Perhaps the most important outcome of the encampment was the armys maturation into a more professional force. What follows are two stories presented as part of a possible whole: one of a man named Fortune Conant, who served for three years from 1777-1780, and disappeared after his discharge, and another about a man named Fortune Freeman, who claimed to have served the entirety of the war, struggled to live a life in the new nation in New York City, and ultimately died in poverty. Monmouth has many notable connections but one of its most famous is the connection to the Rolls Family. https://www.loc.gov/collections/george-washington-papers/articles-and-essays/timeline/the-american-revolution/. /TT1 1 Tf The six Oneida soldiersthat died that day in the action of Barren Hill are buried in a single plot in Saint Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, named in honor of the French general in command of American forces that day, the Marquis de Lafayette. 38.277 0 Td NARA M853, page 64, via Fold3.com. McGuire, Thomas J. He had served in Greenes third line of defense with the 2nd Maryland Regiment. A muster roll of 4 Creek Indians who arrived Sep. 23rd, 1851. Each applicant had to disclose his age, occupation, health, and ability to support his household, and an inventory of his real and personal property."[39]. The Battle of Monmouth was fought on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). Major General Charles Lee commanded 12,000 men of the Continental Army under the leadership of General George Washington. For the British, General Sir Henry Clinton commanded 11,000 men under the leadership of Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis. ( )Tj General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. 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. Payment records indicate payment through September 1824, but they end with no explanation. Included on those returns were the names of at least 755 Blacks serving in the ranks. [6] Congress estimated wrong. Hazen, History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical register, 239. Many recent European arrivals sought fortune and honor by enlisting in the regiments of the states they now called home. WebBattle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778 Wyoming Valley Massacre, July 3, 1778 Battle of Rhode Island, Aug. 29, 1778 Tryon's Attack upon New Haven, etc., July 5-10, 1779 Storming of Stony Point, July 15, 1779 Sullivan's Indian Raid, July-Aug., 1779 Battle of Springfield, N. J., June 23, 1780 Affair of Fort George, N. Y., Oct. 11, 1780 Donations to the Trust are tax deductible to the full extent allowable under the law. On June 17, 1775, as British redcoats marched up the heights of Bunker Hill outside of Boston, Massachusetts,they were met with a hail of musketry from the defenders of the earthen redoubt. The 1st Rhode Island, which was first created in 1775, saw action straight through the war, fighting at the Siege of Boston, the New York and New Jersey Campaign, Battle of Red Bank, the Battle of Rhode Island, and the Siege of Yorktown. Within two months, however, Washington reversed this decision, and despite many attempts to block Blacks from serving their country, hundreds of Blacks enlisted nonetheless. [40] Fortune Freeman, Pension No. Hundreds of Indians enlisted in the Continental Army and many others, engaged as scouts in specialized units. [2] Freeman did not have a unique experience as a veteran in poverty. Freemans story is just one of the thousands of patriots of color that we can attempt to unravel by searching existing pension records, though thousands more did not get recorded. By summer, Washington could claim that the war effort was going well. Hb``$WR~|@T#2S/`M. The Black private joined thousands of other veterans in a post-war exodus from their home states. His bounty payments would not have hit their full value so soon after his first discharge. APPENDIX 1 5 for the period Nov. 1779 through Feb. 1780 with the notation, Discharged Jan[uary] 19, 1780. 30 The Catawba had taken part in an earlier raid against a British position with Sumter as well. WebListed below is a copy of the muster roll of Captain Maroneys Company of Flying Camp: Roll of Captain Philip Maroneys Company, Flying Camp, Maryland August 5, 1776 -List of the members of Captain Philip Maroneys Company, in the Flying Camp, August 5, 1776, enlisted in the Middletown District and elsewhere, Frederick County, Maryland. Though monetary value depreciated as the war progressed, were bounty payments used to purchase his freedom? endstream
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[3] Jack D. Warren Jr., America's First Veterans (Washington, DC: American Revolution Institute of the Society of Cincinnati, Inc., 2020), 97. On June 28, at the Battle of Monmouth, N.J., Washingtons men demonstrated their improved battle prowess when they forced the British from the field. /Artifact <>BDC U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Phill Greenwalt is co-founder of Emerging Revolutionary War and is also a full-time contributor to Emerging Civil War. "F$H:R!zFQd?r9\A&GrQhE]a4zBgE#H *B=0HIpp0MxJ$D1D, VKYdE"EI2EBGt4MzNr!YK ?%_&#(0J:EAiQ(()WT6U@P+!~mDe!hh/']B/?a0nhF!X8kc&5S6lIa2cKMA!E#dV(kel
}}Cq9 The new British commander, Lieutenant General Henry Clinton, received orders to NARA M804, page 4, via Fold3.com. BT A unique historical record compiled from the rolls made by the Hanoverian army of the Duke of Cumberland after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Elnathan Haskell's Company in the 4th Massachusetts Regt. "It required all claimants to submit documentation of their poverty to a court of record. These stories, whether of the same man or not, are examples of how little information exists about soldiers, particularly those of color, who played a critical role in the founding of the United States. ). Additionally, no recorded Massachusetts regiments participated at Brandywine during the battle. HyTSwoc
[5laQIBHADED2mtFOE.c}088GNg9w '0 Jb Fortune Freeman recalled that he participated in the September 11, 1777 Battle of Brandywine, where he claimed to have been "wounded in the thigh by a musket ball. Peter Salem was a freed slave from Massachusetts who is known for mortally wounding British Major John Pitcairn during the fighting at Bunker Hill. It is curious that of all the details to remember from six years of military service, his possible first captain is the only name that remained etched into Fortune Freeman's memory. S 43,572, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. 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. To oppose them, General George Washington marched his 12,000-man army from New Jersey. 50, Image 668, via FamilySearch.org. The British surrender at Saratoga brought the French into the war as American allies in February 1778. ET The troops also constructed miles of trenches, five earthen forts (redoubts), and a state-of-the-art bridge over the Schuylkill River. Frederick Odell Conant, A history and genealogy of the Conant family in England and America, thirteen generations, 1520-1887: containing also some genealogical notes on the Connet, Connett and Connit families (Portland, ME: 1887), 557. WebOn December 9, 1775, three companies from the First joined the 2nd Virginia Regiment in defeating Dunmore's troops at the Battle of Great Bridge near Norfolk. Remarkably, one of the soldiers (a New Jersey Politics and Public Culture: The Revolutionary War Pension Act of 1818. Journal of the Early Republic 8, no. Washington wrote to fellow Continental general Philip Schuyler that The Oneidas and Tuscaroras have a particular claim to attention and kindness, for their perseverance and fidelity. These warriors arrived atValley Forge on May 15, 1778. [Muster rolls, etc., 1743-1787] by Montgomery, Thomas Lynch, 1862- Publication date 1906 Topics Pennsylvania. [12] Henry Allen Hazen, History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical register (Boston: A Williams & Co, 1887), 25. With the return of the Continental army to the outskirts of New York City following the Battle of Monmouth Court House in June, muster rolls of the army were taken in White Plains, New York, in August 1778. Landing in Boston in July 1774, the 38th found themselves involved in the first military engagement of the American war: Concord and Lexington, April 1775. Was Danforth's promotion to captain and participation in the war a motivating factor in Conant's enlistment? During the action at Barren Hill, Oneida soldiershelped delay the advancing British force. [43] "New York (State). WebBattles of the American Revolution Series: Volume V. At Monmouth Courthouse in east-central New Jersey, General Washington's Continental Army came of age. 1851. Under the command of General George Washington and many other generals, the integrated army that served in the Revolution was a unique fighting force that catalyzed the formation of the Republic. Six men are recorded as married and seven as single. His name appears on a roll dated Sept. 8, 1778, for Col. Thomas Clarks com- His name also appears on a muster roll of Tatums company . WebUnder Dearborn the 3rd regiment was at the Battle of Monmouth, where some of its most soldierly men participated. Hannigan wrote that digging into muster rolls led him to "to believe that Fortune Freeman was originally a slave from Essex County, Massachusetts named Fortune Conant." 68, Image 673, via FamilySearch.org. Complete: 100 % Content Source The National Archives Publication Number M246 Record Group 93 Published on Fold3 04 Apr 2007 Last Updated 23 Jul 2007 Description NARA M246. The Valley Forge Muster Roll for December 1777 to June 1778 indicated that 20 to 30 members of Sheldons Regiment were still at Valley Forge at that time, The American Battlefield Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Majority of our funds go directly to Preservation and Education. There is also the record from the British of a prisoner of war, George with the word Negro written beside his name. American Revolution: Battle of Monmouth. For the British, General Sir Henry Clinton commanded 11,000 men under the leadership of Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis. The weather was extremely hot during the battle, and almost as many soldiers died from heatstroke as from battle. John Armstrong. WebFeversham learnt of Monmouth's march eastwards on the afternoon of June 26 and ordered all the Royal forces and militia to muster at Bath. Webas a baggage guard at the Battle of Monmouth, N.J. (June 28, 1778). John P. Resch. Certainly, hardship did occur at Valley Forge, but the encampment experience could be characterized as suffering as usual, for privation was the continental soldiers constant companion. Phill graduated from George Mason University with a M.A. [2] A preliminary study of pension records from 1981 found that of 13,500 Revolutionary War veterans, more than half (54 percent) had moved from their home state after the war. In a History of Billerica, Massachusetts, a William Conant is listed as taxed in the town from 1776 to 1779, and his daughter Betsey, is stated as being baptized there in August 1795. endstream
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State Board of Charities," Social Networks and Archival Context, https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w6129qv4. While Wayne wanted to press the attack, Washington demurred, believing that his men were beat out and with heat and fatigue.. The Rhode Island Assembly decreed on February 14, 1778, to allow, every able-bodied negro, mulatto, or Indian man slave in this state to enlist into the two Battalions to serve the during the Continuance of the present War with Great-Britain Even more striking was the following clause, every slave, so enlisting, shallupon his passing muster before Col.Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress;and be absolutely FREE, as though he had never been encumbered with any Kind of Servitude or Slavery. Although this last clause was repealed within four months due tothe outcry of Rhode Island slave owners, more than 100 free and formerly enslaved Rhode Island African Americans had enlisted in the Continental cause to fight for their own independence. While his wartime declarations remained the same, he provided additional personal information in his restatement per the requirements and described his dire circumstances. Muster Rolls & other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution 1775-1783 ((HTML)) (Reprint ed. When troubles threatened with the Colonies, the 38th was one of the first corps despatched from Ireland to America. Another Native American tribe, the Catawba, assisted South Carolina militia commander, Colonel Thomas Sumter during the Second Battle of Hanging Rock on August 6, 1780. [16] Hazen, History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical register, 238. [28] Conant also appeared in a bounty note issued by the State of Massachusetts Bay on January 1, 1780. With that tattered discharge note, we now can follow Fortune Freeman's paper trail, which begins in 1781 in Hingham, Massachusetts. Left Valley Forge with 306 assigned, 194 fit for duty. WebBattle of Monmouth, also called Battle of Monmouth Court House, (June 28, 1778), indecisive engagement in the American Revolution, fought at Monmouth, New Jersey. It is possible that Fortune Conant, a young man who enlisted either enslaved or perhaps recently freed, later changed his name. [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. In 1779 the 3rd Regiment was assigned to the Sullivan Expedition, and saw heated action at the Battle of Newtown, again evidenced by the toll shown in their muster rolls. The Continental Army lost the battle and retreated, leaving Philadelphia in English hands, though most of Washington's troops survived. 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, in the service of the United States Commanded by William Shepard for the Month of September 1781, Muster/payrolls, and various papers (1763-1808) of the Revolutionary War, Vol. Their roles in Washingtons army included pioneer duties, such as constructing fortifications and clearing roads to musicians, guides, spies, and rank-and-file infantrymen. "Forten" Conant first appears on a list of men mustered by Colonel James Barrett, muster master of Middlesex County, on May 16, 1777. 27, Image 523, via FamilySearch.org. n3kGz=[==B0FX'+tG,}/Hh8mW2p[AiAN#8$X?AKHI{!7. Ask someone to think of Valley Forgeand they will nearly always envision an anonymous group of soldiers struggling against winters fury and clothed in nothing but rags. 1, Image 114, via FamilySearch.org. Even in Washingtons home ofVirginia, Blacksoldiers fought in Virginia units. [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. So far, we have been unable to locate any land records indicating where Freeman settled after the war. If Freeman had bounty bonds from prior service as Fortune Conant, they would not mature until 1785. Arriving to the court with merely the clothes on his back, Freeman provided few details about his personal life in his statement. Examining the possible connection between Fortune Conant and Fortune Freeman can help uncover potential motivations Freeman had for enlisting in the war. In his pension application, Fortune Freeman asserted his presence at several well-known and significant battles during the Revolutionary War. In 1777, British strategy included a plan to capture Philadelphia, the patriot capital. The 3rd then wintered near Danbury, Connecticut. Every purchase supports the mission. From 1888 onwards, the series contains only muster rolls, there are no longer any pay lists and by 1898 muster in history from Wheeling Jesuit University. A muster roll of 16 Creek Indians who arrived presumably in late 1850 or early 1851.
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