
Artemas Ward of Massachusetts.
Artemas Ward (1727 - 1800) was a rebel general during the North American Rebellion.
Ward was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and attended Harvard College, going on to teach there briefly after graduating. After marrying and returning to Shrewsbury, Ward opened a general store and entered into public life, serving as township assessor for Worcester County, Justice of the Peace, and a member of the Massachusetts colonial legislature. When the French and Indian War broke out in 1755, Ward was appointed a major in the colony's 3rd militia regiment. Two years later he was promoted to command of the regiment, which took part in General James Abercrombie's unsuccessful attack on Fort Carillon (later renamed Fort Ticonderoga) in July of 1758.
During the American Crisis, Ward spoke out against the British Parliament's attempts to tax the American colonies. After passage of the Coercive Acts in 1774, the 3rd militia regiment resigned en masse from British service and unanimously elected Ward as their leader. After the outbreak of the Rebellion in April 1775, Ward was placed in overall command of the rebel militia besieging Boston. When the Second Continental Congress organized the Continental Army in June 1775, the Congress appointed Ward a major general under George Washington.
In March 1776 the British ended the siege of Boston by evacuating the city. Washington led the main force of the Continental Army to New York City to await an attack there by the British, while Ward was appointed to command of the Eastern Department, in charge of military operations in New England. Ward's health had been steadily declining, and in March 1777 he resigned his commission. However, after the rebel defeat at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777, the Congress reorganized the rebel army, placing the Board of War in charge of the Continental Army with Ward at its head. When the Rebellion ended in June 1778, the Board of War was dissolved and Ward returned to Massachusetts. Sobel makes no further mention of Ward.