Timothy Bigelow

“I am sensible it is a long time since I wrote to you. (I need not say.) It is not because I have forgot you or my dear children. I am greatly concerned for you, but have it not in my power at present to take any care of you, or even pay you a visit. There is very strict orders at present against the soldiers leaving the army to visit their home, and it will not do for officers to ask leave of absence when soldiers are denied.” 

– Timothy Bigelow to Anna Bigelow, July 30, 1775

Timothy Bigelow’s letters to his wife, Anna, describe the regimental life of Continental Army officers, from daily drills and exercise to building fortifications and mandatory public worship. He also relayed news of men deserting their posts and disease making its way through the camp. Despite these challenges, Bigelow assured his wife that the “Satisfaction of being engaged in my Country’s Cause” made his time in service “agreeable.”   

Bigelow’s letters also provide a glimpse into how colonial women managed their families and households during wartime. Anna Bigelow not only took in tenants while her husband was away but ran the farm in Worcester, Massachusetts, and conducted business with neighbors. In addition, she occupied her time making and sending clothing to her husband, whose letters include requests for garments such as linen breeches for the hot weather and something fine to wear for General Washington’s visit. He even requested that their son Andrew be “fitted out in as respectable a manner as other children in the neighborhood,” signaling his desire to maintain the family’s good reputation while he was away.