Damien Cregeau: Independent Historian, Author, Public Speaker, Narrator

Damien has been researching for the past five years and writing for the past year for a book that takes a deeper look into the fascinating lives of five patriot leaders and their wives as they lived before, during and after the American Revolution.  These five are from Connecticut - all tied closely to each other in their service: the Trumbulls of Lebanon, the Huntingtons of Norwich and the Webbs of Wethersfield.  Specifically, they are the famous painter, John Trumbull, his brother Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., both of whom served as aides to General Washington, Colonel then Brigadier General Jedediah Huntington, his wife, Faith Trumbull, a very talented artist suffering from depression, and Jed's younger brother, Ebenezer, a colonel in the revolution.  The final piece is Colonel Samuel Webb of Wethersfield, who served as an aide to Washington, and commanded his regiment before being captured by the British and temporarily succeeded by his second-in-command, Ebenezer. 

 

This book delves into the political, social, military and art history of the era and how each officer, their wives and families dealt with the hardships and traumas of the American Revolution.  The final chapters look at their many significant postwar contributions.  For example, Ebenezer served a member of the U.S. Congress while Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. served, like his father, as governor of Connecticut.  John Trumbull would, of course, become famous for his many Federal-era portrait and historical paintings, highlighted by the four large paintings of his hanging in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building.