 69 on 14 March last, declares that in 1780 he was a resident of Dinwiddie Co., Va., where he was born. In June 1780 he enlisted as a substitute for Peter Epps under Capt. George Pigrum of a militia company of Dinwiddie County. Pigrum marched his troops from Dinwiddie Court House on 1 June 1780 to Hillsborough, N.C., and there joined the regiment of Col. Faulkner and brigade of Gen. Stevens. They marched to South Carolina where Gen. Stevens overtook Gen. Gates at Rudge1y's Mill in the fore part of the day, and in the evening he was detached to the infantry under Lt. Col. Porterfield. That night about ten o'clock they were ordered to march towards Camden where Lords Cornwallis and Rawdon were posted with their disciplined veteran troops. They met the British about five miles from Camden and about half way between Rudge1y's Mills and Camden, and a considerable contest ensued. Some of the American troops were thrown into complete confusion and consequently were driven back, which produced considerable disorder as it was dark and neither party could tell exactly where to take a stand. Porterfield's flanking corps and Armstrong, who commanded with him, Opposed the progress of the enemy's van and within a short time prisoners were taken by both sides and presently both armies came to a general halt. As soon as day dawned the battle commenced heavily on both sides and our cannon opened upon the British with a destructive fire from the center. Gen. Stevens' Virginia militia, as might have been expected from bad management and misguided judgment among the commanding officers, after one fire were greatly disordered and some of them, if not the greater part, laid down their arms and took to their heels through the dismal swamps in that country like wild fellows. The engagement between Gen. Gates and Lords Cornwallis and Rawdon lasted about one hour. Baron DeKalb at the head of the Marylanders fell with wounds. Lt. Col. Porterfield was also badly wounded in the leg during the brave stand he maintained during the battle. This battle was fought about the middle of August 1780 and finally terminated in an entire rout of the American General and his troops. They were pursued by the enemy fifteen or twenty miles. The Americans retreated until they had crossed the Adkin River, which is the main prong of the Pedee River in North Carolina. The militia marched to Hillsborough and then to New Gardens, a Quaker settlement in Guilford Co., N.C. There, on the last of Nov. 1780, he and the other militia were discharged by the captain. When Gen. Arnold with British troops invested Norfolk, Richmond and Williamsburg, he enlisted as a substitute in the place of his uncle Benjamin Boisseau under Capt. Baker Pigrum. Jack Willis commanded the regiment. The troops were kept between Norfolk and Petersburg. He served from 1 Jan. 1781 to 1 April 1781 and was discharged near Suffolk. On the last of April 1781 he served as a sergeant in the place of his brother Daniel Boisseau. He was in the battle fought at Petersburg and then marched by Chesterfield Court House, crossed James River at Manakin Town and marched on the north side to Richmond. The troops wore ordered to halt a day or so and then marched to Bottmn's Bridge and lay there some time. They returned to Richmond and crossed into Chesterfield County to Cary's Mills and he was there discharged on the last of July 1781. He was born 14 March 1764 in Dinwiddie Co., Va. He lived in Lunenburg County ten years and then went back to Dinwiddie. In 1806 he moved to Kentucky and since 1819 has lived in Simpson County. The book with his name and age recorded by his father James Boisseau was sold at his father's sale and was bought by James Sweet of Dinwiddie County. John Boisseau of Simpson Co., Ky., private in the company of Capt. Faulkner in the regiment of Col. Pegrum in the Virginia line one year, was placed on the West Tennessee pension roll at $40 per annum under the Act of 1832. Certificate 25575 was issued 4 Feb. 1834. January 1 1849 John