Guilford-Randolph County NcArchives Military Records.....Dougan, Thomas 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, 1:58 pm Constructed History Of Colonel Thomas Dougan JOHN DOUGAN-“I entered the service…in the year 1778, the day and month I do not recollect, in Randolph County, North Carolina, as a volunteer private, in a volunteer company of horse militia commanded by Captain THOMAS DOUGAN, and served in said company to the best of my recollection, one year, during which time we were stationed at Bell’s Mill in said county of Randolph, as a public store of provisions, said BELL then being a Commissary to furnish provisions for the Army of the Revolution. During said service, I found my own horse, saddle, and bridle and guns.” “Our company was raised for the purpose of guarding said public store, and suppressing the Tories and disaffected, with whom that county was then largely infected. During the year service aforesaid, we were employed in guarding said public store, and in detached companies in guarding provision wagons conveying provisions to said store, and in traversing the country looking out for Tories and protecting the country from their incursions.” “At the end of the said year of service, said Captain DOUGAN was advanced to the rank of Major and WILLIAM GRAY, the ensign of said company was advanced to the rank of Captain of said company and took the command thereof. During said year service, the inferior officers commanding in said company under the said Captain DOUGAN, were Lieutenant WILLIAM CLARK and Ensign WILLIAM GRAY, above named. The said WILLIAM CLARK at the expiration of said year service, to the best of my recollection, resigned his post as lieutenant. One NEWLAND was commissioned Lieutenant in his stead, whose given name I do not recollect, and one JOSEPH CLARK was commissioned ensign in said company. I continued in said company under Captain GRAY, Lieutenant NEWLAND and Ensign CLARK, and served as a private until the termination of the war, during which time we were stationed at Bell’s Mill, when not engaged in active service, until the latter part of 1782, to the best of my recollection. After that time until the close of the war, we were stationed when not engaged in active service, at the home of Colonel EDWARD SHARP, in County of Randolph, during all of which time I found my own horse, saddle and bridle, and arms. “The first active service during said latter period of my service was a short time after Captain GRAY took the command of said company. We were ordered out under the command of Colonel JOHN COLLIER and Lieutenant ANDREW BALFOUR of County of Randolph, with a number of volunteers, in all about sixty men. We marched about twenty-five miles towards the east end of said named county to oppose a company of Tories under the command of one Colonel FANNEN [FANNING], a Tory Colonel who was embodying a Tory force in the county adjoining below ours. The second night after leaving our station, we encamped at the house of one JOHN NEEDHAM. During the night, we were attacked by Colonel FANNING and his Tory force. After a short conflict, we repulsed them with two of their men killed and four or five wounded. The next morning we pursued Colonel FANNING and two days after the conflict, we came upon one Captain MICHAEL ROBBINS, a Tory captain with ten or twelve Tories under his command. We dispersed them with three of their men killed. We then returned to our station at Bell’s Mill.” “The next active service we were engaged in was three or four months after the last named expedition, we were ordered out in the fall, I think in September [the year I cannot recollect], against the Highland Scotch of North Carolina, who were embodying a Tory force sixty or seventy miles from our station in the highlands of said state. We were joined by one Colonel SAUNDERS of Wake County, North Carolina, with a body of over one hundred men. Said Colonel SAUNDERS took the command of the whole, and marched us into the highlands and across Cape Fear River. We stole a march on the Tories by marching all night one night, and took fourteen prisoners. Our company was ordered to guard and did guard the prisoners to Hillsborough in Orange County, North Carolina, the District jail. We lodged the prisoners in jail and returned to our station.” “Another piece of service we rendered occurred a few weeks previous to the last named expedition (I did not think of it when I related the last named expedition), was in defending the public store at our station. The store was attacked by one Captain EDWARD FRANKLIN (a Tory captain commissioned by Lord CORNWALLIS) and his company about fifteen in number. We repulsed them and the next day we pursued them, overtook them, and killed FRANKLIN (the captain) and one of his men, and dispersed the company.” “The next active service that I now recollected that we were engaged in, I think occurred in March 1782 (the spring after Lord CORNWALLIS surrendered). Captain FANNING and his company consisting of forty or fifty Tories came into our county and ravaged the country and killed Lieutenant Colonel BALFOUR and Captain JOHN BRYAN in their own houses and burned my mother’s house and barn (she being a widow), Colonel COLLIER’s and Esquire MILLIGAN’s houses. We pursued them and overtook them and put them to flight, but the day being wet, our guns missed fire, so that we only wounded two men.” “The next piece of active service and the last service I did during the war occurred as follows: Colonel ELROD, Captain MICHAEL ROBBINS and Captain SAMUEL STILL, Tory officers, were passing through said county of Randolph. They killed one young man and wounded another. We pursued them several days and our company separated into two parties. One part of the company overtook them, and killed Colonel ELROD and Captain STILL. The part of the company I was in was not present when they were killed. We marched over one hundred miles over the Blue Ridge, from thence we returned to the station at Colonel SHARP’s, and shortly afterwards were disbanded.” “I cannot now state positively whether I received a discharge from my captain. But I do recollect that vouchers for my services were placed in the hands of my older brother, THOMAS DOUGAN, who took them to Hillsborough, North Carolina and purchased land for me with them. To the best of my recollection, the rate of pay that I received was twelve dollars per month for my services… etc.” EDWARD BEESON-“He entered the service as a volunteer from the state of North Carolina, Guilford County, now Randolph. It was the spring of the year 1778, as he believes. DAVID BROWER was his captain, JAMES WOODS-Lieutenant, this deponent ensign. ROBERT MCLEAN was their major, THOMAS DOUGAN, colonel, BUTLER- general. Their object was the destruction of the Tories. Next day, after they left Johnsonville, their place of rendezvous, their captain and three men were killed by the Tories who waylaid them (the Tories were commanded by Major RAINS) and fired on them from a steep hill on the side of Brush Creek.” “After BROWER was killed, WOODS became captain and this deponent Lieutenant. They pursued the Tories about forty miles to Fork? Creek, and there besieged them in a house belonging to one JOHN NEEDHAM. In the morning before they got to NEEDHAM’s, their colonel (DOUGAN) joined them. This deponent was then ordered with half of his company to the back of the house under a concealment of an orchard, while the rest were to attack in front. This deponent’s company were the first who took possession of the same, those in front having feigned a retreat to draw out the Tories, which accordingly succeeded. Twenty-one were killed, seven at the house and fourteen at the place where they kept the horses, the Tories having fled there, to where they were concealed on the bank of Deep River. And where Colonel DOUGAN himself had gone with a detachment to surprise them if they should be driven from the house.” “They then marched down to Cape Fear (or Fair)Town and from there to the Brown Marsh near Wilmington, where they again had to battle with the Tories on open ground. They there (again) defeated the Tories who being reinforced by the British from their shipping at Fort Johnson, they returned and defeated us in turn. From thence they (the Americans) returned by Cape Fear to Guilford (now Randolph). At this time they were out three months and were discharged.” “His next term of service was again as a volunteer. This he believes was the next year. At this time they were roused by the Tories who came and burned Colonel DOUGAN’s house, and Colonel BALFOUR’s house, at the same time killing Colonel BALFOUR. They also killed JOHN BROWN and burned his house. Also MILLICAN’s and COLLIER’s houses were burned. They pursued them under the command of Colonel BLETCHER (or BLEECHER) [Brashear?], this deponent being still captain and remaining so until the close of the war, the same lieutenant and ensign were with him at this time as at the last.” DAVID EIRWIN- “That in the summer of the year succeeding the Battle of Camden, the declarant again volunteered into the company commanded by Captain YORK, while residing in the place aforesaid, for three months, to serve as a private in the light horse. The principle object or rather cause of raising this company was to watch a body of disaffected, or Tories, commanded by one Colonel FANNING, and to which a brother of this declarant belonged, by the name of JOHN ERWIN, some years older than declarant and who resided about 20 miles from his father’s residence. The company assembled at Captain YORK’s. He does not recollect any other officer, except one Colonel DOUGAN was occasionally with the company. They were constantly engaged in their scouts or marches. The declarant with the company went down Deep River, up and down Tar River and Cane Creek in pursuit of FANNING. Near the close of the campaign, they came down on one side of Deep River and discovered FANNING’s forces on the opposite bank. There were shots exchanged from each side of the two forces, but owing to the width of the river at that place, no harm or injury resulted to either party. At the close of the expedition, he received a discharge from Captain YORK, which he has lost, certifying his faithful service for three months in this last campaign.” WILBOURNE GIBSON-“I was drafted into the service of the United States in Randolph County, North Carolina in the spring of 1781. The precise month and day I do not recollect, and served for and during the term of three months. The captain of the company in which I served was John KNIGHT, Colonel [THOMAS] DOUGAN, Major [JAMES] DOUGAN, brothers. Names of the sergeants and corporals not now remembered. When my term of service was ended, I received from Captain JOHN KNIGHT, a regular discharge and considering it as no value or importance whatever, and being totally unlearned, it has long ago been lost and destroyed.” “Under the command of the aforesaid officers, I was out on scouting expedition most of the time in and through the counties of Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes and Guilford, and was in several skirmishes with the Tories, but no general engagement. Colonel FANNING, as he was called, was the Tory that we were after most of the time, as he was constantly destroying of property, burning of houses, etc.” “I recollect on one evening we were in a little town called Hillsborough, and were compelled to leave it for the want of provision, and on that very night, this Tory, FANNING took the town and all the inhabitants were made prisoners, and one gen’l, General TYRON, among the rest, and on that same night our company formed behind a fence along the road to take them by surprise, but we were afraid to fire for fear of killing our own friends who were prisoners, and so we mounted our horses which had been hitched back in the edge of the woods and retreated, and on the next day we had a skirmish at Mendenhall’s Mill, in which we were defeated, but Colonel FANNING got his arm broke, etc…” “The houses of John KNIGHT and Col. and Major DOUGAN, and many? other houses were destroyed by this same FANNING.” JOHN GRAHAM-“He states that he entered the service of the United States with JOSEPH JOHNSTON, at the same time and under the same officers (to wit), he volunteered for three months under Captain THOMAS DOUGAN, Colonel BALFOUR and Colonel COLLIER, and armed and equipped himself for the light horse service, and joined the troop which the said Captain DOUGAN commanded. He states that this was early in the year 1779, and that the circumstances of his service so far as he can recollect them, are accurately detailed in the declaration of the said JOSEPH JOHNSTON, to which he begs leave to refer, and to adopt so far as these are concerned, as his own, deeming it unnecessary here to recapitulate them. He declares that his service amounted in all, to the best of his recollection to ten months; and that neither he nor JOHNSTON was in any important service in which both were not engaged.” JOHN MERRILL-“That in the year 1781, he volunteered at the courthouse in Randolph County in the light horse under the command of Captain THOMAS DOUGAN, Major JAMES DOUGAN, and Colonel JOHN COLLIER. That they ranged about the country. That at that time the company with whom he served had a rencounter with Tories in the County of Guilford on the 15th day of April 1781, where he received a severe wound with a sword on his head, the marks of which are now to be seen. His brother’s [BENJAMIN MERRILL] horse was shot under him, and his captain, then JOHN KNIGHT, received two balls in his head. About the 30th of July, 1781, he received his discharge as may appear by the discharge herewith filed, marked B.” “After that time, he never was regularly in the service, tho’ scouting parties and some rencounters with the Tories…I know no one who can testify to my services but my brother BENJAMIN MERRILL, who was with me on my tours, but he is now sick and unable to come here.” JACKSON, SAMUEL-lived in Guilford County at enlistment, served under Col. DOUGAN, Capt. JAMES BELL, Capt. COLLIER. Widow was able to provide few details. Was in the Battle of Guilford, and was a guard protecting the baggage wagon. ROBERT MOORE-[This is probably not the same Thomas Dougan. No one else has mentioned this tour, and it may overlap some of the previously described periods of time.] “In the month of September 1780, I went out as a substitute for MALICA DICKERSON, who was drafted for the term of three months (the said DICKERSON having hired me to perform the tour for him), so I again entered the service of the United States as a substitute some time in the month of September 1780 in Randolph County, state of North Carolina, for the term of three months under Captain THOMAS DOUGAN. The company marched from Randolph to Salisbury and there joined Colonel DAVIE’s regiment. Then they marched to Charlotte and was there when CORNWALLIS entered that place. When there was a slight skirmish, CORNWALLIS retreated to Camden. We went in pursuit. On the route, I took the smallpox. The rest of the company’s time was out and discharged before my recovery. He therefore got no discharge.” “After the Battle of Guilford when CORNWALLIS retreated through Virginia, I joined a light horse company in Randolph County, North Carolina under Captain THOMAS DOUGAN and Colonel EDWARD SHARPE, for the purpose of keeping down the Tories who would, every chance, rise up against the interest of the United States. In this capacity, I served from time to time as my services may be called for until the end of the war." 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. 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