| Theodosius Fowler (1753-1841) joined the American army as an Ensign in early 1776 and recruited for the Patriot cause on the Eastchester Village Green. This disturbed his father Jonathan, who was a judge, former militia leader and leading citizen of the town; Jonathan became a Loyalist, and fled to Nova Scotia. Theodosius Fowler, who was eventually promoted to captain, fought in several major engagements including the Battle of Long Island in 1776, the British raid and burning of Peekskill, and the critical Battle of Saratoga* in 1777. In 1778, he was posted to the Light Infantry, the elite of the Continental army, and was engaged at the Battle of Monmouth (NJ), where Washington's army tried to halt the British as they moved from Philadelphia to New York City. In September 1781, Fowler, in command of the Light Infantry company of the 2nd New York Regiment, was ordered down to the Yorktown, Virginia peninsula, where he participated in the final siege that forced the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's British army, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. Fowler married Maria (Steele) in 1784 at New York City's Trinity Church, although they lived in Eastchester and raised two children. |
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