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PAST AND PRESENT OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD AND SANGAMON COUNTY ILLINOIS
By Joseph Wallace, M. A.
of the Springfield Bar
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, IL
1904



Page 994

ROGER ENOS - For thirty-two years Roger Enos was connected with the military service of America, joining the army when this country still formed a part of the colonial possessions of Great Britain and later aiding in the struggle for independence which resulted in the establishment of the republic. He was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, in 1729, and was a great-grandson of James Eno, the founder of the family in America, and a resident of Windsor, Connecticut, as early as 1646. The orthography of the name has since undergone a change by the adding of "s." The parents of Roger Enos were David and Mary (Gillet) Enos.

At an early age the subject of this review entered the military service of the English crown, participating in the French and Indian war. His name heads the list of volunteers from his native town for the Canada campaign of 1759-60 and the assembly of Connecticut successively promoted him for his service in the field as follows: Ensign of the first company, 1760; adjutant and captain lieutenant, 1761; first lieutenant, 1762; and captain in Israel Putnam's regiment in 1764. He was in the expedition against the Indians, served in the Havana campaign in 1762, and with Israel and Rufus Putnam and Phineas Lyman was a member of the commission sent by the colony of Connecticut to survey the lands of the Mississippi valley that had been given by the crown to those who served in the French war and the Havana campaign. He was lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-second Regiment in Arnold's expedition to Canada in 1775 and with his command he returned, October 25th of that year, in order to avoid starvation. On the 1st of December following he was tried by court martial on the charge of "quitting without leave," but was honorably acquitted in the following: "The court, after mature consideration, are unanimously of the opinion that Colonel Enos was under necessity of returning with the division under his command, and therefore acquit him with honor. John Sullivan, President."

Mr. Sullivan also wrote a public document setting forth the course taken by Colonel Enos, showing that he was wise in the step he took, and his fellow officers united in bearing tribute to his fidelity, his loyalty and his worth as a man and soldier.

Colonel Enos resigned his commission in the army on the 18th of January, 1776. In May of the following year he served on a committee of Windsor citizens to secure a bounty of thirty pounds to each man who would enlist in the continental service. He was colonel of one of the regiments thus raised, which command he resigned in 1779 and removed to Vermont, where he became one of the founders of the town of Enosbury. In 1781 he was commissioned brigadier-general and was placed in command of all the Vermont troops then in service. In 1787 he was elected major-general of the first division of the state of Vermont and resigned his commission in 1791, after thirty-two years of military service. From 1781 to 1792 he was member of the Vermont board of war; was a member of the general assembly; and was on the committee to settle the Vermont and New Hampshire controversy. He was a trustee of the University of Vermont and was one of the committee to consider the Vermont resolutions, passed by the continental congress. From 1779 to 1792 he was one of the most honored citizens of the Green Mountain state. He then returned to his native state, spending his remaining days with his daughter, Mrs. Ira Allen.

General Enos was married March 10, 1763, to Jerusha Hayden, daughter of Daniel and Esther Hayden, of Windsor, Connecticut, and they became the parents of five children. The General died in Colchester, Connecticut, October 6, 1808, and thus passed away one who for many years was an honored actor on the stage of American military history.



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