Isaac Hodsdon

{{short description|American military leader, politician}}

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{{Infobox military person

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| name = Isaac Hodsdon

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1781|12|18}}

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| death_date = {{death date and age|1864|05|24|1781|12|18}}

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| allegiance = {{flagicon|USA|1812}} United States

| branch = United States Army
Maine Militia

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| rank = 20px Major General

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| unit = 33rd Regiment

| commands = Maine's Militia

| battles = {{ubl|War of 1812|Aroostock War}}

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Isaac Hodsdon (December 18, 1781 – May 24, 1864) was a government official and Maine militia commander. He served in the War of 1812 as Captain in the US Army 33rd Regiment{{cite web |title=General Intelligence |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/404780935/?terms=%22Isaac%2BHodsdon%22 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=New England Farmer |accessdate=25 November 2018}} and became Colonel after the Battle of Hampden.Corinth, Maine Bicentennial: 1811–2011: Glimpses into Corinth History, p. 58 via: http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?1214,695614 He eventually became a Major General{{cite web |title=Monday February 18, 1839 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/15360253/?terms=%22Isaac%2BHodsdon%22 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Bangor Daily Whig and Courier |accessdate=25 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=15 April 1840 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/369392186/?terms=%22Isaac%2BHodsdon%22 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Hartford Courant |accessdate=25 November 2018}} and commanded Maine's militia troops in the Aroostook War. He lived in Corinth, Maine.{{cite book|title=History of Penobscot County|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYcVAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA789|publisher=Williams, Chase & Co|isbn=978-5-88531-396-4|page=789}}

On 15 February 1839, the Maine Legislature authorized militia Major General Hodsdon to lead 1,000 additional volunteers to augment the posse then on the upper Aroostook River.{{cite web |title=01 March 1839 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/490528990/?terms=%22Isaac%2BHodsdon%22 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Vermont Phoenix |accessdate=25 November 2018}}{{cite web |title=Message |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/56961179/?terms=%22Isaac%2BHodsdon%22 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Weekly Standard |accessdate=25 November 2018}} Additional correspondence from governor Sir John Harvey of New Brunswick, reports of British Army troops arriving from the West Indies, reports of Quebec possibly gaining the services of Mohawk nation, and reports of a gathering of the New Brunswick forces on the Saint John River all caused General Order No 7 to be issued on 19 February 1839, which drafted the framework for a Maine militia. Maine militia companies mustered in Bangor and traveled to the Upper Aroostook until 26 February 1839, when the early construction of Fort Fairfield, which the earlier posse built on the Aroostook River from seized stolen timber, allowed for camping troops on the eastern boundary.

Following the death of one Jeremiah Littlefield from yellow fever, Hodsdon adopted Littlefield's son, who became known as John Littlefield Hodsdon. He too had a long and distinguished military career.