Boude’s light dispatch (Capt. Thomas Boude’s co.)

Volume 3, Issue 3 – September 2015

5th PA Regiment

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Orders of George Washington to:

General John Sullivan, at Head-Quarters May 31, 1779

“The Expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.

I would recommend, that some post in the center of the Indian Country, should be occupied with all expedition, with a sufficient quantity of provisions whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.

But you will not by any means listen to any overture of peace before the total ruinment of their settlements is effected. Our future security will be in their inability to injure us and in the terror with which the severity of the chastisement they receive will inspire them.”

Memorial Day 2015

Memorial Day 2015

Sybil Ludington (1761-1839)

A young American patriot, Sybil Ludington is the female counterpart to the more famous Paul Revere. Born in 1761 in Connecticut, Ludington was the eldest of twelve children. Soon after her birth, her family settled in Dutchess County, New York. In addition to being a farmer, Ludington’s father held various positions within the small town and served in the military for over sixty years. He was loyal to the British crown until 1773, when he joined the rebel cause. He was quickly promoted to Colonel and led his local regiment. Colonel Ludington’s area of command was along a vulnerable route that the British could take between Connecticut and the coast of Long Island Sound.

When British troops and British loyalists attacked a nearby town, Danbury, Connecticut, in 1777, a rider came to the Ludington household to warn them and ask for the local regiment’s help. At the time, the Colonel’s regiment was disbanded for planting season, and all of the men were miles apart at their respective farms. The rider was too tired to continue and Colonel Ludington had to prepare for battle, so he asked his barely sixteen-year-old daughter Sybil to ride through the night, alerting his men of the danger and urging them to come together to fight back. Ludington rode all night through the dark woods, covering forty miles (a significantly longer distance than Revere rode), and because of her bravery, almost the whole regiment was gathered by daybreak to fight the British.

After the battle at Danbury, George Washington went to the Ludington home to personally thank Sybil for her help. After the war, Ludington married a Catskill lawyer named Edward Ogden; they had one son. She died in 1839.

Although Ludington never gained the widespread fame that Paul Revere did in America’s history, she was honored with a stamp by the Postal Service in 1975. There is a statue of her by Lake Gleneida in Carmel, New York, and there are historical markers tracing the route of her ride through Putnam County.

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Blast from the Past – early 5^th PA Lights and Rifle company;

5th PA Regiment

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The Pennsylvania Song 1775

The author of this ballad is unknown. It appeared originally if the “Poet’s Corner” of Dunlap’s Packet, as the “Pennsylvania March,” to the tune of the Scots’ song, “I winna marry ony lad, but Sandy o’er the lea.”

WE are the troop that ne’er will stoop
To wretched slavery,
Nor shall our seed, by our base deed
Despisèd vassals be;
Freedom we will bequeathe to them,
Or we will bravely die;
Our greatest foe, ere long shall know,
How much did Sandwich lie.
And all the world shall know,
Americans are free;
Nor slaves nor cowards we will prove,

Great Britain soon shall see.
We’ll not give up our birthright,
Our foes shall find us men;
As good as they, in any shape,
The British troops shall ken.
Huzza ! brave boys, we’ll beat them
On any hostile plain;
For freedom, wives, and children dear,
The battle we’ll maintain.

What ! can those British tyrants think,
Our fathers cross’d the main,
And savage foes, and dangers met

To be enslav’d by them?
If so, they are mistaken,
For we will rather die;
And since they have become our foes,
Their forces we defy.
And all the world shall know,
Americans are free,
Nor slaves nor cowards we will prove,
Great Britain soon shall see.

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Letter from the Editor

By RA Cunningham

Hello 5^th Pa,

We are entering into last few months of the year, but we have some good events coming up. Germantown, Hope Lodge, Fort Mifflin, the Crossing and don’t forget the Battle of Trenton. Also try to make parades or other money making events to help support things we need for our company.
As always, Yours Faithfully,

Rose (aka Roswell)

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Did you know….

That 52 of the 55 signers of The Declaration of Independence were orthodox, deeply committed Christians? The other three all believed in the Bible as the divine truth, the God of scripture, and His personal intervention.That Patrick Henry who is called the firebrand of the American Revolution, is still remembered for his words, “Give me liberty or give me death.” But in current textbooks the context of these words is deleted. Here is what he said: “An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not of the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.”

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Moland House 2015

5th PA Regiment

Battle of Monmouth 2015

5th PA Regiment

John Paul Jones the Raid on Whitehaven England in 1778

Night-time landing at Whitehaven
Late at night on April 22^nd 1778, the USS Ranger stood about 2 miles off the unsuspecting town of Whitehaven on a clear but cold and frosty night. Two boats were let down into the water and filled with about 30 men armed with pistols and cutlasses. John Paul Jones took charge of one with his Swedish second in command, one of the few he felt he could trust, Lieutenant Meijer. The other boat was commanded by Lieutenant Wallingford of the US marines and Midshipman Ben Hill. The two boats rowed against the tide for 3 hours to reach the harbour where Jones planned to destroy hundreds of ships by setting them alight as they lay stranded in the low water and packed tight together, several abreast, against the piers.
The plan was already becoming unstuck because of delays due to the mutinous crew and poor winds. They first tried to make a landing on the coast near Saltom Pit, in order to run along the shore and attack first the guns of the lunette battery, but the sea was too rough and the shore too rocky. This attempt lost them half an hour and as they then rowed past the battery around the New Quay and into the harbour, first light was appearing over the hills behind Whitehaven on April 23^rd 1778.

Disabling the Defences
The intention was for Wallingford’s men to burn the ships in the northern half of the harbour as Jones led a raid on the fort to spike the guns. This was vital to secure escape after their mission as the guns of the fort covered the harbour entrance and could have blasted the small boats as they made their retreat. John Paul Jones landed first, near the battlements. As it was a cold night, the guards had gone into the guardhouse at the back of the fort to keep warm. According to Jones, he himself led the surprise attack. By climbing on each other’s shoulders they managed to silently scale the walls, enter the fort, burst into the guardhouse and secure the surprised guards without bloodshed.
He left Lieutenant Meijer guarding his boat, which was wise, as according to the Swede the rest had concocted a plan to take the boat and leave Jones behind had he not been successful. In fact it was not until John Paul Jones himself stood on the battlements, gave his men reassurance and encouraged them to become heroes, that they plucked up courage to join his mission.
Having secured the fort Jones took Midshipman Joe Green to spike the guns at the Half-moon Battery which lay on the shore, 250m from the fort, behind Tom Hurd’s rock. This probably contained 32-pounders that could fire over a mile and it was thus vital to the escape that these were incapacitated. He sent the rest of his men to burn the shipping in the southern part of the harbour.
Whilst their Captain was disabling the guns, Wallingford and his men landed at the Old Quay slip and headed straight to the pub and got drunk. That might be a little unfair as it is thought Nicholas Allison’s public house was on the Old Quay near the ships so they actually secured the house to make sure no-one left and gave the game away. They also later told Jones that they needed to get a light for their incendiaries, but apparently they did make very free with the liquors etc.

Attempting the Arson
When Jones returned he was dismayed to find that no ships had yet been set on fire apparently because his own crew as well as Wallingford’s had no light, their candles having burnt out. With daylight returning they gave up on the North harbour and after securing a light from the house headed along the pier.
Soon the saboteurs got to nearest of the ships, The Thompson, which was full of coal for Dublin. They got out of bed the boys left aboard to look after it and the next ship, The Saltham, and tried to bribe them with money to go with them. The boys refused and so were taken in just their shirts, gagged with handkerchiefs, back to the Old Quay under the threat of being shot. “Matches” made from canvas covered in sulphur were set alight and thrown into the holds of several ships. On the Thompson they threw down a barrel of tar near the main mast and as the fire started to take hold they made their retreat. The fire took hold in the steerage of the ship and also eventually burnt out the cabin. The Thompson, captained by Richard Johnson, was a new ship built in Whitehaven and said to be one of the finest, which probably meant it was also one of the biggest.
Somehow, amongst all this confusion, one of Jones’s men who went by the name of David Freeman had slipped away and started knocking on the doors on Marlborough street to warn the town that the fires had been started in the ships and the whole town would be consumed. This may have occurred had the townspeople not acted quickly. It was only just over a century earlier that London had burned down after a simple fire in a baker’s shop – The Whitehaven ships set alight were full of coal and next to the coal staithes which kept a large reservoir of coal. It was low water so the entire fleet packed closely together was stuck in the mud and unable to move away from the fire. Many of the warehouses, full of combustibles such as rum, sugar and tobacco, were built right up to the harbour’s edge so as to facilitate easy unloading of cargoes.
Fortunately, however, being aware of these dangers the town had fire engines. These were immediately deployed and with valiant exertions by all classes of people working together they were able to extinguish the flames before they reached the rigging. From the rigging fire could easily have spread to neighbouring vessels. The matches thrown down into the other ships including the Saltham didn’t take hold.

Escaping from Whitehaven
John Paul Jones claimed he stood on the pier between the Thompson and the townsfolk until the fire took hold and they retreated when he threatened them. As it was 4 o’clock in the morning one could guess most people were asleep and initially there would be a lot of confusion as to what was going on. They may not have approached Jones as he was armed and the boys were held hostage at gunpoint. Next, the immediate response would be to deal with the fire – which they did successfully.
Jones was short of space in the boats so only took three prisoners with him. The boy from the Saltham had managed to escape but the one from the Thompson was taken. Another of the prisoners was former master of the Isaac and Barbary, George Jefferson, who had unfortunately gone down to the pier for a spot of late night fishing. As soon as Jones and his men started rowing for the ship, people ran to the forts and started working on the guns. They managed to get two of them in working order at the half-moon battery and fired upon the retreating boats but wildly missed.
The Ranger had been facing North and the crew onboard started to think the mission was a failure and began to worry that their forces had been captured. Then they spied the boats leaving harbour and some smoke from the Thompson. The firing of shots alerted them that this was Jones, and they turned Ranger around to pick up their Captain and his men. U.S.S. Ranger then fled north-westward towards the Scottish coast.
So ended the attack on Whitehaven of 1778. In truth, despite being audacious, having the advantage of surprise and Jones’s inside knowledge, the attack had been a bungled failure. This seems to have been due largely to the American crew’s reluctance to “destroy poor people’s property” as Wallingford had put it. However, the shock waves, that it sent throughout the country were completely out of proportion with the mere few hundred pounds worth of damage actually caused and turned John Paul Jones into an infamous pirate. Importantly, it awakened everyone to the threat of invasion. The defences of not only Whitehaven but also the entire British coast were improved and more volunteers joined the militias. In short, John Paul Jones did Britain a favor because his action probably prevented a full scale invasion.

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Our remaining Calendar of Events:

October 3 (Paid) Battle of German, PA

October 18 (Paid) Assault on Fort Mercer, Red Bank, NJ

November 7 ( Saturday only ) Hope Lodge

November 8 ( Paid-Sunday ) Veterans Day Parade, Philadelphia

November 14-15 Siege at Fort Mifflin, PA

December 13 Christmas Crossing Dress Rehearsal

Decemebr 25 Crossing of the Delaware

Decemebr 26 Battle of Trenton ——————————————————————————————————————

Sybil Ludington (1761-1839)

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Trivia June 2015 Questions & Answers

How did sailors contribute to the war effort? By serving aboard privateers and other vessels during the struggle for independence and became an important national symbol during the years of early republic.

Who was Elias Boudinot? A wealthy New Jerseyan who became the Continental Army’s Commissary of Prisoner’s. He tried mostly in fain to feed the prisoner’s and keep the hundreds of American soldiers the British held in freezing ships.

What was General Christopher Ludwig’s role during the revolutionary war? He was the Baker General of the Continental Army having been appointed on May 3, 1777

Trivia Questions September 2015

1. Who was the first of the New Hampshire delegation who signed the Declaration of Independence?

2. He was appointed one of the Committee of Public Safety, and after some time elected by the provincial congress. He was a member for a considerable period was conspicuous among his colleges from New Jersey.Who am I?

3. He received his education from the distinguished Dr. Allison, provost of the College of Philadelphia. Studied classical literature, art of surveying. He then studied Law, in the office of Thomas Cookson of Lancaster. He entered the patriotic cause with zeal, in 1774 was a delegate from the county of York.

Who am I? (other details next issue)

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List of SUTLERS

Avalon Forge, 409 Gun Rd, Baltimore, MD 21227 410-243-8431

www.Avalonforge.com

Books, Tools, cooking & eating equip., field gear, Misc.

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Dixie Gun Works, 1412 Reelfoot Avenue, Union, TN 38281 1-800-238-6785

www.dixiegunworks.com

Guns, parts and other supplies

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Dixon Muzzleloading Shop