James McCormick, sometimes misprinted as ‘John’ in historical documents, was a private in Captain Goodrich’s company. He was described as a simple and ‘ignorant’, yet ‘peaceable’ man from North Yarmouth, Maine.

Reuben Bishop, on the other hand, was born on November 2, 1740 in Amherst, Massachusetts. He married his cousin Hannah in New London, Connecticut in 1761 and was the father of five sons. He was commissioned as an ensign in 1771 and served as a sergeant under Benedict Arnold’s command of 1,100 men. Bishop was described as “a civil, well-behaved and much beloved young man.”

So what happened on that fate ful night? The regiment had spent the day getting 1,110 troops and provisions to Fort Western from Gardiner. Despite the fact it was cold and rainy, most men at Fort Western slept either outside without any covering at all, or outside under crude structures they made for themselves with the extremely limited resources available to them. However, some of the men were lucky enough, or ranked highly enough, that they found themselves bedding down either in the Fort where Captain William Howard resided, or at Captain James Howard’s residence known as “The Great House”, or … at a nearby house where Captain Daniel Savage resided.

Inside these houses it was warm and there were good fires going. Being inside was important because it was raining and cold outside. At some point in the night John McCormick – who was initially inside the house of Daniel Savage with other soldiers (mostly Captains in the regiment), became very drunk and belligerent. He got into a fight with Captain Goodrich and was kicked out.

A short time later McCormick returned to that house and made a ruckus loud enough that Captain Simeon Thayer opened the door and yelled at McCormick to knock it off. McCormick responded by shooting at the door. After McCormick shot his gun toward the house Captain Thayer woke up Captain Topham for help. Captain Topham yelled out to McCormick to knock it off.

McCormick seemed to have left so Thayer said he and Topham went back to bed. But McCormick returned ‘pre-dawn’ the following morning, unlatched the door and fired off a random shot into the house which hit Reuben Bishop who was laying down by the fire at the hearth. McCormick said he was aiming to shoot Captain Goodrich but he missed and hit Bishop instead.

Reuben Bishop lingered in agony – hemorrhaging internally – for almost 12 hours before finally dying. Many of the men wrote in their journals that Bishop was in agony and fear over dying. It struck the men deeply. Reuben Bishop was treated by Dr. Isaac Senter.

And what happened to John/James McCormick? He panicked after he realized what he did, and bolted. He swam across the river in an attempt to make his getaway but a sentry (a sergeant) saw him running through the area and stopped him. The Sergeant thought he was a deserter and quickly surmised he was guilty of something by the way he was acting. He took McCormick in to be questioned and eventually the truth was revealed.

McCormick swore he didn’t intentionally kill Reuben Bishop and stuck to his story that he intended to shoot Captain Goodrich, the man he had a fight with the night before. Apparently it was quite the row. He was tried by court martial, found guilty of murder, and condemned to hang on September 26, 1775 according to Caleb Haskell’s diary.

Soldiers built the gallows and McCormick was brought to stand before the entire company of men with a halter around his neck, at Fort Western, for about a half hour. The entire time he was professing his innocence. The chaplain had a quiet chat with McCormick and he finally found it within himself to confess.

Colonel Benedict Arnold stayed the execution and made arrangements for McCormick to be transported on the schooner “Broad Bay” to Boston so General Washington could pass final judgment. Colonel Arnold recommended mercy and hoped Washington would agree. He wrote, “I wish he may be found a proper subject of mercy.”

McCormick’s execution was stayed and he was sent to a military prison in Boston where he died of natural causes.

So where is Reuben Bishop buried? He was initially buried just outside the Fort’s burying ground which is somewhere at the East end of the bridge – so near the road on the Fort Western side of the bridge or over where the old Jail was – where the senior living facility is currently. He was disinterred and moved into the Fort burying ground but Willow Street runs over his burial site. So he may have been moved, again, up to Riverside Cemetery on Bangor Street.