USA > Virginia > List of the revolutionary soldiers of Virginia, supplement : special report of the Department of Archives and History for 1912 > Part 1
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Gc 975.5 V81st 9th 1912 1823730
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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GO
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01755 8427
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VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY
List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia
(Supplement)
Special Report of the Department of Archives and History for 1912 H. J. ECKENRODE, Archivist
RICHMOND: DAVIS BOTTOM, SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC PRINTING
1913
1823730 List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia PART 2
Preface
The first part of the List of Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia was printed in the report of the Virginia State Library for the year ending October 31, 1911. It included between thirty-five and thirty-six thousand en- tries, which, when it is taken into consideration that separate individuals are very often included under the same entry, may perhaps represent about that number of men, although of this there can be no certainty. The present and second part of the work contains about 18,300 entries, including about 8,500 names not given in the first.
This first list was drawn almost entirely from the sources in the library, manuscript and printed, and gave the names of the greater part of the Conti- nental and State lines, together with those of many militiamen. The present report differs from the other in that it is chiefly made up of names taken from the Continental rolls in the War Department in Washington, although several thousand other names, drawn from many sources, have been added.
When the first list was being prepared, the authorities of the War Depart- ment steadily refused permission to representatives of the Virginia State Library to copy the rolls preserved by the department. Had this permission been granted, the necessity of making the present list would have been obviated. However, very soon after the first list was printed, the policy of the War Department in reference to allowing historical students access to muster and payrolls underwent a change. As soon as a room could be pro- vided by the War Department, the work of copying the Virginia Revolutionary rolls was begun.
The lists were photographed by the photostat method and then indexed in this library. These photograph lists comprise the payrolls of the fifteen regi- ments of the Virginia Continental line, the first and second regiments of the State line, sent on to complete the quota of Continental troops, and the com. pany rolls of a few other Continental organizations. A number of other Conti- nental commands were made up for the most part in Virginia, but since they also included a proportion from other States it is impossible to identify the men as Virginians in many cases, and so they cannot be included. It is be- lieved, however, that comparatively few men from Virginia who served in the Continental army have been omitted.
The first report afforded the opportunity to re-examine the great mass of varying and nondescript material from which the names were drawn with a basis of comparison. One of the great difficulties in the completion of the work lay in the number of copies or duplicates of the same lists, which, ap - pearing in various places, written or printed, would have supplied reference+
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REPORT OF THE STATE LIBRARIAN.
indefinitely, if included, without contributing much information. It was neces- sary to examine such duplicates, however, to discover the occasional new names they contained; but no list of Virginia soldiers of the Revolution suffi- ciently inclusive for this purpose existed until the publication of the report of last year. With this work in hand the scattered and fragmentary material in this library containing names of Revolutionary soldiers has been gone over again, with the result that a good many new names are added in the present report. In this connection, the bibliography of material on the Virginia Rev- lutionary Soldiers published by Willard O. Waters and Charles A. Flagg in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography has been found very useful. Other sources, chiefly printed, not examined before and in some cases recently published, have yielded names. Many entries represent names which were printed before; but the references furnish new information, such as the soldier's place of residence or his term of service, thus transforming mere names into men with careers.
The question of the variegated spelling of names, so troublesome in the former report, is quite as much so in the present, but the company rolls from the War Department, being connected and comparatively complete, make it possible to present these variations along with the usually accepted forms, thereby escaping the unpleasantness of padding. Advocates of true phonetic spelling might have their faith shaken by an examination of these lists of names, which are customarily spelled phonetically, with an apparent disregard for anything but the moment's sound. Thus the officers, changing from time to time, changed the spelling of their rolls, and the same officers frequently wrote names in different lists in several different ways. The phonetic rale approaches its utmost development in the case of names such as Harris Brown, which is reproduced as "Arris" and "Arries," and, beyond doubt, represents a fine cockney accent.
With this large additional list of Virginia soldiers, an estimate of the total number of men furnished by the State is in order, although such an estimate must, in any case and with all the information that can possibly come to light, be little more than roughly approximate. Heitman, in his final estimate of the total number of American troops in the Revolutionary War, gives 250,000. Taught by experience of the excessive reduplication of names of soldiers, I regard this estimate as the maximum, and think that the truth lies between 250,000 and 225,000. I can think of no better basis of estimating the number of Virginia soldiers than by the entries in the two lists, which would give about 35,000 for the first list and 8,500 for the second, or a total of 44,000, exclusive of most of the militia. Few names of militia have been recovered, although it is well known that many thousands saw service first and last. Estimating the militia at 10,000, which is a very moderate count, I would say that about 54,000 men served in the war from Virginia, or between one-fifth and one-fourth of the entire number in service. This estimate is only approximate, and may be changed by later evidence, bat I do not think that it is over the mark, rather perhaps somewhat under. How these figures would compare with those of Massachusetts I am unable to say, since I have not studied the Massachusetts records, but it is evident that Heitman's first estimate of 87.907 for Massachusetts is too large, because
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REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF VIRGINIA.
based on a total of 376,771 for all the States. The reduction of this total to his final estimate of 250,000 would necessitate a proportionate reduction in the quotas of the different States. At the same time, by any process of figuring, the contributions of both Virginia and Massachusetts to the Revolu- tionary armies would remain large. An estimate of fifty-odd thousand men for Virginia, with a population of half a million, is conservative, especially when it is taken into consideration that there were few Tories in Virginia and consequently no section of population hostile to the Revolution. In Georgia, the Carolinas, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania strong loyalist par- ties existed, which greatly reduced the contributions of men to the American service. In Massachusetts, as in Virginia, there was no considerable Tory party, and the population was largo; therefore, the State's quota of soldiers would be correspondingly large. The other New England States must have contributed largely in comparison with their populations, and also Maryland, where no Tory party of size existed, and whose troops won an enviable fame. The population of Delaware was too small to furnish a large quota.
The major portion of the work is now completed, but the third and con- cluding part of this triology remains to be given to the public. Whether it can ever be completed is uncertain; yet I prefer to hope that the missing militia lists will turn up some day and thus enable us to finish, so far as such a labor of studying fragmentary and half-destroyed records can be finished, the list of Revolutionary soldiers of Virginia.
That large numbers of militia were called into the field in 1780 and 1781 the evidence clearly shows. Virginia was invaded by the British in the fall of 1780, again in the last of December 1780, and suffered an occupation by British forces all through the year 1781. Besides the militia called out for local defense, considerable numbers were sent South in 1780 to reinforce Gates, and later in 1780 and in 1781 , to aid Greene. Governor Jefferson, writing on July 27, 1780, said: "The Assembly, which met in May of the present year passed an act for sending 2,500 militia into the field, which has been carried into execution: and another for raising by way of draught one-fifteenth of the whole number of our militia, which after all probable deductions they count as upon three thousand men."' In September, 1780, after the battle of Cam- den, Jefferson called out 2,000 militia from the piedmont and mountain see- tions to recruit the new army which Gates was attempting to form in North Carolina. About four hundred regular recruits had been sent from the camp at Chesterfield Courthouse, and one hundred or one hundred and fifty were still there.2 On September 23, 1780, Jefferson reported to Washington that the militia and regulars ordered from Virginia to the Southern army num- bered 7,000, of whom he trusted that 5,500 might be counted upon to go.3
In October, 1780, with Virginia invaded by Leslie, it became necessary for the government to raise further forces. A part of the levies intended for the South was diverted to meet the new danger, while additional militia took the field. Muhlenburg and Thomas Nelson busied themselves in organizing the motley assembly of raw militia into something like a military force. The number of men who responded to the calls for recruits for the Southern ser- vice anl to oppose Leslie's invasion cannot be ascertalned in view of the fact
'Jefferyon's Works ( Ford) 2, 324. Idem, 2, 332. 3Idem, 2, 344.
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REPORT OF THE STATE LIBRARIAN.
that a considerable number in the camps failed to see actual duty. Jefferson reported that Steuben had rejected many of the recruits for the Continental service because of unfitness, and none of the calls for militia brought out the number of men asked for. For the projected expedition against Detroit Jef- ferson ordered out 2,000 militia from Fayette, Lincoln, Jefferson, Ohio, Monon- galia, Hampshire, Berkeley, Frederick, and Greenbrier counties, but only a few obeyed and the expedition fell through.
In the first part of the List of Revolutionary Soldiers the total number of Virginia troops in service in 1781 is estimated at 10,000 men. This estimate probably falls somewhat short of the mark. Arnold's invasion at the first of the year brought a considerable body of militia into service. Jefferson, in his diary for January 7, 1781, notes that Gibson had 1,000 men; Steuben, 800; Davis [Davies] and Nelson, 450. About one thousand men, the force under Steuben, gathered at Richmond, soon after Arnold's raid on the place. The whole number of militia summoned from twenty-four counties was 4,650, but this force was not raised On January 11, 1781, Steuben wrote that he had about 800 men, Nelson 400, Weedon 350, and 560 others were marching to join him.4 Steuben marched, on January 13, with 700 militia to Cabin Point. Two days later he received a reinforcement of four hundred men. As it was decided not to attack Arnold at Portsmouth at this time, retaining forces were posted in that neighborhood. Parker, with the Suffolk militia, Lawson, with 900 infantry and a troop of State horse, Muhlenburg, with 800 infantry and Armand's cavalry, and Nelson, with 1,000 infantry and some volunteer horse, performed this duty.5 Jefferson reported on January 18, 1781: "We have 3,700 militia embodied, but at present they are divided into three distant encamp- ments. One under General Weedon at Fredericksburg for the protection of the important works there; another under General Nelson at and near Wil- liamsburg; and a third under Baron Steuben at Cabbin Point."" Later on Steuben seems to have reduced this force to 2,700, sending the remainder home. In February, 1781, Jefferson ordered out 700 riflemen from Washington, Mont- gomery, and Bedford, and 500 militia from Pittsylvania and Henry for the purpose of reinforcing Greene, together with 500 of the levies which had been drilling for some time at Chesterfield Courthouse.' In addition, the governor summoned all the militia of Cumberland, Powhatan, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Amelia, Lunenburg, and Brunswick, for which arms could be found, to oppose Cornwallis' advance from North Carolina into Virginia. The Prince Edward militia had already been brought out by the local authorities, and Mecklen- burg, Charlotte and Halifax were not called on because Jefferson supposed that their militia would take the field before orders from Richmond could reach them. He wrote to Samuel Huntington, on February 26, 1781: "I gave you information in my last letter that General Green had crossed the dam at Boyd's Ferry and that Lord Cornwallis had arrived at the opposite shore: Large re-enforcements of militia having embodied both in front and rear of the enemy he is retreating with as much rapidity as he advanced." Besides the militia of the southern counties, drafts upon the uninvaded portion of the State brought men into the field, who, it was hoped, might provide a more
'Sparks' Revolutionary Correspondence, 111, 203. 'Life of Steuben, 379.
"Jefferson's Works, 2, 126.
"Idem, 458. 'Idem, 2, 247.
REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF VIRGINIA.
permanent and efficient force. Jefferson encouraged the hard pressed North Carolinians in March, 1781, with the assurance that these levies would be sent to their assistance. "Militia," he said, "do well for hasty enterprises, but cannot be relied on for lengthy service and out of their own county."'
Greene received considerable militia reinforcements from Virginia. Jef- ferson wrote Huntington on March 8, 1781: "Having desired Major Magill to be particular in informing me what corps of militia from this State joined General Green, he accordingly mentions that 700 under General Stevens and 400 from Botetourt had actually joined General Green, that Colo. Campbell was to join him that day with 600 and that Colo. Lynch with 300 from Bedford were shortly expected; the last three numbers being riflemen. ,Besides these mentioned by Major Magill, General Lawson must before that time have crossed the Roanoke with a body of militia, the number of which has not been stated me. Report makes them 1,000, but I suppose the number to be exagger- ated. Four hundred of our new levies left Chesterfield Courthouse on the 25th february and probably would cross the Roanoke about the first or second of March."10
Jefferson further proposed to send 4.000 Virginians against the British force at Portsmouth, together with a thousand North Carolinians, but the militia from the eastern counties, relied upon for this duty, failed to respond in sufficient numbers for an effective attack, a delinquency caused, according to Steuben, by a report that they would be called upon to storm the British works. Jefferson summoned 3,221 men from Loudoun, Fauquier, Prince Wil- liam, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Fairfax, New Kent, Charles City, Prince George, Surry, Sussex, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Hanover, Caroline, Spotsylvania, and King William; what part of them appeared in obedience to orders is uncertain. Even more strenuous demands upon the counties fol- lowed Cornwallis' invasion of the State in April, 1781. The government or- dered Chesterfield, Prince George, Dinwiddie, Powhatan, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Amelia, and Cumberland militia to assemble at Richmond and Peters- burg. On April 24, 1781, Jefferson informed Steuben that "There are here (Richmond ) about 200 Militia armed and 300 unarmed, at Manchester there is I am told a larger number armed, but of this I have no proper information ' A few days later other forces had reached Richmond. The militia at Peters- burg, under Steuben's conmand, fought an engagement with the advancing British which showed the effect of even a brief and mnost imperfect training. "They [British] marched up to Petersburg where they were received by Major-Gen. Baron Steuben with a body of militia somewhat under 1,000 who tho' the enemy were 2,300 strong, disputed the ground very handsomely two hours during which time the Enemy gained only one mile, and that by inches."12 Shortly afterwards Lafayette reached Richmond with a Continental detachment, which, with militia reinforcements, was formidable enough to save the town from attack. The junction of the two British forces in Vir- ginia renewed the crisis, however, and Jefferson was obliged to continue his almost incessant demands for men. How many answered these calls cannet be definitely determined, but they must have been a considerable number.
"Jefferson's Works, 2, 480. 10]dem 2, 487.
"Idem, 3, 23. 12Idem, 3, 32.
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REPORT OF THE STATE LIBRARIAN.
"From Hampshire and Shenandoah we expected many riflemen. From Berke- ley and Frederick some, and a few from Culpeper, Orange, Loudoun and Fauquier but what number may be expected I cannot even conjecture." 13 On May 28, 1781, Jefferson wrote Washington that Lafayette had a command of 3,000 regulars and militia.
Thomas Nelson, who succeeded Jefferson as governor in June, 1781, made even more energetic efforts to call out men. On June 26, 1781, he demanded from the county lieutenants of Frederick, Berkeley, Hampshire and Shenan- doah two-thirds of their militia:" also from the county lieutenants of Rock- ingham, Augusta, Pittsylvania, Henry, Rockbridge, Botetourt, Albemarle and Amherst, one-half of their forces. Quotas were further requested from Lou- doun, Fauquier, Spotsylvania and Orange, and at the same time Daniel Morgan busied himself in gathering volunteers to reinforce Lafayette. In August the marquis demanded further militia reinforcements, and counties from which there was a possibility of obtaining recruits received orders to send all of their men who could be armed. Nelson succeeded in getting a considerable force into the field in the early fall, taking the command of it in person and con- tinuing therein until the surrender at Yorktown.
At the same time that large numbers of militia were called into actuar service for a considerable period, the militia along Chesapeake Bay continually performed short services, guarding the shores against British privateers and occasionally fighting skirmishes with them, while in some cases the militia of other counties was called out to quell disturbances amounting almost to insurrections. Lastly, not only were militia needed to oppose the British and keep order in the State, but quotas were also dispatched, even in the darkest days of 1781, to reinforce Greene in the South.
All these various forces make up a considerable number of men in ser- vice, but few of the names are found in the regular records, which were ill- kept at the best and which have suffered considerable losses at different times. But since the militiamen in actual service received pay, the lists must have been in existence once; whether they are lost or still exist in some out-of-the- way corner I cannot say. If yet existent, they will some day furnish the material for the completion of this work.
Even without the militia lists, however, names will be added from time to time until a good many more will have been recovered. The county records contain names; others will appear in new publications; and names and valu- able information concerning men who are now nothing but names will come to light when the pension records of the Federal government are edited.
Gradually, I think, such deficiencies as still exist in the records will be filled, until we shall come to know the names of nearly all the men from Virginia who performed service of any length in the Revolutionary War.
The general form of the first part of the List of Revolutionary Soldiers has been preserved in the second. The names of officers are repeated with different ranks, because there are instances of several officers of the same name found in two or more grades of service. When the soldier's county is known a separate entry is made. The names obtained from the War Department rolls are kept separate from names given in other sources, partly because
1ªJefferson's Works, 3, 39.
HL.etter Book, 1781, p. 43.
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REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS OF VIRGINIA.
names found elsewhere are apt to refer to different men and also in order to make a reference to the War Department entries easier. The references "1 V. R.," etc., are to the Virginia regiments in the Continental line, while those marked "1 V. S. R." and "2 V. S. R." are to the two regiments of the Virginia State line serving in the Continental army.
The preparation of so extensive a work in a short space of time would not have been possible without a considerable and efficient force. I take this occasion to acknowledge my indebtedness to Miss Edmonia Blair Martin, Miss Virginia Jones, Miss Rose Goode and Miss Ethel I. Nolin, members of the staff of the Virginia State Library, and to Miss Mary L. Garland and Mrs. H. L. Goode, special assistants in this work.
The following are the references used in this work:
A. A. 5th Ser. v. 2: American Archives, 5th Series, volume 2, Washington. 1851.
Acct. Bk. 1776: Account Book of 1776. (Ms.)
A. D. Acct. Bk. 1784: Andrew Dunscomb's Account Book. (Ms.)
A. Pris. Rev .: American Prisoners of the Revolution. Charlottesville, 1911.
Aud. Acct. XXXI: Auditor's Accounts, vol. 31. One of a series of Ma. volumes indexed in the first report and containing duplicate lists, with some new names.
Aug. Rec. v. I: Abstracts from the Records of Augusta County, Virginita, vol. 1, 1912.
B. W. A .- D. 1831: Ms. list found in the land bounty applications of 1331 Cal. S. P .: Calendar of Virginia Sta.e Papers, first three volumes.
Def. Upper O .: Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio. Madison, 1912.
Doc. F .: Document F. (Ms.)
Force Transcripts: Ms. volumes in the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
H .: Ms. volume.
HI. Doc. 34, 15 Cong .: House Document No. 34, Fifteenth Congress.
Hist. Frederick Co .: History of Frederick County, "Shenandoah Valley Ploneers and Their Descendants."
Hist. Monongalia: History of Monongalia County.
Hist. Orange Co .: History of Orange County. Richmond, 1907.
Hist. Rockingham: History of Rockingham county. Dayton, 1912.
Hist. Shepherdstown. Historie Shepherdstown. Charlottesville, 1910
I. P., D. 250: Illinois Papers, D. 250. One of the series of papers giving lists of soldiers in the Illinois country and indexed in the first list.
Life H. Mercer: The Life of General Hugh Mercer. New York, 1906.
L. N. C. V. A .: Lower Norfolk County Virginia Antiquary.
L. O. B .: General Andrew Lewis' Orderly Book. Richmond, 1860.
M. L. W. Bk .: Military Land Warrant Books, three Ms. volumes in the State Land Office.
N. 2: Navy, vol. 2. A Ms. volume of a series dealing with the Revvin- tionary Navy of Virginia.
O. Bk. 4 Va. R .: Orderly Book of the Fourth Virginia Regiment.
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REPORT OF THE STATE LIBRARIAN.
Pa. Mag .: Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography.
Rev. Army: Revolutionary Army. Four volumes of miscellaneous Ms. matter concerning the Revolution.
Rev. Upper O .: The Revolution on the Upper Ohio. Madison, 1908. Scotch-Irish: The Scotch-Irish in America. New York, 1902.
Soc. Cin. Papers: Papers of the Society of the Cincinnati. Three boxes of loose Mss.
S. of W. 1820, Doc. 55: Secretary of War's Report for 1820.
S. of W. 1835, Pen. 1, 2 and 3: Secretary of War's Report for 1835, Pension Rolls. Names of soldiers serving in Virginia commands taken from the pension lists of other States.
Va. Mag .: Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 19 v.
Va. Co. R .: Virginia County Records.
Walton, vol. 2, ap .: The Army and Navy of the United States, by William Walton, vol. 2, appendix. Boston, 1890-95.
War 33: Volume 33 of the series of Ms. volumes known as "War" and indexed in the previous list.
W. D .: War Department. Photographs of the payrolls of the Virginia Continental line, referred to by folders (353 folders).
Win .: Winchester Account Book. ( Ms.)
W. O. Bk .: Valley Forge Orderly Book of General George Weedon. 1777-8. New York, 1997.
H. J. ECKENRODE
Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia
A.
Aairs, Henry (1 V. S. R.), W. D. 27, 7. Aaron, William (10 V. R.), W. D. 206, 1.
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