Tallmadge, Benjamin

Tallmadge, Benjamin (tăl`mĭj), 1754–1835, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Brookhaven, N.Y. Joining a Connecticut regiment, he served throughout the Revolution, fighting at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. In 1780 he commanded in the successful attack against Fort St. George and in the destruction of British supplies on Long Island. A confidential agent (1778–83), he corresponded with George Washington and had custody of Major John André until André's execution. After the war Tallmadge retired to Litchfield, Conn., became a merchant, and sat (1801–17) in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Federalist.

Bibliography

See Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, Prepared by Himself (1858; repr. and ed. by H. P. Johnston, 1904); biography by C. S. Hall (1943).