Cabin Construction by Don Troiani
For inspirational stories of the individuals who encamped at Valley Forge, please click on the links below or read the expanded stories that follow.
Brevet Major John Van Dyk – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/brevet-major-john-van-dyk/
Polly Cooper – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/polly-cooper/
Griffin Greene – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/griffin-greene/
Valley Forge Muster Roll Volunteer Attends Native American Grave Marking and Remembrance Ceremony – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/valley-forge-mus…mbrance-ceremony/
DR. JAMES CRAIK – Physician
By: John Whiteside
Scotland provided another of its precious sons to the cause for American independence. James Craik was born in July 1730 in a small town near Dumfries, Scotland. His father, William Craik, was a large estate owner and member of the British Parliament. Craik was an intelligent lad and when he was of age, entered medical school at the University of Edinburgh. Following his education there, he joined the British army where he served as doctor and surgeon. He eventually was sent to the West Indies with the British military to continue his work in medicine.
Sometime shortly after 1750, his service in the islands ended as he retired from the army. He sailed to America, settling in Virginia, where he continued his practice of medicine. Craik joined the Virginia militia as he was living on the frontier in 1754, and continued to practice medicine. George Washington was the Colonel of the regiment and they became close friends, subsequently serving in the French and Indian War together. Craik left the militia at the end of 1758 after witnessing the bloody battle at Fort Duquesne. He traveled to Port Tobacco,
Maryland to restart his medical practice.
It was there that he would meet Marianne Ewell, and marry her on November 30, 1760. For the next fourteen years, he would maintain his friendship with George Washington and eventually become a proponent of independence from Britain. When war broke out and Washington was named to lead the army, Craik quickly volunteered his medical services to his friend. By letter dated April 26, 1777, Washington offered Craik a choice of two positions in the army, Senior Physician and Surgeon of the Hospital, or Assistant Director General. On May 13, 1777 Craik quickly responded by letter, and he offered to accept the Deputy Director General for the middle department, saying he could be present within three or four weeks. Craik joined the army and worked at hospitals around the Philadelphia area, including those at Bethlehem and Lancaster. Craik also served at Valley Forge where he was Assistant Director of the General Hospital
Department. While there, artist Charles Willson Peale painted a miniature portrait of him, the only one known.
More importantly, it was Craik who alerted General Washington about a group of officers including Generals Mifflin, Gates and Thomas Conway, who were planning to subvert Washington’s leadership and have him replaced by Congress. Known as the Conway Cabal, Washington was able to overcome the threat and maintain control of the Continental Army. In 1781 Craik was promoted to Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Army, and was at Yorktown, Virginia during the fighting that eventually would end the war.
Following the war, Craik would later move to Alexandria, Virginia where he would continue his medical practice. He became Washington’s personal physician and continued his friendship with George and Martha. On December 13, 1799 he was summoned to the bedside where Washington was dying from an infection. Despite his best efforts, Washington died the next day. In his will, Washington called Craik, “my compatriot in arms and old and intimate friend.” Following Washington’s death, Craik was quoted as saying, “I, who was bred among scenes
of human calamity, who had so often witnessed death in its direct and most awful forms, believed that its terrors were too familiar to my eye to shake my fortitude. But when I saw this great man die, it seemed as if the pillar of my country’s happiness had fallen to the ground.”
Craik would live until February 6, 1814 when he would die at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. He is buried in the graveyard of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria. His grave marker reads, “Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Continental Army.” His former house still stands at 201 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia.
Sources:
https://www.mountvernon.org/library
https://www.themusa.org/biographies/james-craik
https://gravestonestories.com
https://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge
Surgeon Generals of the Army, James Evelyn Pilcher, Carlisle, Pa. 1905
The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 18, 1814.
The Real George Washington, Allison, Parry & Skousen, National Center for
Constitutional Studies, 1991.
JOHN LAURENS – Patriot, Abolitionist
By: John Whiteside
He was a lawyer, soldier, diplomat, friend, anti-slavery advocate, husband, prisoner of war and martyr. He gave his life, literally and figuratively, for his country. His name was John Laurens, born in 1754 at Charleston, South Carolina into a wealthy, slave holding family. From an early age, Laurens experienced the scourge of slavery while growing up on the family plantation. Sent to Switzerland and later, England, by his father Henry Laurens to study law, he grew concerned about the possibilities of war with British forces in America. In 1777, he returned to his home, leaving his pregnant wife behind, with the expectation of enlisting in the Continental Army.
Using his father’s political contacts, he was able to join the Continental Army during the Philadelphia campaign. He received an appointment as an Aide-de- Camp for General Washington with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He fought with the army at Brandywine, displaying uncommon courage in battle. Several weeks later, he received a shoulder wound during a daring charge at the enemy fortification at Germantown. He wintered at Valley Forge with his new friends Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette, developing close personal ties with both of them. His father, Henry Laurens, was now President of the Continental Congress. John wrote several times to his father suggesting that black
slaves be permitted to join the army. He hoped that following their service, they would then be allowed to be freed from bondage. While he persisted in these efforts throughout the encampment, his pleas were not heeded until a later date. Laurens left Valley Forge with the army in 1778 and fought bravely at Monmouth, New Jersey, before being sent to Rhode Island to aid with his French speaking skills and the French forces attempting to recapture Newport from the British. Following that assignment, the Congress directed him to return to South Carolina and recruit a brigade of 3,000 black soldiers to serve in the army. Unfortunately, the South Carolina and Georgia legislatures refused to accept the formation of black regiments, leaving Laurens to continue to serve in the ongoing defense of both southern states. In 1780 during the siege of Charleston, Laurens was surrendered to British forces with 5,000 other troops. He was exchanged a month later in November, perhaps as a result of his father’s influence. The following February he was appointed as an envoy to France by the Congress in order to try to procure money and supplies. Working with Benjamin Franklin, they were able to convince the King to assist, and Laurens would return to the colonies in August 1781 with money and two ships filled with military equipment and supplies.
Laurens rejoined Washington’s army in September and soon found himself supporting his dear friend Alexander Hamilton at Yorktown, Virginia. After much fighting, he was appointed as a commissioner to meet with the British and agree on their terms of surrender. Following the surrender, Laurens joined up with Nathanael Greene’s army in South Carolina. Almost one year later, in August 1782, Laurens was leading troops attempting to stop a British foraging party south of Charleston. On August 27th, rather than setting up a defensive perimeter as requested, he led a foolhardy charge and was ambushed by hidden British troops. Laurens was shot off of his horse, mortally wounded, and died at the scene.
His father was in England helping to negotiate the peace treaty and returned to South Carolina to retrieve his son’s body and bury it at the family Mepkin plantation at Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, South Carolina. The words on his headstone read: “DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI” meaning “Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country.”
Washington wrote of Laurens, “In a word, he had not a fault that I ever could discover, unless intrepidity bordering upon rashness could come under that denomination; and to this he was excited by the purest motives.”
Sources:
https://southcarolinalowcountry.com
https://nps.gov
https://mountvernon.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Laurens
https://valleyforgemusterroll.org
Photo by Charles Willson Peale, 1780
Grave Marker of John Laurens, Moncks Corner, SC
ELIZABETH THOMPSON – Housekeeper & Confidant
By: John Whiteside
Before George Washington and his Continental Army were routed from New York City by British forces, he was accustomed to having a number of domestic workers around him, some enslaved and some free. One of those free women was Mary Smith, who served as his housekeeper. During the midst of an uncovered plot to attempt to kill Washington by a member of his Life Guard, information was passed to him that Mary Smith may have been aware of, and even in on, the plot on his life. She was promptly removed from her duties as his housekeeper and fortunate not to be arrested. She would disappear, eventually flee to England, and subsequently receive an English pension, clearly showing her suspected involvement in the plot.
Washington needed a housekeeper for many reasons, and one of the more important reasons was frequently moving his residence for security purposes. Through contact with General James Clinton, he learned of a housekeeper named Elizabeth Thompson with excellent work credentials. Thompson was an Irish immigrant born in 1704 and was 72 years old when hired by Washington in July 1776. Although illiterate, it wouldn’t be very long before she would take full control of many on Washington’s domestic household staff. They included the laundresses, cooks and cleaning staff and later, most of the male staff as well. She worked his staff fairly, while always expecting attention to detail and
conformance with Washington’s needs and desires.
Thompson interacted well with Martha Washington whenever she was present at any of the camps or homes with Washington. Thompson always resided in the same residence or camp with General Washington. One of her most important functions was to direct the packing of all clothing and household goods every time Washington needed to change his headquarters or domicile. It is estimated that he did so nearly ninety different times during the period of the war. Thompson would be trusted to maintain any necessary secrecy in connection with the new location and any other travel plans. The fact that she remained in this critical position for five years is a testament to the trust placed in her by General Washington.
By December 1781, Elizabeth Thompson had reached the exceptional age of seventy-seven as an eighteenth-century woman. She requested that she wanted to return to her home in New York and leave the army. By this time, most of the war had ended, and Washington agreed to her request. Following her return to New York, she asked Congress to reimburse her for property that was destroyed during the great fire in New York while she was away in the army. Congress resolved to pay some immediate funds, and, in addition, an annual pension to be paid quarterly to her for the remainder of her life.
General and Martha Washington did continue limited correspondence with Thompson following the war. They even offered her a place to live with them at Mount Vernon, should she wish to spend the remainder of her days there. She would reply that her “heap of infirmities” made it impossible for her to travel to Mount Vernon.
Elizabeth Thompson passed away in August 1788 in New York. In her will, she left her money to her Presbyterian church to help fund a new school for poor Presbyterian children in New York. The school she helped to finance after her death was opened one year later. There are no known paintings or images of her likeness. Her burial location is unknown but assumed to be in New York City.
Sources:
Loane, Nancy K., Following the Drum, Potomac Books, Inc., 2009
https://www.nps.gov
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory
https://irishamerica.com/2022/03/george-washington-irish
https://valleyforgemusterroll.org
WILLIAM ROGERS – Chaplain, Patriot
By: John Whiteside
William Rogers was born on a summer day in Newport, Rhode Island on July 22, 1751 to parents William Rogers and Sarah Stanford Rogers. An academically talented boy, at the age of only fourteen, he entered the then named Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in September 1765. It is believed he enrolled prior to the first college president being installed and may have been the first and only student at the time. Following graduation in 1769, he was employed as a principal in a Newport academy, while completing a secondary degree in Divinity. In 1772 he became an ordained Baptist minister and relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he became pastor of the First Baptist Church. While there, he met and eventually married Hannah Gardner in June 1773.
With war looming on the horizon, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774. During that time, one of Rogers’ parishioners began raising a militia, called the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. While not possible at the time to sign up, Rogers subsequently left his church at the end of 1775 and joined the regiment as their chaplain. Rogers would see action in Long Island and White Plains, New York, prior to involvement with the Pennsylvania State Battalion in New Jersey in late 1776 through 1777. Assigned to Patton’s Additional Continental Regiment, he saw additional action at Brandywine and Germantown, prior to encamping at Valley Forge for the winter of 1777-1778.
Military payroll records for March 1778 confirm Roger’s rank as chaplain in Patton’s Additional Regiment at Valley Forge. It has been reported that he conducted several wedding ceremonies at the encampment. As the result of an Act of Congress in May 1777, making the rank of a Brigade Chaplain, Rogers received that promotion in 1778. Military chaplains like Rogers often wore an officer’s sword and at times were accompanied by a pistol. While battlefield moments were mostly spent with injured troops, many chaplains led their regiments and brigades into battle. Rogers would leave Valley Forge in June 1778 and accompany his regiment to Monmouth, New Jersey. Once appointed Brigade Chaplain, his 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade would spend time fighting in western Pennsylvania against the Indian threat there. He left the Pennsylvania Brigade in 1781 and returned to Philadelphia.
Rogers was offered several positions as pastor but preferred to serve as an interim preacher, leading services at some of the poorest churches in Philadelphia. In 1789 he received a professorship of English and Oratory at the Academy of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania), teaching there until 1811. He became an advocate for the gradual emancipation of slavery as well as for the improvement of public prisons. He was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in October 1816 and served one term until November 30, 1818.
On April 7, 1824 Rogers died in Philadelphia. His obituary identified him as “a man of many virtues, and whose memory will long be dear to his friends.” His funeral was held at his late residence at 198 Chestnut Street. His remains were buried at the First Baptist Church graveyard. Those remains were subsequently reinterred to Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia in 1860.
Sources:
https://pasocietyofthecincinnati.org
https://friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org
https://www.familysearch.org
U. S. Revolutionary War Rolls – Ancestry.com
https://media2.sbhla.org.s3.amazonaws.com (Amazon Web Services)
https://library.brown.edu
REV. WILLIAM ROGERS
Artist: Rembrandt Peale 1795 – Photo Credit, https://library.brown.edu
SAMUEL HOPKINS – Soldier, Lawyer, Congressman
By: John Whiteside
Born on April 9, 1753 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Samuel Hopkins was named after his father, an Irish immigrant and doctor. His mother, Isabella Taylor, had a longer history in Virginia, and was a cousin to Patrick Henry, as well as other prominent Virginia families of the period. Hopkins studied both surveying and law prior to the outbreak of hostilities with the British forces in the colonies. Realizing the existing threat to freedom, Hopkins helped organize the 6th Virginia Regiment and was appointed Captain in February 1776. His Virginia unit would see duty in New Jersey and Hopkins would cross the icy Delaware River on Christmas Eve to confront the Hessians at Trenton with General Washington.
Hopkins continued his adventurous tour of duty under Washington’s command, fighting the British at Princeton and Brandywine, and getting severely wounded at Germantown while losing the majority of his command. While recuperating from his wound at Valley Forge, his regiment was absorbed into the 2nd Virginia. He presided at court martials at Valley Forge and was known for his efforts at maintaining a cheerful spirit amongst the troops. For his efforts, he was promoted to Lt. Colonel of the 14th VA regiment on June 19, 1778, the day the Continental Army marched out from Valley Forge, just prior to the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
The Virginia Line continued to reorganize as a result of injuries and loss of manpower. The 14th became the 2nd and was eventually transferred to Charleston, South Carolina to defend the port city from the British. Hopkins took over command as Colonel at Charleston following the death of Colonel Parker. Despite brave efforts and a shortage of troops, Charleston was lost to the enemy on May 20, 1780. Hopkins was arrested and placed aboard a prison ship with his other officers. They would be exchanged on February 12, 1781. Hopkins then continued to serve in the 1st Virginia until the end of the war.
Hopkins’ service to the country did not end with the Revolutionary War. He became involved in surveying, directing land subdivision in North Carolina and Kentucky. He completed his law studies and became a judge in Henderson, Kentucky. He would subsequently serve as both a State Representative and a State Senator, prior to the next war with the British in 1812. Commissioned by President James Madison as a Major General, Hopkins and his volunteers were sent to fight against the Kickapoo Indians. Following his return to Kentucky, he was elected as a congressman to the 13th United States Congress where he served for one term.
Hopkins and his wife, Elizabeth Branch Bugg, would enjoy eight children during the remainder of their lives in Henderson, Kentucky. He would pass away peacefully at the age of 66 on September 16, 1819. Hopkins County and Hopkinsville, Kentucky have been named in his honor. He is buried in General Hopkins Cemetery in Hopkins County, Kentucky. His gravestone, once vandalized, was restored in 2001. In May 2018, his gravestone was again vandalized and awaits repair.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopkins_County,_Kentucky
https://www.westernkyhistory.org/christian/military/hopkins.htm
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4282/images
Historic Register of the Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution April 1775 – December 1783, Francis B. Heitman, Washington, DC, The Rare Book Publishing Company, Inc, c1914, p 300.
Samuel Hopkins
http://collections.mohistory.org/resource/197985.html
Missouri History Museum
Samuel Hopkins – Restored Gravestone, 2001
Photo Credit: Douglas White/ The Gleaner Newspaper, Henderson, KY.
Catharine “Caty” Greene – Wife, Entrepreneur, Financier
By: John Whiteside
On a cold Rhode Island winter day, February 17, 1755, Catharine “Caty” Littlefield was born on Block Island, an area originally founded by her mother’s family. Her father served on the Rhode Island legislature at the time. Sadly, when Caty was only ten years old, Phebe Ray Littlefield, Caty’s mother, passed away. Her father subsequently sent her to live with his sister-in-law, Catharine and William Greene in East Greenwich, RI. Her uncle was governor of Rhode Island, and Caty would frequently get to meet such notables as Benjamin Franklin and a Quaker named Nathanael Greene, a distant cousin of the governor. A courtship slowly began and eventually resulted in the marriage of Nathanael Greene, fourteen years her elder, and Caty Littlefield on July 20, 1774.
While the couple hoped to begin their lives in Rhode Island, those dreams were quickly shattered at the outbreak of hostilities with the British in April, 1775, less than a year after their marriage. Nathanael Greene was elected as a Brigadier General in Rhode Island and quickly went off to war. Caty was not content to sit at home, and took every opportunity to visit with her husband whenever she could reach one of his encampments. Her early visits to him in New York resulted in leaving her two children with family members. Her first son and daughter were named in honor of both George and Martha Washington.
One of her more notable visits with her husband occurred at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Arriving in early January, 1778, Caty quickly befriended members of Washington’s staff. As other wives slowly arrived at the encampment, Caty made some exceptional new friends. During the next few months, her reputation as a real party person grew. In different accounts, Caty Greene has been described as “a vivacious, incurable flirt” and a lady “filled with effervescence.” Others noted, “She was a small brunette with high color, and a snapping pair of brown eyes.” While at camp she flirted with General Anthony Wayne and conversed in French with the Marquis de Lafayette. Caty would become pregnant with her third child while at Valley Forge and living in a camp hut with her husband.
As the war continued, General Greene was eventually sent to South Carolina. Caty would soon find the resources to travel there to meet with him, after the birth of their fourth child. Supplies being limited, General Greene used his own personal credit to obtain supplies for his troops. By wars end, the Greene’s were short of funds, and no money was available for his reimbursement. They were forced to sell their property in Rhode Island to pay off their creditors. The Georgia legislature gifted the Greene’s with a plantation called Mulberry Grove in Chatham County. Despite Caty’s disappointment at not being able to return home to Rhode Island, she went to Georgia with her family and fully engaged herself in seeing the rice plantation become a viable business.
Just as the crops began to pay off, General Greene died of sunstroke in 1786, one year after the birth of a fifth child. Caty continued to run the plantation with the aid of a manager, Phineas Miller, whom she would eventually marry in 1796. Several years earlier, Caty Greene met Eli Whitney, a tutor for her neighbor’s children. Aware of his efforts to invent the cotton gin, she encouraged Whitney to do his work at her plantation, where he finally met with success in 1793. Caty would sell Mulberry Grove plantation in 1798 and move to Cumberland Island, Georgia with Phineas Miller. Miller died in 1803, followed by Caty Greene Miller on September 2, 1814 at the age of 59. They are buried on Cumberland Island.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharine_Littlefield_Greene
https://brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner-party/heritage-floor/catherine-greene.
https://wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution
Stegman, John F. and Janet A. Stegman, Caty: A Biography of Catharine Littlefield Greene, pg.26. University of Georgia Press. 1977
Green, George Washington. The Life of Nathanael Greene, 3 Vols, Cambridge. Vol 1, pg. 72. 1871
Thomas Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, (Harper Collins, NY 2005)
Catharine Littlefield Greene
Photo courtesy of Telfair Museums, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Inst.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33086947/catharine-miller
John Armstrong, Sr. – Frontiersman, Major General
By: John Whiteside
John Armstrong was born a Scotsman in 1717 in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Ireland, in what is now known as Ulster Province, Northern Ireland. Prior to his decision to emigrate to then British America, he completed his education in the study of civil engineering. Sometime in the early 1740’s he and a friend sailed to Pennsylvania. Soon after his arrival, he was selected by William Penn to be the surveyor for the Penn family in western Pennsylvania, specifically in the area of the Cumberland Valley, where Armstrong finally settled. He laid out the plans for the establishment of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was one of the first settlers, and later helped survey the road from Alexandria, Virginia to Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh.
While demand for surveyors was great at the time, as towns were beginning to grow and spread west from the Atlantic coast, conflict took him from his profession into battle. The French and Indian War was in full force in central and western Pennsylvania, and Armstrong was elected Colonel of militia troops in the Cumberland Valley area. He was required to take charge of western defenses after the defeat of General Braddock in 1755. He headed a militia force in 1756 that attacked a major Indian village at Kittanning, securing a major victory and some notoriety for him. During a later part of the attack, he was wounded in the shoulder by a musket ball. In 1758 he and his militia would assist in the successful attack at Fort Duquesne. During that expedition, he would meet and associate with a Colonel from Virginia named George Washington.
Upon his return, he was hailed as the “Hero of Kittanning” and was awarded a medal made specifically for him by the City of Philadelphia. He continued his role as a brigadier general of Pennsylvania militia when the Revolutionary War broke out, and was subsequently given the same rank in the Continental Army by Congress in 1776. That year, he was sent to Charleston, South Carolina to use his skills to plan a defense of their port. He and his troops were successful in preventing the British from keeping 6,000 troops from unloading and attacking Charleston harbor.
He returned to Pennsylvania, taking the position of Major General of the Pennsylvania militia, ending his Continental Army duties. He and his Pennsylvania militia were not finished with the war, as he would continue to assist General Washington during the Philadelphia campaign. At the Battle of Brandywine, his militia troops held the extreme left wing for Washington. While not seeing too much action, they were instrumental in recovering needed supplies for the Continental Army by moving them across Pyle’s Ford in the dark after the battle. Several weeks later, his militia saw action at the Battle of Germantown where Armstrong led the right side of his force against the British position.
Following the Germantown fight, Armstrong, now 60 years old, sought permission to withdraw from his command, citing his old wound, advanced age, and bouts with rheumatism. He was granted a discharge and returned to Carlisle. In 1778 he was elected to Congress. That June, he attended a council of war meeting with Washington at Valley Forge. He continued to be a member of Congress into 1780.
After serving his new country, he served his community in a number of ways, including being on the Carlisle School Board and serving as a member of the First Board of Trustees for Dickinson College. His life ended in his precious Carlisle, Pennsylvania on March 9, 1795. He is buried in the Old Carlisle Cemetery, and was eulogized by General James Wilkinson as “One of the most virtuous men who had lived in any age or country.” In his honor, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania and Armstrong Hall at Carlisle Barracks were named for him. A historical marker for him is placed at the entrance to the Armstrong County Courthouse.
Sources:
https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Armstrong-1939
https://ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/armstrong2.
https://findagrave.com/memorial
John Armstrong Grave Armstrong County Marker
https://findagrave.com https://explorepahistory.com
Agrippa Hull – African American Soldier
By: John Whiteside
Agrippa Hull, often called by his nickname “Grippy,” was born on March 7, 1759 as a free Black man in the small village of Northampton, Massachusetts. His father, Amos, would only live for two more years, dying in 1761, never getting to enjoy the exceptional son he fathered. Life became a financial struggle for Grippy’s mother Bathsheba, so she eventually sent him to live with another free Black farming family in Stockbridge, a nearby town, when he was six years old. It was there in Stockbridge with Joab and Rose Binney that he would develop lasting roots as both a farmer and a well-liked, American citizen.
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, on May 1, 1777, Hull enlisted in the Continental Army for the duration of the war, first serving in Captain John Chadwick’s company of the 12th Massachusetts Regiment as a private. Shortly thereafter, Private Hull was assigned as an orderly to Major General John Paterson. Orderlies were often selected for their military bearing, intelligence, dependability, and trustworthiness. Hull surely possessed all of those values, and it is a testament to his exceptional military service for more than six years serving only for and with general officers.
Valley Forge muster roll records place Hull at Valley Forge at the beginning of the encampment there in December 1777. As an orderly and a Black soldier, it was likely that he was included in performing fatigue duty at Valley Forge. He, and other soldiers like him, would spend their time and efforts at building log huts to house the encampment there. After serving about two years under General Paterson, Hull was reassigned as a personal aide to then Polish Colonel Thaddeus Kosciuszko, an engineering expert. Their relationship would continue and grow closer throughout the remainder of the war.
Hull would accompany Colonel Kosciuszko north to Saratoga and West Point, New York, seeing combat along the way. As the war shifted to the southern states of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Hull and Kosciuszko would get to observe first hand, the increased poverty and cruelty affecting the enslaved population in those areas. Once again, Hull faced increasingly brutal combat in places like Ninety-Six, Eutaw Springs, and the Battle of Cowpens. At times during the bloody southern battles, Hull served as a surgeon’s assistant, participating with aid to the wounded soldiers and even helping with amputations, a task that would remain in his memory for his lifetime. Hull would eventually return to West Point where he would receive his discharge papers, personally signed by George Washington in July 1783. Despite an offer from Kosciuszko to return to Poland with him, Hull decided to return home to Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Hull spent the remainder of his life working with an attorney friend to seek freedom for enslaved Blacks in the town, including his own wife, Jane Darby. She and Grippy would eventually have four children. After her death, Hull remarried Margaret Timbrooks. Hull worked hard as a household servant, saved his money and eventually became the largest Black landowner in Stockbridge. He began receiving a military pension in 1818. He was known throughout the local community as a man of great dignity, pride, character, and possessing a biting wit. He was a trusted friend to all the white, Black, and Native Americans living in the area. Agrippa Hull passed away on May 21, 1848 and is buried in Stockbridge Congregational Church Cemetery, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Sources:
Moss, Bobby G. and Michael Scoggins, African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, Blacksburg, S.C.: Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2004
https://www.blackpast.org/?s=Agrippa+Hull
Photo courtesy of the Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48417564/agrippa-hull#view-photo=193488121
Photo of John Clark, Jr.’s house courtesy of Newtown Square Historical Society.
Sources:
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Matthew_Clarkson
https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/soldier-details/
https://www.nps.gov/vafo/learn/historyculture/washingtonsaidesdecamp.htm
https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A211601
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19528227/matthew-clarkson
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/saratoga
https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2007/144/19528227_118015397217.jpg
https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2010/123/19528227_127298753200.jpg
Maria Appolonia (Abigail) Hartman Rice
A glimpse into the life of an honorable Revolutionary War nurse
By: Rachael Pei
The stories of women in the Revolutionary War, particularly those who were not wives of famous military leaders, are often overshadowed by accounts of male soldiers’ courageous feats in the battlefield. However, these women played a critical role in the war effort, serving as laundresses, seamstresses, cooks, or nurses for the army. One such woman, Maria Appolonia (Abigail, for short) Hartman Rice was a well-known nurse at Yellow Springs Hospital, where many of the Valley Forge soldiers stricken with disease were treated. Her story deepens our understanding of the civilians’ experiences during the war.
According to family records, Abigail was born in Germany on September 4, 1742. When she was seven years old, she arrived in Philadelphia on the Royal Union ship on August 15, 1750. Her family settled in Pikeland, PA, (located in the upper part of Chester County). They regularly made the 13-mile journey to attend St. Augustine’s Lutheran Church in Trappe, which involved traveling over bridle paths on horseback and crossing the Schuylkill River. The pastor there was Henry Muhlenberg, the main founder of Lutheranism in North America and father to Brigadier General John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, whose 1st Virginia Brigade also camped at Valley Forge.
When Abigail was 16, she married Zachariah Rice and gave birth to their first child two years later. In her lifetime, she had an incredible total of 21 children with Zachariah, 17 of whom lived to adulthood.
The Records of the Annual Hench and Drumgold Reunion relates Abigail’s encounter with George Washington, after the Battle of the Clouds was prematurely terminated by a torrential downpour on September 16, 1777: General Washington and the rain-soaked Continental soldiers were heading toward nearby Yellow Springs when the military leader stopped at the Rice home to ask for something to drink. Abigail reportedly prepared a “flip,” a common drink at the time made with water, sugar, rum and spice. She also agreed to let Brigadier General Anthony Wayne’s soldiers camp on the Rice family’s property that night.
A few months later, during the Valley Forge encampment, Yellow Springs (originally a health spa village boasting various mineral springs) gained new significance as the site of the only hospital commissioned by the Continental Congress during the war. At Valley Forge, disease was a major killer, causing an estimated 2,000 deaths—more than any single battle in the war. Due to the rapid spread of sicknesses like typhoid, pneumonia, dysentery, and typhus at the encampment, the Yellow Springs hospital, being only 10 miles away, was a relatively close refuge to house sick soldiers to avoid the spread of disease. Zachariah, Abigail’s husband, helped with the hospital’s construction. The building, known as Washington Hall, was completed in January 1778. Approximately 1,300 soldiers were treated there during the encampment.
The environment inside was likely very different from the sanitary hospital settings we are familiar with today. Not much was known about proper medical practice, leading to risky operations, such as amputations. The concept that specific germs are the direct cause of certain diseases (germ theory) had not been developed yet, so hygiene was not often the top priority. Furthermore, soap and medical supplies were not always available due to supply shortages.
Abigail was described in the Records of the Annual Hench and Drumgold Reunion as a “stout, well-built woman, warmhearted, and ready to lend a helping hand” (p. 81), visiting the hospital many times to bring food and delicacies for the sick or wounded soldiers. As her visits became more frequent, she started tending to the soldiers, and eventually became a nurse there. Revolutionary War nurses were in charge of keeping the hospital clean, as well as caring for and feeding the patients; however, unlike their present-day counterparts, they did not typically administer medical treatments.
While caring for the sick at Yellow Springs, Abigail unfortunately contracted typhoid fever. She died on November 6, 1789, (aged 47 years old) and was buried at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Chester Springs (a 15-minute drive from present-day Valley Forge Park). Her original grave marker is no longer there, but it read, “Some have children, some have none, here lies the mother of twenty-one.” At her funeral, all 17 of her surviving children walked in the procession to her grave. An attendee reportedly commented that it was the first and possibly last time such a sight would be seen at that church.
Ultimately, Abigail’s story endures as a tribute to the women who served outside of the glory of the spotlight, yet whose roles were crucial in our nation’s fight for freedom.
Sources:
- https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89062877477
- https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/valley_forge/health%20_medicine.html
- https://emotich.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/camp-followers-occupations/
- https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-11-02-0235
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32238493/maria-appolonia-rice
- https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/11/abigail-hartman-rice-revolutionary-war-nurse/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/road_less_trvled/2424727516/
- https://www.yellowsprings.org/about/yellow_springs.html
- https://yellowsprings.org/about/virtual_tour.html
https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2009/247/39650856_125219915454.jpg
Copyright, road_less_trvled on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/4GgkG9
The plaque reads “Revolutionary War Hospital.”
Valley Forge Stories
Many people encamped at Valley Forge and each has a unique story to tell. We hope to share with you some pieces on the individuals who gave up everything to join General Washington and fight for our independence.
Cabin Construction by Don Troiani
For inspirational stories of the individuals who encamped at Valley Forge, please click on the links below or read the expanded stories that follow.
Brevet Major John Van Dyk – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/brevet-major-john-van-dyk/
Polly Cooper – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/polly-cooper/
Griffin Greene – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/griffin-greene/
Valley Forge Muster Roll Volunteer Attends Native American Grave Marking and Remembrance Ceremony – https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/valley-forge-mus…mbrance-ceremony/
DR. JAMES CRAIK – Physician
By: John Whiteside
Scotland provided another of its precious sons to the cause for American independence. James Craik was born in July 1730 in a small town near Dumfries, Scotland. His father, William Craik, was a large estate owner and member of the British Parliament. Craik was an intelligent lad and when he was of age, entered medical school at the University of Edinburgh. Following his education there, he joined the British army where he served as doctor and surgeon. He eventually was sent to the West Indies with the British military to continue his work in medicine.
Sometime shortly after 1750, his service in the islands ended as he retired from the army. He sailed to America, settling in Virginia, where he continued his practice of medicine. Craik joined the Virginia militia as he was living on the frontier in 1754, and continued to practice medicine. George Washington was the Colonel of the regiment and they became close friends, subsequently serving in the French and Indian War together. Craik left the militia at the end of 1758 after witnessing the bloody battle at Fort Duquesne. He traveled to Port Tobacco,
Maryland to restart his medical practice.
It was there that he would meet Marianne Ewell, and marry her on November 30, 1760. For the next fourteen years, he would maintain his friendship with George Washington and eventually become a proponent of independence from Britain. When war broke out and Washington was named to lead the army, Craik quickly volunteered his medical services to his friend. By letter dated April 26, 1777, Washington offered Craik a choice of two positions in the army, Senior Physician and Surgeon of the Hospital, or Assistant Director General. On May 13, 1777 Craik quickly responded by letter, and he offered to accept the Deputy Director General for the middle department, saying he could be present within three or four weeks. Craik joined the army and worked at hospitals around the Philadelphia area, including those at Bethlehem and Lancaster. Craik also served at Valley Forge where he was Assistant Director of the General Hospital
Department. While there, artist Charles Willson Peale painted a miniature portrait of him, the only one known.
More importantly, it was Craik who alerted General Washington about a group of officers including Generals Mifflin, Gates and Thomas Conway, who were planning to subvert Washington’s leadership and have him replaced by Congress. Known as the Conway Cabal, Washington was able to overcome the threat and maintain control of the Continental Army. In 1781 Craik was promoted to Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Army, and was at Yorktown, Virginia during the fighting that eventually would end the war.
Following the war, Craik would later move to Alexandria, Virginia where he would continue his medical practice. He became Washington’s personal physician and continued his friendship with George and Martha. On December 13, 1799 he was summoned to the bedside where Washington was dying from an infection. Despite his best efforts, Washington died the next day. In his will, Washington called Craik, “my compatriot in arms and old and intimate friend.” Following Washington’s death, Craik was quoted as saying, “I, who was bred among scenes
of human calamity, who had so often witnessed death in its direct and most awful forms, believed that its terrors were too familiar to my eye to shake my fortitude. But when I saw this great man die, it seemed as if the pillar of my country’s happiness had fallen to the ground.”
Craik would live until February 6, 1814 when he would die at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. He is buried in the graveyard of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria. His grave marker reads, “Chief Physician and Surgeon of the Continental Army.” His former house still stands at 201 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia.
Sources:
https://www.mountvernon.org/library
https://www.themusa.org/biographies/james-craik
https://gravestonestories.com
https://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge
Surgeon Generals of the Army, James Evelyn Pilcher, Carlisle, Pa. 1905
The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 18, 1814.
The Real George Washington, Allison, Parry & Skousen, National Center for
Constitutional Studies, 1991.
JOHN LAURENS – Patriot, Abolitionist
By: John Whiteside
He was a lawyer, soldier, diplomat, friend, anti-slavery advocate, husband, prisoner of war and martyr. He gave his life, literally and figuratively, for his country. His name was John Laurens, born in 1754 at Charleston, South Carolina into a wealthy, slave holding family. From an early age, Laurens experienced the scourge of slavery while growing up on the family plantation. Sent to Switzerland and later, England, by his father Henry Laurens to study law, he grew concerned about the possibilities of war with British forces in America. In 1777, he returned to his home, leaving his pregnant wife behind, with the expectation of enlisting in the Continental Army.
Using his father’s political contacts, he was able to join the Continental Army during the Philadelphia campaign. He received an appointment as an Aide-de- Camp for General Washington with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He fought with the army at Brandywine, displaying uncommon courage in battle. Several weeks later, he received a shoulder wound during a daring charge at the enemy fortification at Germantown. He wintered at Valley Forge with his new friends Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette, developing close personal ties with both of them. His father, Henry Laurens, was now President of the Continental Congress. John wrote several times to his father suggesting that black
slaves be permitted to join the army. He hoped that following their service, they would then be allowed to be freed from bondage. While he persisted in these efforts throughout the encampment, his pleas were not heeded until a later date. Laurens left Valley Forge with the army in 1778 and fought bravely at Monmouth, New Jersey, before being sent to Rhode Island to aid with his French speaking skills and the French forces attempting to recapture Newport from the British. Following that assignment, the Congress directed him to return to South Carolina and recruit a brigade of 3,000 black soldiers to serve in the army. Unfortunately, the South Carolina and Georgia legislatures refused to accept the formation of black regiments, leaving Laurens to continue to serve in the ongoing defense of both southern states. In 1780 during the siege of Charleston, Laurens was surrendered to British forces with 5,000 other troops. He was exchanged a month later in November, perhaps as a result of his father’s influence. The following February he was appointed as an envoy to France by the Congress in order to try to procure money and supplies. Working with Benjamin Franklin, they were able to convince the King to assist, and Laurens would return to the colonies in August 1781 with money and two ships filled with military equipment and supplies.
Laurens rejoined Washington’s army in September and soon found himself supporting his dear friend Alexander Hamilton at Yorktown, Virginia. After much fighting, he was appointed as a commissioner to meet with the British and agree on their terms of surrender. Following the surrender, Laurens joined up with Nathanael Greene’s army in South Carolina. Almost one year later, in August 1782, Laurens was leading troops attempting to stop a British foraging party south of Charleston. On August 27th, rather than setting up a defensive perimeter as requested, he led a foolhardy charge and was ambushed by hidden British troops. Laurens was shot off of his horse, mortally wounded, and died at the scene.
His father was in England helping to negotiate the peace treaty and returned to South Carolina to retrieve his son’s body and bury it at the family Mepkin plantation at Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, South Carolina. The words on his headstone read: “DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI” meaning “Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country.”
Washington wrote of Laurens, “In a word, he had not a fault that I ever could discover, unless intrepidity bordering upon rashness could come under that denomination; and to this he was excited by the purest motives.”
Sources:
https://southcarolinalowcountry.com
https://nps.gov
https://mountvernon.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Laurens
https://valleyforgemusterroll.org
Photo by Charles Willson Peale, 1780
Grave Marker of John Laurens, Moncks Corner, SC
ELIZABETH THOMPSON – Housekeeper & Confidant
By: John Whiteside
Before George Washington and his Continental Army were routed from New York City by British forces, he was accustomed to having a number of domestic workers around him, some enslaved and some free. One of those free women was Mary Smith, who served as his housekeeper. During the midst of an uncovered plot to attempt to kill Washington by a member of his Life Guard, information was passed to him that Mary Smith may have been aware of, and even in on, the plot on his life. She was promptly removed from her duties as his housekeeper and fortunate not to be arrested. She would disappear, eventually flee to England, and subsequently receive an English pension, clearly showing her suspected involvement in the plot.
Washington needed a housekeeper for many reasons, and one of the more important reasons was frequently moving his residence for security purposes. Through contact with General James Clinton, he learned of a housekeeper named Elizabeth Thompson with excellent work credentials. Thompson was an Irish immigrant born in 1704 and was 72 years old when hired by Washington in July 1776. Although illiterate, it wouldn’t be very long before she would take full control of many on Washington’s domestic household staff. They included the laundresses, cooks and cleaning staff and later, most of the male staff as well. She worked his staff fairly, while always expecting attention to detail and
conformance with Washington’s needs and desires.
Thompson interacted well with Martha Washington whenever she was present at any of the camps or homes with Washington. Thompson always resided in the same residence or camp with General Washington. One of her most important functions was to direct the packing of all clothing and household goods every time Washington needed to change his headquarters or domicile. It is estimated that he did so nearly ninety different times during the period of the war. Thompson would be trusted to maintain any necessary secrecy in connection with the new location and any other travel plans. The fact that she remained in this critical position for five years is a testament to the trust placed in her by General Washington.
By December 1781, Elizabeth Thompson had reached the exceptional age of seventy-seven as an eighteenth-century woman. She requested that she wanted to return to her home in New York and leave the army. By this time, most of the war had ended, and Washington agreed to her request. Following her return to New York, she asked Congress to reimburse her for property that was destroyed during the great fire in New York while she was away in the army. Congress resolved to pay some immediate funds, and, in addition, an annual pension to be paid quarterly to her for the remainder of her life.
General and Martha Washington did continue limited correspondence with Thompson following the war. They even offered her a place to live with them at Mount Vernon, should she wish to spend the remainder of her days there. She would reply that her “heap of infirmities” made it impossible for her to travel to Mount Vernon.
Elizabeth Thompson passed away in August 1788 in New York. In her will, she left her money to her Presbyterian church to help fund a new school for poor Presbyterian children in New York. The school she helped to finance after her death was opened one year later. There are no known paintings or images of her likeness. Her burial location is unknown but assumed to be in New York City.
Sources:
Loane, Nancy K., Following the Drum, Potomac Books, Inc., 2009
https://www.nps.gov
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory
https://irishamerica.com/2022/03/george-washington-irish
https://valleyforgemusterroll.org
WILLIAM ROGERS – Chaplain, Patriot
By: John Whiteside
William Rogers was born on a summer day in Newport, Rhode Island on July 22, 1751 to parents William Rogers and Sarah Stanford Rogers. An academically talented boy, at the age of only fourteen, he entered the then named Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in September 1765. It is believed he enrolled prior to the first college president being installed and may have been the first and only student at the time. Following graduation in 1769, he was employed as a principal in a Newport academy, while completing a secondary degree in Divinity. In 1772 he became an ordained Baptist minister and relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he became pastor of the First Baptist Church. While there, he met and eventually married Hannah Gardner in June 1773.
With war looming on the horizon, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774. During that time, one of Rogers’ parishioners began raising a militia, called the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. While not possible at the time to sign up, Rogers subsequently left his church at the end of 1775 and joined the regiment as their chaplain. Rogers would see action in Long Island and White Plains, New York, prior to involvement with the Pennsylvania State Battalion in New Jersey in late 1776 through 1777. Assigned to Patton’s Additional Continental Regiment, he saw additional action at Brandywine and Germantown, prior to encamping at Valley Forge for the winter of 1777-1778.
Military payroll records for March 1778 confirm Roger’s rank as chaplain in Patton’s Additional Regiment at Valley Forge. It has been reported that he conducted several wedding ceremonies at the encampment. As the result of an Act of Congress in May 1777, making the rank of a Brigade Chaplain, Rogers received that promotion in 1778. Military chaplains like Rogers often wore an officer’s sword and at times were accompanied by a pistol. While battlefield moments were mostly spent with injured troops, many chaplains led their regiments and brigades into battle. Rogers would leave Valley Forge in June 1778 and accompany his regiment to Monmouth, New Jersey. Once appointed Brigade Chaplain, his 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade would spend time fighting in western Pennsylvania against the Indian threat there. He left the Pennsylvania Brigade in 1781 and returned to Philadelphia.
Rogers was offered several positions as pastor but preferred to serve as an interim preacher, leading services at some of the poorest churches in Philadelphia. In 1789 he received a professorship of English and Oratory at the Academy of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania), teaching there until 1811. He became an advocate for the gradual emancipation of slavery as well as for the improvement of public prisons. He was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in October 1816 and served one term until November 30, 1818.
On April 7, 1824 Rogers died in Philadelphia. His obituary identified him as “a man of many virtues, and whose memory will long be dear to his friends.” His funeral was held at his late residence at 198 Chestnut Street. His remains were buried at the First Baptist Church graveyard. Those remains were subsequently reinterred to Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia in 1860.
Sources:
https://pasocietyofthecincinnati.org
https://friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org
https://www.familysearch.org
U. S. Revolutionary War Rolls – Ancestry.com
https://media2.sbhla.org.s3.amazonaws.com (Amazon Web Services)
https://library.brown.edu
REV. WILLIAM ROGERS
Artist: Rembrandt Peale 1795 – Photo Credit, https://library.brown.edu
SAMUEL HOPKINS – Soldier, Lawyer, Congressman
By: John Whiteside
Born on April 9, 1753 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Samuel Hopkins was named after his father, an Irish immigrant and doctor. His mother, Isabella Taylor, had a longer history in Virginia, and was a cousin to Patrick Henry, as well as other prominent Virginia families of the period. Hopkins studied both surveying and law prior to the outbreak of hostilities with the British forces in the colonies. Realizing the existing threat to freedom, Hopkins helped organize the 6th Virginia Regiment and was appointed Captain in February 1776. His Virginia unit would see duty in New Jersey and Hopkins would cross the icy Delaware River on Christmas Eve to confront the Hessians at Trenton with General Washington.
Hopkins continued his adventurous tour of duty under Washington’s command, fighting the British at Princeton and Brandywine, and getting severely wounded at Germantown while losing the majority of his command. While recuperating from his wound at Valley Forge, his regiment was absorbed into the 2nd Virginia. He presided at court martials at Valley Forge and was known for his efforts at maintaining a cheerful spirit amongst the troops. For his efforts, he was promoted to Lt. Colonel of the 14th VA regiment on June 19, 1778, the day the Continental Army marched out from Valley Forge, just prior to the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.
The Virginia Line continued to reorganize as a result of injuries and loss of manpower. The 14th became the 2nd and was eventually transferred to Charleston, South Carolina to defend the port city from the British. Hopkins took over command as Colonel at Charleston following the death of Colonel Parker. Despite brave efforts and a shortage of troops, Charleston was lost to the enemy on May 20, 1780. Hopkins was arrested and placed aboard a prison ship with his other officers. They would be exchanged on February 12, 1781. Hopkins then continued to serve in the 1st Virginia until the end of the war.
Hopkins’ service to the country did not end with the Revolutionary War. He became involved in surveying, directing land subdivision in North Carolina and Kentucky. He completed his law studies and became a judge in Henderson, Kentucky. He would subsequently serve as both a State Representative and a State Senator, prior to the next war with the British in 1812. Commissioned by President James Madison as a Major General, Hopkins and his volunteers were sent to fight against the Kickapoo Indians. Following his return to Kentucky, he was elected as a congressman to the 13th United States Congress where he served for one term.
Hopkins and his wife, Elizabeth Branch Bugg, would enjoy eight children during the remainder of their lives in Henderson, Kentucky. He would pass away peacefully at the age of 66 on September 16, 1819. Hopkins County and Hopkinsville, Kentucky have been named in his honor. He is buried in General Hopkins Cemetery in Hopkins County, Kentucky. His gravestone, once vandalized, was restored in 2001. In May 2018, his gravestone was again vandalized and awaits repair.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopkins_County,_Kentucky
https://www.westernkyhistory.org/christian/military/hopkins.htm
https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4282/images
Historic Register of the Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution April 1775 – December 1783, Francis B. Heitman, Washington, DC, The Rare Book Publishing Company, Inc, c1914, p 300.
Samuel Hopkins
http://collections.mohistory.org/resource/197985.html
Missouri History Museum
Samuel Hopkins – Restored Gravestone, 2001
Photo Credit: Douglas White/ The Gleaner Newspaper, Henderson, KY.
Catharine “Caty” Greene – Wife, Entrepreneur, Financier
By: John Whiteside
On a cold Rhode Island winter day, February 17, 1755, Catharine “Caty” Littlefield was born on Block Island, an area originally founded by her mother’s family. Her father served on the Rhode Island legislature at the time. Sadly, when Caty was only ten years old, Phebe Ray Littlefield, Caty’s mother, passed away. Her father subsequently sent her to live with his sister-in-law, Catharine and William Greene in East Greenwich, RI. Her uncle was governor of Rhode Island, and Caty would frequently get to meet such notables as Benjamin Franklin and a Quaker named Nathanael Greene, a distant cousin of the governor. A courtship slowly began and eventually resulted in the marriage of Nathanael Greene, fourteen years her elder, and Caty Littlefield on July 20, 1774.
While the couple hoped to begin their lives in Rhode Island, those dreams were quickly shattered at the outbreak of hostilities with the British in April, 1775, less than a year after their marriage. Nathanael Greene was elected as a Brigadier General in Rhode Island and quickly went off to war. Caty was not content to sit at home, and took every opportunity to visit with her husband whenever she could reach one of his encampments. Her early visits to him in New York resulted in leaving her two children with family members. Her first son and daughter were named in honor of both George and Martha Washington.
One of her more notable visits with her husband occurred at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Arriving in early January, 1778, Caty quickly befriended members of Washington’s staff. As other wives slowly arrived at the encampment, Caty made some exceptional new friends. During the next few months, her reputation as a real party person grew. In different accounts, Caty Greene has been described as “a vivacious, incurable flirt” and a lady “filled with effervescence.” Others noted, “She was a small brunette with high color, and a snapping pair of brown eyes.” While at camp she flirted with General Anthony Wayne and conversed in French with the Marquis de Lafayette. Caty would become pregnant with her third child while at Valley Forge and living in a camp hut with her husband.
As the war continued, General Greene was eventually sent to South Carolina. Caty would soon find the resources to travel there to meet with him, after the birth of their fourth child. Supplies being limited, General Greene used his own personal credit to obtain supplies for his troops. By wars end, the Greene’s were short of funds, and no money was available for his reimbursement. They were forced to sell their property in Rhode Island to pay off their creditors. The Georgia legislature gifted the Greene’s with a plantation called Mulberry Grove in Chatham County. Despite Caty’s disappointment at not being able to return home to Rhode Island, she went to Georgia with her family and fully engaged herself in seeing the rice plantation become a viable business.
Just as the crops began to pay off, General Greene died of sunstroke in 1786, one year after the birth of a fifth child. Caty continued to run the plantation with the aid of a manager, Phineas Miller, whom she would eventually marry in 1796. Several years earlier, Caty Greene met Eli Whitney, a tutor for her neighbor’s children. Aware of his efforts to invent the cotton gin, she encouraged Whitney to do his work at her plantation, where he finally met with success in 1793. Caty would sell Mulberry Grove plantation in 1798 and move to Cumberland Island, Georgia with Phineas Miller. Miller died in 1803, followed by Caty Greene Miller on September 2, 1814 at the age of 59. They are buried on Cumberland Island.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharine_Littlefield_Greene
https://brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner-party/heritage-floor/catherine-greene.
https://wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution
Stegman, John F. and Janet A. Stegman, Caty: A Biography of Catharine Littlefield Greene, pg.26. University of Georgia Press. 1977
Green, George Washington. The Life of Nathanael Greene, 3 Vols, Cambridge. Vol 1, pg. 72. 1871
Thomas Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, (Harper Collins, NY 2005)
Catharine Littlefield Greene
Photo courtesy of Telfair Museums, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Inst.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33086947/catharine-miller
John Armstrong, Sr. – Frontiersman, Major General
By: John Whiteside
John Armstrong was born a Scotsman in 1717 in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Ireland, in what is now known as Ulster Province, Northern Ireland. Prior to his decision to emigrate to then British America, he completed his education in the study of civil engineering. Sometime in the early 1740’s he and a friend sailed to Pennsylvania. Soon after his arrival, he was selected by William Penn to be the surveyor for the Penn family in western Pennsylvania, specifically in the area of the Cumberland Valley, where Armstrong finally settled. He laid out the plans for the establishment of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was one of the first settlers, and later helped survey the road from Alexandria, Virginia to Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh.
While demand for surveyors was great at the time, as towns were beginning to grow and spread west from the Atlantic coast, conflict took him from his profession into battle. The French and Indian War was in full force in central and western Pennsylvania, and Armstrong was elected Colonel of militia troops in the Cumberland Valley area. He was required to take charge of western defenses after the defeat of General Braddock in 1755. He headed a militia force in 1756 that attacked a major Indian village at Kittanning, securing a major victory and some notoriety for him. During a later part of the attack, he was wounded in the shoulder by a musket ball. In 1758 he and his militia would assist in the successful attack at Fort Duquesne. During that expedition, he would meet and associate with a Colonel from Virginia named George Washington.
Upon his return, he was hailed as the “Hero of Kittanning” and was awarded a medal made specifically for him by the City of Philadelphia. He continued his role as a brigadier general of Pennsylvania militia when the Revolutionary War broke out, and was subsequently given the same rank in the Continental Army by Congress in 1776. That year, he was sent to Charleston, South Carolina to use his skills to plan a defense of their port. He and his troops were successful in preventing the British from keeping 6,000 troops from unloading and attacking Charleston harbor.
He returned to Pennsylvania, taking the position of Major General of the Pennsylvania militia, ending his Continental Army duties. He and his Pennsylvania militia were not finished with the war, as he would continue to assist General Washington during the Philadelphia campaign. At the Battle of Brandywine, his militia troops held the extreme left wing for Washington. While not seeing too much action, they were instrumental in recovering needed supplies for the Continental Army by moving them across Pyle’s Ford in the dark after the battle. Several weeks later, his militia saw action at the Battle of Germantown where Armstrong led the right side of his force against the British position.
Following the Germantown fight, Armstrong, now 60 years old, sought permission to withdraw from his command, citing his old wound, advanced age, and bouts with rheumatism. He was granted a discharge and returned to Carlisle. In 1778 he was elected to Congress. That June, he attended a council of war meeting with Washington at Valley Forge. He continued to be a member of Congress into 1780.
After serving his new country, he served his community in a number of ways, including being on the Carlisle School Board and serving as a member of the First Board of Trustees for Dickinson College. His life ended in his precious Carlisle, Pennsylvania on March 9, 1795. He is buried in the Old Carlisle Cemetery, and was eulogized by General James Wilkinson as “One of the most virtuous men who had lived in any age or country.” In his honor, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania and Armstrong Hall at Carlisle Barracks were named for him. A historical marker for him is placed at the entrance to the Armstrong County Courthouse.
Sources:
https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Armstrong-1939
https://ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/armstrong2.
https://findagrave.com/memorial
John Armstrong Grave Armstrong County Marker
https://findagrave.com https://explorepahistory.com
Agrippa Hull – African American Soldier
By: John Whiteside
Agrippa Hull, often called by his nickname “Grippy,” was born on March 7, 1759 as a free Black man in the small village of Northampton, Massachusetts. His father, Amos, would only live for two more years, dying in 1761, never getting to enjoy the exceptional son he fathered. Life became a financial struggle for Grippy’s mother Bathsheba, so she eventually sent him to live with another free Black farming family in Stockbridge, a nearby town, when he was six years old. It was there in Stockbridge with Joab and Rose Binney that he would develop lasting roots as both a farmer and a well-liked, American citizen.
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, on May 1, 1777, Hull enlisted in the Continental Army for the duration of the war, first serving in Captain John Chadwick’s company of the 12th Massachusetts Regiment as a private. Shortly thereafter, Private Hull was assigned as an orderly to Major General John Paterson. Orderlies were often selected for their military bearing, intelligence, dependability, and trustworthiness. Hull surely possessed all of those values, and it is a testament to his exceptional military service for more than six years serving only for and with general officers.
Valley Forge muster roll records place Hull at Valley Forge at the beginning of the encampment there in December 1777. As an orderly and a Black soldier, it was likely that he was included in performing fatigue duty at Valley Forge. He, and other soldiers like him, would spend their time and efforts at building log huts to house the encampment there. After serving about two years under General Paterson, Hull was reassigned as a personal aide to then Polish Colonel Thaddeus Kosciuszko, an engineering expert. Their relationship would continue and grow closer throughout the remainder of the war.
Hull would accompany Colonel Kosciuszko north to Saratoga and West Point, New York, seeing combat along the way. As the war shifted to the southern states of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Hull and Kosciuszko would get to observe first hand, the increased poverty and cruelty affecting the enslaved population in those areas. Once again, Hull faced increasingly brutal combat in places like Ninety-Six, Eutaw Springs, and the Battle of Cowpens. At times during the bloody southern battles, Hull served as a surgeon’s assistant, participating with aid to the wounded soldiers and even helping with amputations, a task that would remain in his memory for his lifetime. Hull would eventually return to West Point where he would receive his discharge papers, personally signed by George Washington in July 1783. Despite an offer from Kosciuszko to return to Poland with him, Hull decided to return home to Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Hull spent the remainder of his life working with an attorney friend to seek freedom for enslaved Blacks in the town, including his own wife, Jane Darby. She and Grippy would eventually have four children. After her death, Hull remarried Margaret Timbrooks. Hull worked hard as a household servant, saved his money and eventually became the largest Black landowner in Stockbridge. He began receiving a military pension in 1818. He was known throughout the local community as a man of great dignity, pride, character, and possessing a biting wit. He was a trusted friend to all the white, Black, and Native Americans living in the area. Agrippa Hull passed away on May 21, 1848 and is buried in Stockbridge Congregational Church Cemetery, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Sources:
Moss, Bobby G. and Michael Scoggins, African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, Blacksburg, S.C.: Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2004
https://www.blackpast.org/?s=Agrippa+Hull
Photo courtesy of the Stockbridge Library, Museum & Archives.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48417564/agrippa-hull#view-photo=193488121
Photo of John Clark, Jr.’s house courtesy of Newtown Square Historical Society.
Sources:
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Matthew_Clarkson
https://valleyforgemusterroll.org/soldier-details/
https://www.nps.gov/vafo/learn/historyculture/washingtonsaidesdecamp.htm
https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A211601
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19528227/matthew-clarkson
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/saratoga
https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2007/144/19528227_118015397217.jpg
https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2010/123/19528227_127298753200.jpg
Maria Appolonia (Abigail) Hartman Rice
A glimpse into the life of an honorable Revolutionary War nurse
By: Rachael Pei
The stories of women in the Revolutionary War, particularly those who were not wives of famous military leaders, are often overshadowed by accounts of male soldiers’ courageous feats in the battlefield. However, these women played a critical role in the war effort, serving as laundresses, seamstresses, cooks, or nurses for the army. One such woman, Maria Appolonia (Abigail, for short) Hartman Rice was a well-known nurse at Yellow Springs Hospital, where many of the Valley Forge soldiers stricken with disease were treated. Her story deepens our understanding of the civilians’ experiences during the war.
According to family records, Abigail was born in Germany on September 4, 1742. When she was seven years old, she arrived in Philadelphia on the Royal Union ship on August 15, 1750. Her family settled in Pikeland, PA, (located in the upper part of Chester County). They regularly made the 13-mile journey to attend St. Augustine’s Lutheran Church in Trappe, which involved traveling over bridle paths on horseback and crossing the Schuylkill River. The pastor there was Henry Muhlenberg, the main founder of Lutheranism in North America and father to Brigadier General John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, whose 1st Virginia Brigade also camped at Valley Forge.
When Abigail was 16, she married Zachariah Rice and gave birth to their first child two years later. In her lifetime, she had an incredible total of 21 children with Zachariah, 17 of whom lived to adulthood.
The Records of the Annual Hench and Drumgold Reunion relates Abigail’s encounter with George Washington, after the Battle of the Clouds was prematurely terminated by a torrential downpour on September 16, 1777: General Washington and the rain-soaked Continental soldiers were heading toward nearby Yellow Springs when the military leader stopped at the Rice home to ask for something to drink. Abigail reportedly prepared a “flip,” a common drink at the time made with water, sugar, rum and spice. She also agreed to let Brigadier General Anthony Wayne’s soldiers camp on the Rice family’s property that night.
A few months later, during the Valley Forge encampment, Yellow Springs (originally a health spa village boasting various mineral springs) gained new significance as the site of the only hospital commissioned by the Continental Congress during the war. At Valley Forge, disease was a major killer, causing an estimated 2,000 deaths—more than any single battle in the war. Due to the rapid spread of sicknesses like typhoid, pneumonia, dysentery, and typhus at the encampment, the Yellow Springs hospital, being only 10 miles away, was a relatively close refuge to house sick soldiers to avoid the spread of disease. Zachariah, Abigail’s husband, helped with the hospital’s construction. The building, known as Washington Hall, was completed in January 1778. Approximately 1,300 soldiers were treated there during the encampment.
The environment inside was likely very different from the sanitary hospital settings we are familiar with today. Not much was known about proper medical practice, leading to risky operations, such as amputations. The concept that specific germs are the direct cause of certain diseases (germ theory) had not been developed yet, so hygiene was not often the top priority. Furthermore, soap and medical supplies were not always available due to supply shortages.
Abigail was described in the Records of the Annual Hench and Drumgold Reunion as a “stout, well-built woman, warmhearted, and ready to lend a helping hand” (p. 81), visiting the hospital many times to bring food and delicacies for the sick or wounded soldiers. As her visits became more frequent, she started tending to the soldiers, and eventually became a nurse there. Revolutionary War nurses were in charge of keeping the hospital clean, as well as caring for and feeding the patients; however, unlike their present-day counterparts, they did not typically administer medical treatments.
While caring for the sick at Yellow Springs, Abigail unfortunately contracted typhoid fever. She died on November 6, 1789, (aged 47 years old) and was buried at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Chester Springs (a 15-minute drive from present-day Valley Forge Park). Her original grave marker is no longer there, but it read, “Some have children, some have none, here lies the mother of twenty-one.” At her funeral, all 17 of her surviving children walked in the procession to her grave. An attendee reportedly commented that it was the first and possibly last time such a sight would be seen at that church.
Ultimately, Abigail’s story endures as a tribute to the women who served outside of the glory of the spotlight, yet whose roles were crucial in our nation’s fight for freedom.
Sources:
- https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89062877477
- https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/valley_forge/health%20_medicine.html
- https://emotich.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/camp-followers-occupations/
- https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-11-02-0235
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32238493/maria-appolonia-rice
- https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/11/abigail-hartman-rice-revolutionary-war-nurse/
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/road_less_trvled/2424727516/
- https://www.yellowsprings.org/about/yellow_springs.html
- https://yellowsprings.org/about/virtual_tour.html
https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2009/247/39650856_125219915454.jpg
Copyright, road_less_trvled on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/4GgkG9
The plaque reads “Revolutionary War Hospital.”