James Harwood (the third of his name) was born circa 1736 probably in Groton, Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was the youngest child of James Harwood, Jr. and his wife Lydia. The family of James Harwood, Jr. lived successively in Littleton, Concord, and Groton, and soon after 1740 were living in Dunstable Township (later Nashua, Hillsborough County), Province of New Hampshire.  

During the French and Indian War, James Harwood served in Captain James Todd’s company of Colonel Peter Gilman’s regiment at Albany, Province of New York in 1755. He served in the famous company of rangers under Captain James Rogers in 1756. He again served in Captain James Todd’s company of Colonel Peter Gilman’s regiment in the expedition against Crown Point in 1757 with his older brother John Harwood. He enlisted in Captain Nehemiah Lovewell’s Company, Colonel John Goffe’s Regiment in March 1760.  He was one of 800 men who rendezvoused at Litchfield, and marched to Charleston; following the road cut by the Rangers the previous year into Canada, arriving at Crown Point.

By 1758, probably in Dunstable Township, he had married Mary Clogston. Mary was born circa 1742, the daughter of John Clogston and his wife Miranda Glasford. John and Mary Harwood had five known children: John, James, Archibald, Lydia, and Rosannah. No birth records have been found for their children, but all were probably born in Dunstable Township. All three of their sons also served as soldiers in the Revolutionary War.  

During the Revolutionary War James Harwood served in Captain William Walker’s company of Colonel James Reed’s regiment at Breed’s Hill (aka Bunker Hill) and the siege of Boston in 1775 with his brother-in-law John Glogston. With them at Bunker Hill was his other brother-in-law, Paul Clogston who was one of two soldiers in Captain Walkers who were wounded; Paul soon after died of his wounds.  

James Harwood then served in Captain Daniel Wilkin’s company of Colonel Timothy Bedel’s regiment in Canada, 1776. In April, 1777, he enlisted into the Continental service for three years. He was assigned to Captain Amos Emerson’s company of Colonel Joseph Cilley’s First New Hampshire Regiment. He is described in papers at the time as 40 years of age, six feet and with complexion, hair and eyes, dark.

On 7 July 1177 he is reported missing after retreat from battle at Valley Forge, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He is reported as dead of disease on 1 December 1777 in White Marsh, Montgomery County (later Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. It is likely he died of small pox in the days prior to the Battle for White Marsh. James Harwood was described as “a good soldier, a loyal patriot, and every inch a man.”

*References:
Early Generations of the Founders of Old Dunstable Thirty Families, Ezra S. Stearns, A.M., George B. Littlefield, Boston, 1911, pp. 27-29
A Genealogical History of the Harwood Families, Descended from Andrew Harwood, Watson H. Harwood, Third Edition, Chasm Falls, New York, 1911, pp. 35-41
James Harwood, Revolutionary War Records, www.Fold3.com