Eleazer Wheelock Ripley

Eleazer Wheelock Ripley (April 15, 1782 – March 2, 1839) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the War of 1812, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general, and later served as a U. S. Representative from Louisiana, from 1835 until 1839.

Life

Ripley was born in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was the grandson of Eleazer Wheelock, the founder of Dartmouth College, and the nephew of John Wheelock, the college's president. His father, Sylvanus, taught at Dartmouth in the 1780s, and Eleazer graduated from the school in 1800.

Ripley practiced law in Kennebec County, Maine, and Portland, Maine. He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1810 to 1811, and was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1812.

In August 1812, following the outbreak of the War of 1812, he organized the 21st United States Infantry Regiment, and was given the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was promoted to colonel in March 1813. Most of the regiment's soldiers came from Massachusetts and Maine. Soldiers from the regiment took part in several battles, including York (in which Ripley was wounded),Sacketts Harbor, Crysler's Farm.