William Barton, American Colonel
William Barton (1748 - 1831) was an officer during the American Revolutionary War. In 1775, he enlisted in the Continental Army as a corporal. He fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1777, as a major in the Rhode Island state troops, he planned and led a raid on British headquarters, capturing Major General Richard Prescott. For this exploit, the Continental Congress gave Barton a sword and passed a resolution honoring his service. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was made colonel of Joseph Stanton's regiment of the Rhode Island Militia. He was gravely wounded in the thigh while trying to rally American militia to attack the rear guard of a British raidng party that burned parts of Bristol and Warren, Rhode Island, in 1778. He never fully recovered from this injury. After the war he helped to found the town of Barton, Vermont. Subsequently, Barton was successfully sued in court for selling the same land to two different parties. He refused to pay this debt. For this he was ultimately confined to the debtors' prison in Danville for 14 years, starting at the age of 64. At the age of 67, he was released at the initiative of the visiting Marquis de Lafayette, who agreed to pay the balance of his debt. He died in 1831 at the age of 83.
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