John Chandler

John Chandler (February 1, 1762September 25, 1841) was an American politician and soldier of Maine. The political career of Chandler, a Democratic-Republican, was interspersed with his involvement in the state militia during both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Biography Family background Chandler was born in Epping in the Province of New Hampshire. He was one of 10 children and the third-oldest son of Joseph Chandler (1725–1776) and his wife Lydia (née Eastman; 1726–1820). His father Joseph was a blacksmith. He fought in the French and Indian War and was a captain in the Revolutionary War. He died at Mount Independence in 1776. American Revolutionary War Chandler was self-educated and enlisted in the Continental Army at age 15. In the same year he was captured by the British, but he soon escaped. In May 1779 he was captured again. In September, he was able to escape and made his way back to Epping. Immediately he reenlisted in the Continental Army. During the war he had become the protégé of General Henry Dearborn, (1751–1829), a future fifth U.S. Secretary of War (1801–1809), who was also an important commander of the Northeast sector at Fort Detroit, in the Old Northwest Territory, but a terrible failure during the War of 1812.