Muster Rolls Perhaps he was, and he simply misremembered the battle. S 43,572, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. The British Army focused instead on a campaign in the southern colonies, with an army under General Cornwallis engaging Continental forces in the Carolinas. Muster Roll of Captain Charles S. Ilsleys Troop E of the Seventh Regiment of Cavalry, Army of the United States, (Colonel James W. Forsyth,) from the 31st day of October, 1890 to the 31st day of December, 1890. WebBattle of Monmouth, also called Battle of Monmouth Court House, (June 28, 1778), indecisive engagement in the American Revolution, fought at Monmouth, New Jersey. [25] Following this attack, Nixon's regiment retreated to the "Highlands" in New Jersey on June 12, and Conant is still listed on pay rolls and clothing receipts through September. Battle of Monmouth Remarkably, one of the soldiers (a New Jersey It is also worth noting that the dollars were paid in Continental dollars which were quickly depreciating in value. Only one of these precious few records remained in his possession when he approached the court: a discharge paper from the 4th Massachusetts, issued to him at the close of the Revolutionary War in 1783. 38.277 0 Td Mike Robinson on LinkedIn: Colonel Daniel Morgan was the Motivation for enlistment varied, but many who joined in the fight sought to secure their own blessings of liberty while they fought to gain their countrys independence from Britain. Captain Danforth and his family lived in Billerica for years, with Danforth even serving as a minute man in 1775. [14] If Fortune Freeman's memory is correct and he originally joined as Fortune Conant he came to Boston after accepting a bounty and passing muster in Middlesex County and enlisted for the term of three years. WebThere is a Fifer Walter Maddox listed in the muster rolls of the 7th Maryland Regiment, Continental line. 0 -2.182 TD The Muster Rolls are neatly typed pages tightly bound in oversized books which require the use of a special overhead copying process. N')].uJr In 1777, British strategy included a plan to capture Philadelphia, the patriot capital. 1 0 obj <> endobj 2 0 obj <>stream The 38th served under various colonels' names until designated the 38th Regiment of Foot in 1751. S 43,572, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. WebDuring the battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778, it was part of the Main Armys Right Wing, commanded by Major General Nathanael Greene, and in the 1st Maryland Brigade, Posted on September 17, 2014 by Sam Russell. battle According to military records, Conant stayed with his company in Nixon's regiment throughout 1779, moving to various positions to keep British forces contained within New York City. Herkimer's militia, whichconsisted of 60-100 Native Americans from the Oneidatribe, were ambushed by the Seneca and Mohawk tribes in alliance with the Britishat the Battle of Oriskany. Again, though no "Fortune Freeman" is listed with Nixon's men, Fortune Conant is documented on record at White Plains on September 9, 1778, with Danforth's company in Nixon's regiment, a few months after the Battle of Monmouth. His bounty payments would not have hit their full value so soon after his first discharge. [1] Fortune Freeman, Pension No. Muster rolls and officer commissions are recorded in: 1. Theodore J. Crackel, "Longitudinal migration in America, 1780-1840: A study of Revolutionary War Pension Records," Historical Methods 14 (Summer 1981): 133-137. ). The 1st Continental Artillery Regiment, raised in Virginia and commanded by Col. Charles Harrison, had marched from New York in April 1780 to the support of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, whose force was under siege at Charleston, South Carolina. Freeman may have moved to Hingham to try and start a new life as maritime towns had generally more job opportunities than farming towns. Send Students on School Field Trips to Battlefields Your Gift Tripled! Whether Freeman misremembered his experiences or stated an additional battle to gain his pension, it is significant that he chose to state his presence at both battles. Arriving to the court with merely the clothes on his back, Freeman provided few details about his personal life in his statement. He provided a sparse list of apparel described in the record as "all old and nearly worn out. You can browse these by regiment. For those covering the date of the Battle of Waterloo you can also search by an individuals name. From 1816 to 1856, the musters are principally of the Royal Corps of Sappers and Miners, and list only NCOs and other ranks. The two merged in 1856, as the Royal Engineers Phill Greenwalt is co-founder of Emerging Revolutionary War and is also a full-time contributor to Emerging Civil War. 0 -86 TD Retrieved 29 May 2006. Throughout his pension testimony, Freeman only names one company captain that he served under Captain Danforth. The Continental Army lost the battle and retreated, leaving Philadelphia in English hands, though most of Washington's troops survived. 2021 Valley Forge Legacy Muster Roll Project. This is attested to by an anonymous observer who recounted his visit to Valley Forge in the New Jersey Gazette on December 25: I have just returned from spending a few days with the army. Mechanicsburg, Penn. On one copy of a muster roll from April, Conant is listed as "on command on the lines. If the men are the same, Elijah Danforth is also the most solid connection we have to Billerica being Fortune Freeman's hometown. [10], The Conant family name in Massachusetts turns up throughout the history of the state. The 38th was stationed at Fort Washington and Long Island during the war and was involved in the following conflicts: Muster Books and Pay Lists 12-5171-5172 Shelf List.pdf. Bounty receipts: Suffolk, Essex, and Middlesex counties 1781-1782, Muster/Payrolls and Various Papers (1763-1808) of the Revolutionary War, Vol. "[18] But he also said he witnessed the surrender of General John Burgoyne following combat at the Battle of Saratoga, which took place in October 1777 in upstate New York. Wells was a surgeon in the Continental Army and after his service in the Revolution, he paid his enlistment bounty to his former master and lived the rest of his life as a free man in Lebanon, Connecticut. [29] Bounty note, no. Although they lost two key battles, as well as Philadelphia, to the British, Washingtons soldiers emerged from these experiences with a renewed confidence in their fighting abilities. [8] While a Ph.D. candidate in History at Brandeis University in 2013, John Hannigan, current head of reference services at the Massachusetts State Archives, wrote a blog post about Fortune Freeman's pension record. The final event Freeman explicitly mentioned in his pension application is the capture of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis and his army, after the Siege of Yorktown, which lasted three weeks. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. And then later, records show that a "Fortune Freeman" enlisted in 1781 into the 4th Massachusetts, serving until discharge in 1783. [13] Fortune Conant is listed as joining Elijah Danforth's company the same company Fortune Freeman remembered joining over 40 years later when he applied for his pension in New York City. More than 200 miles from his enlistment site in Boston, he may have chosen to start afresh in a new location. Webbefore the battle of Sedgemoor. From there, Freeman did not mention any specific event until 1780, but muster rolls document Conant's presence in 1779. [31] He served in Elnathan Haskell's company, William Shepard's regiment. Entered Valley Forge with 325 men assigned and 194 fit for duty. S 43,572, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. [3] WebA unique historical record compiled from the rolls made by the Hanoverian army of the Duke of Cumberland after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. 50, Image 668, via FamilySearch.org. 6. Additionally, no recorded Massachusetts regiments participated at Brandywine during the battle. [33] Appointed Adjutant General of the Continental Army by General George Washington in January 1778, Scammell held that position until he requested permission to resign his post and resume command of a regiment in November 1780. EMC The troops who came to camp included men from all thirteen of the original states. In order to preserve their culture and prevent encroachment upon their rich western domain, most American Indians sided with the British. ", Born sometime between 1747 and 1760,[9] Fortune Freeman lived in Massachusetts until at least the start of the American Revolution. Archive.org. A muster roll of 61 Creek Indians and 3 slaves who arrived July 1848 under the charge of Ward Coachman. [15] Freeman may have recalled Danforth easily as a familiar name to him in his younger days. The Edenton Whig, a local newspaper, described Overton as, a soldier ofthe Revolution, and, served under Washington and was at the battle of Yorktown, Overton was praised by the community and say that, "He has lived among us longer than the ordinary period allotted to human life, and always sustained a character for honesty, industry, and integrity. Webas a baggage guard at the Battle of Monmouth, N.J. (June 28, 1778). [38] Fortune Freeman, Pension No. (*(%8H8c- fd9@6_IjH9(3=DR1%? But if Freeman was not at Brandywine, was he still injured in the war? In November of 1775, Washington barred the enlistment of free Blacks and slaves. While the soldiers who entered camp on December 19, 1777, were not well-supplied, they were not downtrodden. 1776, August, Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn, successful, 1776, November, Battle of Fort Washington, commanded by Lord Percy, successful, 1776, September, Battle of Harlem Heights, capture of Fort Lee, flank companies of 38th participate, 1777 New Jersey Campaign, as part of the Brunswick, New Jersey garrison, 1777, September, Battle of Brandywine located west of Philadelphia, successful, 1777, October, after the capture of Philadelphia by the British, the Battle of Germantown, located north of Philadelphia, successful, 1778, June, Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey, under the new commander, General Clinton, who had been given orders to retreat from Philadelphia to New York, flank companies of 38th participate, 1778, July, defence of Newport, Rhode Island, 1778, August, under General Pigot, the Battle of Rhode Island, also known as, the Battle of Quaker Hill, in which the Americans tried unsuccessfully to recapture the Island from the British, now known as Aquidneck Island, 1778, After September, regiment returned to New York, 1779 Clinton moved the main British effort to the South, 1780, June, Battle of Springfield, New Jersey, the last major engagement in the north, British under von Knyphausen attack George Washington's army, unsuccessful, 1781, September, participated in the raid on New London, Connecticut, commanded by Benedict Arnold who had switched sides, this expedition was to be its last of the war.