Nathaniel Meserve was born to Clement Maserve and his wife Elizabeth Jones.

On December 16, 1725, aged 21, he married Jane Libby and together they had ten children. Nathaniel Meserve would become a shipwright in his native Portsmouth a hub of early American shipbuilding.

In 1749 he was hired by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 to build a 50 gun warship HMS America at his shipyard. During King George's War

King George's War

King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...

 Nathaniel was a lieutenant colonel in the New Hampshire Militia

New Hampshire Militia

The New Hampshire Militia was first organized in March 1680, by New Hampshire Colonial President John Cutt. The King of England authorized the Provincial President to give commissions to persons who shall be best qualified for regulating and discipline of the militia. President Cutt placed Major...

 regiment at the 1745 capture of Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

. His shipbuilding experience allowed him to build sleds to transport the cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 over the marshy ground. During the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

 Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Meserve led the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment

New Hampshire Provincial Regiment

The New Hampshire Provincial Regiment was a composite regiment made up of units of the New Hampshire Militia during the French and Indian War for service with the British Army in North America. It was first formed in 1754 with the start of hostilities with France.-1755:In 1755 Col...

 in 1756 to Fort Edward

Fort Edward

Fort Edward could refer to:* A historic site located in Windsor, Nova Scotia* A temporary fort in South Africa, ca. 1901. It was established in 1901 by British forces during the Boer War...

 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...

 and in 1757 to garrison Halifax, Nova Scotia

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

.

In 1758 Col. Nathaniel Meserve was with General Amherst

Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst

Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst KCB served as an officer in the British Army and as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.Amherst is best known as one of the victors of the French and Indian War, when he conquered Louisbourg, Quebec City and...

 in another attack on Fortress Louisbourg because of his service in the 1745 capture of the fort. Here he contracted smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

and died along with his eldest son.

Sources

• Louisbourg: From its Founding to its Fall by J.S. McLennan, Macmillian and Co. LTD London, UK 1918
• The Taking of Louisburg 1745 by Samuel Adams Drake, Lee and Shepard Publishers Boston Mass. USA 1891 (reprinted by Kessinger Publishing ISBN 9780548622346)