Joseph Cilley (1734-1799)
Farmer, lawyer, businessman, Revolutionary War leader.
Born Nottingham (NH).
Portrait by U.D. Tenney after original by Trumbull.
Presented to the State by his son, 1872.

December 15, 1774, Joseph Cilley joined in the attack on Fort William & Mary, in Portsmouth harbor, during which the attackers stole and hid cannon, powder and arms, some of them (reputedly) in the Nottingham (NH) meeting house.

Cilley was a member of the provincial congress, and was employed on coast guard duty during the war. His regiment was ordered to participate in the siege of Boston, June 1775. After Boston Cilley accompanied Sullivan's brigade to New York. Then he was sent to the St. Lawrence to help relieve General Thomas, as major of the Second NH regiment. He returned to New York for the Battle of Long Island, crossed the Delaware and fought at Trenton and Princeton in late December 1775, and in January 1776 was appointed major of the 8th Continental Infantry. In November 1776 he became Lt. Colonel Of the First NH; in Feb. 1777 he made Colonel. He spent Summer 1777 at Ticonderoga, and fought under Benedict Arnold at Bemis Heights, and at Stillwater. Later in 1777 he saw action at Valley Forge, and at the Battle of Monmouth (NJ). In 1779 Cilley was promoted to Brigadier General of Militia.

Cilley retired from the army January 1, 1781. He was an original member of the Order of the Cincinnati. Between 1786-1792 he was Major General of NH militia; he was a member of the state Senate (1790-1791); of the House (1792); and served as a councilor (1797-1798) [For further information see Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1930), Vol. 4.]

Location: First Floor Visitor Center Wall (Rooms 118,119)