The upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is a milestone I eagerly anticipate. This celebration holds deep personal significance for me, particularly as my genealogical research over the last few years has uncovered several ancestors who served in the struggle for independence in various capacities. Over the last half-year, my understanding of the American Revolution has expanded more than it did throughout my entire grade school education and two years as a college history major. This awakening has made it evident why a vast number of Americans maintain such a simplistic, nearly guileless perspective on the conflict and its defining milestones. With each passing day, my knowledge continues to grow. To better visualize where my ancestors were situated during the significant milestones of this era, I have organized the following table.

PATERNAL ANCESTRY

• Battles of Lexington & Concord (19 APR 1775)
  1. Samuel (Starnes) Stearns (6X gGF) was 49 years old in 1775. According to the DAR Lineage Book Vol 137: “Samuel Stearns (1726-1801) served as a private at the Battle of Lexington in Captain Pollard’s Massachusetts company.” His home was in Billerica, about 10 miles from the Old North Bridge.
  2. Edward Pickering, Jr. – (5X gGF) was 43 years old in 1775. He was a veteran of the Seven Years’ War. He was listed in the Annals of Mendon, Massachusetts, as having served as one of the “Three Months Men” during the Crisis of 1775 that began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and his term of service ending that August. According to Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors of the American Revolution, he was in “Capt. Joseph Daniels’s (3d Mendon) Co. of Colonel Read’s Regiment at the battles of Lexington and Concord.”
  3. Eldad Corbet – (5X gGF) was 23 years old in 1775. “Responded to the alarm of April 19, 1775.”
• Battle of Bennington (16 AUG 1777}
  1. Eldad Corbet – (5X gGF) was 23 years old in 1775. According to the National Archives muster rolls, he served in Major John Brown’s Detachment of Militia for New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts in the summer of 1777. He was at the Battle of Bennington. The battle occurred in New York over the border from Bennington, Vermont. (see Burns episode 4)
• Battle of Bemis Heights (Saratoga II) (7 OCT 1777)
  1. Samuel (Starnes) Stearns – (6X gGF) 15th Massachusetts Regiment [SOURCE: Fold3.com and the National Archives]
• Battle of Monmouth (28 JUN 1778)
  1. Samuel (Starnes) Stearns – (6X gGF) 15th Massachusetts Regiment [SOURCE: Fold3.com and the National Archives]
• Northern Army (1778)
  1. Jonathan Pickering (5X gGF) was 39 years old in 1775. He is recorded as having served in 1778. From the Annals of Mendon: “During the year 1778, there were two special calls for troops, one for New York and one for the northern army, to both of which the town records show Mendon responded.” Jonathan Pickering is on the list of “nine months men” without designation to their place of service, probably to reinforce the Northern Army.” Northern Army meant he was in the Massachusetts militia attached to the Continental Army, which opposed the British along the Canadian border near Fort Ticonderoga. (It is not clear where he was in 1778)
• Peekskill & Fishkill, New York Guard Duty (SUMMER 1780)
  1. Richard Denney (5X gGF) was 28 years old in 1775. According to the National Archives muster rolls, he served in Peekskill and Fishkill, New York, in Co. D, Hopkins’ Regiment of the New York Militia. He was tasked with guarding Hessian POWs captured during the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.
  2. Jotham Pickering (4X gGF) was 14 years old in 1775. Served in the 6th Massachusetts Regiment in Lieut. Col. Daniel Whiting’s Co. of Colonel Thomas Nixon’s Regiment. He served four months and 19 days. In the summer of 1780, his unit marched to the sprawling Continental Army encampment at Fishkill, New York, and at the end of the summer, marched back to Mendon, Massachusetts. His name is on a list of men mustered by Thomas Newhall, Muster Master for Worcester Co., to serve in the Continental Army for the term of 9 months; said Pickering appears among men belonging to Capt. Nelson’s co. and other companies in Col. Wood’s regt.; engaged for town of Mendon; also, descriptive list of men raised in Worcester Co. to serve in the Continental Army for the term of 9 months from the time of their arrival at Fishkill, agreeable to resolve of April 20, 1778, returned as received by Andrew Haskell, at Leicester, June 2, 1778; Capt. Peter Penniman’s co., Col. Ezra Wood’s regt.; age, 17 yrs.; stature, 6 ft.; complexion, dark; hair, dark brown; eyes, dark; residence, Mendon; engaged for town of Mendon; arrived at Fishkill June 7, 1778; also, list of men returned as received of Jonathan Warner, Commissioner, by Col. R. Putnam, July 20, 1778; also, list of men returned as mustered by Henry Rutgers, Jr., Deputy Muster Master, dated Fishkill, Aug. 1, 1778.

MATERNAL ANCESTRY

• Battle of Brandywine Creek (11 SEP 1777)
  1. John McMullan – (5X gGF) was 35 years old in 1775. He served in the 11th Virginia Regiment (1776/77). In 1778, the 11th & 15th Virginia Regiments (1778) were folded into a reorganized 7th Virginia Regiment under the command of Daniel Morgan. He is said to have served for five years, from 1776 to 1780. According to family lore, he was hospitalized and nearly died while at Valley Forge. (see Burns episode 5) Years before the Revolution, he married my 5x great-grandmother, Theodosia Beazely, and by her, he had five children, including my ancestor Patrick McMullan. At some point, after not hearing from John and believing him to be dead, Theodosia left John for another man. I recently discovered that was reported to have been killed at Brandywine Creek on 11 September 1777. The records show that he rejoined his unit in late March 1778 after missing for ”6 months and 19 days.” While most have only two muster roll cards, John’s pay record in the National Archives consists of 24 records. He was at the Battle of Brandywine, where he was likely wounded and briefly held as prisoner of the British. He may have been at a hospital in Willmington, Delaware while he was “missing.” (see Burns episode 4) Other places mentioned in the muster rolls are Valley Forge, PA; Camp White Plains, NY; Camp Pompton Plains, NJ; Camp New Ark (Newark), NJ; and Camp Middlebrook, NJ. (see Burns episode 5)
• Battle of Cowpens (17 JAN 1781)
  1. Solomon Morgan – (5X gGF) was 40 years old in 1775. According to the “Roster of South Carolina Patriots,”: “He served in the militia from November 15th 1780 to July 15th 1781 under Lt. John Baxter and Gen. [Francis] Marion, making horseman swords and gunsmithing.” (see Burns episode 6)
  2. Evan Prothro – (5X gGF) was 33 years old in 1775. According to the Roster of South Carolina Patriots, Evan “served in the militia during 1781 and was a hog driver during 1782. A family lore says he served under Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. In 1781/82, Marion was made a brigadier general and placed in command of a South Carolina militia brigade. Battles fought in South Carolina during Evan’s time in service were the Battle of Cowpens (Jan 1781) and the Battle of Guilford Court House (Mar 1781). (see Burns episode 6 Battle of Waxhaws, Battle of Camden, Battle of Kings Mountain, Battle of Cowpens, Battle of Guilford Courthouse