Curtis Cady

Quick Facts

Date of Birth:

1755

Date of Death:

April 11, 1778

Curtis Cady (born 1755) of Cornish, New Hampshire, was happy to join the Continental Army in the fight against British tyranny. While his siblings served in the militia, Curtis was the only one in the family to enlist in the Continental Army, which he did in February 1777.

Curtis joined Captain House’s company in Colonel Joseph Cilley’s 1^st New Hampshire Regiment as a private soldier for a three-year term of service. Curtis repaired to Ticonderoga that spring, where the new regiment was then assembling as part of the Northern Army. By July, the entire army was in full retreat mode in the face of an onslaught of the British Army from Canada.

Finally, by mid-September, the Northern Army was ready to face off against the British at Bemus Heights, New York. Curtis fought in both Battles of Saratoga (the September 19 Battle of Freeman’s Farm and the October 7 Battle of Bemus Heights). The 22-year-old was wounded in the second battle and sent to the General Hospital at Albany. Curtis’s wounds were so grievous that he was furloughed home for the winter. In case he failed to return and had to be advertised as a deserter, Curtis was identified as being 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a swarthy complexion, black hair, and grey eyes.

But Curtis never rejoined his regiment; he died near his home on April 11, 1778. What’s unusual is that he didn’t die as a result of the wounds received at Saratoga – he died from falling off a horse. A horse that he wouldn’t have been on had he not been wounded at Saratoga.

Curtis was buried in a cemetery where his headstone remains to this day. Two of his older brothers, Elias and Elijah, named their sons (born 1778 and 1781) Curtis in honor of their deceased brother.