Ballston in Saratoga County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

James Gordon

Photographed By Steve Stoessel, December 6, 2018

1. James Gordon Marker

Inscription. Home of James Gordon
Colonel Revolutionary War
Member of Assembly, State Senator
First Supervisor Town Ballston
Member of Congress
Washington visited here 1783

Erected 1932 by State Education Department.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Patriots & Patriotism • War, US Revolutionary. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #01 George Washington, and the George Washington Slept Here series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1783.

Location. 42° 58.262′ N, 73° 52.778′ W. Marker is in Ballston, New York, in Saratoga County. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ballston Lake NY 12019, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies. 1780 Invasion (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); Briggs Cemetery (approx. half a mile away); Samuel Davis MD (approx. 0.6 miles away); Colonial Inn (approx. 0.8 miles away); Site of (approx. 0.8 miles away); McCrea Hill (approx. 0.9 miles away); Home of Jonathan Filer (approx. 1.1 miles away); Eliphalet Ball (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ballston.

Regarding James Gordon. Captain John

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Munro led a force of approximately 200 men against the militia leaders and Ballston in October 1780. Munro had come from Crown Point and had been working in conjunction with Sir John Johnston’s raids further west in the Mohawk Valley. Ballston presented an opportunity for Munro to inflict some damage to the Rebel cause and draw American troops away from Johnston’s operations. Capt. Munro was also accompanied by Loyalists force from Ballston by Gordon himself and sought a measure of retribution for these men.

Gordon was the patriarch of the families that had settled along Middleline Road in Balls Town, a tight-knit pioneer community just forming in the Kayaderosseras Patent north of Albany. As war approached, he became a leader of the local Committee of Correspondence and served as lieutenant colonel of the 12th Regiment of the Albany County Militia. However, his partisanship extended beyond his military actions. As a member of the New York Assembly he had advocated for harsh treatment of captured Loyalists and had supported the 1779 Confiscation Act. Munro cited Gordon’s support of this law as justification for his actions against him. Munro made his decision. “I found it necessary to make a decent on Ballston, and proceed to join Major Carleton without loss of time.”

At midnight of October 17, Munro attacked down the Middle Line Road, surrounding the homes

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of Collins and Gordon. Munro deployed the 130 soldiers of the King’s Royal Regiment, dressed in their red uniforms, around Gordon’s home. These men were accompanied by the thirty Mohawks. The first goal of the British forces was to target the leaders of the local Militia. Gordon was captured, and his house burned. Capt. Munro personally saved Gordon from being tomahawked. The raiders reunited, and proceeded up Middleline to other homesteads.

Twenty-six men were captured along Middleline Road and taken to Canada. The militiamen were imprisoned and the slaves sold. Lieutenant Colonel Gordon and several of the captured militia officers served their time under house arrest in Montreal and Quebec. Gordon himself later escaped, but most remained in Canada until released at the end of the war.

In 1783, George Washington embarked on a tour of the northern battlefields, and came through the Ballston area.

Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. 1780 Invasion

Also see . . . War on the Middle Line: The October 1780 British Raid on Ballston. Journal of the American Revolution website entry (Submitted on December 9, 2018, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York.)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 11, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 8, 2018, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. This page has been viewed 424 times since then and 32 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on December 8, 2018, by Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.