Guilford County NcArchives Military Records.....Brashears, Asa Revwar - Pension ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Nancy Poquette npoq@hotmail.com June 18, 2006, 1:34 pm Constructed History Of Captain Asa Brashears JEREMIAH CUNNINGHAM-“That shortly after his return home, he was called out under the command of Capt. BRASHEARS and Capt. PEARCE, and marched down on a tour down towards the town of Fayetteville after the Tories and must have been gone as much as two weeks. That his memory has quite failed him and that he is unable to give a correct account of all his tours as he was out frequently after Tories.” HUGH MCCRORY-“He was afterwards suffered to return home on parole, where remained as he now believes about two weeks, when he broke his parole and again volunteered in the service of his country in the County of Guilford, state of North Carolina in a company of light horse commanded by Captain BRASHEARS, and joined General RUTHERFORD’s army on the Cape Fear River, near the Raft Swamps, from which place we marched to a place called the Governor’s Bridge in the vicinity of Wilmington, where they took possession of the said town. From which place we were ordered home and dismissed from the service of our country…thinks it must have been between three and four months.” “That he served not less than three months as a private soldier, volunteer and light horseman in Captain BRASHEAR’s company.” “I joined the horse again under Captain BRASHEARS and marched against the British and Tories at the Raft Swamps, North Carolina.” FRANCIS MCKAIMY-“That he entered the service of the United States as a drafted soldier in the County of Guilford and state of North Carolina on the first of January in the year 1780, and was placed in a company commanded by Captain BRASHEAR and rendezvoused at Guilford Courthouse, where he says he was taken from the ranks of said company by order of Colonel JOHN PAISLEY, the commanding colonel…” “Deponent further states that while he was in this last mentioned tour of duty [under Captain Barnett, in January 1781], his brother, JAMES MCKAIMY was killed by the Tories and some of TARLETON’s men, and that he then volunteered immediately under Captain BRASHEAR’s company under the command of Colonel PAISLEY and was marched to Deep River in Randolph County in the state of North Carolina in pursuit of a man by the name of FANNING, a Tory Colonel, and from there he says he was marched into Chatham County, where Colonel PAISLEY and Colonel O’NEAL joined other armies together and encamped at Ramsey’s Mill on Deep River for some time, and while the troops remained there, he says he was in an engagement or skirmish with the Tories, in which three Tories were killed and an American. And from there he was marched to some old barracks in Chatham County and remained there some time. He says he was dismissed ‘til further orders after serving six weeks.” “He states that after that he was called on again by the same captain [BRASHEAR] and Colonel [PAISLEY] and joined them at Guilford Courthouse, in about ten days after he was dismissed in Chatham, and was marched in search of Tory Captain by the name of PYLES. He was called Doctor PYLES, who it was said had collected a band of Tories near the county line between Chatham and Cumberland Counties, and after serving on this expedition four weeks, he was dismissed again until further orders.” “He further says that he was called on again by the same captain [BRASHEAR] and Colonel [PAISLEY] and was marched in search of another Tory captain by the name of FIELDS, but before the American troops reached the place where FIELDS and his men were, they had all fled off, and he says he was marched back home and then dismissed. He thinks he served two weeks on this expedition, making in the whole, a term of actual service of eight months…” “This day, MATHEW CUNNINGHAM…saith that he entered the service of the United States some time in the month of October, but does not recollect the date of the year, but believes in the year 1781, in the County of Guilford and state of North Carolina as a volunteer in Captain GEORGE PERSON’s [?PEARCE] company, and was marched into Randolph and Chatham Counties in North Carolina against the Tories under the command of a Tory by the name of FANNING, when and where he knew FRANCIS MCKAIMY, a volunteer soldier in Captain BRASHEAR’s company of volunteers, and that he, said MCKAIMY, served as such…during the term that he served, but how long he served afterward he does not know…” BENJAMIN RHODES-“That he volunteered about the first of October in the year 1780 in a company of light horse raised in Guilford County, North Carolina by order of Colonel GILLESPIE and commanded by Captain ASA BRASHEARS, Lieutenant JAMES DELAY and Ensign HEZEKIAH RHODES, brother of this declarant.” “He states that this company was raised for the purpose of acting and did act as an auxiliary to the main army under General GREENE in suppressing the Tories and watching the movements of the British. It was considered a company of minutemen, and he states that he, with the rest of the company was frequently at home for some days at a time, but was most of the time in actual service and always with the company when in service, which service was employed in scouring the Counties of Guilford, Randolph and Chatham, and for a good part of the time in search of a certain Colonel FANNING, a Tory whom they never could catch, but quite a few of his men were taken. He states that he procured his own horse and arms while in service, which service was of the severest kind, as they had to ride us _____ both night and day while in service, for which he was to have got one dollar per day while in service, but never received anything. He states that he first volunteered for three months, but the company being needed, he continued in service about seven months when he was discharged by his Captain BRASHEARS.” JOHN FINLEY for WILLIAM SMITH-“That this company would be out sometimes days, sometimes weeks, few and then many, and the times which they spent at home, they were compelled often to go armed, when in the field engaged at work. That this company was commanded much and very often by Captain ARTHUR FORBIS, who was mortally wounded in the Guilford Battle. Sometimes by Captain ROBERT PAISLEY, Captain GILLESPIE, and Captain BRASHEARS and almost always under the command of Colonel JOHN PAISLEY. That the tours mentioned to have been made down the country were made mostly to disperse companies of Tories collected by Colonel FANNING. That many of FANNING’s men were taken prisoners, others killed and the balance mostly as much dispersed as practicable. That said SMITH was always with him in these tours. DANIEL SUTHERLAND-“He again entered the service at Guilford Courthouse in May or June 1779 [more likely 1780, Gates’ Defeat was August 1780] under Captain O’NEAL or BRASHEAR, and was marched into South Carolina to join General GATES, which we did, about a day’s march from Camden, was in the Battle of Camden, or GATES’ Defeat [per Heitman, August 16, 1780]. Before he joined GATES’ army, he was marched to Salisbury and to the mouth of the Rocky River, at which place we had a skirmish with the Tories. From GATES’ Defeat he was marched back to Guilford County, NC, where he was discharged, having served this time three months.” JAMES SUTHERLAND, Esq. “That he was well acquainted with one Mr. DANIEL SUTHERLAND…who served a tour of duty of three months against the Indians, I think the Over Hill Indians some time before GATES’ Defeat, and further says upon oath, that he the said DANIEL SUTHERLAND served another three months tour as light infantry with this deponent under the command of Colonel DAVIDSON, Major JOHN ARMSTRONG and Captain ASA BRASHEAR against the British at GATES’ Defeat in South Carolina near Camden.” MICHAEL HUTCHINGS-“That he was well acquainted with DANIEL SUTHERLAND… he entered into service in the aforesaid county and was under the command of Captain ASA BRASHEARS and served that tour three months.” EARIS WITT-“That he entered the service of the United States in Guilford County in the state of North Carolina as a drafted soldier, first sergeant of the company, some time, he thinks in April or May 1780. His officers were Captain [ASA] BRASHEARS, Lieutenant JAMES PHILIPS, himself being first sergeant, and Colonel PORTERFIELD and Major ARMSTRONG. Rendezvoused at Guilford Courthouse and joined General GATES’ army at Salisbury, marched to the Hanging Rock when he was in a battle against the British called the Battle at Hanging Rock [per Heitman, August 1-6, 1780]. From there, marched to Rugeley’s Mills when he was in a skirmish against the British. From there marched towards Camden, South Carolina to a place called the Six-Mile Creek being six miles from Camden, where he was in a battle against the British called the Battle of Camden, or Gates’ Defeat [August 16, 1780]. After the battle, collected at Salisbury, marched to the Shallow Ford at Yadkin River, crossed the river and lay on the other side until his time of service had expired, when he was regularly discharged by his Major ARMSTRONG, after having served ten months, which discharge is lost or mislaid.” Additional Comments: Constructed History is my term for a soldier who did not file for a pension himself, but about whom there is enough evidence from other soldiers to form an equivalent to a pension application. Most of the testimony comes from other men mentioning the officer or non-comm. officer, but in some cases, the actual soldier himself testified on behalf of other men, thus revealing his own history. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/guilford/military/revwar/pensions/brashear302gmt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 10.1 Kb