John Sunsiman (Senshemon/Cinnamon)

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriots of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Woodstock, Connecticut(?)

Place of Death:

Woodstock, Connecticut

Date of Death:

August 1, 1786

The following is from the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color researched and prepared by George Quintal:

A local history describes John Sunsiman^I as an ‘Indian.’^II

He enlisted on 9 May 1775 into the eight months’ service, in the company of Capt. Ephraim Manning in Col. Israel Putnam’s regiment. He was discharged on 15 December 1775.^III

There is no record of 1776 service.

On 16 April 1777 he enlisted for eight months in Capt. Paul Brigham’s company in Col. John Chandler’s 8^th Connecticut regiment. This unit served at the Battle of Germantown (PA) on 4 October 1777. He was discharged on 1 January 1778.^IV

He reenlisted for another eight months on 5 June 1778 in Capt. Nathaniel Webb’s company in Col. John Durkee’s 4^th Connecticut regiment. This unit fought at the Battle of Monmouth (NJ) on 28 June 1778. He was discharged on 1 January 1779.^V

It is most probably the same man who died in Woodstock on 1 August 1786.^VI

Footnotes:

1. A Pequot name common in Ledyard (CT); see vital records in Avery, John, Rev. History of the Town of Ledyard [CT] (1901), 281 on.
2. Bowen, Clarence Winthrop, Ph.D. L.L.D. The History of Woodstock Connecticut (1926), 536.
3. Adjutant General’s Office [CT]. Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution (1889). 1 vol., 57; listed as ‘Sunsemon.’
4. Ibid, 237; listed as ‘Sunsemun.’
5. Ibid, 189; listed as ‘Sansimon.’
6. Vital Records. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for some Connecticut towns, Woodstock, 330.

Learn more about Quintal's study.