USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta county, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 > Part 27
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At a special term of the County Court of Augusta, held December 18, 1776, Mary Wolfinger was tried for felony, and being found guilty agreed to receive corporal punishment, rather than go to Williams- burg for final trial before the General Court. Thereupon, she was sentenced to receive " twenty lashes on her bare back, well laid on, at the public whipping post."-But her husband appeared before the Court, and acknowledged himself " the capital on the offence whereof she is convicted," and asked that he might be punished instead of his wife, and the Court so ordered.
It is impossible to obtain any list or particular account of troops furnished by Augusta county during the Revolutionary war, and the names of only a few comparatively of the soldiers have escaped oblivion. As a general fact, we know that most of the younger men of the county were in the military service. One of them, William Mc- Cutchen, of Bethel neighborhood, who survived to a good old age,
* Afterwards, the free male inhabitants were required to swear allegiance to the State, and commissioners were appointed by the Court to administer the oath.
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served three "tours " in the army. The first and longest was in New Jersey, when he was so young that the recruiting officer doubted about admitting him into the ranks. The second term of service was on the invasion of Virginia by Cornwallis, and the third was at York- town. Dismissed to return home from the Jerseys, after his time of service had expired, he received his wages in Continental money. "Soon after leaving camp, a landlord, supposed not favorable to tlie cause, refused him and his companion a meal of victuals for less than five dollars apiece in paper currency. The next landlord demanded two-and-a-lıalf dollars. They determined to travel as far as possible in a day, and to eat but one meal. In all the places along the road where they called for refreshments they were asked, 'Can you pay for it ?' and 'In what can you pay for it?' In Winchester, where they purchased their last meal, the landlord took but half price of them, as they were soldiers-the first time any allowance was made in their favor-and charged only a dollar and a half. A week's wages would not pay their expenses, traveling on foot, a single day."-[Foote's Sketches, Second Series, page 206.] The paper currency depreciated so greatly that it was finally called in, and funded at the rate of one for a thousand .- Hening's introduction to Volume II.]
The regnlar army was recruited by bounties, by volunteers, and by drafts from the militia. For the assistance of North and South Carolina, as well as to repel the invasion of Virginia, the whole body of the militia might be called out, as provided by act of the Legisla- ture.
The general officers were appointed by the Continental Congress ; and early in the war Andrew Lewis was appointed a brigadier-general. It is said that Washington recommended Andrew Lewis for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental armies. He commanded at Williamsburg early in 1776, and in July drove Dunmore from Gwynn's Island. It seems there was no opportunity for the display of the mili- tary talent universally attributed to him. He died during the war, in 1781 .*
From various ordinances of Convention and acts of Assembly, printed in Hening's Statutes at Large, we learn how the State raised her quota of troops, and incidentally what troops, or companies, Au-
* General Lewis' wife was a Miss Givens, of Augusta. His sons were John, Samuel, Thomas, Andrew and William. John was captain of a Botetourt com- pany at the battle of Point Pleasant. Samuel was a lieutenant-colonel in 1781. The death of General Lewis occurred at Colonel Buford's, eastern base of the Blue Ridge. He was buried ou his estate called " Dropmore," near Salem, Roan - oke county.
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gusta furnished. We, therefore, give a synopsis of the ordinances and acts referred to.
The Convention, which managed affairs in Virginia from the time the old system of government disappeared till the adoption of the first Constitution of the State, in 1776, passed an ordinance July 17, 1775, for raising two regiments of regulars, and for organizing the militia. The first regiment was to consist of 544 rank and file, with a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, 8 captains, 16 lieutenants, and 8 ensigns ; and the second of 476 rank and file, with seven companies and cor- responding officers. The field officers were appointed by the Conven- tion,-Patrick Henry to command the first regiment, William Wood- ford* the second. The companies were to consist of 68 men each, to be enlisted in districts, and to serve one year. The companies raised in the district composed of Augusta etc., to be "expert riflemen." The company officers were appointed by the members of the Conven- tion from the district.
The whole State was divided into military districts, and the militia were ordered to be embodied as minute-men. The counties of Buck- ingham, Amherst, Albemarle and Angusta constituted one district. Each district was to raise a battalion of 500 men, rank and file, from the age of 16 to that of 50, to be divided into ten companies of 50 men each. The officers were to be appointed by committees selected by the various county committees. The battalion was required to be kept in training at some convenient place for twelve days, twice a year ; and the several companies to be minstered four days in each month, except December, January and February, in their respective counties.
Every man so enlisted was required to "furnish himself with a good rifle, if to be had, otherwise with a tomahawk, common firelock, bayonet, pouch, or cartouch box, and three charges of powder and ball." Upon affidavit that the minute-man was not able to furnish his arms etc., they were to be supplied at public expense. The officers were required to equip themselves, and officers and men were liable to a fine for failure in this respect.
For the only account of any proceedings under the ordinances passed by the State Convention in July, 1775, providing for the or- ganization of "minute men," we are indebted to the " Gilmer Papers," issued in 1887 by the Virginia Historical Society. Com-
* Colonel Woodford was born in Caroline county ; served in the French and Indian wars, commanded at the battle of Great Bridge, December 9, 1775 ; was promoted Brig. General and participated in various battles ; wounded at Brandy- wine ; made prisoner in 1780, at siege of Charleston ; taken to New York, and died there, Nov. 13, 1780, aged 45.
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missioners from the counties of Buckingham, Amherst, Albemarle and Angusta, composing a district, met on the 8th of September, 1775, at the house of James Woods, in Amherst, now Nelson. The commis- sioners from Augusta were Sampson Mathews, Alexander McClanahan and Samuel McDowell. It was resolved that Augusta furnish four companies of fifty men each, and that each of the other counties furnish two companies, making the total of ten companies and five hundred men required by the ordinance. George Mathews, of Au- gusta, was chosen colonel ; Charles Lewis, of Albemarle, lieutenant- colonel ; David Gaines, major ; and Thomas Patterson (or Patteson, doubtless, of Buckingham), "commissary of masters."
The officers appointed for the Augusta companies were as follows:
Ist. Benjamin Harrison, captain ; Henry Evans, lieutenant ; and Curord Custard, ensign.
2d. Daniel Stephenson, captain ; John McMahon, lieutenant ; and Samuel Henderson, ensign.
3d. Alexander Loug, captain ; James Sayres, lieutenant ; and John Buchanan, ensign.
4th. William Lyle, Jr., lieutenant ; and Willian Moore, ensign. The captain of this company was not named.
The first company was evidently intended to be raised in the northern part of the county, now Rockingham, and the fourth in the southern part, 110w Rockbridge.
The regiment was required to meet on the east side of the Blue Ridge, at a point to be designated by the colonel, within three miles of Rockfish Gap.
As far as we have learned, no other proceedings were taken in pursuance of the ordinance, and probably the regiment never mustered. In December following, an ordinance was passed for raising seven regiments of regulars, in addition to the First and Second, and George Mathews was then appointed by the Convention lieutenaut-colonel of the Ninth. The latter ordinance superseded the former, which pro- posed merely a militia organization.
The ordinance of July, 1775, also called for two regiments of regulars, the First and Second, and the district commissioners, at their meeting in September, designated the officers for two companies. Among them was Thomas Hughes, but whether captain or lieutenant it is impossible to tell from Dr. Gilmer's memorandum. William Robertson, of Augusta, was chosen a lieutenant ..
Lieutenant Robertson entered the service in 1775, and was at the battles of Great Bridge, Brandywine and Germantown. Being a meth- ber of Colonel Mathews' regimeut at Germantown, he was taken pris-
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oner there, and detained three years. After his discharge, he rejoined the army and served till the close of the war. He died November 12, 1831 .*
In December, 1775, the Convention passed another ordinance for raising additional troops. It provided for augmenting the two regi- ments already raised, by the addition of two companies to the first, and three to the second ; and also for raising six additional regiments, of ten companies each, and sixty-eight men to a company. One of the new regiments was to be made up of Germans and others, as the county committees of Augusta, West Augusta, Frederick, etc., should judge expedient. Captains and other company officers were to be ap- pointed by the committees of the counties in which companies were raised, respectively. Two captains, two first and two second lieuten- ants, etc., were assigned to Augusta, and it was expected that their companies would be raised in the county. The men were to be enlis- ted for two years from April 10, 1776.
Arms, etc., for the new companies were to be furnished by the public ; but until muskets could be procured, the men were to bring the best guns they had,-riflemen to bring rifles and tomahawks. For smooth-bore guns and for rifles and tomahawks, private property, rent would be allowed at the rate of 20s. a year. Each soldier was allowed, out of his pay, "a hunting shirt, pair of leggins, and binding for his hat" (!) Pay of colonels, 17s. 6d. per day ; captains, 6s. and privates, IS. 4d.
The same ordinance provided for raising a Ninth regiment of seven companies, sixty-eight men to a company, for the protection of Accomac and Northampton counties. It was evidently contemplated that the Ninth regiment should be recruited in the counties named. By a subsequent ordinance, the Ninth was angmented by the addition of three companies, so as to make it equal with other regiments. Three of the companies were raised in Accomac, two in Northampton, and three on the western shore.
The same ordinance, of December, 1775, also provided that the committee of Augusta county should appoint officers to command a company of fifty men, to be stationed at the mouth of the Little Kanawha.
* The only child of William Robertson was the wife of Charles A. Stuart, of Greenbrier, who, with his sons, William Robertson Stuart and John Stuart, suc- ceeded to the old gentleman's property. He owned at one time the mill which stood where the mill of Witz & Holt is now, on Lewis creek just east of Staunton, but sold it before his death to Jacob Smith.
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The State Constitution was adopted by the Convention June 29, 1776. The counties of " East Augusta and Dunmore" constituted a district for the election of a State senator. The name Dunmore was afterwards changed to "Shenandoah." West Augusta constituted another senatorial district.
The Legislature elected under the State Constitution met for the first time October 7, 1776, and soon thereafter passed an act for rais- ing six additional battalions "on the continental establishment," and assigning two captains, etc., to Augusta.
Other acts for recruiting the ariny will be mentioned as we pro- ceed.
Thus we find that a number of company officers were assigned to Augusta, with the expectation, of course, that the men should be en- listed in the county. The companies were no doubt raised, yet there is no record or tradition in regard to their assembling and marching off, nor even of the names of most of the officers. Our local archives furnish little information on the subject, and we have applied in vain at Richmond and Washington for the names of officers.
The act of the first Legislature after the adoption of the Consti- tution, referred to above, prescribed that the militia officers of each county, assembled in court-martial, should elect the company officers assigned to their county. The court-martial of Augusta militia met at the courthouse, December 3, 1776, to discharge that duty. Present, Colonels Abraham Smith and Alexander Thompson, and Captains David Bell, John Stevenson, James Ewing, Daniel Smith, Peachy Gilmer, John Young, David Laird, George Moffett, Alexander Rob- ertson, William Anderson, and others.
The court proceeded to choose by ballot officers "to raise two companies of regulars according to act of assembly," and the follow- ing were chosen : First company-John Syme,* Captain ; Charles
* One of Capt. Syme's recruits seems to have been fond of military life. In his "declaration," in 1832, when he applied for a pension, he states that he en- listed, December 19, 1776, under Capt. John Syme, 10th Virginia Regiment, and served three years. In 1780, he enlisted again, in Staunton, under Col. Sampson Mathews, to serve during the war ; but was taken prisoner at Bluford's ( Buford's ?) defeat in North Carolina, and was a paroled prisoner during the remainder of the war. In 1792, hie again enlisted and served three years "in Wayne's army."
Many leading patriots wanted to fight the war out with militia, having a great dread of a standing army and whatever might tend to a monarchy. Dr. Rush wrote to John Adams that he hoped no American citizen would demean himself by enlisting for three years. Washington, Franklin and others saw that a standing force better disciplined than militia, was indispensable; but they were warmly opposed by many others, including Adams and the Lees.
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Cameron, First Lieutenant ; William Christian, Second Lieutenant ; and James Hamilton, Ensign. Second company-David Laird (a member of the court-martial), Captain ; Andrew Anderson, First Lieutenant ; William Smith, Second Lieutenant ; and Michael Troutt, Ensign. The Lieutenant Anderson mentioned was 110 doubt the person known after the war as Colonel Anderson, who often repre- sented the county in the House of Delegates.
At a court-martial held February 1, 1777, it was reported that Captain Syme had recruited twenty-eight men, Lieutenant Cameron, twenty, Lientenant Christian, twelve, and Ensign Hamilton, ten, making seventy rank and file. There was no report from Captain Laird and Lientenant Anderson, but it was believed they had nearly completed their respective numbers. Lieutenant Smith had enlisted seventeen inen and Ensign Evans, ten. The last named appears to have been substituted for Ensign Troutt.
Governor Gilmer tells us that John, Andrew, and Thomas Lewis, sons of Thomas Lewis, were officers in the Revolutionary army. He also mentions a Captain Hughes and a Captain McElhany, of the Continental army, both of whom married daughters of Thomas Lewis, and also Layton Yancey, another officer, who married another daugh- ter. John Lewis, son of William, commanded a company at the bat- tle of Monmouth. Robert Gamble, of Augusta, says Governor Gilmer, was an officer in the army very early in the war, and continued to serve to its close. He was generally with the main army, and under the immediate command of Washington.
These and others whose names have not reached us were no doubt the officers of the various companies raised in the county. We shall have occasion hereafter to speak of Moffett, Tate, Doak, Stuart, Fulton, and others who served as officers in the field when the militia was called out at different times. Robert Doak, then a young man, was ensign of Captain Tate's company at the battle of Guilford.
But Augusta furnished at the outset at least two officers of higher rank than captain. Alexander McClanahan was appointed by the Convention, in 1775, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventh regiment, of which William Dangerfield was Colonel, and William Nelson, Major. Colonel McClanahan was at the battle of Great Bridge, near Norfolk, December 9, 1775, in which every British grenadier was killed, with- out loss to the Virginians. He served under General Andrew Lewis, at Williamsburg, in 1776, and was commissioned Colonel of the Seventh October 7, 1776. At that time General Woodford's brigade
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was composed of the Third, Seventh, Eleventh, and Fifteenth Virginia regiments. *
George Mathews was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninth regiment, of which Thomas Fleming was Colonel, and M. Donovan, Major. This regiment was at first stationed on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, for the protection of Accomac and Northampton counties, but was afterwards a part of the main army under Washington. In December, 1776, the regiment marched to join the main army. On the march the Colonel died, and Lieut. Col. Mathews succeeded to the command. The date of his commission as Colonel is February 10, 1777. He commanded the regiment at the battle of Germantown, in which he and all his men were captured by the British. f
Colonel McClanahan retired from the army before the close of the war, but in a "list of general and field officers of the late army of the United States who continued in service to the end of the war," George Mathews appears as the fourteenth name in the list of colonels.
We learn something about the services of Augusta militia during the war, from the " declarations" of various old soldiers in 1832, with a view to obtaining pensions, pursuant to an act of Congress.}
Joseph Bell, of South River, when 21 years of age, was drafted in 1776, with other militia-men, for the protection of the southwestern frontier against the Indians. They rendezvoused at the site of the present town of Lexington, July 15, 1776, and were assigned to the company of Capt. John Lyle. From that point the men marched to the Holston river, under command of Col. Russell. From thence they marched to the Great Islaud of Holston, aud were placed under command of Col. William Christian, with whom they went on the ex- pedition against the Cherokee towns southwest of the Tennessee river. The command remained in the Indian country for some time, and returned about the middle of December, having been in service
* Colonel McClanahan's children were two daughters, Mrs. Abney and Mrs. Austin; and a son, Johu, who died unmarried. His wife was a Miss Shelton, a sister of Patrick Henry's first wife.
t Gen. Henry Lee, referring to the battle of Germantown, (See Lee's Me- moirs, edition of 1869, page 95,) says : "Our loss was considerable, and unhappily augmented by the capture of the Ninth Virginia regiment and its brave Colonel Matthews, who had, with a part of the Sixth, led by Colonel Towles, victoriously pierced into the midst of the British army, where, gallantly contending, unsup- ported, he was compelled to surrender."
# These papers were resurrected by Mr. H. P. Cochran from the musty files of the County Court Clerk's Office.
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about five months. There was no battle, and not a man was lost. William Willson was a private in the same company, of which Wil- liam Mccutchen was Lieutenant and Joseph Long, Ensign.
At least one other company from the county was in Col. Christian's expedition. It was commanded by Capt. William Chris- tian, Lieut. Patrick Buchanan, and Ensign Zacharialı Johnston, and assembled at Midway, (Steele's Tavern.)
Alexander Williams was drafted in August, 1776, in Capt. Hen- derson's company, and marched under Col. William Bowyer to join General McIntosh on the western frontier. This company was at Fort McIntosh some months, and then at Fort Lawrence.
A company commanded by Capt. William Kincaid and Lieut. James Steele, marched from Staunton, in March, 1777, to a block- house on the west fork of Monongalia. Alexander Williams and William Armstrong were members of the company.
John McCutchen served three months, in 1777 or 1778, against the Indians, under Capt. Andrew Lockridge, Lieut. Andrew Kincaid, and Ensign James Gay, and was stationed at Clover Lick ( Pocahontas county.) He was called out again, in June, 1779, by the alarm about an assault by Indians on Donnelly's Fort, Greenbrier, and was stationed, with others, under John Wackub, at the Warm Springs, to protect that place.
Smith Thompson's declaration, made in the County Court, July 24, 1820, sets forth that he was then about 73 years old ; that he enlisted in Staunton, on July 10, 1777, with Lieut. Robert Kirk, of Capt. Granville Smith's company, attached to the 16th Regiment commanded by Col. William Grayson ; that he was in the battles of Monmouth, Stony Point and Paulus Hook, and at the siege of Charles- ton, where he was captured ; that he was discharged from service in the continental line, in June, 1780; and that he was afterwards at the battle of Guilford, C. H., and the capture of Cornwallis. He says he was a weaver by trade ; but for many years he followed the business of a barber in Staunton, and boasted that he had shaved Gen. Wash- ington, preserving with care the razor he claimed to have used.
By the erection of Botetourt county, in 1769, and the legal recognition of the district of West Augusta, in 1776, the county of Augusta was shorn of much the larger part of her original territory. She was thus reduced to her present territory, with parts of the present counties of Rockbridge, Bath and Alleghany, and all of Rockingham, Highland and Pendleton.
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The district of West Augusta appears to have been evolved, rather than created by law. Its existence was first recognized by the Legis- lature during the session which began October 7, 1776, when an act was passed "for ascertaining the boundary between the county of Augusta and the district of West Augusta." The boundary of the district is thus described : "Beginning on the Alleghany mountain, between the heads of Potowmack, Cheat and Greenbrier rivers, thence along the ridge of mountains which divides the waters of Cheat river from those of Greenbrier and that branch of the Monongahela river, called Tyger's valley river, to the Monongahela river ; thence up the said river and the west fork thereof to Bingerman's creek, on the north side of the said west fork ; thence up the said creek to the head thereof ; thence in a direct course to the head of Middle Island creek, a branch of the Ohio ; and thence to the Ohio, including all of the waters of the said creek in the aforesaid district of West Augusta ; all that territory lying to the northward of the aforesaid, and to the west- ward of the States of Pennsylvania and Maryland, shall be deemed, and is hereby declared, to be within the district of West Augusta."
The act proceeded to divide the district into the three counties of Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia. The greater part of Yohogania fell within the territory of Pennsylvania, when the boundary line between that State and Virginia was established ; and the residue was, by act of 1785, added to Ohio county, and Yohogania became extinct.
We may state that the rhetorical declaration about West Augusta, attributed to Washington, at a dark day during the war, is sheer fiction. What Washington said, in the simplest terms, was, that if driven to extremity, he would retreat to Augusta county, in Virginia, and there make a stand.
The State undertook to provide a navy, but the trouble was to obtain linen cloth for sails. Therefore, an act passed by the Legisla- ture during its first session "in regard to the Virginia fleet," appoint- ed Sampson Mathews and Alexander St. Clair, of Staunton, trustees, "to erect at public expense and superintend a manufactory at such place as they shall think proper, for the making of sail duck," at a cost not exceeding one thousand pounds. We can imagine the reasons which induced the selection of this region for the purpose mentioned. Staunton was regarded as a place not likely to be invaded by the ene- my ; much flax was then and afterwards raised in the county ; and there were many natives of the north of Ireland living here, who were skilled in weaving linen cloth. England having no rival industry, for
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a long time imposed no restriction upon the manufacture of flax and hemp in Ireland. The people of Ulster took advantage of their oppor- tunity, and finally supplied sails for the whole British navy. The manufacture extended to England, however, and the Irishi trade was thereupon crippled by a duty on sail cloth. This led to another flight of Ulster people to America a few years before the outbreak of the Revolution. We have found no other reference to the manufacture of sail cloth in this region.
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