Moses Sleeper

Moses Sleeper's journal entry on his brother's birthday helped confirm his identity as the author.

Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters Museum Collection

Quick Facts

Significance:

Revolutionary soldier

Place of Birth:

Newburyport, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

28 September 1752

Date of Death:

about 1792

In May 1775, 22-year-old Moses Sleeper enlisted in a Newburyport militia company raised in response to the battle of Lexington and Concord. He served as a corporal in Captain Benjamin Perkins’ company, part of Colonel Moses Little’s regiment, later the 12th Continental Regiment. They marched to Cambridge in early May 1775.

Sleeper served at the Battle of Bunker Hill, throughout the Siege of Boston, Washington’s army’s march to New York, the Battle of Long Island, and the retreat from there. He kept a journal of his experience from June 1775 to September 1776, now held in the collection of Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters NHS.

The 12th Continental Regiment disbanded on January 1, 1777 at Morristown, New Jersey. Moses Sleeper appears to have returned to Newburyport by May 1777, where he married Hannah Newman. They had five children in Newburyport: Hannah (b. 1778), Sarah (b. 1779), Henry (b. 1781), Ruth (baptized 1781, died young), and Mary (b. 1783).

Moses and his younger brother John, also a veteran of Bunker Hill, were cabinetmakers and planemakers, following the trade of their father. Moses and Hannah Sleeper died about 1792, leaving their young children under the guardianship of John.