2nd Lt. James Blanchard, 3rd Regiment, New Hampshire Continental Line
James Blanchard was born September 20, 1742 in Dunstable, Massachusetts. He was the son Joseph and Rebecca (Hubbard) Blanchard.
On November 8, 1776, James Blanchard was commissioned as an Ensign with duties as Quartermaster in the Third Regiment, New Hampshire Continental Line.
During the Continental Army’s encampment at Valley Forge, Quartermaster Blanchard is listed with the Regimental Staff of the 3rd NH. He is further marked as ‘Present” from December 1777-June 1778. While encamped at Valley Forge, Quartermaster Blanchard was promoted to Second Lieutenant with duties as Paymaster for the Regiment in June of 1778.
In 1780, Continental Congress reorganized the Army. According to this reorganization, the Third Regiment of the New Hampshire Line was to be disbanded effective January 1, 1781. As such, Second Lieutenant James Blanchard was separated from service on that date.
In 1783, James Blanchard married Margaret de Peyster. James later voiced opposition to the funding system in 1791 and 1792, advocating in favor of the officers who had sold or “alienated” their certificates. It caused a minor scandal when it was seen that a number of Congressmen had engaged in speculation of Officers’ certificates. James Blanchard also served as agent for several veterans pursuing claims in Congress.
Second Lieutenant James Blanchard died March 18, 1807.
Sources: Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, (Baltimore, 1914), 107; Colin Wells, Poetry Wars: Verse and Politics in the American Revolution and Early Republic, (Philadelphia, 2018), 175; “To George Washington from James Blanchard, 23 July 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 16, 1 May–30 September 1794, ed. David R. Hoth and Carol S. Ebel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011, 414–417.]; Pension of Second Lieutenant James Blanchard, B.L.Wt. 78-200; Selected Wartime Service Records of Second Lieutenant James Blanchard.
