Cornet FRANCIS GEARY,
16th Light Dragoons
1752-76

 

The eldest son of Admiral Francis Geary, his sad story can be found on GLENN's page, The Ambush of Cornet Geary. A 24-yr-old Balliol-educated Cornet in the 16th Light Dragoons, he had his brains blown out in an ambush on 14 December 1776, near Flemington, New Jersey, and was buried in a shallow grave at the roadside.

Larison's Corner, nr. Flemington, NJ, & Great Bookham, Surrey

Geary Monument, Great Bookham

Francis' family erected a memorial to him in their parish church in England. In 1891, the Hunterdon County Historical Society opened the grave, and examined the remains. A family member raised a memorial stone on his grave in 1907. Legend has it that that for many years an unknown lady had strewn flowers on the grave, and that the Cornet haunted the wood where he died.

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