Carleton's Raid and the Capture of the Holcomb Family

On October 24, 1778, in an attempt to gain control of Lake Champlain, the Governor General of Canada ordered Major Christopher Carleton to lead a force of about 450 men, that included British soldiers, American loyalists, German mercenaries and Indians, down Lake Champlain to the Otter Creek Valley. The force sailed on two schooners: the HMS Maria and the HMS Carleton, two gunboats, and various batteaux. Carleton’s force was ordered to take or destroy buildings, supplies and materials that could be used by the Continental Army to invade Canada, as well as take rebel men prisoner. This raid became known as Carleton’s Raid.

Major Carleton’s force raided Panton, Vermont on November 5 or 8, 1778. According to the Honorable John D. Smith, Esq., Joseph Holcomb (2nd-great grandfather to George Dewey (Holcomb) Baker) was chopping firewood under an elm tree on the property of his brother-in-law, Phineas Spaulding. He was suddenly surrounded and captured by Indians and taken to a vessel on Lake Champlain. His father, Phineas Holcomb, and three brothers, Joshua, Samuel and Elisha, were captured at their residence, a short distance away from Spaulding’s, and also brought aboard the vessel (some accounts provide a date of November 11th as the capture date for the latter four Holcombs). Their homes, as well as all other homes in Panton, except that of Timothy Spaulding, were burned by British soldiers.

Following his successful raid, Major Carleton returned to Isle aux Noix on November 14, 1778. With him were 39 prisoners and a report that his force destroyed “4 months provisions for 12,000 men.” The prisoners were taken, by foot, further north to Fort Saint-Jean (also known as Fort Saint John), where they were subjected to starvation and suffered from other hardships. Being that they were only about 16 and 15 when captured, Joseph and Elisha Holcomb suffered less than many other prisoners, and were allowed to care for sick prisoners.

Joshua and Samuel Holcomb died while imprisoned during the summer of 1781. The brothers’ likely cause of death was either starvation or disease, the same as many of their prison companions. Accounts about the fate of Phineas Holcomb vary. Some say that he died at Fort Saint-Jean. Other sources indicate that he escaped the prison and died in Rutland. All sources agree that he died on September 11, 1781. Joseph and Elisha Holcomb were exchanged for British prisoners and released in June 1782, about three years and eight months following their capture.

List of Prisoners sent to St. Johns

by Major Carleton / 29th Regiment

Derrick Webb

NathI. Smith

Wintress Herrick--lndian Interpreter Elis Roberts

Marshal Smith

John Bishop

John Ward

James Bishop

Benjn Pain

Clawdiss Brittal

Johnan Dakes

Isaac Fananam

Joseph Everest

Clawdiss Brittal

Geo. Spaldin

Timothy Bishop

Joshua Oakum*

Fenis Oakum being upwards of 70*

Joseph Oakum*

Fenis Oakum*

Eliza Oakum*

John Grizall-released & sent back with the women on account of his age

Dieran Roberts

Clark Store

David GrizaIl

Adaniga GrizaIl

Ordel Squires

Jestes Studivent

Eslay Squires

John GrizeIl

Eazolez Everist

David McIntosh

Phillip Spaldin

David Stowe

Benjamin Webster

NathI. GrizaIl

Ths. Sanford

Peter Ferris

Jams. Boddington

Squire Ferris

*Names were misspelled, Samuel's name was inaccurately recorded, and Phineas’ age was incorrect as he was 52 at the time of his capture.

Surname Saturday: Beland/Balaw/Bailaw/Baylaw/Bailey of Peacham, Vermont

Disclaimer: As always, my genealogy is a work in progress. There is a lot of information I have yet to locate and possible discrepancies in information already found. While all of my information is sourced in my genealogy software, I am not going to take the time to type all that out here. If you would like a source citation for a particular event, please ask.

If you are related to this family, I want to hear from you!

I briefly mentioned the Beland/Balaw/Bailaw/Baylaw/Bailey family in my previous Surname Saturday post. I will go into a bit more detail about them here.

I will start by saying that this family could not figure out how their surname should be spelled. This is likely due to a few possibilities:

1. They came to Vermont from Quebec (and France prior to that) where their name was spelled Beland. Once the family settled in Vermont, their name was spelled in the way that it was pronounced (Bailaw/Balaw).
2. Illiteracy was high during the 1800s, and it was possible that they didn't know how to write (which seems even more likely considering English was likely not their first language). Record takers likely spelled their name the way it sounded since my ancestors probably couldn't tell them how to spell it.
3. The Bailey spelling came from my great grand uncle, Fred Bailaw, who decided to move out west and go by the surname Bailey in an attempt to break away from the family he left behind in Vermont. I have my theory as to why he left (keep reading to find out).

My 3rd great grandparents, Toussaint Beland (Allsaints Balaw) (1795-1840) and Elisabeth "Isabelle" Marguerite Turcotte (1803-1865) left Quebec around 1854 and came to settle in Peacham, Caledonia, Vermont. They had 10 children, all of which were born in Quebec and came with them to Vermont. Their children were (surname spellings for each are how it is spelled on most records/graves):

1. Simeon Balaw (1826-1890), Civil War veteran, married Mary King
2. Margaret Balaw (1828-1910), married Robert Sanderson
3. Alexander Bailaw (1830-1921), Civil War veteran
4. Olive Beland (1832-1915), married Paul Provancha
5. Joseph Bailaw (1835-1865), Civil War veteran, married Clara Whitehall
6. William Bailaw (1837-?), Civil War veteran, married Elsina Huntington
7. Edward Bailaw (1840-1924), Civil War veteran, married Mary King
8. Anna Maria Bailaw (1841-1927), married Leonard Atkins
9. Elizabeth P. Bailaw (1843-?), married Lorenzo K. Hooker
10. Lucy Baylaw (1846-?), married _____ Leslie

Toussaint's 3rd great grandfather (my 8th great grandfather), Jean Baptiste Beland immigrated from France to Quebec before 1677, like due to Huguenot persecution in France. The line from Jean Baptiste to Toussaints is Jean Baptiste, Mathurin Jean Baptiste, Alexis, Antoine, Toussaint.

In 2009 I was afforded the privilege of speaking with Florence (Lafayette) Bridges, the great granddaughter of Simeon Balaw. She was about 91 years old when I met her, and she died a few months afterward. During our meeting, she told me some old family legends, gave me some old photos of some of my ancestors, and provided me with a wealth of information she had from her own genealogy research (most of which I have been able to verify).

Photos given to me from Florence Bridges

Photo 1: Mary M King

Photo 2: Fred Bailey

Photo 3: Fred Bailey with his wife, Merial and son, Hubert

One story Mrs. Bridges told me was of her great grandfather's, Simeon's, death. The story that has been

passed through the generations is that Simeon fell ill during war and was discharged. According to the genealogy file provided to me from Mrs. Bridges, "Upon returning home he [Simeon] knew he was to have just broth but the stew his wife Mary made smelled so good he ate some of the meat and he was taken sick and died." According to my own research, Simeon enlisted in the Civil War on 10 Feb 1862 died a little over a year later on 23 Feb 1863 in Peacham, Caledonia, Vermont. His cause of death (according to his death certificate) was chronic diarrhea. Did his cause of death have anything to do with Mary's stew? I don't know. Simeon is buried in Peacham Corners Cemetery in Peacham, Vermont.


Following his death, Simeon's wife, Mary, married his brother (my 2nd great grandfather), Edward Bailaw. They had one son together, Fred Bailaw (Bailey) (1867-1927). Mary died in 1881 and is buried in Eaton Cemetery in Marshfield, Washington, Vermont.

Following Mary's death, Edward was living with Elizabeth Aiken. While the two never married, they had a daughter (my great grandmother), Gertrude, together.

All five of the sons of Toussaint Beland (Allsaints Balaw) and Elisabeth "Isabelle" Marguerite Turcotte fought in the Civil War. Four of the five sons made it home (though Simeon just in time to die). Joseph, however, was wounded at the Battle of Fort Stedman in Petersburg, Virginia, on 25 Mar 1865, and died 10 days later on 10 Apr 1865. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery (his gravestone has his name as Joseph Bailey).

Vermont in the Civil War

I am the proud direct descendant of at least two Civil War veterans: my maternal 3rd-great grandfather, George A. Holcomb from Vergennes/Panton, Vermont and my paternal 2nd-great grandfather, Edward Bailaw, from Peacham, Vermont. Edward's four brothers also fought in the Civil War, one of which died during the war and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. I even recently applied for membership with the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865 (There is also an organization of Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War).

Vermont has a wonderful resource for Civil War history and veterans, and is an invaluable resource for genealogists tracing their Vermont Civil War veteran ancestors. The website can be found here, and lists information including veteran names, birth dates, death dates, burial locations, and more. It also provides histories of the regiments, which is nice to read through to learn what your ancestor may have gone through during the war.

Other Vermont Civil War resources are included in the following list:

1) Wikipedia information about Vermont in the American Civil War: While I do not believe that Wikipedia should be the one-stop source of information for anything, it is a good starting point. Just keep in mind that anyone is free to create and edit Wikipedia pages, so take what you learn here with a grain of salt.

2) Rootsweb Vermont in the Civil War Discussion List: This is a mailing list for people to discuss Vermont in the Civil War.

3) Vermont Veterans Militia Museum: Civil War

4) A War of the People: Vermont Civil War Letters: Book

5) The Vermont Fist Calvary in the Civil War: Book