[195] Colonel Francis had three brothers, who became officers in the Revolutionary army, and did their native Medford credit. Ebenezer was commissioned as Captain by the Continental Congress, July 1, 1775 ; next year rose to the rank of Colonel, and commanded a regiment on Dorchester Heights from August to December, 1776. Authorized by Congress, he raised the eleventh Massachusetts regiment, and, in January, 1777, marched at the head of it to Ticonderoga. Monday, July 7, 1777, a skirmish took place between the eleventh Massachusetts regiment and the British, at Hubbardton, near Whitehall, N. Y., in which Colonel Francis fell. A private journal of Captain Greenleaf, now in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, says:--
Colonel Francis first received a ball through his right arm; but still continued at the head of his troops till he received the fatal wound through his body, entering his right breast. He dropped on his face.His chaplain says:--
No officer so noticed for his military accomplishments and regular life as he. His conduct in the field is spoken of in the highest terms of applause.A British officer, who was in the battle of Hubbardton, happened to be quartered as a prisoner in Medford. He wrote a history of that battle; and we make the following extracts, which relate to a Medford mother then living in her house at the West End. The officer says:--
A few days since, walking out with some officers, we stopped at a house to purchase vegetables. While the other officers were bargaining with the woman of the house, I observed an elderly woman sitting by the fire, who was continually eying us, and every now and then shedding a tear. Just as we were quitting the house, she got up, and, bursting into tears, said, “ Gentlemen, will you let a poor distracted woman speak a word to you before you go?” We, as you must naturally imagine, were all astonished; and, upon inquiring what she wanted, with the most poignant grief; and sobbing as if her heart was on the point of breaking, asked if any of us knew her son, who was killed at the battle of Hubbardton, a Colonel Francis. Several of us informed her that we had seen him after he was dead. She then inquired about his pocket-book, and if any of his papers were safe, as some related to his estates, and if any of the soldiers had got his watch; if she could but obtain that, in remembrance of her dear, dear son, she should be happy. Captain Fergurson, of our regiment, who was of the party, told her, as to the
