Day: July 26, 2017

Below is a review the militia system of the Province of New York (American Forces), of which Staten Island was then a part, at the commencement of the Revolution.

The military forces of the colony were divided into three classes, viz.: The Line, which regiments were in the United States service under General Washington; the levies, which were drafts from the different militia regiments, and from the people direct as well, and which could be called upon to serve outside the State during their entire term; the militia, which then, as now, could only be called out of the State for three months at a time. Of the Line, there were nine organizations; of the levies, seven; and of militia, sixty-eight — eighty-four in all.

Associated exempts were a unique class, and were authorized by act of April 3, 1778. They comprised: “All persons under the age of sixty who have held civil or military commissions and are not or shall not be reappointed to their respective proper ranks of office, and all persons between the ages of fifty and sixty.” They could only he called out “in time of invasion or incursion of the enemy.”

The following citizens of Staten Island served in the various organizations of the New York militia during the Revolution. The list has been collected from many sources:

Colonel Goose Van Schaick’s First Regiment. — John Bedle, Moses Bedle, Abel Buel, Ezra Buel, John Decker, Abraham Deforest, Jonathan Eldridge, David Force, Thomas Gleeson, John Haycock, Thomas Hynes, Abraham Lambert, John Lambert, John Merrill. John Pearce, David Reany, Thristian Rynders, John Rynders, and Samuel Totten.

Colonel Philip Van Cortland’s Second Regiment. — Richard Barnes, William Biddle, George Boyd, Christopher Darrow, Christopher Decker, Edmund Frost, John Hanes, Obadiah Holmes, Stephen Holmes, Simon Lambertson, Nathan Lewis, John Lusk, Peter Mayhew, Cornelius Post, Henry Post, John Sprague, Abraham Weeks, and Harmanns Wandall.

Colonel James Clinton’s Third Regiment. — Obadiah Ammerman, John Banker, Thomas Banker, Henry Barnes, Stephen Barnes, John Beedle, Thomas Beedle, George Brady, Richard Brady, Thomas Elting, John Fountain, Henry Hopping, Joseph Hopping, Francis Lusk, Richard Post, Daniel Seaman, Michael Seaman, Edward Tobin, and John Turner.

Colonel John Holmes’s Fourth Regiment. — Jacob Banker, William Banker, William Bentley, Thomas Duncan, John Egberts, Peter Garrison, Abraham Garrison, Joseph Merrill, Moses Seaman, and John Stephens.

Colonel Lewis Dubois’s Fifth Regiment. — Nathaniel Bancker, Christopher Decker, Mathew Decker, Daniel Doty, Francis Drake, Ephraim Seaman, and John Willis.

Captain Alexander Hamilton’s Provincial Artillery. — Lawrence Farguson, Isaac Johnson, and John Wood.

Colonel Levi Pawling’s Regiment of Ulster County Militia. — Jacob Coddington, Jaquin Depew, Jacob Depew, Moses Depew, Josiah Drake, and William Drake.

Colonel James McGlaghry’s Regiment of Ulster County Militia. — Elijah Barton, Francis Lusk, James Totten, Thomas Totten, and Benjamin Woods.

Colonel Johanness Hardenburgh’s Regiment of Ulster County Militia. — Charles Cole, Abraham Decker, Abraham Decker,  Ellas Decker, William Drake, Abraham Johnson, John Lawrence, Daniel Masters, and Jacobus Miller.

Captain Samuel Clark’s Independent Company of Ulster County Militia. — Jacob Cropsey, Jacob DeGroot, and John Stillwell.

Colonel Joseph Drake’s Regiment of Westchester Militia. — Nicholas Bancker. Henry DePew, Samuel Drake, David Martling, Peter Martling, Hendrick Romer, Hendrick Romer, Jr., James Romer, Hendrick Ryerss, John Ryerss, and Tunis Ryerss.

Colonel Thomas Thomas’s Second Regiment of Westchester County Militia. — Abraham Bancker, William Brown, James Campbell, Joseph Clark, Abraham Egbert, Abijah Fountain, Jonathan Jessup, Sylvanus Merritt, John Merritt, and Daniel Merritt.

Colonel Samuel Drake’s Regiment of Westchester County Militia. — Samuel Bedel, William Brown. Jacob Clawson, Stephen Curry, Garret DeGroot, Abraham DePew, Henry DePew, John DePew, Jeremiah Drake, John Drake. John Farguson, Elijah Fuller, Daniel Hatfield, Joshua Hatfield, Obadiah Hunt. George Jones, Nathaniel Lane, James
Morrel, Elijah Mundy, “William Oakley, Ward Smith. John Stephens, James Townsend, Stephen Travis, and Moses Ward.

Colonel Thaddeus Crane’s Fourth Regiment of Westchester County Militia. — Ephraim Clark, Gilbert Drake, William Frost, John Holmes, Luke Merritt, Eeuben Smith, Jacob Travis, Abraham Wandel, and Jonathan Wood.

Captain Jonathan Horton’s Separate Company, Westchester Militia. — William Dalton and Isaac Oakley.

Staten Islanders who served in the war, but organizations unknown. — Abraham Ferdon, James Drake, Gerard Decker, Reuben Jones, William Merrill, John Stillwell, and Ephraim Taylor.

Among the native prisoners known to have been kept on Staten Island for a time by the British were Abraham Winants, John Stewart, Daniel Wandel, and John Noe.