It’s still our Independence Day
No party owns this day
My ancestor Joseph Wellman was a Private in the Mansfield Massachusetts Militia when the Lexington Alarm went out in 1775. His company marched north and joined the siege of Boston. Accounts say that when General George Washington arrived his company became part of the 13th Continental Regiment.
The original 13th Continental Regiment was formed by consolidating the remnants of Timothy Walker’s Regiment and David Brewer’s Regiment with the remnants of Read’s Regiment, Joseph’s company was part of Read’s Regiment.
Colonel Joseph Read commanded this regiment throughout 1776. As a regiment on the right wing of the army at Boston, it was ordered to furnish details for the Fortification of Dorchester Height’s. Read’s regiment remained with the Main Army, moving to New York City in April.
The 13th served in Trenton and Princeton.
Joseph would rise to the rank of Sergeant. So, when you see that painting of Washington crossing the Delaware at Christmas of 1776, you can imagine a 29-year old Joseph Wellman huddling in one of the boats.
He would end up with some six or more years of service according to his application for compensation after the war. He married in 1778 and moved to Bremen, Maine where he owned a “dwelling house” and passed away in 1831 at the remarkable age of 84-years old after having ten children including a young man who served in the War of 1812.
We got here in 1640 and my family has served in nearly every American war from the French and Indian War to the Revolution, the War of 1812, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Desert Storm and Iraq.
Donald Trump’s family served in exactly zero.
No one can take away my family’s heritage and dedication to this nation and I won’t let them today.
July 4th, 2025
I’ve said it before and I will say it again that this is a long fight. We are going to lose some battles and win some. Washington spent almost all of 1776 retreating from the British. Evacuating New York then Philadelphia. Scoring a draw in the searing heat of Princeton before finally scoring an important victory that saved the revolution with the bold raid on Trenton.
We have a long road ahead of us and it’s only just begun. We must rise to the occasion and take our chances. It will take patience, resilience, and fortitude to win this war. We will lose friends. Some of us will decided they’ve had enough. But, many will carry on.
For me, I am not going anywhere.
This is my country. My heritage. It’s far from perfect but it’s what we’ve been serving for almost 400 years since arriving in the Massachusetts Colony in 1640 and my mother’s family arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1900’s.
Get out there. Wave that flag. Shoot those fireworks. Drink some decent beer.
Then next week. Let’s get back to work.
Don’t let the bastards get you down.