Revolutionary War Records
Illinois - Jackson County
State of Illinois, Jackson County
On this 2nd day of September A.D. 1833 personally appeared in open court, before the commissioners court of Jackson County State of Illinois, now sitting Ebenezer Pyatt, a resident of Jackson County and State of Illinois, aged Seventy Eight, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed on the 7th June 1832. That in the year 1775 he was a citizen of Upper Darby Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and in the fall of the said year this deponeth enlisted for a term of five months in what was called the Flying Camp in a company commanded by Captain Hinds, Lieutenant Peacock. The first part of the tour this deponeth for two months was sent off in search of deserters for the army, at which time he was at a little place called Lehi in the forks of the Delaware River, during these two months the party was under the command of an oderly sergent. On his return he joined the troops at Fort Constitution and soon after the Americans, this deponet among them, retreated from said fort and continued to retreat before the enemy to Trenton, New Jersey, and crossed the river at that place. In about a week from that time the said tour of five months expired, and the deponeth was discharged by a written discharge. General Washington commanded during the said retreat. Previous to the said five months service, this deponet served a two months tour as a drafted militia man. The headquarters of the army at that time was Amboy, and at the expiration of that tour he, without returning home, enlisted for the five months tour above mentioned. The Captain of the company at which this deponet belonged during the two months tour was by the same Boas Mathews, the Colonel commanding the regiment by the name of Gibson. During this time a party, this deponeth one of them, was sent over to Staten Island and had a battle or skirmish with a party of the enemy at a little town called Kunkler Town, and took a party of fourteen Russians and about thirty British, and at the expiration of the said two months he was discharged at Amboy by Col. Gibson. In the spring of the year 1777 as this deponet believes he had become a citizen of Lowden County in the state of Virginia and in the month of April there was a call for Militia to serve one year, and this deponeth was drafted and joined the Eighth Regiment in the Pennsylvania line ina company commanded by Capt. Van Swenssiggon, the Col. of the Regiment was by the name of Broadhead. He joined the army under Washington at Valley Forge before they broke up their encampment at that place which had been their winter quarters _________________________ our as far as _____________ and celebrated the 4th of July there. The eighth Pennsylvania line and Thirteenth of Virginia line were detached from the main army under Gen. Washington, and just under the command of Gen. McIntosh, and marched over the mountains past Fort Pitt to a place on the Ohio River afterwards called Ft. McIntosh; After this General McIntosh was sent to the south and Col. Broadhead finished Fort McIntosh; in the fall the deponet was sent down below the mouth of Little Beaver with horses to _________ and remained there until hard frost. Upon his return the deponet was sent over the Monoughala River to a creek called Ten Mile to David Duncans, who purchased forrage for the horses. At the expiration of the year this deponet was sick at the house of a man by the name of Jacob Kling, and of course, could not return home for two months (or more). After his said year had expired, for which said two months he claims in the year 1779 or 1780, this deponet then being a citizen of Henry County, Virginia, substituted for a tour of two months in Capt. Geo. Hurstons company, in Col. Tucker's regiment, Major Halcombe, and marched down to the lower part of Virginia to the Hickory Nut Church Mawbia Hills, and this was the summer before the taking of Cornwallis, served out his tour and was regularly discharged. In the fall of the same year this deponet served as a substitute for on King for another tour of two months under Capt. Samuel Cowden and served in the same manner and in much the same country as before served out the said last mentioned tour, and received a regular discharge; therefore, this deponet believes he at the time received written discharge, but none of them in his possession at present, not thinking them worth his attention, and presumes they were long ago lost; he further says he has no documentary evidence in his power by which to prove his said service, Neither does he know of any person now within his reach by whom he could prove same. During a large share of the time this deponet served as above stated, he acted as Orderly Sergent to wit; the last tour a part at least half the time. the deponet served five tours in all twenty five months including the two months he was sick. after the expiration of his first tour of which time twenty five months he claims thirteen months as Orderly Sergent and twelve months as a private. he having served that time in those capacities respectfuly. He hereby relinquishes any claim for a previous or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state. Interrogations propounded by the court --
1. Where and in what state were you born? Answer: In Upper Darby Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1755.
2. Have you any record of your age? and if so, where is it? Answer: I have none. My father kept a record in the family Bible, but I have not seen it for some time.
3. Where were you living when called into the service, where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where do you now live? Answer: I refer to my former statement for answer to the former part of the question. Since the war I moved out of Henry County Virginia, to a place on the Ohio River, seven miles above Wheeling, thence to Montgomery Co., Tennessee, thence to Jackson Co, Illinois, where I now live.
4. How were you called into the service? Were you drafted of did you volunteer, or were you a substitute, and if substitute, for whom? Answer: The first tour enlisted in the Flying Camp, this tour drafted Militia. The two last tours a substitute, the first of the two for one Daniel Birliman, the second for one King.
5. State the name of some of the regular officers who were with the troops where you served such continental and militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your service? Answer: I do not think I can make additional statements to what I have already done which would be of any importance.
6. Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, if so, by whom was it given and what has become of it? Answer: I have no doubt that at the time I received regular written discharge from each tour of service as they were of some value at that time to prove the fact of the service having been preformed, but after the war was over they were considered of no value as there was to be no further calls, and they were soon lost.
7. State the name of persons whom you are known in your present neighborhood and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your service as a soldier of the Revolution. Answer: I give the name of Elijah Spiller, a clergyman, and George Creath, a citizen of my neighborhood, and who are both acquainted with me.
Sworn to and inscribed in open court the day and Year aforesaid J. Manning, clerk // Ebenezer Pyatt
We, Elijah Spiller, a Clergyman residing in the county of Jackson, and George Creath, also residing in the same County, hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Ebenezer Pyatt, who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration that we believe him to be seventy eight years of age; that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resided, to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion. Subscribed and sworn to in open court the day and year oversaid Albert J. Manning, Clerk. // Eldr. Elijah Spiller // George Creath
And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interrogation prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he stated, and the court further certify that it appears to them that Elijah Spiller, who has signed the preceeding certificate, is a clergyman resident in the County of Jackson, and that George Creath, who has also signed the same, is a resident of the same County and is a responsible person, and the statements are entitled to credit. Benj. F. Conner // George Creath // Alexander Cochran
Pension granted state of Illinois Number 22316 at the rate of 98 dollars and 33 cents per annum. Paid at the time of granting Arrears to 4th of Sept 1833 $245.83 Semi Anl. allowance 4th March 34 $49.16 - Total $294.99 Recorded by Wm R Conner Book E Vol 8 page 60b
Kentucky - Boone County
DECLARATION
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th of June 1832 State of Kentucky, Boone County sclt
On this 4th day of August in the year eighteen hundred and thirty two, personally appeared before me, a Justice of the Peace in and for said County & State Jacob Piatt, a resident of the County of Boone & State of Kentucky aged eighty five years in May last, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the Act of Congress dated June 7th, 1832, “That he entered in the Army of the United States in the year 1775 as an Ensign in the First New Jersey Regiment, which was under Lord Sterling, and commanded a part of the year by Col. Wm. Winds. He continued to serve as an Ensign for one year in said Regiment, at which period the time for which said Regiment was raised expired, and a new regiment was raised & styled the first New Jersey Regiment & commanded by Col. Matthias Ogden in which Regiment, the applicant joined and was appointed Adjutant, which was in the first part of the year 1777. He continued to serve as adjutant in said Regiment until the death of Capt. Peter Voorhies which was in the fall of 1779. He was then appointed as Captain to fill the place of said Voorhies & continued to serve as such until March 1780 & then resigned. During which time of service he was in the Battle of Short Hills in Jersey, and in the Battle of Brandywine with Genl. Sullivan in the Genesee Country. In the first part of his service he went with Col. Winds into Canada. He lived in Middlesex County, State of New Jersey. He hereby relinquishes any claim whatever to a pension or any annuity, except the present and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency in any State, and that his commission is lost, but he believes his name is to be found on the rolls.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid before me
A Justice of the Peace of said County of Boone.
Reuben Graves, J. P. Jacob Piatt (seal)
[Verbatum copy from Xerox of original furnished by GSA/National Archives.]
New Jersey
[M804-438, Richard Butler, NJ S35804] Declarations from Robert Piatt, as administrator of "my father, Capt. Daniel Piatt" estate, and Jacob Piatt, brother of Capt. Daniel, and an ensign in Col. Winds 1st NJ Reg. Both declarations made Nov 12, 1822 in Boone Co, KY. Robert claims to have his father's company books on which Richard Butler's name appears. Jacob says that he was familiar with the men in his brother's company. Richard Butler b: 1754, enlisted
Elizabethtown; resident of Switzerland Co, Indiana in 1818 & Boone Co
KY in 1820.
The webpage with the following quotation can be seen at:
http://www.revwar75.com/library/rees/musician2.htm
John Piatt, fife, 1st New Jersey - 66 years old in 1832 (10 years in 1776)"...
he enlisted as a Fifer at the age of ten years in the Company of Daniel Piatt
(who was his Father) in the first New Jersey Regiment... in the latter part of
the year 1775... [and] was marched to Brunswick upper landing - thence to
Elizabethtown and joined the Regiment, under Lord Stirling... Marched thence to
New York and lay in Barracks till the following spring opened then was ordered to
March to Long Island and from thence to Canada (the Rigement at this time was
commanded by Colo. Win's) and proceeded towards Quebeck as far as the three
rivers, there had an engagement with the British, and retreated to Ticonderoga
and lay there till late in the fall, or begining of Winter, and then returned to
the state of New Jersey - directly after my Father Capt. Danl Piatt recruited his
Company again and was soon promoted to the rank of Major in the New Jersey line -
The officers was in Pensylvania recruiting a new Company at the time Genl
Washington attacked the Hessians at Trenton - the deponent attending the
rendezvous as a Musician. The Company wasmarched to the Delaware to aid Genl.
Washington in the battle - was prevented crossing the river till next day after
the Capture of the Hessians - from thence was marched on to [Princeton?] - saw
the dead and wounded in the collidge - The company quartered one Winter at
Elizabethtown, part of the 1st. regt. - The deponent thinks the regt. was
commanded by Colo. Matth Ogden - after that the regiment was marched to the
Westward under Genl. Sullivan - The deponent was kiked by the horse of Colo
Brearly and disenabled to continue his march with the regiment - The troops
returned in the fall of 1779 - and went into Winter quarters at Mendham near
Morristown placed under the immediate comd. of Genl. Washington - here the
deponent joined his compy and continued with them through the Winter - The
regiment was Marched to Camptown in the summer of 1780 at the time Genl
Kniphausen marched the British army to Springfield on his way (as was supposed)
to attack Genl Washington at Morristown - was then marched to Springfield was
engaged in the battle - Young Ogden was killed a considerable number more killed
& wounded The deponent was in the house of Parson Coldwell saw his Wife a Corps,
shot by the British - at Springfield - Was taken a prisoner at pluckemin by the
British and released afterwards being a Youth..."
Fifer John Piatt is mentioned twice in the general notes about musicians at:
http://www.revwar75.com/library/rees/musician1.htm
North Carolina - Burke County
On This 22nd April A D 1833 - Formally appeared in open court before the Justice of said court now in session Joseph Pyatt aged about 78 years having first been duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed on the 7th June 1832. That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as hereinafter stated. I served for the space of six months in the state of Virginia in what was then called the Minute Men, in the year 1776 under Captain Peter Pickens, from the County of Pittsylvania Commonwealth of Virginia at the time that Lord Dunmore fled aboard a British ship, it was at a place called Gwins Inland. My next term of service was an engagement for the regular service in a Georgia Regiment for 18 months under on Captain John Dooly in the last of March or first of April 1777 - I served for the term of 9 or 10 months first under Capt. Dooly who disobeyed orders for which he was broken, then Captain Stark of a Georgia Regiment took command and marched us to Savannah and sent us up on Ageechee to watch the motions of the enemy from Florida, we were in a very sickly country neglected by our Commanders and such bad discipline that we broke up and went home to Virginia. My third term of service was for two months when I took the place of George Davis who was a private from Pittsylvania. I was taken as a kind of a guard to serve under General Cadwelder Johnes of the quartermaster department. I then took the place of Samuel Stanley for the term of six weeks, the balance that he had to serve, in the Brigade of General Lawson of the Virginia militia who was stationed in the reserve at Williamsburg at the time Lord Cornwalice was besieged at Little York in Virginia. Part of General Lawson's Detachment went on to York, but I mongst other remained at Williamsburg and was discharged about two weeks before Cornwallice's surrender, my time being out. That he knows of no persons whose testimony he can procure who can testify as to his service. I hereby relinquish every claim whatsoever to a pension or annuity except the present and declare that my name is not on the pension list roll of the agency of any other state and that I always served as a private soldier. Questions propounded by the Court: Q: Where and in what year were you born? I was born in the city of Coventry Warwickshire England, as I am told in the year 1755. Q: Have you any record of your age? I have not. Q: Where were you living when called into the service, where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where do you now live? I was living in the County of Pittsylvania Commonwealth of Va. when first called into service and lived there until about 1792 when I moved to this county where I now live and have lived ever since. Q: How were you called into service? I was enlisted the first time as a minute man in the service of the Commonwealth of Virginia - next enlisted as a private in a Regiment of Georgia commanded by Major Habersham and the same was under General Elbert who died by the breaking of a blood vessel - I was serving in Savannah at the time of the rejoicing for the capture of General Burgoyne. Q: State the names of the regular officers who were with the troops when you served such Continental and Militia Regiments as you recollect and the general circumstances of your service. The first campaign we were under no officer higher grade than Captain Peter Perkins, until we had gone down to Gwins Island and stationed some time when a British ship of war lay in the Rapohanock I think called the Roe Buck; when we came up home we were then called out to go over against the Cherokee Indians under Col. Christie to the large Island of Hoston and from there drove pack trains in the service under Col. Shelby to the Over Hill Towns in the Cherokee Nation on Sitko and Felicia where there were no regular officers with us these times. When I went under Captain John Dooley of the Georgia Troops, after he was broken, I fell under Captain John Bilbo of the Georgia Continentals; when sickness on the one part and want of attention on the part of our officers of the other part broke us and for the safety of ourselves we came home, where I came to serve as a substitute as before stated in the year 1781. I saw General Lafayette, Steban, General Wayne and a great variety of French officers.
Ohio
OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - HISTORY: Chapter 18 (Abbott, John S. C., 1875)
Chapter XVII Governor Arthur St. Clair's Defeat
By an Act of Congress of 1781, Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwestern Territory, was also appointed Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the military forces. An army of two thousand men, including artillery and cavalry, assembled at Fort Washington. After many vexatious delays and disappointments the march was commenced, up what was called the Maumee Valley. The obstructions to the advance of such an army were so great that its progress was very slow. Crossing over the eastern branch of the Great Miami, they erected a strong block-house about twenty miles north from Cincinnati. Leaving a small garrison at this post, which they named Fort Hamilton, they advanced some twenty miles further, where they erected and garrisones another fort, to which they gave the name of St. Clair. Still continuing their uninterrupted journey, they erected and garrisoned a third fortress, to which they gave the name Fort Jefferson. But five or six weeks had been employed in these enterprises.
For some unexplained reason there was great dissatisfaction in the camp.
There had been very great mismanagement in the supply of provisions, and the providing of stores. When they reached a point about ninety miles from Fort Washington, sixty of the Kentuckians, disgusted with short rations, slow progress, and approaching snow storms, in a body shouldered their muskets, and bidding defiance to all authority commenced their march homewards. General St. Clair was daily expecting the arrival of provisions, in a caravan of wagons. Apprehensive that the deserters might seize these wagons, he hastily detached quite a large force to pursue the deserters, attack them if necessary, and rescue and protect the wagons. These various operations so diminished his forces, that his main army now consisted of but fourteen hundred men. His march became toilsome and difficult. The dreary month of November had come, with its storms of wind and rain. The route in a northwest direction, led through a flat, marshy, inhospitable region, covered with a dense forest. There was no road through these gloomy wilds. The ax had to be incessantly in use, in felling the trees, often of gigantic size, and in removing the stumps to open a passage for the baggage wagons and artillery. The heavily
laden wheels often sank to their hubs. Governor St. Clair was aged, infirm, and was suffering severly from the gout. It was certainly indicated a want of judgement in him under those circumstances to have undertaken the leadership in so arduous a campaign. And it cannot be denied that he was entirely outgenerated by the Indian chiefs. On the third day of November the army reached a point about a hundred and twenty-five miles north from Fort Washington. They were still fifty miles from the Indian towns of the Maumee, which they were on the march to destroy. It was a dismal day, with chill winds, and the ground covered with
snow. The soldiers were weary, and their feet were soaked with water. Cutting their way through the almost pathless forest, they approached a creek, about forty feet wide, which proved to be one of the tributaries of the Wabash. There was a small meadow on the banks of this stream, while the dense forest spread gloomily all around. Here General St. Clair took up his encampment for the night. He sent the militia across the creek by a ford, as the advanced guards of the army. They bivouacked in two parallel lines, with the space of about two hundred feet between them.
Skilled in the use of the ax, they speedily cut down the trees, and roaring
fires blazed n the intervening space, illuminating the forest far and wide, and enabling both parties to cook their suppers, and enjoy the genial warmth. No scouts were sent out, for all were nearly perishing with cold and weariness, and there were no indications whatever that any foe was at hand. But the cunning savages, in large numbers, were in the forest, watching every movement, and selecting their positions, every man behind a tree, from which, unseen and protected, the bullet could be thrown with unerring aim upon their foe, grouped together without any shelter. Upon the other side of the creek, the regulars were stationed in the same way, drawn up in two lines, and their camp-fires between them. They also cut down trees, and gathered around the fires which revealed every movement to their savage foe. It would seem that if the chief had directed General St. Clair how to post his troops, so as to secure their destruction, the work could not have been more effectually done.
The night passed away in quietude. But through the lond hours of the night
the savages, unseen and unheard, as with the silent tread of the panther, were making their preparations for the slaughter. It afterwards was made known that they were actually making themselved merry over the folly of the white men who were thus exposing themselves to certain destruction.
The day had just began to dawn, and the militia on the farther side of the
creek, in thoughtless confusion, were preparing their breakfast, when the
yell of a thousand savages fell upon their ears, followed by the report of
musketry, and a deadly discharge of bullets. Scarcely one missed his aim. The slaughter was so dreadful, that the panic-stricken militia fled instantly, and with the utmost precipitation. Many of them did not stop to pick up their guns. They plunged pell-mell through the creek, broke resistlessly through the first line, and stopped a tumultuous, helpless mass, at the second. All this was the work of but fifteen minutes. And now the little army of less than a thousand men, huddled together in terror-striken confusion, were exposed to a deadly fire from every direction. No foe to be seen, except when here and there a warrior darted from the protection of one gigantic tree to another. There was no room for courage, for bravery, save to meet death without a tremor. There was no room for heroism, save to fire or to charge upon an invisible foe.
Colonel Drake was in command of the second line of regulars when the flight of the militia had been arrested. He succeeded in forming his line, and charged into the forest. The wary Indians in that portion of the circumference, retired before him, while a storm of bullets from all around was rapidly striking down his men. As Drake again drew back to his position, the Indians followed like the closing in of the waves of the sea. It seems as if a large party of Indian sharp-shooters had been specially designated to attack the artillerymen. In a short time, every man at the guns was shot down. Not an hour elapsed from the commencement of the conflict, before one-half of the men of St. Clair's army were either killed or wounded, and nearly every horse was shot.
In the Governor's official accounty of this awful disaster, he writes:
"Our artillery being silenced, and all the officers killed, except Captain Ford, who was badly wounded, more than half of the army fallen, being cut off from the road, it became necessary to attempt the regaining it, and to make a retreat if possible. To this purpose the remains of the army were formed, as well as circumstances would admit, towards the right of the encampment; from which, by the way of the second line, another charge was made upon the enemy, as if with design to turn their right flank, but it was, in fact, to gain the road. This was effected, and as soon as it was open the militia entered it, followed by the troops, Major Clarke, with his batallion, covering the rear. The retreat in these circumstances was, you may be sure, a precipitate one. It was in fact a flight. The camp and artillery were abandoned.
But that was unavoidable, as not a horse was left alive to have drawn it off, had it otherwise been practicable. "But the most disgraceful part of the business is, that the greatest part of the men threw away their arms and accouterments, even after the pursuit, which continued about four miles, had ceased. I found the road strewed with them for many miles, but was not able to remedy it; for having had all my horses killed, and being mounted on one that could not be pricked out of a walk, I could not get forward myself. The orders I sent forward, either to halt the front or prevent the men from parting with their arms, were unattended to. The rout continued quite to Fort Jefferson, twenty-nine miles, which was reached a little after sunset. The action began about a half an hour before sunset, and the retreat was attempted at half-past nine o'clock. "I have now, sir, finished my melancholy tale; a tale that will be felt, sensibly felt, by every one that has sympathy for private distress, or for public misfortune. I have nothing to lay to the charge of the troops, but their want of discipline, which from the short time they had been in service,
it was impossible they should have acquired, and which rendered it difficult when they were thrown into confusion to reduce them again to order; and is one reason why the loss has fallen so heavily upon the officers, who did everything in their power to effect it. Neither were my own exertions wanting. But worn down with illness, and suffering under a painful disease, unable to mount or dismount without assistance, they were not so great as they otherwise would, or perhaps ought to have been."
In this dreadful disaster the Indians killed over nine hundred of St.
Clair's army, took seven pieces of cannon, two hundred oxen, a great number of horses, but NO PRISONERS. The wounded were immediately, upon the field, tomahawked and scalped. The Indians only lost sixty-six warriors.
The Governor was not wanting in bravery. Indeed the occasion was one in
which there was no opportunity for a display of cowardice. There was no possible covert to be found. Like men upon a shelterless plain, exposed to a hail storm, there was little to be done but bide the tempest. Eight bullets passed through his clothes and hat. He had four horses for his use; the first, a spirited colt, was so nervous and terrified by the firing that it required three or four persons to help the invalid governor to mount. He was hardly seated in the saddle when a bullet passed through the animal's head, and an arm of the boy who was holding him. Another horse was immediately brought, and while the attendants were removing the saddle from the dead steed to the living one, one bullet struck the horse in a vital part, and another the servant who held him, and they both dropped dead together. A person was dispatcher for the third horse. He did not return. Both horse and man fell dead by the way. One of the general's aids, Count de Malatie, had mounted the fourth horse, having lost his own, and the animal was shot beneath him. The governor, thus deprived of all of his horses, though suffering intense pain, exerted himself on foot, with an energy and alacrity which surprised every one. After some time a miserable worn-out packhorse was brought to him, just as he was so thoroughly exhausted that, but for that timely aid, he must have been left upon the field at the mercy of the Indians. Greatly would those savages have rejoiced to have kindled their fires and have passed the governor through that awful ordeal of torture and of death to which they had
before doomed General Crawford. Among the incidents of the battlefield, the following are worthy of record. Major Jacob Fowler, a veteran pioneer, nearly whose whole life was spent
amid the wildest scenes of the forest, was present on this occasion. In a
very graphic account which he has given of these scenes he writes:
"By this time there were about thirty men of Colonel Drake's command left
standing, the rest being all shot down, and lying around us, either killed
or wounded. I ran to the colonel, who was in the thickest of it, waving his
sword to encourage his men, and told him we should all be down in five minutes more if we did not charge them. 'Charge, then,' said he, to the little line that then remained, and they did so. I had been partially sheltered by a small tree. But a couple of Indians, who had taken a larger one, both fired at me at once. Feeling the steam of their guns, I supposed myself cut to pieces. But no harm had been done, and I brought my piece to my side and fired without aiming at the one who stood his ground, the fellow being so close to me that I could hardly miss him. I shot him through the hips, and while he was crawling away on all fours, Colonel Drake, who had been dismounted and stood close by me, made at him with his sword and struck his head off. "By this time the cock of my rifle lock had worn loose and gave me much trouble. Meeting with an acquaintance from Cincinnati, named McClure, I told him my difficulty. 'There is a first-rate rifle,' said he. I ran and got it, having ascertained that my bullets would fit it. Here I met Captain J. S. Gano, and observed to him 'that we were defeated, and that if we got got off we should need our rifles for subsistence in the woods.' The battle still raged, and at one spot might be seen a party of soldiers gathering together, having nothing to do but to present mere marks for the enemy. They appeared
stupefied and bewildered by the danger. At another spot the soldiers had
broken into the marquees of the officers, and were eating the breakfast from which those who had been called into the battle." "It must be remembered that neither officers nor men had eaten anything the whole morning. Some of the men were shot down in the very act of eating.
Just where I stood, there were no Indians visible, although their rifle balls were striking all around. At last I saw an Indian break for a tree about forty yards off, behind which he loaded and fired four times, bringing down his man at every fire, and with such quickness as to give me no chance to take sight in the intervals of his firing. At length I got a range of two inches inside his back-bone, and blazed away. Down he fell, and I saw no more of him. "A short time after, I heard the cry given by St. Clair, and his adjutant-sergeant, to charge to the road. I ran across the army to where I had left my relative, Captain Piatt, and told him that the army was broken up and in full retreat. "'Don't say so,' he replied, 'you will discourage my men, and I can't believe it.' I persisted a short time, when finding him obstinate, I said: "'If you will rush on your fate, then do it.' "I then ran off towards the rear of the army, which was making off rapidly. Piatt called after me, saying, 'Wait for me.' It was of no use to stop, for by this time the savages were in full chase, and hardly twenty yards behind me. Being uncommonly active in those days, I soon got from the rear to the front of the troops, although I had great trouble to avoid the bayonets which the men had thrown after the retreat with the sharp point towards their pursuers." Another incident of the battle related by McClung, in his Sketches of Western Adventure, gives the reader a vivid idea of the terrors of the scene. The late William Kennan, of Fleming County, at that time a young man of eighteen, was attached to the corps of rangers who accompanied the regular force. He had long been remarkable for strength and activity. In the course of the march from Fort Washington, he had repeated opportunities of testing his astonishing powers in that respect, and was universally admitted to be
the swiftest runner in the light corps. On the evening preceding the action, his corps had been advanced, as already observed, a few hundred yards in front of the first line of infantry, in order to give seasonable notice of the enemy's approach. Just as the day was dawning, he observed about thirty Indians within one hundred yards of the guard fire, advancing curiously toward the spot where he stood, together with about twenty rangers, the rest being considerably in the rear. Supposing it to be a mere scouting party, as usual, and not superior in number to the rangers, he sprang forward a few paces, in order to shelter himself in a spot of peculiarly rank grass, and firing a quick aim upon the foremost Indian, he instantly fell flat upon his face, and proceeded, with all prompt rapidity, to load his gun, not doubting, for a moment, but that the rangers would maintain their position and support him. The Indians, however, rushed forward in such an overwhelming masses, that the rangers were compelled to fly with precipitation, leaving young Kennan in total ignorance of his danger. Fortunately the captain of his company had observed him when he threw himself in the grass, and suddenly shouted aloud, "Run, Kennan, or you are a dead man." He instantly sprang to his feet, and beheld Indians within ten feet of him, while his company was more than one hundred yards in front. Not a moment was to be lost. He darted off with every muscle strained to its utmost, and was pursued by a dozen of the enemy with loud yells. He at first pressed forward to the usual fording place in the creek, which ran between the rangers and the main army. But several Indians, who had passed him before he rose from the grass, threw themselves in the way and completely cut him off from the rest. By the most powerful exertions he had thrown the whole body of his pursuers behind him, with the exception of one young chief, who displayed a swiftness and perserverance equal to his own. In the circuit which Kennan was obliged to make the race continued for more than four hundred yards. The distance between them was about eighteen feet, which Kennan
could not increase, nor his adversary diminish. Each, for the time, put his
whole soul into the race. Kennan, as far as he was able, kept his eye upon the motions of his pursuer, lest he should throw the tomahawk, which he held aloft, in a menacing attitude. At length finding that no other Indian was immediately at hand, he determined to try the metal of his pursuer, in a different manner, and felt for his tomahawk in order to turn at bay. It had escaped from its sheath, while he lay in the grass. His hair almost lifted his cap from his head when he saw himself totally disarmed. At he had slackened his pace for a moment, the Indian was almost within reach of him, when he recommenced the race. But the idea of being without arms lent wings to his flight, and, for the first time, he saw himself gaining ground. He had watched the motions of his pursuer too closely, however, to pay proper attention to the nature of the ground before him, and he suddenly found himself in front of a large tree, which had been blown down, and upon which brush and other impediments lay, to the height of eight or nine feet. The Indian who, heretofore, had not uttered the slightest sound, now gave a short, quick yell, as if secure of his victim. Kennan had not a moment to deliberate. He must clear the impediment at a leap or perish. Putting his whole soul into the effort, he bounded into the air with a power which astonished himself, and clearing limbs, brush and every thing else, alighted, in perfect safely, upon the other side. A loud yell of astonishment burst from the band of pursuers, not one of whom had the hardihood to attempt the same feat. Kennan, as may be readily imagined, had no leisure to enjoy his triumph. But dashing into the bed of the creek, upon the banks of which the feat had been performed, where the high banks would shield him from the fire of the enemy, he ran up the stream until a convenient place offered for crossing, and rejoined the rangers in the rear of the encampment, panting from the fatigue of exertions which have seldom been surpassed. No breathing time was allowed him, however. The attack instantly commenced, as we have already observed, and was continued for three hours with unabated fury. Then the retreat commenced. Kennan was attached to Major Clarke's battalion, and had the dangerous service of protecting the rear. This corps quickly lost it commander, and was completely disorganized. Kennan was among the hindmost when the flight commenced, but by exerting those some powers which
had saved him in the morning, he quickly gained the front, passing several
horsemen in the flight. Here he beheld a private of his own company, an intimate acquaintance, lying upon the ground, with his thigh broken, and, in tones of the most piercing distress, imploring each horseman who hurried by, to take him up behind him. As soon as he beheld Kennan coming up, on foot, he stretched out his arms, and called aloud for him to save him. Notwithstanding the imminent peril of the moment, his friend could no reject so passionate an appeal, but swinging him in his arms, he placed him upon his back, and ran, in that manner, for several hundred yards. Horseman after horseman passed them, all of whom refused to relieve him of his burden. At length the enemy was gaining upon him so fast, that Kennan saw their death certain, unless he relinquished his burden. He accordingly told his friend that he had used every possible exertion to save his life, but in vain; that he must relax his hold around his neck or they both would perish. The unhappy wretch, heedless of every remonstrance, still clung convulsively to his back, and impeded his exertions, until the foremost of the enemy, armed with tomahawks alone, were within twenty yards of them. Kennan then drew his knife from its sheath, and cut the fingers of his companion, thus compelling him to relinquish his hold. The unhappy man rolled upon the ground in utter helplessness, and Kennan beheld him tomahawked before he had gone thirty yards. Relieved of his burder he darted forward with an activity which once more brought him to the van. Here again he was compelled to neglect his own safety in order to attend to that of others. Mr. Madison, of Kentucky, subsequently Governor of the State, was at that time a subaltern in St. Clair's army. He was a man who united the most amiable temper with the most unconquerable courage. Being a young man of rather feeble constitution, he was totally exhausted by the exertions of the morning, and was now sitting down upon a log, calmly awaiting the approach of his enemies. Kennan hastily accosted him and inquired the cause of his delay. Madison, pointing to a wound which had bled profusely, replied that he was unable to walk farther and had no horse. Kennan instantly ran back to a spot
where he had seen and exhausted horse grazing, caught him without difficulty, and having assisted Madison to mount, walked by his side until they plunder of the camp presented irresistable attractions to the enemy. The friendship thus formed between these two young men endured, without interruption, through life. Mr. Kennan never entirely recovered from the immense exertions which he was compelled to make during this unfortunate expedition. He settled in Fleming County, and continued for many years a leading member of the Baptist Church. He died in 1827. Among those engaged in this disastrous battle there was a gentleman from New Jersey, Captain Littell, with his son Stephen. The captain had been a man of war from his youth. He had been engaged in thirteen skirmished with the Indians, and had gained much reputation in the battles of the Revolution at Brandywine and Germantown. Having been unfortunate in business, he had turned his attention to the new lands at the West. His son, who accompanied him, had just attained his majority. The captain thinking that, as a member of St. Clair's expedition, he would have a fine opportunity of exploring the country, applied for a commission. Being too late in his application, both he and his son enlisted in the ranks.
He entertained the supposition, which unfortunately was very general, that
ther would be no fighting. It was thought that the Indians, appalled by the
approach of so formidable a force, would not only make no resistance, but
that they would throw down their arms and beg for peace. The company to
which Captain Littell and his son attached themselves was composed mainly of young men from New Jersey, most of whom had come out for the purpose of
viewing the country. This company was esteemed one of the best of the militia corps. It was stationed in the advance, upon the other side of the creek, where the savages commenced their onset. Captain Littell, being hotly engaged in the fight, was not aware of the order to retreat, until the enemy were all around him. With the gleaming tomahawks of the savages almost over his head, he sprang forward to cross the stream. As he leaped down the precipitous bank, he stumbled and fell, and thus escaped the shower of bullets whistling all around him. He fell into a hollow of mud and water. The pursuing Indians, supposing him to be shot dead, and that they could return at their leisure for his scalp, rushed by for other victims. Fortunately, the captain was somewhat screened from observation by the rank grass and dense underbrush which fringed the stream. His boots were filled with water, thus rendering rapid flight impossible. As he was emptying his boots and making other preparations for escape, he was discovered by a solitary Indian, who, supposing him to be helplessly wounded, rushed incautiously towards him to take his scalp. He stumbled over some slight impediment, and Captain Little, springing up, plunged his sword to the hilt in his bosom. The savage dropped dead into the water. The captain then fled into the forest. After two days of solitary wandering, and much suffering, he reached Fort Jefferson in safety.
The escape of his son, Stephen, was still more remarkable. At the commencement of the battle, he was at the extreme advance. Being unable to keep up with his comrades, in their precipitate flight, he sprung aside, and hid in a dense thicket. The yelling savages rushed by in their hot pursuit. The Indians were thus soon between him and the rest of the troops. Here he remained for some time, in dreadful suspense, as the roar of the battle died away in the distance, the Indians being in full chase of the flying army. He then ventured slowly forward, until he reached he scene of the night's encampment. Awful was the scene presented to him there. The bodies of nine hundred of the killed and wounded encumbered the ground. It was a cold, frosty morning. The scalped heads presented a very revolting spectacle, a peculiar vapor ascending from them all. Many of these poor creatures were still alive. Groans ascended from all sides. Several of the wounded, knowing that as soon as the savages returned they would be doomed to death by torture, implored young Littell to put an end to their misery. This he refused to do. Seeing among the dead one who bore a strong resemblance to his father, he was in the act of turning over the body to examine the features when the exultant and terrific shouts of the returning savages fell upon his ear, and already he could see through the forest the plumed warriors rushing back. It so chanced that an vergreen tree of very dense foliage had been felled near where he stood. It was his only possible covert. He sprange into the tree, and turned its branches, as well as he could, around him. Scarcely had he done this than the savages came bounding upon the ground, like so many demons. Immediately they commenced their fiend-like acts of torture upon all the wounded. One of their principal amusements was to bind a captive to a tree, and see how near to his head they could throw their tomahawks without killing him. If the cruel weapon chanced to strike the cheek or brow, bringing forth the gushing blood, it only awoke fresh shouts of merriments, giving additional zest to the game. One of the tomahawks thus thrown came so near the tree where Stephen was concealed, that he could have stooped forward and picked it up. As the savage sprung to get it, Littell felt sure that his keep eye was fixed upon him, and he doubted not that his dreadful doom was sealed. The Indian, fortunately, did not see him; but, catching up his murderous weapon, sank it to the helve in the brain of the victim he was torturing.
The scenes he continued to witness were as awful as the imagination can
conceive. Incredible as it may seem, it is stated that there were two hundred and fifty women among the campfollowers in this campaign. This can only be accounted for upon the supposition that they, with the rest of the community, imagined that there would be no fighting; that a treaty of friendship would be made with the Indians, and that the garrisons would be established, under whose protection they, with their husbands, might find new homes. Fifty-six of them were killed, and they were tortured, if possible, even more unmercifully than the men. Some accounts state that two hundred of these women fell victims to savage barbarity. One woman was running with her babe, but one year old, in her arms. In utter exhaustion, as she was about to fall by the wayside, she threw her wailing child into the snow. The Indians picked up the babe, spared its life, and took it to Sandusky, where it was brought up as one of the tribe. Some years after this dreadful defeat of the Americans, an old Indian woman, speaking of the event, said: "Oh, my arm, that night, was weary with scalping white men." We have no means of ascertaining what number of warriors the Indians brought into the battle. There is no evidence that at the commencement of the conflict they exceeded the number General St. Clair commanded. But, in an hour, nearly one-hald of General St. Clair's army was destroyed, and the remainder were in tumultuous and frenzied flight. This gave the Indians an immense superiority. Their victory was clearly the result, not of overwhelming numbers, but of superior generalship.
The fugitives scarcely stopped to breathe until they reached Fort Jefferson, about thirty miles from the field of battle. Here they met the First Regiment, which had been sent back for the protection of the baggage-wagons. As they had but just erected the fort, and left it in a small garrison, there were no supplies there for the exhausted, bleeding, starving army. General St. Clair, in his official report, writes:
"Taking a view of the situation of our broken troops at Fort Jefferson,
and that there were no provisions in the fort, I called upon the field officers for their advice as to what was proper further to be done. It was there unanimous opinion that the addition of the First Regiment, unbroken as it was, did not put the army on so respectable a footing as it was in the morning, because a great part of it was now unarmed; that it had been found unequal to the enemy, and should they come on, which was probable, it would be found so again; that the troops could not be thrown into the fort, because it was too small, and there were no provisions in it; that provisions were known to be upon the road, at the distance of one, or at the most two, marches; that therefore it would be proper to move, without loss of time, to meet the provisions, when the men might have the sooner opportunity of some refreshment; and that a detachment might be sent forward with supplies, to be safely deposited in the fort."
Agreeably to this advice, the exhausted and terrified army was again put
upon the march at ten o'clock of that very night. Through all the dark hours they dragged along their weary feet. The next morning they fortunately met some wagons containing flour. Part of this was distributed among the almost famished troops, and part was sent forward to the relief of the little garrison in Fort Jefferson. The main body now pressed on to Cincinnati, where it took shelter beneath the walls of Fort Washington.
Not long after this two white women, who had been prisoners in the Miami
villages, escaped. They said that the Indian warriors made all manner of fun in describing the manner in which Governor St. Clair posted his troops. They even got up a sham fight, in representation of it, for the amusement of the squaws. With roars of laughter they reenacted the scene, calling it St. Clair's fight and dance. They said that they intended annually to celebrate the victory by a similar contemptuous festival.
But war is a very uncertain game; and the braggadocio is very apt eventually to be humbled. Not long after this the Indians had their turn, in dancing, as they were pierced by the bullets of the white man; and they found something more serious to attend to than engaging in mock fights.
There were three distinguished Indian chieftains who led in this battle -
Blue Jacket, Buckongahelas, and Little Turtle. These were all men of remarkable ability, and we shall hear from them again. Little Turtle became very much interested in the civilization of his tribe. He made very minute inquiries of General Harrison, respecting the organization of the National Government. In the war of 1812 he met Kosciusko, in Philadelphia, and quite a warm friendship sprang up between them Little Turtle lived several years after the war, with a high reputation for wisdom, humanity and courage. Schoolcraft writes of him: "There have been few individuals, among the aborigines, who have done so much to abolish the rites of human sacrifice. The grave of this noted warrior is shown to visitors near Fort Wayne. It is frequently visited by the Indians in that part of the country, by whom his memory is cherished with the greatest respect and veneration." When Volney, the celebrated French traveler and philosopher, was in this country, he sought an interview with this illustrious Indian chief in Philadelphia, in the year 1797. From him he obtained a valuable vocabulary of the language of his tribe. In one of these interviews Volney said to Little Turtle:
"Why do you not live among the whites? Is not life in Philadelphia more
comfortable than upon the banks of the Wabash?" The chief replied: "Taking all things together, you have the advantage over us. But here I am deaf and dumb. I do not talk your language. I can neither hear nor make myself heard. When I walk through the streets I see every person in his shop employed about something; one makes shoes, another hats, a third sells cloth, and every one lives by his labor. I say to myself, which of all these things can you do? Not one. I can make a bow or an arrow, catch fish, kill game, and go to war. But none would require a very long time.
Old age comes on. I should be a piece of furniture useless to the whites, and useless to myself. I must retrun to my own country."
Mr. Volney says that the skin of Little Turtle, were it not exposed, was
as white as his own. Upon his mentioning this to the chief one day, he said: "I have seen Spaniards in Louisiana, and found no difference of color between them and me. And why should there be any? In them, as with us, it is the work of the Sun, the great father of colors, which burns us."
Colonel John Johnston, in his "Recollections," says that Little Turtle was a man of great vivacity, and that he was particularly fond of the society of gentlemen, and of a good dinner. He had two wives living in the same lodge with him. One, having been the choice of his youth, had grown old, being about fifty, and had sunk into a mere household drudge. The other was really a beautiful Indian girl of eighteen. She was the undisguised favorite, and yet there was never any feeling of jealousy perceptible between them. Little Turtle was fond of telling of his war adventures. One anecdote he used to relate with much gusto, in which he himself ahd been outwitted by a white man. "A white man," said he, "a prisoner of many years in the tribe, had often solicited permission to go on a war party, and had been refused. It never was the practice of the Indians to ask or encourage white prisoners among them to go to war against their countrymen. This man, however, had so far won the confidence of the Indians, and being very importunate, that at length we consented, and I took him on an expedition to Kentucky. "As was our practice, we had carefully reconnoitered, and had fixed on a house recently built as the one to be attacked the next morning before the dawn of day. The house was surrounded by a clearing, there being much brush and fallen timber on the ground. At the appointed time the Indians, with the white man, began to move to the attack. At all such times no talking or noise is to be made. They creep along on their hands and feet. All is done by signs from the leader. "The white man, all the time, was striving to be foremost, while the Indians were beckoning him to keep back. In spite of all their efforts he would keep ahead. And having, at length, got within running distance of the house, he jumped to his feet and went with all his speed, shouting at the top of his voice, Indians! Indians! We had to make a precipitate retreat, losing forever our white companion and disappointed in our fancied conquest of the log cabin. From that day I would never trust a white man to accompany me again to war." Kosciusko presented Little Turtle with a favorite brace of pistols, saying to him: "These pistols I have carried and used in many a hard fought battle in defense of the oppressed, the weak, the wronged of my own race. I now present them to you with the injunction that with them you shoot dead the first man who ever comes to subjugate you or despoil you of your country." Buckongahelas was a war chief of the Delawares. He had been so much under the influence of the Moravian missionaries that he might be almost deemed a civilized man. He was endowed with unusual native strength of mind, and had been greatly exasperated at the massacre of his unoffending brethren by the infamous Colonel Williamson. He also felt outraged by the fraudulent treaties, through which the white men were nominally purshasing land of Indians,
who had no right to dispose of it. In council there was no man who could
speak more vehemently or more to the point than he. Mr. B. B. Thatcher says that no Christian knight was ever more scrupulous in performing all his engagements than was Buckongahelas. He had all the qualifications of a hero. His independence was of a noble nature, and all who approached him were impressed by his dignity of character. Blue Jacket, the leading chief of the Shawanese, had also attained much
distinction as a warrior. There are, however, but few particulars of his
history is recorded. The simple explanation of the defeat of St. Clair is,
that he had chieftains arrayed against him who were vastly his superiors in
the art of war. He was brave and energetic, with but little ability to con-
duct a campaign. Does the question arise, How was it possible for such men as these chieftains are represented to have been, to have allowed such horrible atrocities of barbaric torture as were inflicted upon their victims? It is very difficult to answer this question. Alas for man! Read the history of the Spanish Inquisition and see what civilized and professedly Christian men can do even in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Never did savage atrocities surpass those which civilized, educated and nominally religious men have perpetrated upon their brother man. And these Inquisitors were often tender husbands and loving fathers. It would seem as though the fiend and the angel may dwell together in the same human bosom.
Ohio Valley - General George Rogers Clark Marines
Per the "Marines in the Revolution" Charles R. Smith, History and Museum Division, Headquarters, U. S. Marinr Corps, Washington D. C.
In chapter XIII State and Privaterr Marines / Maryland and Virginia it states [I am paraphrasing here] that as the Revolutionary War was drawing to a close, George Rogers Clark was given the monumental task of maintaining military control over the Ohio Valley. He had few men at his disposal, however, the Virginia Treasury (which was about bankrupt) authorized 50 pounds each for the building of boats. They built a galley that had "a 73 ft long keel, designed to navigate the Ohio River. As a row galley, she provided for 46 oars with a complement of 110 men. Her armament was to be one 6-pounder, six 4-pounders, and one 2-pounder. At this time the cannon promised by the governor had not yet reached Fort Nelson at the Falls of the Ohio (now Louisville, Kentucky) where the craft was being. built." Other gondola type boats were prone to ambush and were unsuccessful. However, "the unique construction of the row galley avoided this pitfall. Her gunwales were four feet high and thick enough to stop both arrow and bullet. In addition, she had false gunwhales mounted on strong hinges which would, when positioned, raise the sides high enough to be safe from musket fire from shore. This feature seems to be original as it is not found in other row galleys of the period". Militiamen built the galley and the cannon were brought overland to Redstone (now Brownsville) Pennsylvania and floated down the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers to the construction site. On page 263 and 264 is a two page full color depiction of the row galley just described with two canoes of native americans rowing out to meet it and the marines in defensive position behind the false gunwhales.
The description on page 265 reads "OHIO RIVER ROW GALLEY, SUMMER 1782. This painting illustrates one of the many actions by state and privateer Marines. Virginia state Marines provided the gun crews and musketmen for the gunboat Miami which cruised the upper Ohio River to help keep the aggresive Shawnee Indians under control during the summer of 1782."
Beginning on page 268 "It was no easy task to assemble the 110-man commplement required. Among the first steps taken by Clark was to authorize the recruitment of a company of Virginia State Marines. Selected as captain was Jacob Pyeatt who had been performing commissary duties both as a civilian and as an officer in the Illinois Regiment since September 1778. Pyeatt's company of Marines was to serve for six months and when finally enlisted, numbered 20 men and one other officer, lieutenant William Biggs. Many of the enlistees were discharged men who were enticed to re-enter the service on the promise of a suit of clothing and 10 dollars a month pay. The company muster included one captain, one lieutenant, two ship's carpenters, three sergeants, and 15 privates.
Pyeatt's company of Marines was probably enlisted to constitute the permanent military force on board the row galley, and it was probably expected that they would, among other duties, constitute the vessel's gun crews and mount guard over both the magazine and the ship herself. As soldiers had enlisted for service on the water, they were properly designated as "Marines" although still constituting a unit of Clark's loosely bound Illinois Regiment.
Records do not indicate that Clark's row galley was officially given a name, but available evidence indicates that she was referred to commonly as "the Miami galley", after the river of the same name. Private Cornelius Darnal, in a deposition made several years later, noted that he "met with Captain Jacob Pyeatt a captain of the marines for manning a boat or ship on the Ohio river called the Rogalia." The name "Rogalia" is assumed to be no more than a phonetic spelling of the expression "row galley."
The service performed by the Miami galley are vague but impressive. Her summer patrol of the Ohio adjacent to Shawnee Territory caused alarm among the indians, who thought Clark was preparing for incursion. Two British captains from Detroit, William Caldwell and Alexander McKee, had gathered and indian army of nearly 1,000 braves to make a strike at Wheeling and were on the march when news of the supposed thrust by Clark caused the indians to break off the march in order to defend their own country. The postponed attack on Fort Henry (Wheeling) was finally made in mid-September 1782 by a much smaller force estimated at 250 indians and 40 Tories.
The Miami galley made a contribution to the defense of the frontier even though she had but a short life. Private Darnal reported that the vessel sank at Bear Grass at the Falls of the Ohio about 1 September 1782, and that he and the remaining men of Pyeatt's marine company were then transferred to the Illinois Regiiment. Like the Maryland Marines of the ship Defence, Jacob Pyeatt and his Marines contributed in their small way to the final defeat of the British."
Pennsylvania
Roll Call from: 'Decennial Register Of The Pennsylvania Society Of Sons Of The Revolution 1888-1898
PIATT, JACOB 1747-1834 Ensign, Capt. Andrew M'Mires's Company, First Battalion, First Establishment, Dec. 15, 1775; Second Lt., Capt. Elias Longstreet's Company, Nov. 29, 1776; Adjutant, First Battalion, Second Establishment; First Lt. and Adjutant, First Regiment, Jan. 10, 1777; Capt.-Lt., First Regiment, to date from Feb. 2, 1779; Capt. by brevet; Capt., First Regiment, Oct. 26, 1779, NJ Line; resigned to date March 11, 1780. Member of the NJ State Society of the Cincinnati.
Virginia State Troops - Clark's Illinois Regiment
Jachob Pyeatt appears on a list of the Clameaments of the Illinois Redmt (not dated)
Jacob Pyeatts, Capt. - appears on a payroll of officers under the command of General George R Clark (not dated)
Jacob Pyeatte, Lt. - appears on a payroll of soldiers in the Illinois Regiment (roll not dated) From March 9, 1782 to September 9, 1872; Amount 90-0-0
Virginia - 9th Regiment
From Muster Rolls:
6 Oct 1779, Benjm Pyatt, Sgt, Capt Uriah Springer's Co, Lt Inf, 9th VA Reg, Col John Gibson, Commanding June, July, Aug, Sept, 1779, Fort Pitt
13 Feb 1780, Benjm Pyatt, Sgt, Capt Uriah Springer's Co, Lt Inf, 9th VA Reg, Col John Gibson, Commanding Oct, Nov, Dec, 1779, Fort Pitt. Discharged 22 Decbr
Virginia - 9th & 13th Regiment
In the Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution by Gwathmey (975.5G):
Pyatt, Benjamin 9th Regiment, Continental Line, Sergeant, granted 200 acres land for serving 3 year enlistment (warrant dated 10 May 1785, No 3866 by Commonwealth of Virginia)
Pyatte, Benjamin 9th & 13th Regiment, Continental Line
Virginia - 13th Regiment
Benjamin Pyatt (Piatt)(Pyeatt) served as Sergeant, 13th Virginia Regiment, Continental Line. He moved from Fort Pitt to Ohio with the Regiment and served 3 years. He was discharged at Ft Pitt in Dec 1779.
From Muster Rolls:
6 Sep 1777, Ben Peat, Pvt, Capt James Sullivan's Co, 13th VA Reg, Col William Russell, Commanding, Term of enlistment - The War; Remarks - Absent
_ Sep 1777, Ben Pyeat, Pvt, Capt James Sullivan's Co, 13th VA Reg, Col William Russell, Commanding, Roll dated 10 Oct 1777, Pitsburg [sic]
5 Apr 1779, Benjm Pyatt, Sgt, Major Taylor's Co, 13th VA Rev, Col John Gibson, Commanding, Oct, Nov, Dec 78; Jan, Feb, Mch 1779, Fort Pitt
8 Jun 1779, Ben Peatt, Sgt, Major Taylor's Co, 13th VA Reg, Col John Gibson, Commanding Apr, May 1779, Pittsburgh
Virginia - Ohio County
Pyatt, Robert private/ Ohio County / Pennsylvania continental / age 80 when pension started Nov 5, 1833 / $31.66 annual allowance / $94.98 amount received
Go to Ohio Co, WV Rev Pensioners on the US Genweb
Updated Sep 2012
Email: pyeattm@excite.com
