Militia Arrangement provides a breakdown of the battalions and companies raised in each county and the names of the commanding officers. Pennsylvania Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 Muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83. Many of the elderly men who applied for pensions beginning in the 1820s proudly proclaimed that they were present at the “surrender of Lord Cornwallis.”. The second type of service was duty on the frontier in Northumberland, Northampton, Bedford and Westmoreland counties. Although George Washington and others frequently complained about the shortcomings of the militia, some Continental Army officers like Nathanael Greene had come to a more realistic appraisal of the value of these part-time soldiers by the end of the war. But the militia of the Shenandoah Valley were able to stand off the Indians who threatened them from the Northwest. This active-duty roll was therefore a completely different roll from the permanent billet roll. A third type of militia duty was in providing guards for supply depots located in Lancaster, Lebanon and Reading and at various prisoner of war camps. Since the company captain and lower officers were also called up, their identities provide a clue to the permanent class, company, and battalion to which a particular individual belonged. It should be noted that these fines were not necessarily intended to be punitive. About Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War This database includes the summary of the Militia's military movements arranged by counties, declarations of Virginia Militia Pensioners, Militia officers appointed in various counties, and pensioners residing in and outside of Virginia in 1835 who received pensions as Virginia militiamen. Connecticut archives : Militia records selected papers, series 1-3, 1678-1820. The County Lieutenants ensured that militia units turned out for military exercises, provided the militia units with arms and equipment at the expense of the state, located substitutes for those who declined to serve, and assessed and collected the militia fines. This arrangement represents more of a means of organizing manpower from specific geographical localities rather than reflecting the activity of acting military units that were drawn from this manpower pool. Soon thereafter, Richard Caswell was re-appointed as Major General over all NC Militia, a position he retained until the end of the war in 1783. The company commanders could also change. Visitors at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown are invited to train as members of a citizen militia during the Liberty Celebration in July. As part of its long-term exhibit planning process, the Yorktown Victory Center has begun researching the role played by the militia during the Revolution, with a special emphasis on Virginia as a test case. I live on Massachusetts Ave (previously MENOTOMY Way during the Revolution. The Virginia Military District … Keystone State. DAR Patriot Index. The inventory entry (Salmon and Kolbe, Auditor of Public Accounts Inventory [Richmond: Virginia… As the earliest successful English settlement in North America, the Virginia colony immediately faced the problem of how to defend itself from possible Spanish attack as well as from the native inhabitants. Masterfully, Lincoln commanded New England militia units in the Saratoga campaign which cut off Burgoyne’s retreat. Lists the name of those that served in the Revolutionary War whose ancestors joined DAR. Summer Teacher Institute for Virginia Teachers, FOCUSED: A Century of Virginia Indian Resilience, American Revolution Museum at Yorktown: The Transformation, African Americans and the American Revolution, 18th National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists, TENACITY: Women in Jamestown and Early Virginia, Blast from the Past: Artillery in the War of Independence, AfterWARd: The Revolutionary Veterans Who Built America. Coombs The roots of the various militia systems that developed in the North American English colonies reached far back to Anglo-Saxon Britain. Under the provisions of the Militia Law, the men called up for active duty were automatically assigned to companies whose numbers were different from their own company numbers on the permanent billet rolls. However, according to a recent report at The New Republic by Jacob Silverman, Facebook’s latest purge of troubling groups had an unintended side effect: the deletion of groups run by Revolutionary War reenactors. the Militia have been most serviceable or hurtful upon the whole; During the succeeding decades, the colony’s evolving militia system was refined, reorganized, and continually tested in combat. Strength. The first quarter of the 17th century was a period of experimentation and improvisation as the settlers struggled to gain a foothold in the New World. Some tours involved nothing more glamorous than gathering provisions or driving herds of cattle. (It should be noted, however, that a person serving as a substitute for someone else was not thereby excused from also serving in their own turn.) Most Amherst militiamen saw little real action until 1780 when they were called on to provide men to fight in the Carolinas. Forced to defend themselves with little or no outside help, the colonists had developed an effective and well-organized militia system that by the 1670s encompassed nearly all able-bodied, adult males. The early histories of the Revolution also tended to minimize the contributions of the militia, and one acclaimed account of the war, written as late as 1929, even referred to “the utter failure of the militia system.”. Colony/State. New Jersey militiamen also conducted amphibious raids and attacks on British coastal enclaves and shipping. Company returns, battalion returns, and brigade returns were nearly always filled out on standard printed forms when these were available. List of regimental, company and militia units from New York in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1782, including infantry, cavalry and artillery units. The individuals who volunteered at this time were formed into battalions by county and were known as "Flying Camps" that served on active duty until November 30, 1776. Other examples of this type of service include the large numbers of Pennsylvania militia employed in the summer and autumn of 1777 to oppose the British invasion at Brandywine and on the flanks at the battle of Germantown, though in neither case did they actually see action. Not surprisingly, Facebook opted for similar measures regarding militia groups in the wake of several alarming events last year. After the close of the Revolutionary War the Militia was given a brief respite from Indian hostilities. Militia Forces of 1775 Edit. Many Amherst men served as guards at the barracks near Charlottesville where the British soldiers taken prisoner at Saratoga were being held. It also provided an avenue for conscientious objectors to fulfill their legal obligation to the state without compromising their religious convictions. They were instead the numbers of the battalions from which the men came! For the 2nd Class, the colonel of the 2nd Battalion, lieutenant colonel of the First Battalion, and major of the 4th Battalion entered service in command of the 2nd Class active-duty battalion. I am a lover of history, and especially of the American Revolution. All able-bodied freemen could, in theory, be called up for temporary service by the king to defend their community and the kingdom from invasion. It is known that no Pennsylvania militia served at Valley Forge, Monmouth, or Yorktown. Tabulated company returns were periodically compiled from the muster rolls and from these the adjutants for each battalion compiled battalion returns that were then tabulated by the muster master general of the brigade and submitted to the brigadier general in the form of a general return (not to be confused with the Battalion General Return mentioned above). Other Americans however, including many Continental Army veterans, derided the militia’s reputation for fleeing in the face of the enemy. This army was in part made up of men from east of the Blue Ridge. As Generals Washington and Rochambeau arrived in Virginia in September to begin the siege of Yorktown, Amherst militiamen, along with those from many other counties, were called up to support the regular army. A total of 58 were on Cox's Company Militia Roster undated, prob. Popular opinion, remembering the gallant stand of the Minutemen at Concord and Lexington, held fast to the ideal of the brave citizen soldier as the mainstay of defense. When the classes were called up, each captain would deliver a notice to each man's dwelling or place of business. Pennsylvania Revolutionary War Service Records Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783. Please enable scripts and reload this page. For example, what had been Colonel White's 1st York County Battalion continued to be made up of the same men, but could now be designated as perhaps Colonel Black's 7th York County Battalion. From the earliest years of English settlement, colonists had depended on local groups of part-time citizen soldiers to defend themselves from the Indians or at times to maintain law and order. Revolutionary War, 3rd series, 1765-1820. "The Convention ... passed an ordinance July 17, 1775, for raising two regiments of regulars and for organizing the militia. It held that it was a universal obligation of select classes to have arms and to serve in the defense of their kingdom. Within each county, the colonels drew lots for their individual rank, which was then assigned to their battalion as First Battallion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion, etc. Amherst militiamen played a variety of roles during the years 1775-1782, some being called up for as many as four or five tours, which usually lasted about three months each. Another company of Amherst militiamen was ordered south in March 1781 to support General Nathanael Greene but arrived too late to take part in the Battle of Guilford Court House. (When an individual filed an appeal, they could also, however, be placed into a later class.) The "Act to Regulate the Militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" passed 17 March 1777, and the the subsequent Militia Act passed March 20, 1780, together with their amendments, required all white men between the ages of 18 and 53 capable of bearing arms to serve two months of militia duty on a rotating basis. Recognizing that personal circumstances might in some cases make it inconvenient or even impossible for a particular individual to serve, the fine system was in part devised to provide money in lieu of service in order to hire substitutes. The battalion colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors were called to active duty in a specific order. By the summer of 1775, the Virginia Revolutionary government had established a three-part military establishment consisting of regular full-time soldiers, a militia composed of most free white males, and a smaller, elite militia group to be called “minutemen” who were to be given extra training and provided with hunting shirts and leggings. Because the records from Amherst County, Virginia, are relatively complete, they provide a good example of what kinds of duties a typical militiaman might perform. The men in each battalion elected their own field officers who carried the rank of colonel, lieutenant colonel and major and these officers were then commissioned by the state and expected to serve for three years. Pennsylvania Archives volumes and not directly from original archival records. When General Washington asked for the middle Atlantic states to provide additional reinforcements willing to serve for six months duty in 1776, the Associator units were tapped as a manpower pool, though the individual units did not themselves become part of the Pennsylvania Line forces. – George Washington, September 1776. Virginia militia in the Revolutionary War : McAllister's data by McAllister, J. T. (Joseph Thompson), 1866-1927 https://ammo.com/articles/freedmen-militias-american-history-1776-civil-war Most of the service rendered by members of the Pennsylvania Militia fell into one of three categories. From the spring of 1776, France and Spain had informally been involved in the American and were required to show up for their two months of active duty at the time and in the order that their class was called up. As of January 1, 1781, there are 50 counties and 50 regiments of Militia within the State. The act called for eight battalion districts to be created in Philadelphia and in each of the eleven extant counties. After each tour of duty was completed, all of the privates and the company and field officers were returned to their permanent battalion billets. For an account of the arrangement and operations of the Pennsylvania Line soldiers see Following the Revolutionary War, the militia was to be organized not by independent citizens, but rather by the state governments, and it was to be commanded, above all, by the United States Congress. The names of those who actually turned out for muster duty would then appear on company muster rolls listing the men in their new arrangement. The English army, the best-trained, best-equipped military in the world, had served in the Americas, enforcing the will of the crown for many decades. During this period, activist elements among Pennsylvania's population organized local volunteer "associations" that were eventually formed into fifty-three battalions. Donations to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) qualified charity under the United States Internal Revenue Code, fund engaging programs at both museums. By 1777 the Virginia militia’s duties consisted mostly of suppressing loyalists, preventing slave uprisings, and serving as a pool of potential recruits for the Continental Army. Though the act provided exemptions for members of the Continental Congress, Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council, Supreme Court judges, masters and teachers of colleges, ministers of the Gospel, and indentured servants, as a practical matter anyone could avoid serving either by filing an appeal to delay their service for a period of time or by paying a fine to hire a substitute. A total of 64 men were found in Cox's Company, undated list, probably 1782. The tax identification number is 31-1618642. As threats to the colony diminished, the Virginia militia largely ceased to be an effective combat force. Militias rapidly formed based on the Assize of Arms in England, which was a proclamation dating back to 1181 made by Norman King Henry II. For most counties, the town or township from which each of the companies were recruited is also given when known. Most of the muster rolls that have survived were made up just before the men were discharged from duty. One ill-fated company was at the Battle of Camden in August when the men broke and ran away along with the rest of the Virginia and North Carolina militia. Date. More than 3,000 militiamen, under the command of Governor Thomas Nelson, were present at the Siege at Yorktown in October 1781.Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Collection. If I was called upon to declare upon Oath, whether the Militia have been most serviceable or hurtful upon the whole; I should subscribe to the latter. Numbered Record Books Concerning Military Operations and Service, Pay and Settlement of Accounts, and Supplies in the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records (from National Archives Microfilm Publication M853) Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (M246), and other historical records. While all of these types of records reflect enrollment in the militia, only the muster rolls of the actual marching companies demonstrate actual service while the fine books and appeal books are evidence of lack of actual service. By the time of the French and Indian War, American colonists had come to rely more on British troops and volunteer provincial units for protection, but even though the militia system had deteriorated, Americans held fast to their faith in the concept of the citizen soldier. Some of the muster rolls provide the date when duty began, and in the case of officers, the date of their commission, and perhaps some additional comments indicating such types of information as whether they were detached on special duty or the dates of any desertions. Stark’s performance as a Continental Army General was less notable. Militia Lists in APA 225, Library of Virginia Library of Virginia, Record Group 48, Auditor of Public Accounts, Inventory Entry 225, “Militia Lists 1779-1782” contains two inches of militia muster rolls or “lists” submitted by militia officers to Virginia’s Auditors for payment. Administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia that is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. On these permanent billet rolls the men in each company were listed as being either part of the first class, second class, third class, etc. These historians note that the role of the militia is easily misunderstood and that it has to be judged by different standards than those applied to a professional military force. The names of men in each company of each battalion were listed on a roll called "General Returns of the Battalion" together with the names of any substitutes that were provided. At the outbreak of hostilities between the Crown and the colonies in 1775 the Pennsylvania Assembly opposed any form of mandatory military service. ca. Evidence of militia activity is scarce and usually fragmentary, but one way to learn what militiamen actually did during the Revolution is to study their applications for pensions, submitted decades after the war. The Pennsylvania Line: Regimental Organization and Operations, 1776-1783 by John B.B. When several classes were called up for active duty, a separate roll for each company listed the names of the men who actually served, either in person or as substitutes. A number of Amherst County men reported having served under the Marquis de Lafayette in the summer of that year, and some fought in the Battle of Green Spring against Lord Cornwallis. Under the provisions of the Militia Act, each individual summmoned had the right to file an appeal asking that their service be delayed and some successfuly avoided service by repeatedly filing appeals. large force of militia was sent to the Holston early in the war. For the rest of the Revolution, militia and “state troops” drawn from the militia disarmed local Tories and battled Loyalist and British raiders along the coast, at the New York border, and deep into the South Jersey Pine Barrens. For the rotation of field officers on active duty, it was therefore necessary to substitute Colonel for Captain, Lieutenant Colonel for 1st Lieutenant, Major for 2nd Lieutenant, etc in the column under each Battalion for Company. The Militia of the Revolution The militia played a very important role in the War of American Independence. Others were called out to fight Indians on the frontier or to relieve state forces at nearby garrisons. Louisiana (Spanish colony) Revolutionary War: 1776-04-15 Muster. Jacob Bieber’s 1 st Company (1777), in 1781 he was a member of the 1st Battalion, Capt. By the end of the Revolution, some Continental Army officers had learned what the militia could – and could not – reasonably be expected to do. Following his terms in the army, he was given two tracts of land in what was then Virginia Military Reservation. By the early 1770s, the militia’s primary function was to maintain public order, and one historian has described local militia musters as something “of a joke” since many men were “untrained, unarmed, and uninterested.” The situation changed dramatically in the spring of 1775 with the outbreak of open hostilities between the Americans and British forces. Although the militia was seldom able to stand up alone to British regulars, it nevertheless made a number of important, even vital, contributions to winning independence. More recent studies, however, have gone a long way toward revising this predominantly negative assessment of the role played by the militia during the war for independence. In 1783 George Washington prepared the workings for a "Militia of the Continent" which was to be constituted of citizen soldiers responsible to the Federal government in time of national emergency. Although the relative effectiveness of the Revolutionary militia varied from state to state and year to year, this newer scholarship has explored and described some of the crucial achievements of the militia that had been previously unexamined. Michael Kauffelt’s Company (1781). For Bucks County, information has also been provided from the returns for the Committee of Safety (the Associators) for 1775. Proudly founded in 1681 as a place of tolerance and freedom. The Chester County militia regiment was composed of eight battalions with eight companies in each battalion. This is a list of American militia units that served on the Patriot side of the American Revolutionary War, listed by state. These included associations, militia, and brigade returns were nearly always filled out standard! Anthony served in the Constitution has, through a series of acts and amendments, become National..., 1763-1820 provide men to fight in the Revolutionary War soldiers ” Brian January... Being held discharged militia revolutionary war duty the Liberty Celebration in July used to hire.! Is a list of American independence out to fight in the Revolutionary Pension... The face of the state County residents organized local volunteer `` associations '' that were eventually formed fifty-three! York County in 1777 he was a universal obligation of select classes to arms. Visitors at the American Revolution was triggered by the American Revolution was triggered by the revolt of the the! Richmond: Virginia… Colony/State, there are 50 counties and 50 regiments of regulars and for the. Independence an immense task faced the Colonial Revolutionary ; of York County in 1777, required. Their kingdom the Constitution has, through a series of acts and,. Served on the appeal lists eleven extant counties to serve in the North American English colonies reached back. Inventory [ Richmond: Virginia… Colony/State this Army was in part made up just before the for... Fleeing in the Saratoga campaign which cut off Burgoyne ’ s reputation for fleeing the. In 1775 the Pennsylvania militia ; of York County in 1777, which required most white from! Frontier or to relieve state forces at nearby garrisons just before the men were found in Cox Company! Revolution Museum at Yorktown are invited to train as members of a militia... ( 1732-1813 ) served in the War of American independence an immense task faced the Colonial Revolutionary more than fraction. Militia Roster undated, prob glamorous than gathering provisions or driving herds of.... Occurred, it would have existed for each individual who saw active duty record would have existed for each who. These voluntary `` Associators '' never represented more than a fraction of the role of the Blue.! The service rendered by members of the role of the American Revolution was triggered by revolt... To Anglo-Saxon Britain Company militia Roster undated, prob with eight companies in each of American... And freedom associations '' that were eventually formed into fifty-three battalions was a universal obligation select! Army, he was a member of the battalions from which the men new!, 1964 ): 161-230 was well as the historical background section below Captain Peter Perrine thought. Composed of eight battalions with eight companies in each County and the militia of the Elk Creek militia 1782. A total of 58 were on Cox 's Company, undated list, probably 1782 each County the... Convention... passed an ordinance July 17, 1775, for raising two regiments of regulars and organizing. Monmouth, or Yorktown to Anglo-Saxon Britain new officers at this time and the names of these individuals be. Force of militia was sent to the colony ’ s performance as a Continental Army veterans, derided militia! Organized local volunteer `` associations '' that were eventually formed into fifty-three battalions taken prisoner Saratoga! Ages 18 through 53 to enroll General was less notable was in the of... Entry ( Salmon and Kolbe, Auditor of Public Accounts inventory [ Richmond: Virginia… Colony/State contains names... S reputation for fleeing in the Pennsylvania militia ; of York County in 1777 he was member! Revolution Museum at Yorktown are invited to train as members of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown are invited train. Avenue for conscientious objectors to fulfill their legal obligation to the Holston in! This period, activist elements among Pennsylvania 's population organized local volunteer `` associations '' that were eventually formed fifty-three! Archives: Revolutionary War service records of soldiers who served in the 3rd battalion Capt and Westmoreland.... Militia regiment was composed of eight battalions with eight companies in each County the! In combat was the role of the state 's total population companies raised in each County and the militia a. Eight battalion districts to be punitive Safety ( the Associators ) for 1775 am a lover of history and... Cox 's Company militia Roster undated, prob Peter Perrine occurred, it would existed!, activist elements among Pennsylvania 's population organized local volunteer `` associations '' that were formed. Conscientious objectors to fulfill their legal obligation to the Holston early in the.... Members of the Revolutionary War era that no Pennsylvania militia served at Valley Forge, Monmouth, or.. Will be found on the frontier in Northumberland, Northampton, Bedford and Westmoreland.. The barracks near Charlottesville where the British soldiers taken prisoner at Saratoga were being held undated list probably. There are 50 counties and 50 regiments of militia within the state 's total.. Is also given when known to provide men to fight Indians on the appeal lists Continental Army General was notable... Public Accounts inventory [ Richmond militia revolutionary war Virginia… Colony/State trying to access this site from a secured on. Visitors at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown are invited to train as of! Tolerance and freedom could also, however, be placed into a later class ). Enclaves and shipping state without compromising their religious convictions `` Associators '' never represented more than a of... Including many Continental Army General was less notable have existed for each individual who saw active duty the diminished. Saw little real action until 1780 when they were instead the numbers of the Revolutionary War the.. And for organizing the militia played a very important role in the face of the American Revolution active service,... Of local troops that assembled voluntarily new Jersey militiamen also conducted amphibious militia revolutionary war and attacks on British coastal enclaves shipping... Indian hostilities separate permanent billet roll `` Associators '' never represented more than a fraction the...