1778 Muster List, Including Rejected African American Recruit

REVOLUTIONARY WAR; AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS

Edité par Bristol County, Massachusetts, 1778

A propos de cet article

Autograph Document Signed, Muster Rolls for Norton and Attleboro, Bristol County, Massachusetts. 2 pp., 8 1/4 x 13 in. This rare descriptive list of men enlisted for Continental service from Massachusetts includes an African American who served in the militia. The first page lists eight men belonging to three companies in Colonel John Daggett's regiment of Massachusetts militia. The list gives each man's age; height; color of complexion, hair, and eyes; and town. All are from Norton in Bristol County, approximately thirty miles south of Boston. Among the militiamen who were forwarded for Continental service was 26-year-old London Morey, "a Negro," but according to his military records, he was "rejected" at Fishkill, New York.The verso contains a tabular list of twenty men recruited from Colonel John Daggett's militia regiment for nine months' service in the Continental Army. They were from Attleboro, Easton, and Mansfield. The table lists each man's company, name, age, height, complexion, eye color, town, and county or country. The last four listed are from France. Several served in the 12th Massachusetts Regiment under the command of Col. Gamaliel Bradford. Excerpts "Norton May the 20th 1778"A Return of the men Inlisted in Norton agreeable to the orders of the Cort of the Massachusetts State of the 20th of Apriel last to Raise two Thousand men in Sd State to fill up the fifteen Battalions to be Raised in Sd State the men to Continue in the service of the United States nine months from the time they arrive in Camp at fish Kill unless sooner Discharged to wit.""To Brigadier General Godfrey"Sr: In obedance to your orders of April 27th 1778: I have Raised mustered and Delivered to the superintendent for the County of Bristol 28: men from my Regiment as Discribed in the foregoing Lists and: 32 was the proportion from said Regiment[.]the Town of Mansfield are Defisiant of 3: men of their Quota and Capt Josiah Keith of [loss]Company in Easton is Defisiant of one to Complete his Quota"July:7:1778: John Daggett Coll of [?] Regiment"Historical BackgroundOn February 26, 1778, the Continental Congress passed a resolution requiring each state to contribute specific numbers of troops to the Continental Army by drafting members of their state militias. The Continental Congress required Virginia and Massachusetts Bay, the two most populous states, to provide 15 battalions each; Pennsylvania 10; North Carolina 9; Connecticut and Maryland, 8 each; New York 5; New Jersey 4; New Hampshire 3; and Rhode Island and Delaware, 1 each. All those troops from the New England states were to rendezvous at Fishkill, New York, while those from other states were to rendezvous in Easton, Pennsylvania; at camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; or in Alexandria or Petersburg, Virginia.On April 20, 1778, the General Court of Massachusetts-Bay passed a resolution for filling up and completing fifteen battalions of Continental troops, as required by the Continental Congress for "a powerful Army.early brought into the field, effectually to oppose and defeat our public enemies." Because one-seventh of the male inhabitants of Massachusetts-Bay was insufficient "to fill up and compleat at this time, the fifteen Battalions directed to be raised in this State," the state House of Representatives resolved that each county and town should furnish additional troops based on a list. These recruits were to be transported to Fishkill, New York, where they would join the Continental Army.The County of Bristol was to provide 149 additional men, of which 8 were to come from Norton, 13 from Attleborough, 7 from Mansfield, and 8 from Easton. The remaining 113 were to come from the eight other towns in Bristol County.John Daggett (1724-1803) was an Attleboro surveyor and patriot, as well as a local militia leader. He served on the revolutionary Attleboro Committee of Correspondence and was a signer of Attleboro's Solemn League and Covenant, a pr. (See website for full description).

N° de réf. du vendeur 26532

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: 1778 Muster List, Including Rejected African American Recruit
• Éditeur: Bristol County, Massachusetts
• Date de parution: 1778
• Reliure: No binding
• État de l'article: Very Good
• Type de livre: Autograph Document Signed
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Revolutionary War
  • African American History