Hometown Heroes 
Putnam was named after famous general
By Michael Rocchetti
With our town being the namesake of the Great General Israel Putnam, it seems fitting that we should honor him as a Hometown Hero. Israel Putnam (1718-1790) was a military veteran of both the French & Indian War (1754-1763) and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). In this article, we are going to focus on one notable incident during his service in the French & Indian War – because it reveals a lot about his character, his fortitude, and his inner strengths.
Putnam was born in 1718 in Danvers, Mass., the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Porter) Putnam. In 1739 he married Hannah Pope, and in 1740 they bought land in what is now Brooklyn, Connecticut and settled there. In 1755, at the age of 37 he enlisted in the Connecticut Militia as a Private during the French & Indian War. He distinguished himself in action on numerous occasions, and by the end of the war he had been promoted to Colonel. 
Putnam served in one of the most elite, legendary units of the war - Roger’s Rangers – a rapidly deployable light infantry force commanded by Robert Rogers. This unit was tasked mainly with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant targets. In 1757, Israel Putnam was assigned as a Captain, commanding a company of Rangers. However, he did not serve with Rogers during the St Francis (Quebec) raid immortalized in the epic 1940 Hollywood movie “Northwest Passage”.
The Rangers were strong, vigorous, hearty young men, able to make long marches carrying heavy loads, endure the hardships of a woodsman’s life, and ever be ready to outwit the enemy in the primeval forests of North America. They were men who had a love of adventure, a great capacity for physical endurance, and instinctive bravery. Israel Putnam fit right in. From a description by his grandson, Judge Judah Dana, we learn that Putnam was: “in his person, for height, about the middle size, very erect, thickset, muscular, and firm in every part. His countenance was open, strong, and animated; the features of his face large, well-proportioned to each other and to his whole frame; his teeth fair and sound till death. His organs and senses were all exactly fitted for a warrior; he heard quickly, saw to an immense distance, and though he sometimes stammered in conversation, his voice was remarkably heavy, strong, and commanding.”
In August of 1758, Major Israel Putnam was commanding a column of Rangers in search of a French & Indian raiding party near Lake George in New York, when his force was ambushed and overwhelmed by a numerically superior force. He was captured by the Indians on August 8th, then he was beaten, tortured, and tied to a tree to be burned to death. However, he was saved by the kind intervention of a large and powerful Caughnawaga chief, and a French officer named Joseph Marin de la Malgue, known as “Molang”. Afterwards, Major Putnam was marched to Montreal along with other prisoners, and was held in captivity there until November of 1758 when he was allowed to return home as part of a prisoner exchange.
Ordinary men would have resigned or retired from active service after enduring an ordeal such as this – but Israel Putnam was no ordinary man. He would continue to serve honorably and heroically till the end of the war, and to play a key role in the next war – the Revolutionary War.
Hometown Heroes is a series published in the Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger with this mission: We owe it to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to make sure that they are never forgotten, and that the memory of their service and sacrifice will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the grateful people of Putnam.
Note: The picture is the statue of General Israel Putnam that is in Bushnell Park near the State Capitol in Hartford CT.

..