‘A DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY THAT WINTERED AT VALLEY FORGE, PENNSYLVANIA, 1777-1778 HAROLD E, SELESKY NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT 1987In recent years historians have learned more about the men who served ‘in the American army during the Revolution. Several excellent studfes have investigated who the soldiers were at certain times and in certain places, and have established some basic demographic facts about them: their ages, 1 statures, physical descriptions, birthplaces, residences, and occupations However, though these studies are valuable, they provide a limited understanding of the Revolutionary soldiers. No one has yet attempted to assemble data about soldiers in several states and to inquire how the demographic profile of the troops evolved over what was after all a long and complex war. The present report is a first attempt at creating a dynamic portrait of service in the Revolution. This study began as an investigation of the Continental Army troops that wintered at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1777-1778. Let me hasten to state clearly that the Valley Forge army remains the focus and center- piece of my work. But it quickly became apparent that I could best illuminate this segment of the Revolutionary army by setting it in a wider context. Thus I have gathered information that allows me to do two things: first, to provide a profile of the Valley Forge army, and, second, to see how those troops compare with their colonial predecessors, with earlier and later incarnations of the Revolutionary army, with their opponents, and with troops from other wars. There are good reasons to center this study around the Valley Forge army, apart, that is, from the requirements of my commission. Valley Forge was the first winter encampment of troops that eleven states (all except South Carolina and Georgia) had raised for an extended period, generally a term of three years or the duration of the war. No army like it had ever existed before in America, or would exist again. As the war dragged on, fever men would agree to serve for as long as three years. Thus the Valley Forge army was something of a landmark, It set a standard against whichits predecessors and successors may be usefully compared. Before considering the evidence and weighing the comparfsons, the reader must understand the inherent limitations of this study. Demographic evidence on Revolutionary soldiers is difficult to acquire. Lists of soldiers are relatively plentiful, but few contain personal details. The large collection of rolls held by the National Archives, and published on 138 reels of microfilm (W246), {1lustrate the problem.? Roughly three- quarters of these rolls are monthly muster or pay rolls. Muster rolls record how many officers and men were present for duty or otherwise accounted for, as for instance sick, dead, deserted, or on detached service. Subdivided by companies within regiments, they Tist the names of each soldier, the date of his enlistment or commission, and his present status. Occasionally they include place of enlistment and term of service. Pay rolls certify that each soldier has received his wages for the preceeding month, The remaining quarter of Publication M246 contains all sort of documents concerning the administration of the Continental Army, including inspection reports, equipment rolls, receipt rolls for bountfes, arms, and clothing, and lists of deserters. Some of these rolls provide useful ‘information. For example, because receipt rolls were occasionally counter- signed by the reciptent, efther by signing his own name or making his mark where the company clerk wrote his name, it is possible to learn something about the literacy of the soldiers. The best demographic information is contained in the lists of deserters and fn the few descriptive muster rolls scattered among the documents. Most demographic information is related in some way or other to the problem of desertion. Indeed, the paucity of such information may be a product of the clear Tink between recording facts about age, height, and color of complexion, hair, and eyes and the use of that data to identify and recover3. absconded soldiers. Recruiters may have avoided recording personal data because it was expected that Americans would not desert the defense of their own liberties. Administrative inexperience and incompetence undoubtedly also played a role in limiting the type and amount of information recorded. Of course, not all of the Tists that were created have survived. For instance, the bulk of the rolls of the 1776 army were lost in the retreat from New York City in August and September 1776. Nore rolls perished in the fires that ravaged the War Department in 1800 and 1814. The limited amount of demographic information raises questions about the typicality and validity of conclusions drawn from such a small sample. Deserters, for instance, may not be typical of soldiers who remained with the regiment. Conclusions based on one or two companies may not be representative of a ten-company regiment, let alone the troops of an entire state. Moreover, the information that has survived may or may not be accurate. Men did not always remember the day, or even the year, of their births. One company clerk might term a man's hair “dark,” while to his successor {t would appear as “black” or "brown." Words could have variable meanings in the eighteenth-century. For instance, men whose complexions were described as "black" were not invariably Negroes. In one Delaware company, a1] the men with "black" complexions had been born in Ireland! In all candor, not much can be done to expand or validate the sample in the short term. A Iifetime spent pouring over local records would add depth, accuracy, and texture to our knowledge, but even this investment of effort cannot overcome the inherent limitations of the evidence. Pension records can supplement the contemporary rolls, but they too have their drawbacks. Congress passed major pension acts in 1818 and 1832, respectively 41 and 52 years after some of the applicants had marched into camp at Valley Forge. Many veterans were long dead, and it is by no means certain that thesurvivors were a representative selection of the entire Valley Forge amy Moreover, while pension applications do offer much information on the military careers, and subsequent peregrinations, of each applicant, facts sometimes are in dispute. For instance, the birthdates given by the applicants do not always agree with those calculated from the contenporary rolls.” Despite all these cautions and caveats, the reader should not be too discouraged. The existing evidence does allow conclusions to be drawn about ‘the Valley Forge army. Though the degree of precision and level of confidence are not as high as might be desired, the evidence does reveal some 1 interesting and important things about a significant episode in Anerican Revolutionary and military history. T have organized my data under five topics: ages, physical descriptions, birthplaces, occupations and literacy, and patterns of service, including post-war mobility. The data on ages is arranged chronologically, the rest geographically from north to south. It must be emphasized that I present information on non-commissioned officers and privates only. officers have been excluded for two reasons, first because there are too few of them for comparisons to be meaningful, and, second, considerable attention has already been paid to officers while the men they commanded have been left in the shadows. This report seeks to throw some light on those hitherto neglected. I have relied principally on three summary measures. The median is the number at the numerical middle of the set of observations. The average is the arithmetic mean of the sample. Because the average is susceptible to outliers, that is, can be skewed by a few very old or very young individuals, I have also calculated the midspan, the arithmetic mean of the middle half of observations. When the midspan is lower than the average, as is generally the case, it reflects a disproportionate nunber of observations on the htgh end of the scale. Mention will also be made of5. the mode, that is, the number appearing most frequently in the sample; it can be readily determined from the table itself. In all cases, I have calculated the average and midspan out to two decimal places. I must emphasize that this is not because I believe the information to be so precise, but merely to facilitate comparisons among sets of observations. In the text that follows, I round off the figures as approporate. Thus, an average age of 23.93 years becomes 24 years (Table 6), and a midspan age of 21.58 years becomes 21% years (Table 1). | #1, AGES Age is the most important single piece of information an historian can know about a soldier in colonial and Revolutionary America. In the absence of detailed evidence about an individual's economic and social status, a man's age can serve as a rough index of his place in the community. War was generally a young man's pursuit in eighteenth-century America. Physical vigor and endurance, rather than intelligence, education, or experience, were the soldier's prime qualifications, and they were more often to be found among younger men than among their fathers and elder brothers. Younger men, defined for our purposes as men in their late teens through mid-twenties, were also less likely than older men to be married or possessed of very much personal or real property. Thus society generally was more willing to have them fun the risks of military service than older, more established family men. For thefr part, younger men were inclined to see in military service an opportunity to explore the wider world beyond their community, and to view the money they could earn as a soldier as a good way of acquiring a stake in society. This is not to say that relatively old men were not present in the ranks. Indeed, two hundred years ago there was a much greater range of ages among soldiers than we are accustomed to6. in the twentieth-century. In most colonies, men served in the militia, and were eligible for impressment, between the ages of fifteen and, roughly, fifty-five. Still, while no one prevented a physically-fit older man from volunteering for military service --and there are cases of men in their sixties and even seventies serving as privates-- most soldiers were between eighteen and twenty-five years of age. Within this range, there was considerable varfation, both year-to-year and by region. In the mid-eighteenth-century, soldiers from the northern colonies may have been younger than their counterparts in the middle and southern colonies. In one Massachusetts company at Cape Breton in 1745, for instance, the midspan age was 21% years, while the next year in four Pennsylvania companies it was over 24 years (Tables 1 and 2). New England soldiers fn the next conflict, the French and Indian War waged from 1755 through 1762, were older. In 1756, privates in the six Massachusetts regiments averaged nearly 26 years of age (Table 3), though this figure may be inflated by a relatively small number of older men, a suspicion reinforced by the much lower median and modal ages. The pattern in Nassachusetts in 1756 may have been similar to the one seen in part of one New Hampshire company in 1758 (Table 4), where the wide range of ages made the average age three years higher than the midspan. The pitfalls of generalizing from limited information is apparent from a comparison of the New Hampshire company in 1758 and soldiers from Groton, Massachusetts, in 1760 (Table 5). More than seven years separate the midspan ages of soldiers in these two samples, and the only way to reconcile then without undermining their explanatory power is to view them as snapshots in a larger mosaic. Seventeen-fifty-eight was the year of maximum effort for the northerncolonies, and New Hampshire may have been as hard pressed as its neighbors were to find enough soldiers. Two years later when the conquesta of Canada was virtually assured but the demands for troops had not been reduced, Groton filled out its contingent by enlisting men who were probably younger than their counterparts in previous years Pennsylvania and New York seen to have taken the demands of 1758 in stride (Tables 6 and 7). Though the midspan ages of soldiers in both colonies are close (24 for Pennsylvania, 23% for New York), there are interesting differences in the way that was achieved. Pennsylvania was principally | concerned with frontier defense and was attempting to build stability and continuity by recruiting men for more than a summer at a time; enlistments ran for up to three years. These requirements were met by enlisting more younger men than it had in 1746. New York's attention, on the other hand, was focused on the expedition down the Champlain valley against Montreal. Like their New England neighbors, New York's leaders chose not to attempt to recruit troops for more than one campaign at a time. New York's soldiers had a broader range of ages than Pennsylvania's, but this was balanced by a lower modal age, 19 versus 22 for Pennsylvania. Information on Colonel George Washington's company of the Virginia Regiment in 1757 rounds out this survey of the colonial pertod (Table 8) The midspan age is relatively high, 26 years, probably because Virginia was having difficulty in finding enough men to help defend the frontier. It is tantalizing to theorize that the colony had to recruit more older men when the military demands were increasing, as also seems to have been the case in New Hampshire in 1758. But we cannot be sure because we do not know enough about the demographics of the adult male population, or its local variations between and within colonfes, to know if the Virginia and New Hampshire soldiers were older than the male population from which they were drawn or were just a cross-section of a male population that wasolder than elsewhere. It is clear that the New England militiamen who responded to the Lexington Alarm in mid-April 1775 were older than the typical New England colonial soldier. For example, the 12 minutenen from Groton, Nassachusetts, had a midspan age of 27 1/4 years (Table 9), 7 years older than the town's expeditionary soldiers of 1760. Greater age gives a good indication that Groton's militiamen were drawn from among substantial citizens, an impression reinforced by the fact that over three-quarters of them were married men (Table 10). The table also affords a good shorthand way of understanding how the character of military participation changed during seven years of war. The proportion of married men fell to one-quarter as the town shifted the military burden away from substantial citizens to young unmarried men. Those married men who joined up in 1781 and 1782 could reasonably be presumed ‘to be older men who were not able to prosper in civilian society. Evidence from other colonies reinforces the picture ofa unique surge of popular support for war in 1775. The minutemen from Fairfield, Connecticut, were nearly as old as the minutemen from Groton, though, unlike their Massachusetts counterparts, they included no one over 40 years of age (Table 11). The midspan age of militiamen in one New Jersey company four months later was even higher (Table 12). The militia seems to have continued to attract older men through 1776, at least in Groton, Massachusetts, and Newark, New Jersey (Tables 13 and 14). By that time,however, the ages of the men recruited for Continental service had begun to decline to levels below those of the colonfal perfod. In the days and weeks after the Lexington alarm, New England leaders faced their greatest military challenge: transforming a crowd of militiamen into a stable military force. They applied the precedents and experience they had accumulated during the French and Indian War to this monumental9. task and, by dint of compromise, hard work, and enthusiasm, they hanmered out an army to last to the end of the year. Most militiamen went home by early May; if the experience of Tenple, New Hampshire, is typical --and it seems to be broadly so-- roughly a quarter of the militiamen enlisted for the rest of the campaign (Table 15). In its organization and field-grade officers, the army that gathered around Boston in the summer of 1775 was a descendant of the armies raised during the French and Indian War. It wes much more the culmination of past experience than the harbinger of the changes that the rebels would be forced to make in 1776 and 1777. The soldiers, younger than the Lexington minute- men, were also younger than their French war predecessors. Evidence from three towns in northeastern Massachusetts gives some indication of the local variations that can be subsumed in broader samples. Across the towns, the midspan age ranged from 23 years in Groton, to 22 1/3 years in Chelms- ford, to 22 years in Newburyport (Tables 16, 17, and 18); this was at least a year younger than what was probably the inflated average of 26 years in | 1756 (Table 3). New Hampshire troops also seen to have been younger than during the French War, but the sample for 1758 is too small to permit a firm conclusion (Table 19). Unlike their senior officers, few soldiers had first-hand experience of war. If there were veterans in the ranks, they would be among the oldest soldiers; a twenty-year-old man who had served in 1762 would be 43 in 1775. Everyone under 25 years of age in 1775 had either been a child or not yet born during the French and Indian var. The point is important because part of the willingness of Americans to defend their rights and restore their liberties was based on a naive exaggeration of the ease and efficacy of a resort to arms. Surely, fewer Americans would have rebelled against the imperial government if they had expected it would be so hard to make their rebellion successful.10. The sample sizes are adequate to allow a comparison of New York troops in 1758 and 1775. Although the median and midspan ages were identical (22 and 23% years, respectively), the age distributions were different enough so that it seems that New York was not as hard pressed in 1775 as it had been in 1758 (compare Tables 7 and 20). A full quarter of the soldiers in 1758 had been 30 years old or older, versus only 16% in 1775, The modal age in 1758 had been 19 years, versus 23 in 1775. From this comparison, it appears that when New York society was at full stretch, fts troops included both a sizeable fraction of relatively older men and a cluster of relatively young men. In other words, New York's manpower resources were stretched at both ends in 1758 but not in 1775. It is unfortunate that more information about the 1776 army has not survived. Many interesting documents undoubtedly perished during the retreat of Washington's army from Long Island to the west bank of the Delaware between August and December 1776. The army in 1776 is so important because it marked Congress's only attempt to create a single Continental Line by renumbering the New England regiments in one numertcal sequence. But the experiment was not a success. The states and thefr soldiers were unhappy about relinquishing their historic identities, and in 1777 the New England regiments were re-raised as components of individual state lines. (Troops fron states south of New England never lost their separate identittes.) The evidence for 1776 is difficult to interpret. For instance, the ages of sick and absent New Hampshire soldiers were higher than comparable Figures for 1775, but that was probably because older men were inclined to be less physically fit (Table 21). On the other hand, the ages of soldiers in the one Pennsylvania company are about two years younger than those for troops in 1777, and there is no inmediately evident reason why this should be so (Table 22). The Connecticut sample agrees better with troops raisedu. the next year, but it is clearly too small to be conclusive (Table 23). In duly 1776, 10,000 militiamen were drafted for six months of active service with the Continental Army. It is therefore not surprising that the ages of the soldiers in one Delaware company of the Flying Camp were Tower than those of militiamen who stayed home (Table 24). That the ages were also nearly identical with those for Delaware Continentals in 1777 suggests that the rage militaire of 1775 had already begun to dissipate by mid-1776. The troops that the states began recruiting in late 1776 were intended to form the first long-service interstate military force in American history. The desire to enlist men for several years at a time was nothing more than a recognition that a revolutionary conflict could not be won by short service troops --Continentals or militfa-- alone. Nonetheless, it was a substantial departure from the previous practice in almost all the states, and in sum represented the most radical military innovation of the war. This was the army that spent its first winter at Valley Forge, and which lies at the heart of my report. Information on the ages of the | troops in the three-year army is arranged by state from north to south, and includes ten of the eleven states whose men encamped at Valley Forge (al? except North Carolina). The Pension Roll of 1835 is an important source of information on the three-year army because ft supplements in valuable ways the contemporary muster rolls. This document lists all the men who received Federal pensions since the 1780s, and includes the then-current age of Continental Army veterans who had been on the Roll since 1818. It is the richest single source of age data on Revolutionary soldiers, and, used carefully, it can confirm and extend other descriptive rolls. Names of men who served at Valley Forge have been drawn from muster rolls in the National Archives, as compiled for the Valley Forge State Park Commission in the 1940s, and12, compared with the names of pensioned veterans. Most names and ranks were distinctive enough so that the probability of correct identification is high; common names like William Smith and Thomas Jones have been excluded because they could not be firmly correlated. The Pension Roll does have limitations. It contains a few errors, most conmonly the transposition of a digit which makes a man seem ten years older or younger than other sources say he was. The most significant drawback is the impossibility of determining precisely the extent to which the Roll is biased toward younger men. It does seem to under-represent the number of men who were, say, more than 30 years old in 1777-1778, simply because fewer of these older men were alive to apply for a pension in 1818. This bias tends to lower the average age, but. as we shall see, it has much less of an impact on the midspan age, a measure which reports the central tendency of a group of observations. Against this weakness in the Roll can be set several major advantages The Pension Roll allows large-scale comparisons between states, comparisons which are internally consistent even if the Roll itself is not a representative sample of all Revolutionary veterans. In the following tables based on the Pension Roll, I have distinguished between veterans who continued to live in the state in whose troops they had served during the war, and veterans who emigrated to other states. This division understates mobility, of course, because it does not take into account intra-state migration. Nonetheless, the remained-versus-emfgrated breakdown does give some insight into whether or not Continental Army veterans were able to return to the civilian society they had left to go to war. It seems that the soldiers in the three-year army were collectively the youngest yet seen during the Revolution. The New Hampshire troops, for instance, had a midspan age of roughly 22 years (Table 25), a year and a half younger than the 177 troops (Table 19), Even the ages of absentees13. had declined, from a midspan age of 25 1/3 years in 1776 (Table 21) to 23 2/3 years in 1777~1778 (Table 26). While the percentage of men age 30 and under was the same tn both years (23%), the drop fn the modal age from 21 to 17 suggests that New Hampshire was having trouble finding soldiers. The men known to have wintered at Valley Forge were younger still. (While a11 three New Hampshire regiments were present, apparently muster rolls survive only for the 3rd Regiment for this period.) The midspan age of men in one company was 20: years (Table 27), a figure which agrees well with evidence from the Pension Roll (Tables 28-1, -2, and -3), Having been comparatively older in previous years, New Hampshire's soldiers were now by most summary measures the youngest in New England, with a midspan age of just 20 years among pensioned veterans (Table 28-3). According to the Pension Roll, soldiers in the other New England states were not much older. Connecticut's were the oldest, with a midspan age of only 20 2/3 years (Table 29-3). Indeed, the evidence suggests that many Connecticut soldiers may have been, on average, extremely young, under 20 years of age in one company of an Additional Continental Regiment raised in 1777 (Table 30). Part of a list of deserters from one regiment, including only those men who joined before the Valley Forge period, supports the youthfulness of Connecticut soldiers, if one assumes that the ages given were those in 1782 (Table 31). Lists of deserters are tricky, however; T will continue to present the information they offer, but no pofnt will be considered to be proven if supported only by evidence from these sources. ‘The Pensfon Roll paints much the same picture for Rhode Island as it does for New Hampshire and Connecticut: a relatively narrow age range (not many men age 30 and over) and midspan ages hovering between 19 and 22 years (Table 32-3). Two points should be made here. First, it seems that strain on the manpower resources of New England societies produced a pattern which4. was different from the one observed in New York. In times of stress, New England relied Tess on older men than did its western neighbor. Second, veterans who chose to emigrate from these three New England states after the war were from six months to nearly 2% years younger, on average, than the veterans who chose to remain in their home states. It would be interesting to know if the same sort of wanderlust that they displayed in later life had also inspired them to enlist in the Continental Army, but the records are silent on that score. T have saved consideration of Massachusetts for last in New England because it poses some special challenges and offers some special rewards. In the late nineteenth-century, the Commonwealth compiled a1 the rolls in the State Archives and between 1898 and 1908 published the resulting service records in seventeen volumes of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War. Evidence from these volumes can be crosschecked with vital records, so that it is possible to backtrack individual soldiers. The results are not always comforting, as the following examples show. The best that can be hoped for fs a man like Benjamin Blossom. He was born in Plympton in November 1746, married in April 1769, served in the Lexington Alarm, enlisted in the eight-months' army in May 1775, and enlisted again for eight months in March 1779, when his age was recorded as 31 years. In 1778, he enlisted for a third time, for nine months, and gave his age as 32 years. This is a wonderful piece of evidence because all three sources, the last two enlistments in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors and the date of birth in the Plympton Vital Records, all agree. (This example also shows how easy it is to introduce a varfation of one year in the ages of the soldiers. In most cases, the birth month is not known, so 2Tossom's age would have been calculated here, in the absence of other evidence, as 32 years in 1778, rather than 31 years. Since it is very difficult to acquire15. ‘the information needed to solve this problem, I have elected to belfeve that a compensating reduction in age occurs frequently enough so that the summary measures remain largely unaffected.) Confidence in the accuracy of the records is eroded by a man like Isaac Bonney. Born in Plympton in February 1752, he was stil] an unmarried man when he enlisted for three years in April 1777, at age 19. When he enlisted for six months in June 1780, his age was recorded as 25, rather than the 22 one would have expected. Even worse is Joseph Black of Kittery: age 18 in June 1778, age 21 in June 1779. Or Josiah Beal of York: age 40 in June 1778, age 47 in dune 1780. Somewhere, someone recorded inaccurate information. Since it is profitless to try to track down every discrepancy (most will dead-end quickly for want of adequate records), the historian must accept a certain degree of imprecision in his conclusions. The best evidence indicates that Massachusetts soldiers were older than their counterparts in New England. As Table 33 shows, the midspan ages of Continental Army recruits from Plymouth County in 1777-1778 was at least a year and a half older (at 22 years) than the midspan ages of soldiers from New Hampshire (20 years), Connecticut (20% years), and Rhode Island (204 years) in the tables developed from the Pensfon Roll. The difference in average ages is even greater, three years older for the Massachusetts recruits (24g years versus 21% years), largely because contemporary descriptive rolls include the older men who died before they could apply for a pension. (Though contemporary rolls do give a more complete picture of age distribution than does the Pension Roll, the midspan age affords a useful way of comparing the two kinds of sources.) The midspan ages of Massachusetts soldiers from other places and in other contexts were also around 22 years: at Groton (Table 34), among both re-enlistees and deserters from the 3rd Regiment (Tables 24A and 35), and among short-service recruits from around the state16. in 1778 (Table 358). Moving south, it ts clear that New York was hard pressed to find soldiers in 1777. The age distribution in one regiment resembled the difficult year of 1758 rather than the relatively easier situation of 1775 (Table 36). The drop in the midspan age from 23% years in 1758 and 1775 to 20% years in 1777 probably means that raising the three-year army was the hardest recruiting Job of the war, The modal age dropped too, from 23 years in 1775 to 17 years in 1777. A breakdown of ages by term of enlistment (Table 37) shows no difference between those who enlisted for three years and those who joined for the war, but reveals that men who joined for the shorter term of nine months were substantially younger. This difference bears further investigation because it seems likely that the “older” young men who signed up for a Tong term viewed thefr enlistment more as a choice of occupation than did the "younger" young men who probably saw short-term enlistments, often repeated annually, as a means of making quick money. Table 32 reminds us that, while recruits may have been getting younger, veterans were inevitably growing older. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the ages of soldiers never dropped to the level of New York or New England. New Jersey's soldiers at Valley Forge had a midspan age of 23 years, higher among those who remained within the state after the war, Tower among those who emigrated (Tables 39-1, -2, and -3) Pennsylvania's troops were even older, having a midspan age of 24 years, with greater variation between those who stayed and those who left (Tables 40-1, -2, and -3). The ages derived from the Pennsylvania Pension Roll accord well with the figures given by the closest student of the Pennsylvania Line, a not altogether surprising outcome since many of the ages in Table 41 seem to be derived from the Pension Roll via the various volumes of the Pennsylvania Archives. It is interesting to note that the substitutes hired to serve forV7. ‘two months in a Lancaster County militia company were younger, on average, than the Continentals (Table 42). Presumably these men were not averse to military service, but they preferred short-term enlistments for relatively good money to enlisting in the Continental Line. Americans had always disliked serving for long periods in any army, and now that attitude was making life hard for the men who realized that standing forces were crucial to the success of the Revolution. Continental soldiers in three souther states --Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia-- were a bit younger than their counterparts from New York and New England (Tables 43, 44, and 45). Virginia's profile is probably the result of the fact that its regiments had been raised in two stages, the Ist through 9th Regiments between July 1775 and February 1776 and the 10th through 15th Regiments after October 1776. The ages of its soldiers are thus an amalgama~ tion of what in the northern and middle states were three separate establish- ments. Virginia's age distribution resembles Pennsylvania's, with its cluster of men in their late twenties, more than, say, Connecticut's, but the summary ages lie between the two. To summarize, then: the ages of the soldiers at Valley Forge averaged in their early twenties. New York and New England troops were relatively younger, between 20 and 22 years, Pennsylvania and New Jersey troops relatively older, between 23 and 24 years, and the southern troops in between, at roughly 22% years. But, while ages can be summarized and described, more needs to be known about the character of recruiting across the states including the demographics of the male population as a whole, the attitudes about who should bear the burden of military service, and the attractiveness of financial incentives to various age and economic groups-- before we can confidently understand why variations occurred and what they meant in the context of the times.18. The ages of soldiers who joined the Continental Army after Valley Forge show considerable variation. The general trend toward recruiting and drafting younger men did not continue as the war dragged on. Indeed, soldiers in several states tended to be older than their pre-1778 counterparts (see Tables 46 on New Hampshire, 54 and 56 on New York, 57 through 60 on Pennsylvania, and 62, 63, and 64 on Delaware). Mhile Virginia's soldiers were younger than in 1777 (Tables 65 and 66), Connecticut's were of roughly the same age as earlier, still among the youngest soldiers, on average, in the Continental Army (Tables 48 and 49). Evidence from Massachusetts provides some interesting details about the ages of one state's soldiers in the later years of the Revolution. The midspan age of Continental Army recruits from Middlesex County in 1781 and 1782, overwhelmingly men who enlisted for three years of service, was 21%: years (Table 49A), marginally younger than the midspan age of 22 years for Plymouth County recruits in 1777-1778. But the patterns in individual towns could vary considerably. Continental Amy soldiers from Groton, an “average” rural farming community in Middlesex County, were very young in and after 1778, with a midspan age of roughly 20 years (Tables 50 and 51). Soldiers from Boston, the state's metropolis, were startlingly older, in 178C a midspan age of 27 years for militiamen and 29 years for short-term Continental Army recruits (Tables SIA and 518). The ages of the Boston soldiers suggest that a permanent underclass may have existed in this urban seaport, a group of older men for whom the opportunities of military service were the best on offer, a group on whom the community's leaders could place the burden of going to war. Veterans were older than most recrufts, though not as old as the Boston soldfers. The men who formed the core of the Massachusetts Continental regiments in the early 1780s had a midspan age of roughly 24 years (Tables 52, 53, and 53A).1. The age distribution of the samples suggests some tentative conclustons about military service after 1778. While the soldiers were still mostly young men in their late teens through early twenties, the presence of men over 30 years of age in the ranks may indicate that the army was attracting poor men, of whatever age, who had no better prospects. The range of ages was particularly striking in Pennsylvania. where 23% of the troops in the Valley Forge sample had been aged 30 years or more, over a third of the | New 11th Regiment in July 1779 was of a similar age (Table 59). The range in a company of the 2nd Regiment in 1780 was remarkable, from 10 to 73 in ‘one company of forty men; 38% were over 30 years of age (Table 60). While men over 30 certainly may have had patriotic motives for enlisting, the demographic evidence suggests that poor men were being called upon to finish a fight begun by men from a broader economic spectrum. The evidence about the various incarnations of the Continental Army needs to be understood in a broader context. The most important comparison is with the contemporary British army. Information compiled by the closest student of the British soldier in North America indicates that the Continental troops faced men whose average age was in the mid~ to Tate- twenties; in some regiments, ft reached as high as the mid-thirties (Table 67). They were long service troops, averaging over eight years of service per man, and, though that average did decline during the war as the army expanded substantially beyond its 1775 level, length of service is what set the redcoats apart most dramatically from Continental soldiers. At the same time, it is important to realize that British soldiers were as young or younger, on average, than their Continental opponents when they. enlisted. The same pattern of youthful enlistment and long service was also present in the Prussian army, considered by many to be the finest military force of the age (Tables 68, 69, and 70). Americans feared the20. kind of professional, long-service, standing army found in Britain or Prussia, and they clearly had no wish to pattern their military forces after the European model. Ironically, however, the need to maintain a constant military presence in the field promoted the creation of just such a standing army. By the end of the war, there was a solid core of Continental veterans for whom the army had indeed become their profession and their home. The Continental Army can also be compared with troops from other conflicts. During the War of 1812, for instance, the average age of United States Army recruits was in the mid- to late- twenties, substantially older than the Continentals at Valley Forge (Table 71). On the other hand, the Canadian militiamen who stopped the most serious American invasion outside Montreal in mid-October 1813 were younger than their opponents; their midspan age was 23% years, roughly the age of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania troops at Yalley Forge (Table 71A). Union soldiers in the Civil War were closer in age to the British soldiers in the Revolution than to the Continentals. A quarter of Northern volunteers were 30 years old or older, and the average age was more than 25 years (Tables 72 and 73). As had been the case with the Continental Army after 1778, the average age of the Union troops increased as the war went on, reaching 26 1/2 years by the sumer of 1865. Military service today renains the preserve of men in their twenties, though there is considerable variation among the services. Sailors on one nuclear-powered attack submarine, for instance, average 23 years of age, while Air Force enlisted men and women are older, with an average age of 26 years in 1985.4 #2. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS I have organized evidence on the physical descriptions of soldiers in colonial and Revolutionary America into four categories: height, color of21, complexion, color of hair, and color of eyes. These were more or less the four standard kinds of information that officers recorded on descriptive muster rolls and lists of deserters. All of the evidence is contemporary and cannot be usefully supplemented by the Pension Records. While informa- tion on heights can be accepted as highly accurate because size could be measured objectively, information on the color of complexion, hair, and eyes is wildly subjective. It is abundantly clear that men had different ways of describing roughly the same characteristic. The interpretive value of this type of information is therefore extremely limited. The midspan height of the soldiers generally fell between five feet, 6, inches and five feet, 8 inches,probably taller than what many people would have guessed. Apart from the sense of shortness imparted by the | doorways to the huts at Valley Forge, the soldiers appeared to be short because there were so few men over six feet tall. The normal range of heights was a foot or less, but there were enough men under five feet tall so that a company of Continentals at Valley Forge would give the modern observer the impression of a rather short, squat body of men. As with ages, there was considerable variation in average and midspan heights within and among the states. In general, troops from New England and New York were taller than their counterparts in the middle and southern states. Why that was the case is not entirely clear, though in samples where birthplaces are also given, foreign-born soldiers were up to an inch and a half shorter than their native-born compatriots. A large number of shorter, foreign-born soldiers seems to be the principal reason why Pennsylvania troops were not as tall as the troops from the other states, (For more on birthplaces, see Section #3, below.) The Continentals may have been a bit shorter than their British opponents, but the difference was so small, probably less than an inch on22. average, that it would not have been noticeable between two bodies of troops seen at a distance (Table 105). Similarly, they were a bit shorter than volunteers from seven Northern states during the Civil War (Tables 107 and 108). It fs interesting to speculate that New Hampshire's troops continued to be the tallest fn New England because the state was home to fewer foreign immigrants, and that Pennsylvania's were taller than during the Revolution because of the influx of migrating New Englanders. However, much more research would be needed to turn these speculations into even the most tentative of generalizations. When describing the color of a soldier's complexion, hair, or eyes, officers and company clerks relied heavily on the distinction between light and dark. The terms may have varied at different times and in different states, indeed among different companies in the same regiment, but that simple distinction was the foundation of physical description. Light complexions might also be called "fair," “sandy,” "pale," "freckled," or "fresh," with each term having a separate and precise meaning to the man who used it. But that precision cannot be recovered with confidence. Dark complexions could also be recorded as "brown," “swarthy," or "black." "Black" ftself was a very imprecise term. In New England, it occasionally may have meant Negro but the complexions of black men were more frequently described as “negro,” *molato," or “mustee." In the minds of some recorders, a yellow complexion may have meant a man with some black ancestors, while to others it may have denoted the effects of jaundice. "Red" or “ruddy” were probably the most evocative and understandable terms used to describe complexions on the rolls and lists. Color of hair and eyes was also divided between light and dark. Light hair might also be described as “sandy," "fair," or "flaxen," and dark hair might combine both “black" and "brown," though most recorders do seem to23. have made an effort to distinguish between the two. A few men with red or grey hair were scattered through the ranks, along with a few whose hair was described as "wool," the only sure indication that they were black men. Light eyes might also be described as "blue," "grey," or “hazel,” and dark eyes might also be termed "black" or “brown.” The distribution of colors was roughly sixty-forty in favor of dark over light, though individual units did depart significantly from that breakdown. Virtually all combinations of colors are present in the records. The two most conmon were: 1. dark complexion, dark, black, or brown hair, and dark eyes; and 2. light complexion, light or fair haix and light eyes. The historian must be careful in making more specific generalizations because the evidence may not be sound. Examples drawn from the volumes of Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors (Table 113) vividly illustrate some of the pitfalls present in the records. At one point, six men were described as having dark complexions; at another point, the same six were said to have Tight complexions. Seven men had hair variously thought to be dark, brown, Tight, and black. The possibility that more such variations may remain undetected makes comparisons between samples very imprecise. Cccastonally a descriptive roll or list records some additional details, like comments about scars or pockmarks that might make it easier to identify deserters (see Tables 122, 124, and 132 for examples). Information on body-type, especially whether or not the recruit was "well- set," appears in some Pennsylvania and Virginia rolls for the French and Indian Var (Tables 124 and 132), but I have encountered only one taste of such information for the Revolution, a single Delaware company (Table 128), incomplete and not very useful. The fullest description of a soldier is often found in newspaper advertisements for deserters. They combine information on ages and24. physical descriptions in ways that parallel descriptive muster rolls, and add comments about the soldier's morally degenerate state that are not available elsewhere. Set against these advantages are the very subjectivity that makes them so humanly appealing and the question, essentially unanswerable, of whether or not the deserters were typical of their company, regiment, or state. I offer the following ten examples, all men who deserted from Valley Forge. 10th le Pennsylvania Regiment, in Pennsylvania Packet, May 13, 1778 John Goran, 24 years of age, 5 feet 10 inches high, a slender made, down-Iooking fellow, much pttted with the small pox, fond of strong Tiquor, and born in Virginia. David Latta, about 20 years of age, 6 feet high, slender made, of a fair complexion, and born in Pennsylvania. Hugh Reed, 30 years of age, a well-set fellow, 5 feet 8 inches high, of a ruddy complexion, sandy hair, very talkative, and was born in Ireland. Anthony McManes, 23 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches high, short fair hair, somewhat pitted with the small pox, and was born in Ireland. dames Burges, 44 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches high, short black hair, is fond of strong liquor, and was born in England. Pennsylvania Regiment, Pennsylvania Packet, May 23, 1778 Samuel Starrit, American born, about 5 feet 10 inches high, short black hair, swarthy complexion, stoop shouldered, and fond of strong liquor. James McCallister, born in Jersey and brought up in Virginia, a taylor Bic] by trade, has a sickly pale countenance, fair hair which he wears tied, about 5 feet 7 inches high, . . . and when in liquor boasts much of Burgoyne's capture. James Reiley, an Irishman, about 5 feet &% inches high, dark complexion and black hair, has an extraordinary squint with his left eye, no eneny to strong liquor, and when brim full vomits oaths and blasphemy very liberally. George James, a Virginian born, about 6 feet high, sandy hair, stoop shouldered, swarthy complexion, fond of Tiquor, and in company a25 pleasant good natured fellow. 10. Samuel Marler, an Englishman born, about 5 feet 7 inches high, short fair hair tied, is a miner, very talkative and a tolerable scribe, «+» and dearly loves company where Iiquor is plenty. This small sample is taller than average for Pennsylvania troops (five feet, 8 3/4 inches), but about average in color of complexion (three dark or swarthy versus two fair or pale), and color of hair (three black versus three fair, but with two more sandy). Five are foreign born, low for Pennsylvania troops (see Section #3, below). And Tiquor plays a prominent role in the description of seven deserters, very typical of deserter advertisements, though probably not of the troops as a whole (see also Table 138). Tables 136 through 139 present information on Union soldiers in the Civil War, with which the Continentals can be compared. The most significant change by the middle of the nineteenth-century is the predominance of soldiers with Iight complexions, brown hair, and Tight eyes (blue, grey, and hazel). Part of this perceived change may be nothing more than a standardization of categories by the United States Sanitary Commission, which compiled the figures. But it is interesting to speculate whether some part may be due to shifting occupational patterns, about which more wilT be said in Section #4, below. For the moment, it is sufficient to note that relatively fewer Civil War soldiers had been engaged in outdoor agricultural pursuits. Perhaps an active outdoor 1ife made the complexions of Continental soldiers appear darker than they actually were. Something like that made Indians look dark-skinned to Europeans, but whether it applies here is still a matter of speculation. #3. BIRTHPLACES Information on the birthplaces of colonial and Revolutionary soldiers26. is fairly uncomplicated, although it does show some of the same regional variations over time typical of the information on ages and heights. New England soldiers were overwhelmingly native-born in both the French and Indian War and the Revolution, regularly averaging more than 90% born in America (see Tables 140 for New Hampshire, 142 and 143 for Massachusetts, and 146 through 149 for Connecticut). Most had been born in the colony or state in whose regiments they served. There is some indication that New Hampshire and Massachusetts recruited more foreign-born soldiers as the Revolution wore on, a suggestion that reinforces the idea that men on the bottom of society --the poor, the foreign-born-- progressively bore more of the burden of military service. In one New Hampshire company in 1779, admittedly a small sample, the percentage of foreign-born soldiers rose to 14% (Table 141), In one Massachusetts company at Valley Forge in January 1778, the percentage of foreign-born was 26%, but 1f non-residents (that is, transients and sailors) are added in, the figure rises to 41% (Table 145), A list of men who deserted from the 1st Massachusetts Regiment between January 1777 and May 1782 also shows a high percentage of foreign- born soldiers, although this seems to say more about those who deserted than about those who served (Table 144). States south of New England always had more foreign-born soldiers in the ranks of their regiments. New York's troops ranged from a quarter foreign-born in 1758 to 20% at Valley Forge (Tables 150, 151, and 152). They were actually a cosmopolitan lot by New England standards: as many had been born in neighboring states, principally New Jersey and Connecticut, as overseas, principally in England, Ireland, and Germany. The evidence from one New York company suggests that foreign-born soldiers may have been more inclined to continue in service than their native-born peers; nearly 60% of the re-enlistees in Table 153 had been born overseas, most of then27. in Ireland. Ho colony or state relied as heavily on foreign-born soldiers as Pennsylvania, a fact that reflects the high level of immigration to the colony in the middie of the efghteenth-century. In 1746, 85% of the soldiers in four companies were foreign-born, 51% alone being Scots-Irish (Table 154). Twelve years later, the percentage of foreign-born had dropped to 75% (Table 155), roughly where it stayed during the Revolution (Tables 156 for militia and 159 for Continentals). While there was clearly a great deal of variation throughout the war (see Tables 157, 160, 161, and 162), along with the suggestion that fewer foreign-born were qualified to serve in the more technically ortented artillery companies (Table 158), it is also clear that inmigrant soldiers played the preeminent role in one of the most militartly important states. A Took at evidence from Delaware and Virginia concludes this survey of birthplaces. The samples from Delaware emphasize both the prevalence of Irish-born soldiers and the variations which could occur among relatively small units. Delaware was not quite the melting pot that Pennsylvania was --note the few Germans-- but New Castle was a major port of entry for the Scots-Irish and many of them settled nearby. Because the immigrants were not distributed evenly through the state, companies recruited in different districts could vary widely in the proportion of foreign-born. For instance, a company of the Flying Camp in August 1776 had 20% more foreign-born soldiers than a Continental company at Valley Forge (Tables 163 and 164). The evidence from Virginia shows a great contrast between the birthplaces of soldiers in the French and Indian War and the Revolution. More than two-thirds of the soldiers in Colonel George Washington's company in 1757 were foreign- torn (Table 168). This fact, coupled with the relatively high midspan age of the company, over 26% years (Table 8), suggests that the bulk of militaryaR. service on the frontier was being shouldered by poor, foreign-born, former ‘indentured servants who had no better prospects in tidewater society. This pattern differs radically from the one seen in 1780, In one company 85% of ‘the soldiers had been born in America, 75% in Virginia. Moreoever, 64% were still living in the county in which they had been born (Table 169). (These figures are corroborated by an analysis of the 917 men who were sent to the Southern Army in 1780.)° The pattern resembles New England's, not Pennsylvania's, and shows clearly that there had been no wave of inmigration to Virginia since mid-century; many Revolutionary soldiers were doubtless the American-born sons of inmigrant fathers. Mhile the evidence from the French and Indian War might tempt one to think that a high percentage of native-born soldiers means a popular, broadly based cause, the figures for the Revolution remind us that the troops reflected first and foremost the demographics of the base population. Native birth did not automatically confer a higher degree of attachment to the cause of American liberty. Comparisons with Union volunteers during the Civil War show the impact of nearly a century of immigration, mostly from Ireland (the Catholic south) and Germany. Pennsylvania no longer relied heavily on foreign-born soldiers; indeed, it now had a higher percentage of native-born volunteers than the New England states, 82% to 68%-72% (Table 171). Irish-born soldiers were the highest fraction of the total number of volunteers in New York, New Jersey, and, surprizingly, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Add the German-born volunteers, and the fraction surpasses a quarter in the first two states. By contrast, only 12% of Pennsylvania's volunteers had been born in Germany or Ireland. Foreign-born soldiers continued to have a major role in the military forces of a few key states, and, despite some nativist claims to the contrary, they showed no less devotion to the Union than their native-born peers.29. #4, OCCUPATIONS AND LITERACY Apart from a few men who considered themselves professional soldiers, the men in the ranks of colonial and Revolutionary armies were citizen- soldiers. Almost all of them were engaged in agriculture or in one of the myriad trades that supported an agricultural economy. In the following discussion, the principal distinction will be drawn between farmers and artisans, "Farmer" in this context does not generally mean a man who owned and worked a substantial piece of land --such prosperous landowners were probably very rare in the ranks-- but rather small landholders, day Taborers, and young men without the skills or tools for any occupation other than farm labor. Terms in this category include “farmer,” "husbandman,” "planter* (a southern expression), and "yeoman." Laborers and men who claimed no trade are considered to be agricultural workers, though of course a small, but unknowable, percentage were urban day laborers. "artisan" includes all sorts of trades, some of which provided services essential for an agricultural economy, while others bespoke the growth of a smal] but increasingly sophisticated commerical and manufacturing network. I have grouped the trades that appear in the following tables under general subheadings and list them here as a way of conveying the variety of occupations found in the ranks. There are six manufacturing subheadings, for men who worked in cloth, wood, Teather, metal, stone, and miscellaneous materials, and five service, commercial, and professional categories. Cloth-working britches-maker, clothier, dyer, fuller, hatter, hosier, peruke-maker, satl-maker, shirtwright, silk dyer, silk twister, tailor, weaver, wool-comber Wood-working: blockmaker, cabinet-maker, carpenter, chair-maker, coach-maker, comb- maker, cooper, fiddle-maker, housewright, joiner, millwright, plasterer,20. sawyer, ship-carpenter, ship-Joiner, shipwright, turner, wagon-maker, wheelwright Leather-working: cordwainer/shoemaker, glover, saddler, skin dresser, tanner Metal-working: blacksmith, bloomer, brazier/brass founder, buckle-maker, coppersmith, cutler, forgenan, goldsmith, gunsmith, locksmith, miner, nailer/nail- maker, pewterer, pinmaker, silversmith, tinker, tinner, watchmaker Stone-working: bricklayer, brickmaker, mason, potter Miscellaneous manufacturing: bookbinder, bottle-maker, brushmaker, chandler, collier, glazier, reedmaker, ropemaker, saddletree-maker, soap boiler, staymaker Food preparatio: baker, brewer, butcher, confectioner, distiller, maltster, miller, tobacconist, tobacco-spinner, vintner Commerical: carter, clerk, drummer, hostler, innkeeper, merchant, peddler, shipper, trader, waiter Maritime: fisherman, flatsman, mariner, sailor, seaman Professional: gentleman, lawyer, penman, quack doctor, schoolmaster, surgeon Miscellaneous services: barber, coachman, currier, ditcher, fiddler, gardener, musician, printer The distribution of occupations in the ranks varied widely. The number of agricultural workers in the ranks reached 80% or more in companies from New Hampshire fn 1758, Massachusetts in 1775, Delaware in 1777, and Virginia in 1780 (Tables 172, 176, 196, and 200). But these high levels seem to31. reflect quirks of recruiting more than the actual distribution of occupations in the local adult male population. It seems safer to conclude that up to 75% of the soldiers from predominantly agricultural states like New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia were farm laborers, but that in states with a strong urban center there were more artisans in the ranks, The ratio of farmer-soldiers ranged from 54% to 63% in Massachusetts, from 48% to 61% ‘in New York, and from 36% to 62% in Pennsylvania (Tables 175 and 177 for Massachusetts, 186 and 189 for New York, and 190 and 192 for Pennsylvania). In New York and Pennsylvania at least, the greater number of artisan- soldiers was linked to the higher percentage of foreign-born men in the ranks. Foreign-born soldiers tended to be older and so more likely to profess knowledge of some trade, Most of the more unusual skills were claimed by immigrants; the best example of this fs Colonel George Washington's company in 1757 (Table 199). The narrower range of trades found among New England soldiers was probably due in part to the fact that there were fewer immigrants to that region. It must be understood that the the correlation between foreign birth and artisanal occupation in New York and Pennsylvania is in comparison with other states at the same time. Over time, the number of foreign-born soldiers in the two states was declining and the number of artisan -soldiers was rising (Tables 150, 152, 186, and 189 for New York, and 154, 155, 159, 190, 191, and 192 for Pennsylvania). Three points must be made about the occupations of colonial and Revolutionary soldiers. First, I would always be skeptical of an 18-year-old who claimed to be a shipwright, a joiner, a cabinetmaker, or a practitioner of some equally skilled trade. That a young man would know something about such work fs entirely probable, but it would be at the level of an apprentice or at best a journeyman, not a master craftsman, Indeed, it is not likely that the ranks were filled with highly skilled artisans, however old the men32. might be. Second, a distribution of occupations derived from a list of deserters is not likely to be typical of the troops of a state as a whole. A case in point is found in Table 179, where a third of the deserters from a Massachusetts regiment were sailors. These men had a special reason to desert: they could make more money serving on a privateer than in the Continental Army and had no financial reason to remain in the ranks. Third, when the 2nd Continental Dragoon Regiment was raised in early 1777, only 45% of its troopers were farm boys, the individuals we might expect to have known the most about the care and use of horses. Sone of the troopers’ occupations seemingly had nothing to do with horses: twenty- four described themselves as carpenters, twenty-one as sailors, and even four as hatters. Rather than consider this to be an anomalous or incongruous situation, I would use ft to suggest that occupations were not narrowly defined or mutually exclusive in colonial and Revolutionary Anerica. Men who described their principal occupation as sailor may well have had experience on a farm and with horses. Society was less complex and compartmentalized in the eighteenth-century and occupations were much more flexible than they are today. A comparison with Union soldiers in the Civil War shows how much the occupational profile of American society had changed by the middle of the ninetheenth-century. Of the three principal occupational categorfes, only “agricultural” would have been defined in much the same way as it had been less than ninety years earlier. "Mechanical" included the industrial workers who were analagous to the skilled tradesmen of the efghteenth- century. "Laborers" now encompassed fainly unskilled day-laborers rather than the casual agricultural workers of the Revolutionary period. It seems ‘that the pattern for volunteers (subheading #1 in Table 201) reflects most33. accurately the occupational distribution of the states, an assumption that makes for a most interesting comparison with the recruits, the men who entered service after the first flush of enthusiasm for the war had faded. New Hampshire and Connecticut shifted radically (Massachusetts a bit less so) away from reliance on agricultural workers and toward filling the regiments with laborers. Such a clear, large-scale example of making the poorest and least important segment of society bear more of the burden of war cannot be found in the records of the Revolution. Information on literacy augments the data on occupations. Secause soldiers were required to acknowledge receipt of wages, bounties, clothing, equipment, and billeting money, I have used the ability to sign one's name as the best and most accessible indication of literacy. The evidence is not without its flaws. In the two samples where a soldier received tno or more items (Tables 208 and 215), a man who signed in one place occasionally made his mark in another. Why this should have occurred ts not known. In general, however, the evidence is sufficient to establish broad trends. Literacy declined from north to south. New England soldiers undoubtedly had the highest literacy rate. In New Hampshire, for instance, 80% or more of the soldiers were able to sign their names (Tables 203 through 207). Literacy was not as high among Rhode Island's soldiers, but exactly how low it had fallen is not clear. Two samples offer diametrically opposed information (Tables 208 and 209), demonstrating that a wide range of literacy could be found even in a small, homogeneous state like Rhode Island. The sample from New Jersey is large enough so that one can be confident that literacy had declined to a 50-50 split from New Hampshire's 80-20 breakdown (Table 211). Virginia's soldiers were collectively the least literate, though here too the figures could fluctuate considerably. The Ist State Regiment had a 30-70 split in early 1779, but this improved34, to 40-60 by mid-year as veterans left and new recruits arrived (Table 215). Table 214 gives an interesting insight into the literacy in English of Germans and Scots-Irish in Pennsylvania. While German immigrants might be expected to have an imperfect command of the English language, American birth was no guarantee of fluency in the language. While Irish immigrants did speak English fairly well, most undoubtedly did so in an accented version. To the modern ear, recording that a man "has the brogue on his tongue" sounds like a form of anti-Irish prejudice. #5. PATTERNS OF SERVICE AND POST-WAR MOBILITY The final category of information on the Valley Forge soldiers concerns their patterns of service and post-war mobility. The evidence is drawn from the Pensfon Records and ts organized by date of first service. Tables 216 ‘through 221 summarize information from the pension applications of veterans fron six states. Included are two counties from which soldiers emigrated after the war --Fairfield County, Connecticut, and Amherst County, Virginia-- and two counties on the frontier to which veterans emigrated --Centre County, Pennsylvania, and Maury County, Tennessee. The most interesting observation to be drawn from the Tables is the predominance of men who enlisted for the first time in the three-year army and who did not serve again. The men who wintered at Valley Forge, unlike their officers, were generally not veterans of service in 1775 and 1776. Nor did they generally chose to make military service a career. There were certainly cases of three-year veterans who accepted bounty money to serve again in the Continental Army, but this was not the most common pattern of service. The Tables also offer some additional perspective on the age, marital status, occupation, and literacy of soldiers at Valley Forge. These veterans35. were generally younger than those in the Tables presented earlier, though ‘the samples do maintain the same relative relationship to each other: Connecticut is at the bottom with a midspan age of 20 3/4 years, Virginia in the middle at 21% years, and Pennsylvania at the top with over 224 years. The fact that these men were overwhelmingly bachelors suggests that they were using military service as a way of acquiring a financial stake in ‘in society. That their plans were not successful is the reason why they applied for a pension in the first place, and in that they may not have been typical of the average soldier at Valley Forge. Few applicants clained a trade; most of those whose occupations were unknown were probably agricultural day laborers. An exaggerated sense of the poverty of Continental soldiers is reinforced by the information the applicants offered to prove their need for support. Even allowing for overstatement, it is clear that many veterans were desperately poor, nearly indigent. Their affidavits make affecting reading even today, as when a 76-year-old widower claims he has no estate except the clothing on his back (Table 219, entry #1). But, because veterans who were self-sustaining economically could not apply for a pension, it is impossible to know how life had treated the average Continental soldier. The historian cannot know precisely what these men had been thinking when they enlisted --how they viewed their prospects in life, why they were attracted to military service, what role patriotism and Tove of country played in motivating then-- but I would suggest that, not being professional soldiers, they had been relatively optimistic about the future, if only because they were all young men embarked together on a great adventure. One reason to believe that tomorrow might be better than today was the prospect of western land. The percentage of Valley Forge pensioners who emigrated to new lands after the war probably hovered around 40%, the figure36. in Tables 216 and 220, though it seems to have risen to 60% in Virginia and Rhode Island (Tables 32-2 and 45-2). Men tended to move west in roughly the same latitude as their home state. For instance, Connecticut veterans moved north into Vermont and then stretched west into New York. Virginfans went west into Kentucky and Tennessee, and then southwest into Georgia and Alabama and northwest into Indiana. The wanderlust of some Valley Forge veterans is well illustrated in the sample from Maury County, Tennessee, where the county was only a way-station for six of the eleven men who had wintered together at Valley Forge. Some men were content to return home and live out their lives, even in reduced circumstances, near their birth places, but if a man decided to move he was likely to continue his search beyond the first place he stopped. Pension records provide many personal details unavailable elsewhere, though at an unascertainable cost in typicallity and accuracy. The tenor of the pension applications make it plain that for many the Revoluttonary War had receded into the realm of golden menory. For some it had already become the stuff of legend.37. ENDNOTES: Itnese studies include: John R. Sellers, "The Cormon Soldier in the American Revolution," in Stanley J. Undérdal, ed., Military History of the American Revolution: Proceedings of the Sixth Militar) stor Syppostur USAF Academy (Washington’ D. ¢., 1976); Mark £. Lender "The Socia tructure of the New Jersey Brigade: The Continental Line as an Anerican Standing Army," in Peter Karsten, ed., The Military in America: From the Colonial Era to the Present (New York, 1980, eae Edward C. Papenfuse and Gregory A. Stiverson, “General Snallwood's Recruits: The Peacetime Career of the Revolutionary War Private,” The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, Volume 30, 1973, pp. 117- 132. 2ror a description of the Revolutionary War records held by the National Archives, see Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives (Washington, D. C., 1983), pp. 68-89. Peres rere eee ese SEE 3nn excellent introduction to the problems and opportunities of the Pension Records is John P. Resch, "The Continentals of Peterborough, New Hampshire: Pension Records as a Source for Local History," Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives, Fall 1984, pp. 169-183. 4on the saflors, see Richard Halloran, "At Sea with 'The Stlent Service’ ,” The New York Times Magazine, November 3, 1985, p. 76. Gn the strmens see ir Faves Magazine, Nay 1986) p. 184. Syoseph A. Goldenberg, Eddie D. Nelson, and Rita Y. Fletcher, "Revolutionary Ranks: An Analysis of the Chesterfield Supplement," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 87, April 1979, p, 187. ®See also Theodore J. Crackel, "Revolutionary War Pension Records and Patterns of American Mobility, 1780-1830," Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives, Fall 1984, pp. 155-167.A NOTE ON THIS PROJECT: Demographic information is the foundation for any social history of the Continental Army. But it alone cannot tell the whole story. More needs to be known about the army as a social organism. Such a portrait should include information on some of the other areas mentioned in the original National Park Service proposal for a study about Yalley Forge, areas like the religious life of the soldiers and their relations with the women who followed the army or who lived in the vicinity. A full social history would also advance some Suggestions about the motivation of the soldiers: why did some men stay with a cause which seemed hopeless on more than one occasfon, while others chose to end their active participation and return to the sidelines? Several practical difficulties confront the historian who investigates these issues. Reconstructing the life of a soldier requires countless hours spent in examining local vital, church, court, probate, cemetery, and land records. Even then the rewards are not always great. The more the army relied on men who lived on soctety's margin, the less likely it is that these individuals appear in the local records. At times Tike this, the historian must follow where the records appear most fruitful. Unfortunately for the Valley Forge survey, the sources for 1776 through 1778 are thinner than for - to reconstruct a other years of the war. It is reasonably easy --I hope! portrait of the first troops that went to war, and, because record-keeping in the army became more sophisticated as the war dragged on, the portrait of the army after, say, 1779 ts also fuller, though by no means complete in the ways it reflected or differed from society at large. The outline of what happened during the transitional years of 1776-1778 is clear, and it is apparent that the creation of an army, with the stress and strain of reshuffling of attitudes, expectations, money, leaders, and manpower, is the most interesting phase of the war, as it is in 1861-1862, 1915-1917, and 1939-1941, But the details about 1776-1778 are not yet abundant.Historians have not neglected the field entirely. Robert K. Wright, dr., has written an excellent history of The Continental Army for the United States Army's Center for Military History (1983). It is heavily weighted towards institutional history and the organizational structure of the army, as befits a contribution to the Army Lineage Series. Charles Royster has investigated the rhetorical and intellectual roots of the Continental Army in A Revolutionary. People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775-1783 (Chapel Hi11, NC: 1979). These are two important books (Royster has an entire chapter on the meaning of Valley Forge), but the full social history of the Army has yet to be researched and written. The articles mentioned in the first footnote are a start and stand for the moment as the best published discussion of the matter. The present report is at best a tour d'horizon; the more detailed work is several years away. I owe you a copy. Harold E. SeleskyA NOTE ON THE TABLES: Most of the tables which contain information about the ages and heights of soldiers are cast in the form of stem-and-leaf diagrams. This form has good visual impact and allows the transmission of actual data. Take Table One as an example. The category of information is ages, and the state is Massachusetts. The ages are those of the non-commissioned officers and privates of one company in one of the regiments which served at the capture of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in 1745. The number "1" on the left side of the first line of data is the stem, and the two number "7"s are the leaves, here indicating that two men were seventeen years old. Continuing down the table, the data shows that there were three men at age 1¢, seven at age 19, five at age 20 , five at age 21, eight at age 22 (the modal age), and so on down to one man at age SC, when there are five or more cases of any one age or height, 1 have inserted the total number ("n") at the end of the Tine of data. The total number of cases in the table ("") is recorded at the foot of the actual data; in Table One, N=46. The median age of the soldiers in Table One is 22 years, the average age is 22.78 years, and the midspan age (the average age of the central half of the cases) is 21.58 years. As stated in the text, I carry out the average and midspan ages to two decimal places only for purposes of comparison, Thus, "23.78 years" should be thought of as 23 3/4 years, and "21.58 years" as 21% years. The source of the data in Table One is John J. Currier's History of Newburyport /} 549 and 559 fassachusetts/, pagestate 1 AGES. MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 5th Regiment at Cape Breton, roll dated 2¢ February 1745 17 888 go99909 n=? 2 00000 n=5 M11 nS 22222222 n=8 3 agg 288 8 ceed 5 é 9 aos Seed Ness median = 22 years average = 23.78 years midspan = 21,58 years SOURCE: John J. Currier, History of Newburyport, pp. 549-550rape AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, four companies in 1746 aT. 3a8888 n=6 9999999999999999999999999999 n=28 2 ono00g000000000000000 n=21 LALUD2DVL1111111 1011111111121 1111112121111 253 222222222202222222222222222022 n=30 33333333333333333333333333333333333 n=35 49agaggaggagaagaaaca n=20 SESSSSSS5SSSSS5S5555555555555555 n=32 B6ES666566566666 n=16 TITITITITITITIT 218 agesagesseeseseesseas n=21 99. 3 goo00o9000G00NC09C0NG0G000AND0000000 n=36 LL11111 nse 2222222 n=7 333 44444444444044444 n=17 55555555555 n=12 6666666 n= 7 8 4 — dooco0000000000 n=15 22222 n=S 3 4 55 6 N=397 median = 25 years average = 26.18 years midspan = 24.89 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume 1, pp. 6-14.ras.e 3 AGES. MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates, six regiments in 1756 Nunber median average mode Non-conmiss toned officers 360 25 years 27.8 years 22 years Privates 1734 22 years 25,8 years 18 years TOTAL 2098 26.1 years SOURCE: Fred Anderson, A People's Army, adapted fron Table 22, p. 237TaBe J AGES. NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, part of one company of the Regiment of 1758 10677 8888888 n=) 999 2 2 3 4 6 7 988 304 55 9 400 2 555 5 00 1 4 8 N=37 median average midspan SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, 1/21-22 27 years 30.14 years 27.10 yearstase AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmisstoned officers and privates enlisted at Groton in 1760 1 N=68 666 TITITITTT? n=10 sepsgaaseseseneeee n=18 99999 n=5 000 11111211 n= 2222222 n=7 44 555 6 7 9 o nM 3 5 2 5 median = 19.5 years average = 21.50 years midspan = 19.73 years SOURCE: Three Military Diaries, pp. 118-119TABLE 6 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Hon-conmissioned officers and privates, fourteen companies in 1758 bea) 666666666 n=9 TIVITTTTTTITTIVINITINITT 228 BBABBEBBBABBESCABEASBABLLAEEA n=29 ggqgagggaagaagggaggqqqqgq9900099909 n=35 2 — do0009900900000000G00000000000000000000NGR0NNCN00NNN n=53 1112111121111111211111219111111111121111111111 n=47 2222222202222022222222222222222200222222222222222222222222222220922 neAT 333333333333333333333333333333332233339333333333333 n=51 4444ggagangannaggyaargagyrarggggaaga n=36 SESSSESHSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOSSSSSSSOSSS59555 n=39 666656 66666666666565656566666656 n=32 TITITITITITITITIIITITITITITITITITT 234 SBSBBRBSBARBASSBLEAEAAES n=25 999999999999 n=12 3 cogged0000a000C00G00000eR00C0000000000 n=39 1111111 n=? 222222222222 n=12 333333333333 n=12 44404444 n=8 5555555555 n=10 66666666666666666 n=17 7777 3888, 39999 4 000000000000 n=12 1 22 33 44444 n=5 55 N=638 median = 24 years average = 25.25 years midspan = 24.06 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume I, pp. 118, 127, 133, 142, 145, 148, 153, 158, 162, 172, 186, 190, 194, 197, 228, 234moe AGES NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, thirteen companies in 1758 loo 66666666 TIDTTTVTTTTTVTTITITITIIIIITTITITITTIIVITIITITTIITITTTIIITITT 260 BS888RRESB8RB88B88888888SSS88R8BS8RRSECESRASADRBANPAREABARS, seesseegessegesssgeeesssaesss n=29 geggggogagggagagqggoagaqgaagaggggaqqqgqagqgagqq9999090qN0999 gagagag9999999999999999g9999¢9N999999999aga9qa9a99999q99999 999999999999999 n=134 2 — 2000000000000000000000000090000000000N00C0C0N0000NC00C000000 dond9d00000900000000090N00000000000000000000 n=104 AALDLADDUDLADTDIDAVT TTT 12111 TTT T1211 LUDUADDUELT T1111 1191011111111 1111111111 n=104 22222222222222222222222222222222220222202229222222002222022 22222222222222222222222 n=83 33333333333333333333333332333333333332333333333333333333333 333333 n=66 NANOAIN4AAgAAGgg snagagaaagnagnanagaggggggaangggans n=50 SSSSSSS5SS5555 55555555555 55555555559555555555559555 n=50 S6GEESESREEEEESESEESSESEEBGEEESEESECSEGEGEBGGEGEEGG n=51 TIDTTINTTTITITIIITITITIIITT 228 SBBBLLSBSSEBBSALLPRARALLEBBEBB n=31 gggggagaggagagqgaaagagaqg9 n=26 3 g0d0d00000000099009000C0DAPOROAENADOCADODN00000 n=49 LML1L1111111 n=12 2222222222222202222222222222 n=28 33333333333 n=11 4gg4ggaaagaggg n=14 SBSSSSSSSSSSSSSS5SSSSSS55955 n=27 666666666665666 TIDITITITTTITITIT 217 88888888 n=B 9999999999999999 n=16 4 — gocoosesoc090e00000 11111 n=8 2222222 n=7 333333 n=6 444444 n=6 555555555 n=9 66666 T777777 w 8888888888 n=10 9999TABLE t CONTINUED AGES NEW YORK Non-conmissioned officers and privates, thirteen companies in 1758 5 00000 n=5 w 222 3 48 8B N=1183 median = 23 years average = 25.60 years midspan = 23.24 years SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Collections, 1891, pp. 60-134taste B AGES VIRGINIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of the Regiment, list dated 28 August 1757 1 8 9999 2 00000 unl 222222 333 4gagqaagg 55555555, 666566 7777 8888, 9999 3 co0000 1 222 4 5555 6 4 0000000 Ne8S median = 26 years average = 27.48 years midspan = 26.58 years Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, Volume 4, ae SOURCErate Y AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates from Groton who served in the Lexington Alarm 13 7777 a8 9990 2 go0d000000 n=10 LM1M111 n=8 2222222 n=7 33333. n=5 aqgagaang 5555555 6666666 n=7 T1777 n=5 288 999 3 0000 1 2222 333 44a 55 666 7 888 999 4 000 ul 2222 33 a 5 666 a N=124 median average midspan 26 years 28.48 years 27.26 years SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of Grotonmate 10 MARITAL, STATUS MASSACHUSETTS: Non-commissioned officers and privates from Groton Gceasion of service Number Married Not Married Lexington alarm 116 89 (778) 27 (23%) 1775 Continental 71 46 (65t) 25 (35%) 1776 militia 45 32 (71%) 13° (29%) 1777 Continental 14 4 (29%) 10 (718) 1777 & 1779 militia 13 2 (188) 11 (85%) 1778, 1779, & 1780 Continental 23 8 (388) 15 (65%) 1781 & 1782 Continental v7 4 (24%) 13° (76%) SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of Grotontare If AGES CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates from militia companies in Fairfield who marched on the Lexington Alarm in Apri] 1775 EET. 88 999 2 0 1 22. 3333 4444 5 66 TI777 n=8 88 999 30 lL 2222 agg 66 88 Naas, median average midspan 27 years 26.71 years 26.50 years SOURCE: Records of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, pp. 10-11; and Donald L. Jacobus, History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfieldtaste IZ AGES NEW JERSEY Non-commissfoned officers and privates, Deerfield Militia Company, Cumberland County, list dated 8 August 1775 ey 38888 n=5 999 2 00 22222222 n=B 333333 n=6 44gagag n=7 5 666666 n=6 8888 99 3. 000000 n=6 il 22 44404 n=5 55 6 82888 n=5 4 0000000 n=7 median average midspan 26 years 28.21 years 27.31 years SOURCE: The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Yolume 59, Number 3, September 1984, pp. 12!rate |B AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates from Groton who served on active duty with the militia in 1776 1 4 5 66 7 9 2 000 sear 22. 333 4 5 66 8 9 3 00 2 33 a 5 7 4 00 1 2 9 N=37 median = 24 years average = 26.59 years midspan = 25.21 years SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of Grotontaste IF AGES NEW JERSEY Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Grenadier Company, North MILITIA Battalion, Newark, circa March 1776 13 4 8 2 00 ML 22 6 7 99 3 00 2222 3 444 6 a a4 0 Nee median = 29.5 years average = 28.61 years midspan = 28.36 years Note: Ages for only 28 of 56 men in the company SOURCE: Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, 2nd Serfes, Volume 1, PP:taste 15 PRIOR SERVICE NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates from Temple in 1775 Service: Humber : Lexington Alarn we 13° (23%) Eight Months! Army SOURCE; New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, p. 35taste 16 AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates from Groton who served in the eight months’ army, to December 1775 Tee 4 555 7777777 957 ea8g ne5 9999 2 9000000 n=7 ML 22222, n=S 3 4aqaq n=S 55 566666 n=6 7 9 3 00 1 2222 33 6 7 8 99 Ne77 median = 23 years average = 25.84 years midspan = 23.59 years SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of GrotonTable AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. Ebenezer Bridge's Regiment, 18 June 1775 14 66 777 peness 99999 2 0000 LIM nS 222 333333 5555555 666 7 N=67 median average = 23.53 years 22 years midspan = 22.31 years SOURCE: History of Chelmsford, pp. 255-256toe |B AGES. MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates, two companies of Col. Moses Little's Regiment, mid-May 1775 1 6 7 8888888888 _n=10 999999999999 n=12 2 geonoovc00000000000 n=20 M1111 n=9 22222222200022 n=14 33333. n=5 444844044 n=9 555555 ne6 6666666 n= 7 288 999 3 000 1 22 4 5 6 N13 median = 22 years average = 22.73 years midspan = 21.89 years SOURCE: John J. Currier, History of Newburyport, pp. 546-548, from Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 85, pp. 85, &7TABLE 14 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissoned officers and privates, ten companies of Continentals in 1775 1 885 66 TITITITTTITn=11 BegesegesssseRsessesencesssesessesess n=37 ggggggggggsggagagq9qaggqggasaaq9es99990909000009 =e oooasooco0s00000NCONeoDGDDCODADDAOODOOCODOG0GOD00000000 n=56 SEESEGEEDSSODEDSESEEERESCCEOUSSSUESESEEECECEEDDSSDEOSSSECEOOSCO MEL] 2azz222222222222222222202222200222222222222222z2zz000222 n=54 3333333333333333333333333333333333333 n=37 SAaagaggaqanganaanangagaagagaagagag n=25 SBSSSSSSSS555555555555 n=22 BEEESESEEESEESEEEESSESEGEO6EEOG6 N=32 TITITITITITITTIIITITTT #23 eggageessaeeesss 1-16 999999999999999 n=15 3 ooo0ooee00000000000000000 n=25 M1ia1n=6 22222222 n=8 33333333333 n=11 44qaqqagaaasgg n=14 55555555 n=! 6666666666 777775 ageeeess n=8 9999 4 coo000 n=6 1 22 33 44gg4 n=S 5555 66 7 8 9 5 gooo00cd n=8 1 N=588 median = 23 years average = 25.42 years midspan 3.51 years SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, 1/76-77, 107-117, 159-160, 169, 174-175, 210-213TABLE AGES NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, 3rd Regiment, 1775 1 SOURCE: hez8é median 20 66 7 BBBEBRE88828 n=12 gggeggaagaggggq99 n=17 oodd0000000000000000000000 n=26 UALATTAILIETTATTTT11112111 e385 222222222222202222222222222222222 n=33 333333333333333333333233333333333333 n=26 44aqaaggaaaggaggaaad n=20 SBSSSS5SS55555 666E6666666666, TITITITITIN: 212 888288888 n=? 999999999 =o it 22222 n=5 333 4ag84 n=5 555, 7 8 999999 n=6 0 3 44 55 6 88 9 23 years average = 24.78 years midspan = 23.27 years New_York in the Revolution, 1/166-173mer 21 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, Continental soldiersin 1776, mostly absent and sick in two regiments TG 8888 99999 n=5 2 goooocas0000 n=12 wit 222222222222 33333333333 n 4aa444aagg n=10 585555 n=6 666666 n=6 TIT7IT17 n= gasgaseeseseese n=15 99) 3 gooooeos00000 n=13 qt 0000n#5 Nel41 median average midspan 25 years 26,59 years 25.95 years SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, pp. 282, 291, 307-310me 22 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmisstoned officers and privates, one company of 6th Battalion, list dated 20 March 1776 17 ggegege8 99999 2 go000000000 n=11 112119111111 2222222 ne? 393333333 n=9 44444 n=! 55555555 n-8 6666 7 88 9 2 N79 median = 22 years average = 22.76 years 22.02 years mfdspan SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Yolume II, pp. 221-226mae 23 AGES CONNECTICUT Hon-conmissioned officers and privates, part of one company of 19th Continental Regiment in 1776 ei? 8 oe 22 5 6 9 ee Nell median = 22 years average = 24.91 years midspan = 22.14 years SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, VIII/31tae 24 AGES, DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. Samuel Patterson's Battalion of the Flying Camp, Aucust 1776 1 6 7 888. 999999999 n=9 2 000000 n=6 i 222222 n=6 33 444444 n=6 5555 666666 n=6 7 888 3 000 Ne61 median = 23 years average = 23.51 years midspan = 22.07 years SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 67-68wou 25" AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmisstoned officers and privates, parts of thirteen companies of the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments, 1777 1 85 SE6SEEGESESESBEEGOSSESESHESGGGGGEG n=34 TUTTI TTATTTTTTTT TTT TTT TITTTTTT TIT TTT DIDI T ITT DD ITI TIT I TT T TIT TT agesnaeeaeseeceRsssaagesasssessseesecaaannseaeseceeceaeeseees n: gggegggogqggagggggggqgg99ggggaggaaaggsaaaqqgqgsqg99qgqq9q0000N" 2 — d00000N0000000000000000000D00000C000000000 n=42 AVDDADDUDDTVAD TALL DVTD DTA TTT TTLIALLIIT1111=58 2222222222222220022202222222222222 n=34 33333333333333333333333333 n=26 4aaagaagagaangagag n=18 SEBSSSSS5S555555555555555 n=25 66656666666666666 n=17 TITTTTIITTINITIT 216 aaesaeseasses 9999999999999 3 oog0as000000000G0000000 n=23 1111111 n=7 222222222 n=9 333333333333 n=12 404444 n=6 55555 n=S 6666666666 n=10 177777 6 2288 999999999 n=9 4 000000000 n=9 11211 n=5 22 33, 4a 5555 66. 177 agesseee n=8 5 06 1 2 66 3 N=619 median = 21 years average = 24.24 years midspan = 21.89 years SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, pp. 560, 562, 592, 595, 608, 610, 614, 617, 620, 623, 634, 636, 644rate 26 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, absent from ist and 2nd Regiments, January 1778 1 66666 n=5, TITTTTTTTIITITTTITITINITT 1225, egggeeseaegesssasaacaasesse n=27 gggggsggogggec9 n=15, 2 gooooeec00000000000000000 n=25 11110101111111211_n=17 2222222222222222222200222 n=25 333333333333333333333333 n=24 4agaaqaagag n=11 BESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS N=2 666666666666 n=12 TITTTT1777777 sessseeesese 99 3 Geceoeoo000000000000000 n=23 i 222222 n=6 333 4 585555555 n=9 6666 777777 n=6 8 9 % 00000000 n=8 1 22 3 555 é 8 99 5 000 2 N=328 median = 24 years average = 25.25 years 23.69 years midspan SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/434-445mae 2 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment at VF, list dated May 1778 1 666666 n=6 777 BB888 n=5 999 2 0000 ui 2222 333 4 @ eae wera a Neal median = 20 years average = 22,00 years midspan = 20.33 yearsrape 28-4 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, 3rd Regiment at VF 1. Veterans who remained within New Hampshire 1 5855555 n=7 6666 77717777 29 8888888888 n=10 9999 2 90000000 n=8 i 222 33333 n=5 444 5555 666 7 8888 9 omune N=74 median 20 years average = 21.22 years midspan = 20.16 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835me 28-Z AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, 3rd Regiment at VF 2, Veterans who emigrated to other states 1 666 7 8 2 00 1 22 8 34 51 Ned median = 20 years average = 22.71 years midspan * 19.63 years SOURCE: Pension Roll _of 1235moe 28-3 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, 3rd Regiment at VF 3. Combined total N88 median = 20 years average = 21.45 years midspan = 20.07 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835tae 24-4 AGES CONNECTICUT Non-conmissfoned officers and privates, Ist through 8th Regiments at VF 1. Veterans who remained within Connecticut 1 N=383 median SOURCE: 2 3 449ggagg n=8 55556555 n=8 6E6EEEES6SEEEESEESEEGEEESSEEEEE =31 TITITITIDITITITIIITITIITITITIT: 1230 gagagessseeeseseeeese n=21 99999999999999999999999999999 n=29 ‘cogdooo000900000000000000000000 n=32 LULMIDLI11112121111111111111 =30 2222222222022202222222222222222222 N=34 3333333333333333333333 n=22 44aaagagaaaaageagaagagags n=25 5555555555 n=10 G66E6E666666666666 n=18 TIVITITITTTITITTT 1217 288888 n=6 99999999 n=9 ‘oeoooa0000 1111111 n=8 22222222222 n=11 3333 4 55555 n=5 666 7777 8888 9 10 22 years 22.40 years 21.61 years average midspan yn Rol1_of 1835taste 24-2 AGES CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, Ist through 8th Regiments at VF 2. Veterans who emigrated to other states 1 2 333 4gagaaagga n=10 SSBSSESSESSSSSSSSSSSS5S n=23 66665666666656666666666 n=23 TITTTTTTTTTTTTTITITITITITITITIDTTITITTT 039 BBESSBRBBBESEREBEBBEEBBEEE 1=26 gaagggggggoqqqgg0099 n=20 oooo0000000000 n=14 111210111211111112111111n=24 222222222200222222 n=18 3333333333333 n=13 4444444404 n=10 5555 666666666 n: 77777777 n= 8 9999 0 u 22 33 5555 66 7777 8 000 1 Ne272 median = 19 years average = 20.62 years 19.24 years midspan SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835rae 29«3 AGES CONNECTICUT Non-commissfoned officers and privates, Ist through 8th Regiments at VE 3. Combined total N=655 median = 21 years average = 21.67 years midspan = 20.63 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1:taste 30 AGES CONNECTICUT Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of Sherburn's Additional Continental Regiment in 1777 1 66666656 n=8 TITITTTITIIT 15 88888888888 n=11 999999909 2 c00000 n LLL11111 n=8 2222 33 a4 Ne81 median = 19 years average = 21.75 years midspan = 19.41 years Note: Three soldiers are described as "Indians." SOURCE: DAR Magazine, Volume 94, pp. 26-27rate 3] AGES CONNECTICUT Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment, circa May 1782 Men who joined before VF N31 median = 25 years average = 26.97 years midspan = 25.06 years Note: The ages seem to be circa May 1782. The soldiers would therefore have been roughly five years younger at the start of the Valley Forge encampment period. SOURCE: ConnecticutHistorical Society, Collections, Volume VIII, pp. 102-104mut 32-1 ‘AGES RHODE ISLAND Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Ist and 2nd Regiments at VF 1, Veterans who remained within Rhode Island 144g 555 66. 77777 n=8 8 ge 2 g0009 n=5 ul 2222 33 44 555 66 88 9 3 00 2 3 7 4 00 N46 median = 21.5 years average = 22.61 years midspan = 21.46 years SOURCE: Penston Roll of 1835mae 32-2 AGES RHODE TSLAND Non-commissioned officers and privates, Ist and 2nd Regiments at VF 2, Veterans who emigrated to other states 1 33 44 5555 6666666 n=7 7777777 n=7 88888 n=5 99999999 n=9 2 00000. n= L111 n=7 2222 3333 4044 5 66 77 8 2 00 1 Ne73 median = 20 years average = 20.77 years midspan = 19.84 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1235 73 of 119 = 61%,noe 32-3 AGES RHODE ISLAND Non-commissioned officers and privates, Ist and 2nd Regiments at VF 3. Combined tote? N19 median = 20 years average = 21,48 years midspan = 20.47 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835mu 33 AGES MASSACHUSETTS Continental Army recruits from Plymouth County, 1777-1778 1 4 6666686 6665666 666566666566 66666656655E66656566666566655 n=55 TIDTIITITTTTTIVITITTITITIVITTTITITITIITITINITTT =87 BBOBBBRBSBBBRALBSAEEAABABSSALLELS n=34 9999999999999999999999999999999999999 n=37 ‘o0d000000000G00000NRCoDOCN000000 n=34 ULLAL 111111 111 29 22222222220222222222222222222 ne29 332333333333333333333333 n=24 44gggaagaggagagnggaag n=2t 555555555555555 n=15 E6666 n=6 TIITINIITTTT naz BRB8888888888888 n=16 399999 n=! oooaaeno 11111111 n=9 222222222 n=9 333333333. n=9 44d44 n=5 5555 6666666666 n=10 T1777 15 8888 999 000000 n=6 u 22222 n= 33 444 555555 n= 6666 177 88888 n=S 999 00 N=474 median = 21.5 years SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 27, pp average = 24.43 years midspan = 21.93 years 140-163.tate 34 AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates from Groton who served in the Continental Army for three years from 1777 165 6 7 88 99 2 1 2222 33 4 8 307 9 43 8 N=22 median = 22 years average = 24.45 years midspan = 21.58 years SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of Grotonvu 394A AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and men who re-enlisted for the war in 3rd Regiment, roll dated 25 January 1781 Men who joined before VF 15 66. 7 8 99 2 9000000 n=7 111111111111 ne12 22222222222 n=11 333333 n=6 440044 n=6 555555555 n=9 6666 T7777 95 9898888 999 3 00 senGS 22222 n=! median = 25 years average = 27.65 years midspan = 25.25 years e: The ages seem to be as 0 January 1781. The soldiers would therefore have been roughly three years younger at the start of the Valley Forge encampment. pertod SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 10.me 3S AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates who deserted from 3rd Regiment, list dated 18 August 1782 Men who joined before VF lpcaey: 88 2 00000 n=5 ui 222222 n=6 333333 44444 SEESSSSSS555555 n-15 6666666666 n=10 77777777 n=8 BB8B8ER88288888 n=15 9999999 n=7 3 90000000000 n=11 1 22222 n=5 3333 40844 n=5 5555 66 88 9 4 000 o ean Ne126 median = 26 years average = 28.22 years midspan = 27.41 years Note: The ages seem to be as of 18 August 1782. The soldiers would therefore have been roughly five years younger at the start of the Valley Forge encampment pertod. SOURCE: National Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 36, Frames 19-21TABLE 35 A AGES MASSACHUSETTS Recruits for nine months’ service in the Continental Army, June 1778 1 66666666666666665666656666556566666565566666666666665566656666666 66666666 n=73 TITTTTTTT TTT TTT TTT T TTI T ITT T TTT TTT I TIT II TTT T ITT TTT I TIT 27I TIT TITTTIITITIIVTTTITITIITIITITTII 1777 n= 102 BBSSBBBRSSESBESBSSESEBSRRBESSBEBSBALAAARABABBSELBABEOLEOBOSLERES BBBBSBBSBASRRBBPAEABEALARASAASSSBBSLRBASBARBABLLAS n=115 99ggq999999999999999999999990999999999999999999999999999999909909 99999999999999999990999999999999999999 n=103 oogd9d0009N00c0D00000d0000NCdD000A00000000000000000N0000000N000 dodo9000000900000000000000 n=92 MMT) 2 11 TT 101112101112217111111111111111111111. abposbeesaeoubea2002200020202222220222022022222222222222222222222 2222222222222022229 n=84 93333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333393323333333 3333333333333 n=79 GALAAAAAALERAARAAAGAAAGAAA AAA ALAA AAGGAAALEAAAAAAAALEAGANA 1257 SSS5S55555555555555555555555555555555555555 n=43 66666666665666656566G6555656666666665666 n=40 TIITITTTITIVITITITITIVITITT 27 BRSLARRSOBARBBBBLASALARSSAAALE n=31 9999999999999999999999 n=22 ceagoooooco0900000000000 n=24 31010212111111211111111 n=23 22222222222222222222 n=20 333333333333333 n=15 444n4ggageaagag n=15 5555555555555 n=14 666656666666666666666 n=21 TITITTTT n=8 aBB8888888888 n=13 99999999 n=8 ‘00o000c00000000000000000000 n=26 111111111 n=9 22222222 n: 32333 n=5 aaqaaaagaag 555555555555 6666 77 88888 n=5 99999 n=5 12TABLE 35A CONTINUED AGES MASSACHUSETTS: Recruits for nine months’ service in the Continental Army, June 1778 5 90000000 n=8 i 2 33 aa 555 6 77 88 6 0 N=1244 median = 22 years average = 24.77 years 22.18 years midspan SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rol1s, Volume 28, pp. 133-163, 165-1665mu 36 AGES NEW YORK Non-conmissioned officers and privates, nine companies of 2nd Regiment, who served at VF 1 22 58865555655 n=11 6666606666666 n=14 TIITTT777799777777777_ 221 Bpeeaggeseeeaseass n=12 9999999999 n=10 2 aodooo000c0000 n=14 VMN n=12 2222222222222 n=14 333333333333 n=12 44ggg44 n-7 55555 n=5 66666 n=5 77 2888888 n=7 3 000 1 22 33 555 6 7 888 9 a1 2 333 4 66 8 5 2 6 2 Ne1@8 median = 20 years average = 22.60 years midspan = 20.47 years SOURCE: Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, pp. 343-347 NOTE: Extrapolated from ages on list dated 23 June 1779mor 3 AGES NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, nine companies of 2nd Regiment, who served at VF, by term of enlistment WAR THREE YEARS NINE MONTHS* ace 1 44 1 (585 3 5 6666 4 66. 7 5555555 77777777777 8 66666666 eeaseaaasees 99 777777777 999999 2 00 8888S, 2 000 2 99 111 33 2 co0es000 2222222 7 Mit 333333 oo 222222 444 3333 555 aaa 66 55 ‘a 666 888 7 8888 aay 3 00 3 22 6 3 41 Bad 333 8 5 2 2 6u2 4 2 4 66 N=89 Ne78 Ne19 21 years 21 years 19 years = median 22.62 years 22.00 years 20.68 years = average 20,73 years 20.65 years 18.72 years = midspan TOTAL N=188** median = 20 years average = 22.60 years midspan = 20.47 years Notes: *joined in late spring 1778 “includes two for whom term not statedrae 3B AGES NEW YORK Non-comm{sstoned officers and privates, one company of Ist Regiment, November 1777, veterans who re-enlisted 17 a 99 o in 22 33 444 55 999 Snel Ne eaan (27 median 24 years average = 26.41 years midspan = 24.73 years + 11/390-397 SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Collections, 1mae 39-1 AGES NEW JERSEY Non-commissioned officers and privates, 1st through 4th Regiments at VF 1. Veterans who remained within New Jersey 1 88888888 n=8 999999 n=6 2 000000 n=6 111211111111 22222222 ne8 333333333 on 44gaagesag 5555555 n=7 656666 n=6 TITT7I7777_ n=10 888 99 3 0000000 n=7 111 33333 n=5 4444 55 66 7 8 10 N=130 median = 23 years average = 24.04 years midspan = 23.53 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835mee 34-2 AGES NEW JERSEY Non-commissioned officers and privates, Ist through 4th Regiments at VF 2. Veterans who emigrated to other states eee 444 5555 666666666 n=9 77777 n=5 eg8gee8s n=8 geggogoggecgas n=16 2 gooco000 n=s AL11111_n=7 2ez22z2e2222 n=12 333333 _n=6 444gggaaggaggggg n=16 5555555 n=7 66666666 n=8 777777 0-7 288 999 30 Mil 22 33 a 66 7 88 1 33 5 Nel. median average midspan = 22.46 years years -35 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835mae 39-3 AGES NEW JERSEY Non-commisstoned officers and privates, Ist through 4th Regiments at VF 3. Combined total Ne271 median = 22.5 years average = 23.68 years midspan = 22,98 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1235mae 40-1 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmfssioned officers and privates, Ist through 13th Regiments at YF 1. Veterans who renained within Pennsylvania 1 3333 44 5 66 TIVIIITITITIT n=15 28888888 n=8 99990999 n=8 2 o000000000000000 n=16 1211111111111111 n=16 222222222200222 n=15, 33333333339333 n=14 Aagaagganaaaaagagaggaa n=22 555555555555 5666666566666 n=14 TITIAN n=18 288888888 909999 n=6 3 000000 n: 1111 22222222 n=8 333333 n=6 494g n=5 55 666 7 88 99999 n=S 4 ooco 1 2 4 58 6666 Ne243 median = 24 years average = 25.85 years midspan = 24,68 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835mae 40-2 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissfoned officers and privates, Ist through 13th Regiments at VF 2, Veterans who emigrated to other states SAMPLE 1 22 44 55 6 7171797 n=7 8888888 n=7 9999999 n=7 2 000000 n=6 sont 222222222 n=9 3333 4 555 66 77 ase. 9 300 1 2222 404 5 77 ao. 7 Ne77 median = 22 years average = 22.14 years midspan = 21.72 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835sate 40 -3 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Ist through 13th Regiments at VF 3, Combined total N=320 median = 24 years average = 25.20 years midspan = 23.96 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835TABLE 4) AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, Pennsylvania Line, 1777-1781 1 coor ill 22222222 n=B 3333333 n=7 4gaaqaaggags n=12 555555555555 n=12 G6GSEE566SEEE66GEEECS5EEE56 n=27 TIDDTTTTATTITIVTTITITTITITITIITITIIITTT eA egggagessssesseesenasceeessaces n=31 gggggggggggggggq999gggaggaaga9asagqqgsassaqqg0q9q00009 n=54 2 — geoooveccoceavesnc00cop00GD0CCDODeCCNCODOGOOOCOCOOBONE n=56 ALLULLDDYLLDLT2TDALD EAL LTDAA PULTE DLLLLUI LILLE ELLT1LN11111 n=62 2e2zzz22e22222222222222202222202 2222222 222222Rzzz2202222222 n=58 33333333333333333333339333333333333333339333333333 n=50 aaqagaaqagaagaaggagaagagaagagananggaaggggasagags4agagaggagggad n=6] SSBSSSSSESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOSSSSSSSSHS5 n=47 666666666655666555566656666606666C5006R6CE5666 n=46 TIITTTITTTTVTTTTVIITTTTTITIVITTTITITTTT 1239 BARRRRBBBBRBABBSAREABLAELALE n=29 Bgagaggaggagaaeqqqq9990999999 n=29 3 DOd0000d0000G000000000G000000C0000 n=34 AMMUTAI1 111111111111 n=21 22222222222220222222022 n=23 33333333333333333333333 n=23 4aggagaagagagaagaaa n=19 5555555555555 n=13 6666666666 n=10 7177777 27 9888888 n=7 99999999909 n=11 4 — odoceo000s00000 n=17 iL 222222 n=6 33333 n=5 494 55555 n=5 6666 777777 n=6 8 99999 n=5 5 00 2 3333 5 66 7 amae 4 CONTIRUED AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, Pennsylvania Line, 1777-1781 61 3 6 ane N=922 median = 24 years average = 25.81 years midspan = 24,25 years SOURCE: John B.B. Trussell, Jr., The Pennsylvania Line, pp. 246-247roots 4. AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, substitutes who served for two months in Col. John Boyd's Regiment of Lancaster County MILITIA, September 1777 1777 888288 n=6 9999 2 9c0000 n=6 11011111111 n=11 222222 n=6 3333 440444 n=6 555555 n=6 6 777 8 3 00 2 3 6 7 4 00 4 5 7 5 4 6 N=70 median = 22 years average = 25.19 years midspan = 22.64 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume 7, pp. 658-682nour 43 AGES DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, two companies of Col. David Hall's Continental Regiment, recruited from November 1776 to June 1778 18 66 7777 88688888 99999 n 2 g00000000000000000 n=18 111111 n=6 222222222 n=9 3333 4444 5855555 n=7 6666 777 388 39 3 00 1 22 3 555 6 7 9 40 77 N=98 median = 22 years average = 24.33 years nidspan = 22.50 years Delaware Archives, Yolume I, pp. 244-245, and Volume IIT, pp. 1074-1077rae 44 AGES MARYLAND Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Ist and 2nd Regiment at YF (SAMPLE) ieee 66 77 88888 n=5 9999 2 1111 n=6 222 3333 4 555555 n=6 666 777 8 99 3 00 1 Ne47 median = 22 years average = 22.49 years midspan = 22.40 years SOURCE: Harry W. Newman, Maryland Revolutionary Records NOTE: The value of Newman's work is diminished insofar as he excluded black soldiers and "several native Europeans who had contracted marriages with women not of their race."TABLE 45-1 AGES VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Ist through 15th Regiments at VF 1, Veterans who remained within Virginia 13 aga 5 6 TITT77777_n=9 BBSABBBBBSRB8B8E n=16 999999999999999 n=15 2 goooog90000000 n=14 11112111111111112111_n=20 222222222222222222222222 n=24 333333333333333333 n=18 4aqaaaaaaaaa 55555555 66666666 TITTT7T177 88888888 99999 n=5 3 00 1 2222222 n=? 333 444g n= 5555 66 8 99 43 44 8 N=202 median average midspan 22.5 years 23.98 years 22.82 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1235moe 45-2 AGES VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Ist through 15th Regiment at VF 2, Veterans who emigrated to other states 1 4444404 n=7 55555 n=5 66566666666 n=11 TITTVITTIIDTTTITITTIIIAT: 0225 egagsaesesess n=13 gegoggegogggaggqgqgagoq9 n=24 2 dodecoos0co000000000000000 n=26 MILLMLIIELALIDNTLL 1121224 22222222020220022222002222 n=26 333333333333333333333333 n=24 444g44gagaggggagaagg n=20 SSSSSSSSS5555 n=13 66686666 _n=8 TITITITTTTIITTINITIT 22 BB8EBBBB888E n=12 99999 n=5) 3 000000 n=6 141 22222 ne5 3 44ag 55 66 7 388, 999 N=304 median = 22 years 23.37 years 22.30 years average midspan SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835 304 of 512 = 59%TABLE 45-3 AGES VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Ist through 15th Regiments at VF 3. Combined total Ne512 median = 22 years average = 23.62 years midspan = 22.52 years SOURCE: Pension Roll of 1835ue 46 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, Continental recruits, list dated 28 October 1779 1 66 77 88 999 2 2222 6 77 88 8 30 4 N=23 median = 22 years average = 22.61 years midspan = 22.15 years SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/623masse 4 AGES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, absent from 2nd Regiment, ‘dune 1779 17 8 9 2 a 1 222 3333 44 555 666 88 9 3 00000 n=5 2 3 5 a SHO) 2 N36 median = 25 years average = 26.92 years midspan = 25.56 years SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/626-627mae 48 AGES CORNECTICUT Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of 4th Regiment, cfrea 1780 1 6666666 n=7 7777777 n=7 88888888 n=8 999999999 n=9 2 oco0e0 lL 22 33 a4 5 666 7 8 N87 median average midspan New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 22, pp. 281-282 —°—~C~*~* aoe 19 years 21.30 years 19.48 yearsTABLE 44 AGES CONNECTICUT Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment, circa Nay 1782 Men who joined after VF 1 6666 TTITIT77- n=9 888 99 2 00 11 2222 444 3 000 2 66 N=39 median = 20 years average = 22.77 years midspan = 20.14 years SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, Volume VIII, pp. 102-104ror 49 A AGES MASSACHUSETTS Continental Army recruits from Middlesex County, after 2 December 1780 1 N= 514 median 222 3 44 555 66666656666666665666656666566666665666665666566E5EC666G65656665666 n=66 TIDTTTTTTTTTTTTITITTTITITIIITITTTITITITITITTTTITTTITTTTT 286 QBSSBBBRRBBSBRBEBOBRSBSLLLAABERBAAAABABSEABBBEEBS n=50 999999999999999999999999999 n=27 oooo9000000G0C000000000000000 n=29 11111111111111111111111111 #26 22222222222222220222222222222222222 n=35 33933333333333333 n=17 ARAMA AQAAnagnagagagggad n=24 555555555555555555555 n=21 66666656666666665 n=17 TTT =z agagasegesseesssass n=19 99009 n=5 00000000 n=8 mm 22222222222 n=11 33 444 555555555555 n=12 6666 777 88882 n=5 9 00000000 n= i 22222222 n=8 33 4444 555555 n=6 6666 777 a8. 9 00000 n=5 21 years 23.93 years 21.46 years average midspan Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Yolume 29, pp 1-19.nae 50 AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates from Groton who served in the Continental Army for 9 months in 1778, 9 months in 1779, and 6 months in 1780 combined, age at time of service te 66, 77717 agesaeee n=o 9 2 oooooc0ce LLILL n=6 22 4 55 median = 20 years average = 22.04 years midspan = 19.96 years SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of Grotonuse OL AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commisstoned officers and privates from Groton who enlisted in the Continental Army for three years in 1781 and 1782, age at time of enlistment 1 6666 7777 88 9 2 00 1 2 4 7 median = 20 years average = 21.96 years midspan = 19,58 years SOURCE: Groton During the Revolution; and Vital Records of Grotontoe O1 A AGES MASSACHUSETTS Boston residents who enlisted for six months’ service in the Continental Army, dune 1780 ea 777177 anges ni 2 000000 n=6 T1111 ne 222222222 n=9 33333333 n=8 449444 n=6 555555555 n=9 866668 n=7 7 8888 99999 nes 3 coccococooe n=11 LIL nS 33 4444 555555 n=6 866666666 n=9 7 8 9 4 000000 n=6 a 2 “ 55555 n=5 6 88 9 Saeel 2 4 55 7 6 0 5 N=143. median = 25 years average = 30.80 years midspan = 28.93 years SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 25, p. 196mu Fl B AGES: MASSACHUSETTS, Boston residents who served for three months in the militia, 22 July 1780 165 6 71717 888888 99999 n=5 2 0000000000 n=10 i111 2222222 ne7 333 444444 n=6 555 666665 T1777 025 88888 n=5 99 3 000000000 n=9 222222 33333 nS 4 900000 n=6 444 55 7 2 6 o¢ Nel2l median average midspan 27 years 28.39 years 27.05 years SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 25, pp. 195-206.rae OZ, AGES MASSACHUSETTS Continental Army soldiers who received bounty money from the Suffolk County Muster Master, 26 April to 25 September 1700 1 6666 777777 88888 n=5 99999999 n=B 2 000000 n=6 1111111 n=7 22222222 n=8 33333333 n= 44 55558555 n=8 5 77 BBBEBRE n=7 999 3 0000 202 3333333 n=7 a 55 6 8 9 40 1 5 6 9 5 3 5 N=104 median = 23.5 years average = 25.87 years midspan = 24,21 years SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 40, pp. 239, 242, 243; Volume 41, pp. 10, 16, 41.TABLE 53 AGES MASSACHUSETTS Nlon-conmisstoned officers and privates, eight companies of Ist Regiment, January and February 1781 1 8 777 aggsseees 999999999 n=9 2 — cdooooeeeco0g00000 1111111111111 2222222222222222 nei 33333333333333 n=14 4gqqaagaaa n=10 55555555555 nell 6666 27777 n=5 88888 n=5 99 3 oooooae00000 n=12 1 3 4 55555 n=5 6666 7 Nel6e@ median = 23 years average = 26.14 years midspan = 23.93 years SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Volume 63, pp. 79-86.ate FZ A AGES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates who re-enlisted for the war in 3rd Regiment, roll dated 25 January 1781 Men who joined after VF 15 66. 7777 8888888 n=7 9999 2 2000 ALL1T1111111 net2 2222 333 44984 n=5 6666 7 388 999 3 0000 22. 333 5 666 4 00000 n=5 h=B0 median average = 25.94 years midspan = 24.03 years 23 years SOURCE: Massachusetts Archives, Revolutionary Rolls, Yolume 10tate OF AGES NEW YORK Non-commissfoned officers and privates, 2nd Regiment, June 1779 144 55 66666666666 n=11 TITTITITITITITTT 0216 BRRARARBBBBA n=13 gog9gegg9999990999999 n=21 2 — coosoo0000000000000c0000000 n=27 ILI n=9 22222222222222222 n=17 3333333333333333 n=16 40agagggaaaaagageaga n=20 SBSS5SS5555555 n=13 66666666 n=£ TITTNTT 029 88888888 n=8 999 3 00000000 n=8 222 3 444 55 6 17 88 399 4 000 1 3 4 555 66 88 5 oc N-241 median = 23 years average = 24.98 years midspan = 22.65 years SOURCE: Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, 11/343-347mae ST AGES NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, eight companies of 2nd Regiment, list dated 23 dune 1779 Comparison of ages at VF derived from Pension Record of 1825 with ages at ‘VF derived from descriptive muster rolls in June 1779 Pension different 1 median = 22.5 years average = 22.21 years midspan = 22.33 years TOTAL 2 median average midspan Pension same 1 66 7 228 99 2 000 wa © OBO Need 20.5 years 21.04 years 20.25 years 22 years 22.24 years 21.75 years Pension only 1 6 7 88, 9 2 coo 1 22 3 44 5585 7 3 00 2 3 N24 23.5 years 23.42 years 23.00 yearsmae 56 AGES NEW YORK Non-conmissioned officers and privates, nine companies of 2nd Regiment, Vist dated 23 June 1779 Men who Joined after VF 1 666666 777777 8 3 2 o000000 n=7 1 22 333 ang 5555 66 77 age 9 Ne53 median = 24 years average = 26.36 years midspan = 23.52 years SOURCE: Calendar of Historical Manuscripts. pp. 343-347PENNSYLVANIA, Non-conmissioned officers and privates, recruits for 2nd Regiment, May to June 1778 1 8 2 00 33 median = 28 years average = 28.87 years midspan = 27.75 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume IT, pp. 798-799TABLE 58 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, nine companies of New 11th Regiment, circa duly 1779 1 444 5 6666 T1777777777_ n=11 98888888 n=8 999999 n=6 2 oneocono00000cen000 n=19 VDILIII11111n=17 2222222222222 n=13, 33333333. n=8 gagaaagaqaaaqgaagas 555555 5555555555, 6666666 n=7 27777 5 28888 n=5 99999 n=5 3 0090000000 n=i1 iL 22222 ne5 333, 4444444 n=7 555 666 7 a8 9 4 000000 n=7 i 22222 n=6 4 5555 66 88 9S 5 60 N=220, a median average = 27.73 years midspan = 25.27 years 25 years 4 5 6 0 é SOURCI Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume III, eeeTABLE 54 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 9th Regiment, Vist dated 7 August 1779 165 9 2 000000 ne6 1 333 4 777 8 999 a4 5 6 99 4 00 5 N=28 median = 27 years average = 27.57 years midspan = 26.00 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Serfes, Volume III, pp. 435-436TABLE 60 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 2nd Regiment in 1780 aise 6 7 88 9 2 000 1 222 33 4 555 666 7 88 OH ONE Bo ONHO ne40 median = 26 years average = 21.96 years midspan = 27.18 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume II, pp. &43-844TABLE 6 AGES PENNSYLVANIA Non-commisstoned officers and privates who deserted from 4th Regiment, list dated 6 June 1781 1 6 2 0 22 5555 7 8 99 3 00000 n=5 1 4 0 9 Ne20 median = 28.5 years average = 28.15 years midspan = 27.80 years SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Volume II, pp. 1070-1071noe 6Z AGES DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company, plus recruits, of Col. David Hall's Continental Regiment, circa May 1779 14 88 999 2 00 1 2222 3333 444 5 66 7 88 3 00 22 5 Ce Ne34 median = 23 years average = 24.29 years midspan = 23.28 years SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 352, 562mae 63 AGE ES DELAWARE Non-commissioned officers and privates, substitutes in a NILITIA regiment ‘that served with the Continental Army, July 1780 1 asag 2 co00 in 2 33 44 555 6 7 888 3 000 4 a4 N=29 median = 24 years average = 24.52 years midspan = 23.67 years SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume IT, pp. 658-665mate 64 AGES DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates in the Southern Army, May 1782 ap 8888 999 2 00 11 22222222 n=8 333 44 555555 n=6 66 7 88 SeeeO) 3 55 6 8 4 000000 n=6 Ne50 median average midspan = 24.31 years SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Yolume I, pp. 129-130, 577TABLE 65 AGES VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, four companies of 6th and 10th Regiments in 178C 1 44 5555 66666666 n=8 TITTTIIIITIT7_n=13 ABSBABBRSEBRBBABBERGASEEE n=25 gaaagggggqgggagqgqgggagqgagagagagcagqqgaq—q0Ng n=45 2 goooonss00000000000 n=19 (111101111 n=t1 2222222222222222 n=16 0 3333333333 on 490444408044 n=12 SSSSSSS555555555 n=16 66666 n=5 7777777: n=7 888888 n=6 999 3 00000000 n=B 1 22222 eB 333 a 55 666 7 4 222 Ne232 median = 21 years average = 23.26 years midspan = 21.27 years SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Collections, 1915, 11/594-619nae 66 AGES VIRGINIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, recruits in 1760 917 median = 21 years average = 23.7 years node 18 years Ne SOURCE: Joseph Goldenberg, Eddie Nelson, & Rita Fletcher, "Revolutionary Ranks: An Analysis of the Chesterfield Supplement," The Virginia Vagazine of History and Biography, Volume 87, nuRber 2, Apri) 1270, pp. 12-180, esp. 18TABLE ot AGES and LENGTH OF SERVICE BRITAIN Non-conmissioned officers and privates, six regiments of infantry and cavalry Regiment 8th Foot, 1782 29th Foot, 1782 3ist Foot, 1782 44th Foot, 1782 King's Dragoon Guards 1778 1779 Ist Dragoons 775 1779 Average Age: 36.9 years 27.6 years 29.4 years 26.8 years 28.6 years 26.6 years 28.5 years 27.4 years Average Length ‘of Service 14,7 years -7 years 8.9 years 8.2 years 9 years .7 years 8.5 years 5.9 years 22.2 years 17.9 years 20.5 years 18.6 years 19.7 years 19.9 years 20, 2, years years SOURCE: Sylvia R. Frey, The British Soldier in America: A Social History of Military Life in the Revolutionary Perjod, pp. eeeTABLE 68 AGES PRUSSIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one regiment in 1783, age at recruitment Number Median Average Native born 1025 20.9 years 20.9 years Foreigners 902 24.3 years 25.3 years SOURCE: Willerd R. Fann, "Gn the Infantryman's Age in Eighteenth Century Prussia," Military Affairs, Volume 41, Number 4, pp. 165-169TABLE >] LENGTH OF SERVICE PRUSSIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one regiment in 1783 Number Median fverage Privates Native born 297 11.4 years 11.3 years Foreigners 837 7.0 years 8.9 years Grenadiers 334 17.1 years 15.7 years Musketeers 1400 7.3 years 8.8 years an 1734 5. years 10.2 years Non=« issioned Ores 107 22.0 years 22.7 years SOURCE: Willerd R. Fann, “On the Infantryman's Age in Eighteenth Century Prussia," Military Affairs, Volume 41, Number 4, pp. 165-169TABLE 40 AGES PRUSSIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one regiment in 1783 Number Median Average Privates Native born 946 31,4 years 31.6 years Foretgners 875 33.8 years 24.0 years Grenadiers 324 39,3 years 38.9 years Musketeers 1467 30.9 years 31.4 years a 1821 32.4 years «32.8 years Non Cree 107 44.0 years 44.0 years SOURCE: Willerd R. Fann, "On the Infantryman's Age in Eighteenth Century Prussia," Military Affairs, Volume 41, Number 4, pp. 165-169mae FT] AGES UNITED STATES Recruits for the United States Army, 1812-1815 Number AN] Recruits 4653 Farmers 1561 Laborers 574 Artisans 1498 Seamen 209 Miscellaneous 185 Foreign-Born 588, SOURCE: October 1986, Table VIIT, p Nedian 24.7 22.8 24.6 26.2 26.3 28.2 29.5 624. years years years years years years years Mean 26.8 years 25.1 years 26.6 years 27.9 years 27.6 years 28.8 years 30.5 years C. A, Stagg, "Enlisted Men in the United States Army, 1812-1015: A Preliminary Survey," The William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 42 28tate Ff A AGES CANADA Non-commissioned officers and privates, Canadian Voltigeurs, mid-1213 1 48 median 55 GE6GEE6666E6666C666666 n=22 VITITTTTTIITITITITITINIVITITIITTT 9233 gaggaggssaseReaeassesasessseseRsesececssaeessessess n=51 ggggggaggggsagqqgg99ggqqgaqgqqqq99 n=33 oogoc00co0g00000900 n=20 LALIDU111111 1111111111111 n=30 222222222222222202222202222222 n=30 3333333333233333 n=16 44gaaggaagangaggnsagaaad n=24 55555555565 n=11 6666666666666 n=13 TITTTTTT n=9 BegsBBBRBERE n=12 999999 n=6 ooocoo0000Gc0000Ce00C0000000 n=29 1111111111 n=10 222222222222222 n=15 3333333333 n=10 4444444aage n=11 5555555555555555555555555555555 6666666666666 n=13 777 88888 n=5 9 00 1 2 44 5 3 = 22 years average = 24.76 years midspan = 23.28 years SOURCE: The Militia of the Battle of the Chateauguay: A Social History, p. 25mee FZ AGES UNITED STATES Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Volunteers, 1861-1865 Age Number Age Number 13 17 32 21967 4 330 33 17979 6 773 34 15740 16 2758 35 18980 v 6425 36 14057 18 133475 (13.28) 37 11820 19 90215 38 13346 20 71088 38 9596 a1 97136 40 13995 22 73391 a 7438 23 €2717 42 10929 28 52095 43 10340 25 46626 44 16070 26 40243 45 7012 27 24286 46 267 28 35912 v7 72 2a 24813 48 699 30 22360 43 468 31 17954 50+ 2366 N=1012273 Of 996647 non-conmissioned officers and privates between 18 and 46: average age at last birthday 25.325 years officers = 29.89 years average age at enlistment 25.208 years median age 23.477 years officers = 29.94 years age 18 13.27% under age 21 29.52% under age 25 58.24%, under age 30 76.57%, SOURCE: U.S. Sanitary Commission Memoirs, “Anthropological Statistics," pp, 34, 35+ 58uae FB AGES UNITED STATES Non-conmisstoned officers and privates, Volunteers, Recruits, and Re-enlistees Average age at last birthday Average age at date Median age Under 20 at last birthday Under 25 at last birthday Under 30 at last birthday 1861-1865 duly 1862 25.10 25.59 23.96 19.76% 59.16%, 78.06% duly 1863 25.76 26.25 24.76 14,308 54.58% 75.34% duly 1864 26.06 26.55 25.11 13.06% 52.328 74.18% duly 1865 26.32 26.80 25.49 2.368 50.00% 72.51% SOURCE: U.S. Sanitary Commission Memoirs, “Anthropological Statistics," p. 88rete F4 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, absent and sick in Col. Enoch Poor's Continental Regiment, January to July 1776 1, Height 5 000 11 333 555 666 777 Bag 999 10 10 iL 6 000000 n6 Ne76 median = § feet, 7.5 inches average = 5 feet, 7.00 inches midspan = § feet, 7.37 inches SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, pp. 307-310a PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, absent from Ist and 2nd Regiments, January 1778 1. Height 48 5 000 1 22 444444404484 4ne12 5555555555555555 555 5 n=20 SCEEEEEEEEEESECEESEEGEEECEEEEES 66656666666 6 6 ned3 Pa Tee radar Targeted met anal anette DUITTIIAVAATITIT777 777777 ne8e BRSRGRRRRBRARRERRELESEEREEBELE BRR RLSSERALER ESSER ERRELERE 888888 8 8 n=67 999999999999999999999999999999 9999 9 n=35 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=39 MAL AL AL UD UL AL 2D 22 11 11.11 11 12 11 11 1 nel7 6 0000000000000000000006000000000 neil 11 2 N=322 median = 5 feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, 7.99 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.98 inches SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/424~445ae $6 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, absent from 2nd Reginent, June 1779 1. Height 5 222 4 5 666 777 88888888 n=B 9999 10 1010 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=10 111 6 2 N=36 median = 5 feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, 8.05 inches 5 feet, 8.56 inches midspan SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, I1/626-627nor FF PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. Ebenezer Bridge's Regiment, 18 June 1775 1, Height 5 666666666 nel? waa 6 8 9 wonno 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=10 6 DOHCODDDEDDOGDDODOOOCHOOD mes 1 N87 median = § feet, 10 inches average = § feet, 9.58 inches midspan = § feet, 10.38 inches SOURCE: History of Chelmsford, pp. 255-256mat FB PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates, 9th, 12th, and 14th Regiments at VF, who enlisted for three years or the war 1, Height 5 6 00 N=83 median = 5 feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, 7.70 inches 5 feet, 7.74 inches midspan SOURCE: Massachusetts Soldiers and SailorsTABLE 4 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates who deserted from the 3rd Regiment from 1777 through August 1782 Men who joined before VF 1. Height Seat 444444 555555 666666 2 1eTeTaTa? 888888 999999 10 10 10 10 nui 6 aoo0000 N=126 median = 5 feet, & inches average = 5 feet, 7.61 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.89 inches SOURCE:National Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 36, Frames 19-21ree BO PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates who deserted from 3rd Regiment from 1777 through August 1782 Men who joined after VF 1, Height 5 N=32 median = 5 feet, 7 inches average = 5 feet, 6.97 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.00 inches SOURCE: National Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 2S, Frames 19-21tate Ol PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates who deserted from Ist Regiment from January 1777 to May 1782 1. Height pase 2 3 4 5 nd 6 666666 n15 7 777777 wel5 8 ne3 9 8 10 10 10 10 10 n=9 ASAT 6 00 N=80 median = § feet, 7 inches average = 5 feet, 6.91 inches midspan = 5 feet, 6.90 inches SOURCE: National Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 35, Frames 74-76rae BZ PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CONNECTICUT Non-conmissioned officers and privates, part of one company of 19th Continental Regiment in 1776 1, Height 5 35 4 6 bbs Te Bes Bas 1010 Ne13 median = 5 feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, 7.46 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.71 inches SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, VIII/31tae 8D PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment in 1782 Men who joined before VF 1. Height 5 25 3 4 OMe 555 5h 66 77 TaDSDs aB8 9 Be, 30 10 10 10 105, 11111 Wy Neg median average midspan 5 feet, 7% inches 5 feet, 7.5€ inches 5 feet, 7.71 inches SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Socfety, Collections, Volume VIII. pp. 102-104 aaaTABLE 84 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DRAGOONS (principally CONNECTICUT) Non-conmissioned officers and troopers, six troops, plus recruits, of ‘2nd Continental Dragoons Nen who joined before VF 1. Height 5 333 4444465 55555555555555555 nel7 SHBtS LDH 6E66C6EEEEESEFESEESE EE 6566566 6G n=3 BGG TTVIITTTIITIIITITAVVITITFIIV ITI 1230 DeP SPD DePGT55 n=7_ BEERERKKISERBRRERESHEERSELESE BEBEBEBABSSERERRHEABAEEEERES BBB n=60 Hfiteiteetetiaruin + 999999999999999999999999999999999 ne33 Bs 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=37 101111 11 11 11 11 ne7 6 0 Nis247 median = 6 feet, 8 inches average = § feet, 7.77 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.89 inches Note: "+" equals three-quarters of an inch SOURCE: Connecticut Men in the Revolution, pp, 273-283TABLE ax PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment in 1782 Men who joined after VF 1, Height 5 2 3 BB 4 BBA A MS n=5 5555555 n7 66 Os 777 PDP S 88 9999 105 a 1s 6 00 N=37 median = 5 feet, 6 inches average = 5 feet, 6.61 inches midspan = 5 feet, 6.18 inches SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, Yolume VIII, pp. 102-108tate 86 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DRAGOONS (principally CONNECTICUT) Non-commissfoned officers and troopers, six troops, plus recruits, of 2nd Continental Dragoons Men who joined after VF 1. Height 4 10 5 00 55555555 ne23 5 66666666666566 6666 nao 7 oO V7777777777 2 See Boer neal ants ca oe oe © ea ww wo a ee - Bs 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=29 105 WWMM WWM wad 6 g00000 n=6 1 N=302 median = § feet, & inches average = 5 feet, 7.56 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.54 inches SOURCE: Connecticut Men in the Revolution, pp. 273-282TABLE at PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, five companies in 1758 1. Height 49 wi 5 9000 1 2»; 22222222222 nli Ble 33333333333333 n=14 Bade BASES GEGAAA AEA EA AAAA EAE 44446 na34 PebteMeMs DMs nab 5555555555555555555555555555 nae SBDSSE SHS: 5 6ECEEEEFESEEEFBEEEEEEEESESCEEES 6666666666666 666666 nang GGG LOLOLELGs n=8 TUITITVIATIIITIITVIIFIIII7777 777 TOD2TIV7777T7TTITITTVIIVI7I7 nes DD gD DTaP aT DT DGTP D DD ag = 17 BRRSHRRESSSSSERRBBLHKARRESEBREDE BESSESSBREERRGESHLBLKESSRHBEBE BBESBEBERSAREEES n=75 BHMGGLO LCG OOS n=16 999999999999999999999999999999 999999999999 n=d2 Bz: 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=26 101010510101, n=5 M1 M1 11-11-1111 1111 21 12 1211 n=l2 ipapald ls 000000000090 nel? LLDL2 nes Dy 2 N=444 median = 5 feet, 7 inches SOURCE: 5 feet, 7.10 inches 5 feet, 7.27 inches average midspan New York Historical Society, Collections, 1891, pp. 60-134rue 88 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, 3rd Regiment, 1775 1, Height See 333 By 4444444444444 ned BBB AM, eS Bae eee eae a ‘SHSYSLSYS NaS 6€66666666666666666 n=l8 GLO6's BE a ee ag CCC EL gegen PEP DD SPT TT's n=9 BSEEEBEEBEBBSRBBERABRRBEERREBEBEE sssseseee n=40 BPPLLDBSs n 9999999999 DsAWyBsHONs n=7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 1010 10 10 n=24 10851 0851 O's! 0351 0351 031073101,103; n=10 UAL 12 YY UP 12 12 12 12:12:12: 2. 1. 1 10 2 dt 1h 1111 11 n=23 WAAL, n=5 6 00000000000000000000 n=20 999999999999939 n=25 es T11E1 nes Delis ize) Bs a3 44 Ne225 median = 5 feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, &.58 inches midspan = 5 feet, 8.46 inches SOURCE: New York in the Revolution, 1/166-173 ne30TABLE 84 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of ist Regiment, November 1777, veterans who re-enlisted W=27 median = § feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, 7.15 inches midspan = § feet, 7.32 inches Note: "+" equals three-quarters of an inch SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Collections, 1915, 11/290-397taste 90 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW JERSEY Non-commissioned officers and privates, Deerfield Militia Company, Cumberland County, list dated 8 August 1778 1, Height 5 0 5 666666666 n=9 Bibs T7T7I7TIFITITFI7ITTT nels BPMs 888888 SEE nao BB 992999 n= Pe 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=18 1 6 0 Ne76 median = 5 feet, 8 inches average = 5 feet, 8.04 inches midspan = 5 feet, 8.00 inchesmaz 41 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, eight companies in 1753 1. Hefght 48 10 nM pea 11 222 Braised iseaeardidisiaiaracsrs:3:aiaigrdiaea s-d:aeasgidedia 33333333333 n=l HTB, 0-6 343+ 444444444444444404444444444448 AGAGEAEAEAEG AD noth Mele SS5555555555555555555555555555 5555555555555555555555 masz SHEL SSUES n=6 BECEE SEE SESEEEESEEEFEESEESSEES 66 5EEEFEEEEEEESESEEEEGESEEEEES 564565 TITTITTIIIVITITITITIITIVIIIIVIT DOVTTTTITTIVIIIIAT wea? 1s BeSBSESSERLLGASSRERERERESELELE BBBHEBRELSSESEEEBB neds BBs 8 99999999999999999999999999999 ne29 Be 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 1¢ 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=3C 111211 12:11 11.11 1111 no € 0000000 nv N=404 median = 5 feet, 6 inches average = 5 feet, 6.33 inches midspan = 5 feet, 6.23 inches SOURCE: Pennsylvania, Archives, Sth Serfes, Volune I, pp. 133, 145, 153, > Tez, 172, 197, 234TABLE q2. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Pennsylvania Line, 1777-1781 1, Height 4% 4 7 3 10 st 5 oco liq. 1s 22222222222222 neld 22s 33333233333332333333 n20 BeBhgBly SAGES TALES EEA AAA AEE 4 4A OG eR? Qh; BSSS5S5555555555555555555 5 § na? SBEBB CEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESEEEESEEEESBES 65666666666 6 6 43 E5161 BIOS EH GH =9 Teaaiare7 777 DVVITTITIIIIATT ne2d a a a8 esessssggsaas Byes 9999 10 10 10 10 10 20 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=12 T1111 11 11 11 12 21 nee 6 oo median = 5 feet, 6 inches average = § feet, 5.83 inches midspan = 5 feet, 6.01 inches ennsylvania Line, SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, as summarized in Trussell, p28TABLE 93 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, substitutes who served for two months in Col. John Boyd's Regiment of Lancaster County MILITIA, September 1777 1. Height Bae 33 4444 555585 5ne7 666666666 6nel0 T7777 7 n6 BBE88B8888R888 88 A nal7 999999 9n=7 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 nit 6 0000 1 ne70 median = 5 feet, 8 inches 5 average = 5 feet, 7.61 inches midspan = § feet, 7.61 inches SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Yolume 7, pp. 658-682TABLE 94 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, recruits for 2nd Regiment, May to dune 1778 Nel6 median = 5 feet, 7% inches average = 5 feet, 7.56 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.50 inches SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume II, pp. 798-799TABLE IF PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Kon-conmissioned officers and privates, nine companies of New llth Regiment, cirea July 1779 1, Height 45 7 8 u 5 000 lilt 222222222 Bs gus gesiaiseataie Bs 3+ 444440444 % SES555555 BS 5+ 666666666 TIT777777 Pade eeesaaaas Bs gs9og9gg08 % Me 10 10 10 10 10 10 ulin 6 00 2 Ne215 median = & average = 5 midspan = & 2 n=10 333333 n=20 333 n=26 4444aaaa 555555 a4 55 44gaaaa 5 ne22 66 77 a8 66666665666 ne 777 ne25 aeees ned feet, 6 inches feet, 5.78 inches feet, 5.21 inches SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume III, PP 8 Note: "+" equals three quarters of an inchTABLE 46 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of 2nd Regiment in 1780 1. Height 4% 10 5 1 2222 2 3 4 Bs 555 666666 ne? GG16L 4B Osb', n=? 7 Teg 88868 no Bs 101010 ni N=40 median = 5 feet, 6% inches average = 5 feet, §.56 inches midspan = § feet, 6.15 inches SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Serfes, Volume IT, pp. 243-244moe OF PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE, Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. Samuel Patterson's Battalion of the Flying Camp, August 1776 1. Height 5 15 % 444 Be Bs 555555 n=6 By 54545+ 666 TATSTAT# 88888 ns BBB, Big THM, PDs 10 Io 10+ ily 6 lk 1+ Note: “#" equals three-quarters of an inch hee2, median = 5 feet, 7% inches average = 5 feet, 7.32 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.24 inches SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 67-68TABLE 6 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of Col David Hall's Continental Regiment, November 1776 to May 1777 1, Height 4 Bs 5 OR ? 2 24 3 3s, 343434 4 Me cS 56S BBB Bibl cs 666 6 88 99 10 i 1D Note: "+" equals three-quarters of an inch Ne33 median = 5 feet, 5% inches average = § feet, 5.04 inches midspan = 5 feet, 5.07 inches SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 244-245TABLE 99 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE, Non=commissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. David Hall's Continental Fegiment, recruited January 1777 to June 1778 1. Height 42 52 4 555 66666666666 n=l Cabs T7TTTIIITII77 nal Ms 7+ 288888888ee n=l oy 999999 n6 DBs 10 10 10 ul 6 0 N=58 median = 5 feet, 7 inches average = & feet, 7.10 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.27 inches Note: "+" equals three-quarters of an inch SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Yolume III, pp. 1074-1077TABLE 100 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company, plus recruits, of Col. David Hall's Continental Regiment, circa May 1779 1. Height 4 105 53 4 5555555 ne? 5+ 666666 6 rs PDs 8888 9999 9494 10 10% ni N=34 median = 5 feet, 6.62 inches average = 5 feet, 6.89 inches midspan = § feet, 6.89 inches SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 362, 562TABLE lo] PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-commisstoned officers and privates, substitutes in a MILITIA regiment ‘that served with the Continental Army, duly 1780 1, Height 5 4 66666666666 nell 7777 8888888 n7 9999 10 10 Ne2g median = 5 feet, 7 inches average = 5 feet, 7.24 inches midspan = 5 feet, 7.07 inches SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Yolume II, pp. 658-665mee [OZ PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates in the Southern Army, May 1782 1. Hetght 5 333 44444 ne 55555 ne5 66666566 n=B 777777777 nell 888888888 neo 9999 10 10 ul 6 0 Ne49 median = 5 feet, 7 inches average = 5 feet, 6.73 inches midspan = 5 feet, 6.80 inches SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 129-130, 577mee 103 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of the Regiment, list dated 28 August 1757 1, Het ght 5 yecegeres 4 ga MEO ~Oo Seo 777 ne? Ts, PPP Ds 7+ 88888 8 n=5 BB, 99999999 ma % uw 10: ace Litll+ N85 median average midspan SOURCE: Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, Volume 4, pp. 289-381 5 feet, 6 inches 5 feet, 6.33 inches 5 feet, 7.16 inchestase 104 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, two conpanies of Sth Regiment n 1780 1, Height 5 2 2 333 4 ls Bs, 55 BiB SUSE DSI, 545454 6665666 nT B65 :G0,646; n°5 646464 7777777777777 nal3 Dad PPDDDD DP 07 T+7474747+ “n=5 BBEBRRREBEAS nal? 8 BBE Bs Bt 999959999 nso BBs oF 1910 10 10 10 10 1010 n= 104; 1o+ Mi it ye MALBADALs 6 00 4 11 Ke118 median = § feet, 7% inches average = 5 feet, 7.73 inches 5 feet, 7.62 inches midspan Note: "#" equals three-quarters of an inch SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Collection, 1915, 11/594-619tae 105" PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS BRITAIN Non-commissioned officers and privates, six regiments of infantry and cavalry 1, Height 8th Foot, 1782 5 feet, & inches ei 29th Foot, 1782 5 feet, 7 inches a 31st Foot, 1782 5 feet, 7 inches 4 44th Foot, 1782 5 feet, 7% inches ei King's Dragoon Guards, 1775 5 feet, 9: inches 5 1st Dragoons, 1775 5 feet, 9 inches 3 SOURCE: Sylvia R. Frey, The British Soldier in America: A Social Histor) of Military Life in the Revolutionary Period, pp. 23-25TABLE 106 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CANADA, Non-conmisstoned officers and privates, Canadian Yoltigeurs, mid 1213 1. Height 5 00 qt N=442 median SOURCE: 222222222 n=9 333333993233333333333323333333333333333333333333333333333333 3333333333333333333333333333393333333333333293333 n=109 4OAMAAAA AMARA AAAAASAAAAALAG AA AAG AAGAAAAASLAAAAAGA AAA SAA 4gagagaagaggaas n=75 BESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOSS 5555555 n=68 GEES SESEESEESEBEEEOSEEEEOOESEEESESESEEEGEEEGEES n=47 TUTIITTITITTTTIVTTITITTTIITITIIIVITTTIIIITITITIT 988 BESLERBEBSEBBRREBARRBRSAEEREEBSEE =33 gegggg9geg999999999999 n=22 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 n=12 WL UL 1211 11 ones 000 qin 22 5 feet, 5 inches average = 5 feet, 5.29 inches midspan = 5 feet, 4.91 inches The Militia of the Battle of the Chateauguay: A Social History, p. 26oe [OF PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS UNITED STATES Non-commissfoned officers and privates, 1861-1865 1. Height By State of Enlistment 1. Volunteers state number, average height New Hampshire 5330 5 feet, 7.934 inches Massachusetts 7992 5 feet, 7.412 inches Rhode Island & connecticut 9261 5 feet, 7.426 inches New York 4aeis. 5 feet, 7,421 inches New Jersey 4149 5 feet, 6.840 inches Pennsylvania 18595 5 feet, 7.601 inches TOTAL 29545 5 feet, 7,439 inches SOURCE: U.S, Sanitary Commission Memoirs, "Anthropolosical Statistics," p. 125TABLE 108 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS UNITED STATES Non-conmissioned officers and privates, 1861-1865 1. Height By Birthplaces 1, Volunteers region number average height New England 33783 5 feet, 8.319 inches New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania 61351 5 feet, 8.109 inches Canada 6667 5 feet, 7.551 inches England £899 5 feet, 6.993 inches Scotland 3478 5 feet, 7.579 inches Treland 24149 5 feet, 7.138 inches France, Belgium, . : Preieal ceervaon 3759 5 feet, 6.697 inches Germany 32559 5 feet, 6.739 inches Scandinavia 3790 5 feet, 7.461 inches Spain 4421 5 feet, 6.766 inches TOTAL 182856 5 feet, 7.335 inches SOURCE: U.S. Sanitary Commission Memoirs, "Anthropological Statistics," p. 125TABLE I 09 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, sick in Col. Enoch Poor's Continental Regiment, January to duly 1776 2. Color of Complexion not reported 3. Color of Hair dark 9 (38%) Vight 8 black 5 brown 1 sandy 1 Ne24 4, Color of Eyes black 8 (338) Vight 7 dark 5 blue 4 N=24 SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, 1/309-310TABLE (10 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, absent from Ist and 2nd Regiments, January 1778 2. Color of Complexion Tight 173 (538) dark 132 (40x) black 12 fair 5 freckled 2 sandy 2 pale 1 Indian 1 N=328 3. Color of Hair Vight 126 ce dark 35 (298) black 50 brown 34 red 6 grey 5 sandy 5 fair 4 woo? 2 flaxen 1 N=328 4. Color of Eyes light 86 (268) blue 81 (25%) black 60 (184) dark 53 grey al brown 2 yellow 2 white 1 hazel 1 N=327 SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/434-445taste | | } PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, absent from 2nd Regiment, dune 1779 2. Color of Complexion dark 19 (53%) Vight 17 (474) N=36 3. Color of Hair light 16 (44%) dark 14 (39) black 4 grey 1 red 1 N=36 4. Color of Eyes not reported SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/626~627TABLE WZ PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissfoned officers and privates, one company of Col. Ebenezer Bridge's Regiment, 15 June 1775 2. Color of Complexion light 3 (gen dark at (37x) fresh 4 negro 1 N=57 3. Color of Hair not reported 4. Color of Eyes not reported SOURCE: History of Chelmsford, pp. 255-256veut | 13 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS, Non-commissioned officers and privates, Sth, 12th, and 14th Regiments at VF, who enlisted for three years or the war 2. Color of Complexion Light 34 (438) dark 29° (378 Black 7 dark/Tight 6 ruddy a fresh 1 Vight/freckled = 1 Ne79 3. Color of Hair dark 14 (25%) brown 14 (25%) Vight 10 black 7 dark/brown 4 dark/light/brown 2 sandy 2 dark/black/brown 1 red a woo! (negro) 1 N56 4. Color of Eyes black 2 grey 2 dark 1 blue 1 SOURCE: Massachusetts Soldiers and SailorsTABLE | 14 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates who deserted from the 3rd Regiment from 1777 through August 1782 Men who joined before VF 2. Color of Complexion dark 61 (48%) Tight 59 (47) black 4 nolato 1 sandy 1 R=126 3. Color of Hair dark 51 (40%) Tight 39 (312) black 7 brown i sandy 6 red 4 Ne126 4. Color of Eyes dark a7 grey 30 Tight 25 blue 13 black 10 brown 1 N=126 : National Archives microfilm, 246, Reel 26, Frames 19-21TABLE 1s PHYSICAL DESCRIPTEONS MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmisstoned officers and privates who deserted from 2rd Regiment from 1777 through August 1782 Men who joined after VF 2. Color of Complexion dark 17 (53%) Tight uu sendy 1 N32 3. Color of Hair dark Vight brown black sandy (478) 4. Color of Eyes dark 12° (38%) grey 9 Tight 4 blue 4 black 3 Ne32 SOURCE: National Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 36, Frames 19-21mae | 16 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates who deserted from Ist Regiment from January 1777 to May 1782 2. Color of Complexion dark 48 (558) Light 27 (428) black 2 brown a n=, 3. Color of Hair dark 38 (448, light 29° (338: black n brown 5 sandy 2 red 2 N=87 SOURCE: National Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 35, Frames 74-76TABLE Ut PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment in 1782 Men who joined before VF 2. Color of Complexion light 14 (45%) dark io black 3 copper 2 fair 1 red 1 31 3. Color of Hair brown 14 (458) black 10 dark 4 light 3 Ne31 4. Color of Eyes dark 11 (358) light 8 black 6 grey 5 blue 1 N=31 SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, Volume VIIT, pp. 102-104TABLE 18 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DRAGOONS (principally CONNECTICUT) Non-commissioned officers and troopers, six troops, plus recruits of 2nd Continental Cragoons Men who joined before VF 2. Color of Complexion dark 117 (488) light 112 (46%) fair 7 brown 4 sandy 1 red 1 242 3. Color of Hair dark 87 (362) Vight 67 (278) brown 44 black 27 sandy Ih red 8 white 1 e245 4. Color of Eyes dark a1 (338) Tight 74 (30%) grey 58 black 19 blue 9 brown 4 N=24s SOURCE: Connecticut Men in the Revolution, pp. 273-263mate I q PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment in 1782 Men who joined after VF 2. Color of Complexion light 20 (51%) dark is black 1 N=39 3. Color of Hatr brown 19 (498) dark 12 black 4 Tight 3 red i N=39 4, Color of Eyes light 22 (56%) dark 11 grey 3 black 3 N=39 SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, Volume VIIT, pp. 102-104taste 120 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DRAGOONS (principally CONNECTICUT) Non-commissioned officers and troopers, six troops, plus recruits, of 2nd Continental Dragoons Men who joined after VF 2. Color of Complexion dark 159° (528) Vight 133 (432) fair 12 bron 1 grey 1 red) 1 3. Color of Hair dark 80 (388) Tight 77 (318 brown 65 sandy 10 black 7 red 3 white 1 ne282 Color of Eyes dark 92 (378) light 74 (298) grey 58 blue 18 black 6 brown 3 sandy 2 Ne251 SOURCE: Connecticut Men in the Revolution, pp, 273-283rast 12 l PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NeW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, four companies in 1758 2, Color of Complexion fair 123 (378) brown 108 (332) dark 43 Indian 18 ruddy 8 yellow 8 black/negro 7 sandy 6 mustee/molato 5 light/pate 1 pale 1 K=328 3. Color of Hair not recorded 4. Color of Eyes not recorded SOURCE: New York Historical Soctety, Collections, 1891, pp. 60-134roe 122. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEN YORK Non-commissfoned officers and privates, 3rd Regiment, 1775 2. Color of Complexion fair Isl (70%) brown 53 sandy 5 fresh 2 pale 2 dark 1 red 1 black 3 N=216 Conments on Complexion pockmarked 16 scars 12 smooth face 4 freckles, 1 hair lip 1 3. Color of Hair brown 162 (56% black 76 fair 18 red 12 Tight 2 sandy 5 grey 2 4. Color of Eyes blue tee (49%) brown 58 grey 36 black 14 dark 2 Ne216 SOURCE: New York in the Revolution, 1/166-173noe 123 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS NEW YORK Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of Ist Regiment, November 1777, veterans who re-enlisted 2. Color of Complexion fair 17 (63%) brown 5 red/sandy 1 dark 1 pockmarked 3 N=27 3. Color of Hatr brown 18 (67%) black 5 fair 3 sandy 1 N=27 4, Color of Eyes greyish 14 (522) Brown 8 grey 3 blue 1 ne27 SOURCE: New York Historical Soctety, Collections, 1915, 11/390-397TABLE 124 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, seven companies in 1758 2. Color of Complexion red 29° (18%) dark 20 {ues brown 24 (15%, swarthy 20 fresh 18 fair 12 freckled it sandy 9 pale e black 2 N=162 Comments on Face thin 49 full 29 pockmarked 26 smooth 26 scarred 18 round 13 ong 10 short 8 bearded 7 Color of Hair black 59 (39%) brown 56 (362) dark 12 red 6 pale 5 Vight 6 sandy & fair ie grey ie Comments on Hair short bushy wig SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Volume I, pp. 133, 145, 153, Tee tere 17, Baerante | 24 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CONTINUED PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, seven companies in 1758 4. Color of Eyes not reported 5. Body type well-set 73 strong 29 tal 8 short 8 bold 8 fat 7 thick 5 thin 5 SOURCE: Pennsylvante Archives, Sth Ser‘es, Volume I, pp. 133, 145, 183,maz 125° PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIGNS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, substitutes who served for two months in Col. John Boyd's Regiment of Lancaster County MILITIA, Septenber 1777 2. Color of Complexion fair 44 (63%) black 20 (29%) brown a dark 2 3. Color of Hair fair 30 (43%) black 20 (298) brown 15 sandy 3 dark 1 grey 1 Ne70 SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume 7, pp. 658-682toe 126 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS PENNSYLVANIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, recruits for 2nd Regiment, May to June 1778 2, Color of Complexion dark 12 (758) fair 4 Ne16 3. Color of Hair black 3 Tight 5 sandy a red i dark a not reported 9 4, Color of Fyes not reported SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Volume 11, pp. 798-799TABLE \2 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-cormissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. Samuel Patterson's Battalion of the Flying Camp, August 1776 2. Color of Complexion fresh 22 (35%) fair 17 (27%) pate 12 dark € brown 5 N62 3. Color of Hair brown 42 (68%) dark 13 black 5 red 2 N62 SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 67-68nase 128 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of Col. David Hall's Continental Regiment, January 1777 to June 1778 2, Color of Complexion dark 20. (408) fair 16 (328) swarthy 5 brown 4 sandy 4 freckled 1 Ne50 3. Color of Hair brown 19 (24%) black 17 (308: fair 10 sandy 5 grey 2 Tight 2 red 1 N=56 4. Color of Eyes grey 2 blue 2 5, Features round 4 well-set 3 slender 1 fair 1 round- shouldered 1 (age 47) SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume III, pp. 1074-1077TABLE 129 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company, plus recruits, of Col. David Hall's Continental Regiment, circa May 1779 2. Color of Complexion brown fair sandy dark black swarthy pale red 3. Color of Hair brown sandy fair black dark 4, Color of Eyes grey brown N34 1 Rk (508) remainder not reported SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 352, 562TABLE 130 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-commissioned officers and privates, substitutes in a MILITIA regiment ‘that served with the Continental Army, July 1720 2. Color of Complexion not reported 3. Color of Hair dark 9 fair 8 black 4 brown 4 sandy 2 grey Nee 4. Color of Eyes not reported SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume II, pp. 658-665TABLE 13) PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS DELAWARE Non-commissioned officers and privates in the Southern Army, May 1782 2. Color of Complexion fair 25 (508) brown 32° (243) dark 3 yellow 2 swarthy 1 Tight 1 Ne80 3. Color of Hair brown a1 (428) Tight 13° (26%) black 7 dark 4 fair 4 yellow 1 hes 4. Color of Eyes not reported SOURCE: Delaware Archives, Volume I, pp. 129-13C, 577me 132 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS VIRGINIA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of the Regiment, Vist dated 28 August 1757 2. Color of Complexion brown 26 (318) dark 24 ruddy/red uv fair 9 pale 4 fair and freckled 3 fresh 1 yellow 1 N=85 Comments on Complexion pockmarked 13 scar on cheek 1 large eyebrows 1 dark eyebrows ie thin face ae bluff face 1 broad face 1 3. Color of Hair brown 27 (34%) dark 14 light 9 sandy 9 black 8 red 8 flaxen 3 fair 1 grey 1 ‘80 Comments: on: Heir short z straight 2 very little 2 SOURCE: Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, YoTume 4, oomoe 132. CONTINUED PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS VIRGINIA Non-conmisstoned officers and privates, one company of the Regiment, list dated 28 August 1757 4, Color of Eyes grey 4 Comments on Eyes “sore” 1 blind in right eye : 5. Body type well-made 21 (628) thin 6 not well-made 4 stout 2 Ne34 Conments on Body lame 3 bowlegged 1 in-kneed 1 ‘SOURCE Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, Volume 4, amae J33 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS VIRGINIA Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 6th Regiment fin 1780 2. Color of Complexion ruddy 25 (46x) dark 14 fair 13 yellow 2 Nes4 3. Color of Hair brown 29 (543) dark 4 black 5 ight 2 sandy 2 red 1 grey 1 N=54 4, Color of Eyes hazel 22 (41%) grey v7 dark 6 blue 5 black 4 N=54 SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Collections, 1915, 11/594-619roe 134 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS CANADA Non-conmissioned officers and privates, Canadian Voltigeurs, mid 1€13 2. Color of Complexion dark 259 (59%) fair 159 (36%) black ce ruddy 6 dark brown 2 mulatto 1 Neaae 3. Color of Hair brown 183 (42%) black 7 (27) blond 69 Tight brown 59 red e grey 3 white 1 N=460 4, Color of Eyes grey 181 (418) blue 132 (308) brown 83 black a red 1 SOURCE: The Militia of the Battle of the Chateauguay: A Social History p. 27moe 135" DESERTERS PENNSYLVARIA Non-cormisstoned officers and privates who deserted from 4th Peginent, list dated € June 1781 Number Remarks 3 addicted to strong drink 1 very much of a blackguard 1 great turn for dealing SOURCE: Pennsylvania Archives, Sth Series, Volume II, pp. 1070-1071raz 136 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS UNITED STATES Non-commissioned officers and privates, 1861-1865 2. Color of Complexii By Birthplace 1, Volunteers NewEngland dark 34815 36% light 57375 608 medium 3673. 4% TOTAL © 95863, 2. Recruits NewEngland dark 12217 28% Tight 28190 65% medium 3063 7% TOTAL «43470 jon NY, NS,PA 22945 33% 43017 62% 3470 5% 69432 RY,NO,PA 25689 30% 47776 55% 13492 15% 86957 England 2732 30% 5998 66%, 352 48 9082 England 2773 29% 5325 56% 1351 14% 9449 Scotland 645 322 1297 64 88 4% 2030 Scotland 663 25% 1814 585 435 17%, 2612 Ireland 6291 33% 11752 62% 927 18970 Ireland 7423 29% 13482 54% 4272 17% 25177 Germany 8381 29% 19273 67% 147 ae 2ee01 Germany 4807 28% 9804 57% 2701 16% 17312 SOURCE: U.S, Sanitary Commission Memoirs, "Anthropological Statistics," p. 203moe 137 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS UNITED STATES Non-conmisstoned officers and privates, 1861-1865 2. Color of Complexion By State of Enlistment 1. Volunteers NH MA cT ny PA dark 8900 334 «6171 33% 5124. B1Z = 9061 35% Tight 11310 62% 11899 64x 10782 662 ---~ 14789 67% medium B98 5S = 608 3% BAI 2125 8% TOTAL —«-12108 18678 16455 eee 25975 2. Recruits NH MA cr WY PA dark 3952 38% ©8060 32% «4793 21% 13523 26% 15748 348 light 3744 43% «15882 63% 8849 57% 23879 AOL 24478 53% medium 1659 19% 1395 5% «1939 12% 14712 28x 6292 148 TOTAL 8755 25337 15881 52114 46518 SOURCE: U.S. Sanitary Commission Memoirs, "Anthropological Statistics," p. 202TABLE 138 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS UNITED STATES Non-conmissioned officers and privates, 1861-1865 3. Color of Hair By State of Enlistment 1, Volunteers NK NA cr NY PA black 2178 128 2114.112 2306 14% 3263 13% dark 3371 1784556 24% 3727 23% 2068 28% brown 7297 40% 6621 35% 5716 35% 5964 23% Tight 4224 232 4gaa 252 3592 228 5431 21% sandy 754 516 713 oo 1316 red 163 133 133 none 762 gray 124 103 278 eee 272 TOTAL 12111 18687 16465 soe 25976 2. Recruits NH MA cr NY PR black 1430 16% 2797 11% 1943 12% 5376 12% 5985 11s dark 570 6% 5730 23% 2937 19% 14406 31% 11655 22¢ brown 5487 63% 10374 41% 7672 49% 15900 30% 22264 43% light 866 108 5047 20% 2096 13% 9352 20% 9269 18% sandy 267 744 543, 1866 wie red 66 382 206 1261 680 gray 75 284 191 376 612 15588 46517 2153 TOTAL «8761 SOURCE: U.S. Sanitary Commission Memoirs, "Anthropological Statistics," pp, 186, 187TABLE 139 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS UNITED STATES Non-commissioned officers and privates, 1861-1865 4. Color of Eyes By State of Enlistment 1, Volunteers NK MA cr ny PA blue 9692 5489477 51% 8274. SOK 2330 32% gray 2957 168-3279 18% «3418 21% 9176 35% hazel 2327 138 «S01 17%) 1227 7% wae. 3261 13% dark «1599 9% «1515 8% ©2083 13% 4098 16% black 1536 8% 1316 7% «1462 98 LLL 4% TOTAL 18111 18688 16464 28976 2. Recruits NH MA cT ny PA blue 3575 41% 12783 50% 6984 45% 24342 47% 14e29 92K gray 2225 25% «4839 19% «3874 25% 19314 26% 16626 36E hazel 2183 25% «4532 18k = «2746 18% 3910 7k 7087 SE dark 420 SL 1834 7% 1219 8% 7326 148 6743 14k black 388 «4% «1367 SX 763 5% 3261-61273 3% TOTAL 8761 25355 15586 52153 46518 SOURCE: U.S, Sanitary Cormission Menoirs, “Anthropological Statistics,” p. 294, 198TABLE 140 BIRTHPLACES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commisstoned officers and privates, part of one company of the Regiment of 1758 New Hampshire a7 (378) Massachusetts 1 N=38, SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 14, Muster Rolls, 1/21raat 14] BIRTHPLACES NEW HAMPSHIRE Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 2nd Regiment in 1779 New Hampshire 29 (812) 9 Massachusetts 1 New York 1 1 NATIVE BORN 31 (86%) Ireland England 4 1 FOREIGN BORN 5 (14%) =36 SOURCE: New Hampshire State Papers, Volume 15, Muster Rolls, 11/626rae [4Z BIRTHPLACES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates, six regiments in 1756 Massachusetts 2013 (82%) New Hampshire 83 Connecticut 2 Rhode Istand 28 other colonies 22 NATIVE BORN 2218 (918) Ireland 120 (58) England 6 Scotland 10 Germany 6 France 6 other Europe 7 West Indies 2 FOREIGN BORN 224 (9%) 2442 SOURCE: Fred Anderson, A People's Amy, Tables 13 and 15, pp. 232 and 234TABLE (43 BIRTHPLACES MASSACHUSETTS Non-commissioned officers and privates enlisted at Groton in 1760 Massachusetts Groton 48 (71%) Weston Townshend Pepperell Lancaster Andover Dover Haverhill Lexington Stow Shrewsbury Canterbury New Hampshire Number Four 1 NATIVE BORN 67 (99%) Ireland 1 SOURCE: Three Military Diaries, pp. 118-119rou (44 BIRTHPLACES MASSACHUSETTS Non-conmissioned officers and privates who deserted from the ist Regiment from January 1777 to May 1782 Massachusetts 44 (43%) New York 9 Maine 4 Rhode Island 3 Connecticut 2 New Jersey 1 North Carolina 1 NATIVE BORK, 64 (62%) Irelane 23° (22%) Europe 1 England 3 Germany i Spain 1 FOREIGN BORN 39° (38%) N=103 SOURCE: Kational Archives microfilm, M246, Reel 35, Frames 74-76TABLE (45° RESIDENCES -- "Towns belonging to or enlisted for” MASSACHUSETTS. Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company o* Cth Regiment, list cated 3 January 1778 Massachusetts 40 (49%) Boston 9 other 31 Rhode Island 4 New Hampshire 2 Pennsylvania 2 Phitadel phta 2 "transients" 1 "sailors" 2 NATIVE BOR 60 (748) “foreigners” 21 (26%) SOURCE: Massachusetts Historical Soctety, Edes Papers, xerox copy at VENHPTABLE 6 RESIDENCES CONNECTICUT Non-commisstoned officers and privates, one company of ist Regiment, circa danuary through April 1777 71 (85%) East Haddam 11 (138) Lyme 2 (2%) New London Need SOURCE: National Archives microfilm, N246, Reel 2, Frame 209TABLE l4t BIRTHPLACES CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 3rd Regiment in 1782 Yen who joined before YF Connecticut 26 (81%) Massachusetts Y Rew York 1 Rhode Island 1 RATIVE BORN 28 (90%) West indies 1 Africa 2 FOREIGN BORN 3 (108) N=31 SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, Volume VIII, pp. 102-108TABLE 148 BIRTHPLACES CONNECTICUT Non-commissioned officers and privates, one company of 2rd Regiment in 1782 Men who joined after VF Connecticut 34 (87%) Massachusetts 1 New York 1 New Hampshire 1 NATIVE BORK 37 (958) Ireland 1 Germany 1 2 FOREIGN BORN SOURCE: Connecticut Historical Socfety, Collections, Volume VIII, pp. 102-104 SceaeaaaaTABLE 149 BIRTHPLACES CONNECTICUT Non-conmissioned officers and privates, one company of 4th Regiment, circa 1780 Connecticut 49 (86%) Massachusetts 4 Rhode Island i NATIVE BORN 54 (958) England 2 Ireland 1 FOREIGN BORN 3 (88) N=57 SOURCE: New England Historical and Cenealogical Register, Volume 22, eS eceaae