Wolcott was born in
Windsor, Connecticut, the youngest of 10 children born to colonial Governor
Roger Wolcott and Sarah Drake Wolcott. His elder brother was
Erastus Wolcott. He attended
Yale College, graduating in 1747 as the top scholar in his class. Upon graduation,
New York Governor
George Clinton granted Wolcott a captain's commission to raise a militia company to fight in the
French and Indian Wars (
King George's War (1744–1748)). He then moved to newly settled
Goshen in northwestern Connecticut to practice and study medicine with his brother Alexander. He then moved to
Litchfield and became a merchant; he was appointed sheriff of the newly created
Litchfield County, Connecticut, serving from 1751 to 1771. He married Lorraine (Laura) Collins of
Guilford, Connecticut, on January 21, 1755. In February 1776, he stated: "Our difference with Great Britain has become very great. What matters will issue in, I cannot say, but perhaps in a total disseverance from Great Britain." The early support for independence led him to important roles during the war, both as military leader and as member of the Continental Congress. Wolcott saw extensive militia service during the American Revolution. On August 11, 1776, Connecticut officials ordered him to march the Seventeenth Regiment of militia to New York and join
George Washington's army. Upon arriving at Washington's camp, Connecticut Governor
Jonathan Trumbull appointed Wolcott brigadier general in command of all the state's militia regiments in New York. He led 300 to 400 volunteers from his brigade to help General
Horatio Gates and
Benedict Arnold defeat General
John Burgoyne at the
Battles of Saratoga. In May 1779, Wolcott was promoted to major general in command of all Connecticut militia. Defeated by Major-general
William Tryon, he described Tryon's forces in his memoirs as "a foe who have not only insulted every principle which governs civilized nations but by their barbarities offered the grossest indignities to human nature."
Continental Congress At the beginning of the Revolution, Congress had made Wolcott a commissioner of Indian affairs to persuade the northern Indian nations to remain neutral. His qualifications for that role came from his early experience on the northern front of the French and Indian War. He was asked, along with Richard Butler and
Arthur Lee, to negotiate a peace treaty with the Six Nations at
Fort Schuyler. He also served as a judge of the
Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors from 1784 until his death. ==Death and legacy==