Cogswell's Regiment of Militia also known as the 3rd Essex County Militia Regiment was called up at Ipswich, Massachusetts

Ipswich, Massachusetts

Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island...

 on April 19, 1775, during the Battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...

 and to guard the Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 coast from July 1775 to January 1776. The regiment would also be called up on September 20, 1777, as reinforcements for the Continental Army

Continental Army

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

 during the Saratoga campaign

Saratoga campaign

The Saratoga Campaign was an attempt by Great Britain to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War...

. The regiment marched quickly to join the gathering forces of Gen. Horatio Gates

Horatio Gates

Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...

 as he faced British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 Gen. John Burgoyne

John Burgoyne

General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....

 in northern New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. The regiment served in Gen. Nixion's

John Nixon (Massachusetts)

John Nixon was an American brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.He was born in Framingham, Massachusetts on March 1, 1724 to Christopher and Mary Nixon. On February 7, 1754, John Nixon married Thankfully Berry also of Framingham...

 brigade.

With the surrender of Burgoyne's Army

Convention Army

The Convention Army was an army of British and allied troops captured after the Battles of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War.-Convention of Saratoga:...

 on October 17, the regiment acted as part of the guard for the prisoners to Prospect Hill and disbanded on November 7, 1777.