Lt. Charles Hill, Bedel’s New Hampshire Rangers
Charles Hill, Jr. was born June 19, 1741 of Norwich, Connecticut. He was the son of Charles, Sr. and Jane (Chapman) Hill. He married Amy Hyde, born July 17, 1749, the daughter of Elisha and Lydia (Tracy) Hyde also of Norwich, Connecticut. They subsequently removed to Lebanon, New Hampshire. They had at least two children: Charles, III and Elijah.
Charles Hill, Jr. was commissioned as an Ensign in Captain James Osgood’s Company of Colonel Bedel’s Regiment on January 22, 1776. His residence is given as Lebanon, New Hampshire.
At the Battle of the Cedars on May 19, 1776, most of the regiment was captured, including Ensign Hill. He was held as a Prisoner of War until exchanged in December 1776. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in Colonel Bedel’s Regiment during its third period of existence from December 15, 1777 to April 1, 1779.
Amy Hill died and Lieutenant Charles Hill, Jr. married secondly, Lydia Metcalf, the daughter of Samuel and Mehitable (Hammond) Metcalf. Lieutenant Charles Hill, Jr. died around 1805.
Sources: Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, (Baltimore, 1914), 242; Charles A. Downs, History of Lebanon, N.H., 1761-1887, (Concord, 1908), 92; Reuben H. Walworth, Hyde Genealogy: Or, The Descendants, in the Female as Well as in the Male Lines, from William Hyde of Norwich, Volume I, (Albany, 1864), 122; Selected Wartime Service Records for Lieutenant Charles Hill.
