Guilford County NcArchives Military Records.....Findley, John 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 16, 2006, 1:57 am Pension Application Of John Findley, Natl Archives Microseries M804, Roll 975, Application #S6843 JOHN FINDLEY, a resident of Guilford County, aged about seventy-seven years: “That he first volunteered and was out a month and some days in the fall, October or November, of 1776 or 1777 on a tour to Fayetteville in this state, after the Scotch Tories, under the command of Captain FORBIS and General DAVIDSON, and was discharged on Hay Mount by word, no written discharge was given.” “That when he returned to Guilford whence he had set out, he again volunteered in a company which was called minute-men and rode as horsemen, sometimes under one captain and sometimes under another, but mostly under Captain JOHN GILLESPIE (a volunteer). That in this company he served as sergeant, but does not recollect how many tours, but not less than six. That in making them, he was marched down to the Caraway Mountains or High Hills of Randolph County and frequently down in the state as far as Drowning Creek after Col. FANNING, who commanded the Tories. That in performing these tours he must have consumed as much as seven months.” “That in May 1780 in the County of Guilford, he volunteered under Captain MCADOW (a volunteer) and joined the militia troops under General DAVIDSON. That a company of volunteers in which he was sent under the command of said DAVIDSON into the Forks of the Yadkin River after Colonel BRYAN of the Tories, and that in this company he went in the character of sergeant, but BRYAN and his band evaded us. That he, with others, were marched under the command of Major WHITE back to Salisbury in Rowan County, whence they set out.” “That he marched in July 1780 from Salisbury, and joined the Continental Army under General GATES near the Cheraw Hills on PeeDee River in the state of South Carolina, and was marched from thence under the command of General RUTHERFORD, Colonel ALEXANDER, Major WHITE, and Captain MCADOW, his particular and immediate militia commanding officers, and under the general command of General GATES, to a place called Rugeley’s Mills, 13 miles from Camden. That he believes that General DEKALB, a French General, was there a commanding officer in the army. That on the 15th day of August 1780 in the evening, General GATES marched to attack the British, who it was said were entrenched at Camden [per Heitman, August15, 1780], the British at the same time stealing a march on us; the armies met about midnight, when the front guards had several skirmishes.” “At day light the battle became general and cannon were used. That in this engagement he had the honor to command a platoon of 16 soldiers assigned to him by Major WHITE, two of whom were killed, and one wounded. That in this defeat his general to wit, RUTHERFORD, was wounded and taken prisoner, and General DEKALB and many other brave men were killed.” “That he did not see his General, to wit, GATES, during the battle nor after, but on his retreat and return home about 30 miles from the battleground (which was seven miles from Camden) he saw the same beautiful sorrel horse on which General GATES rode the evening before the battle; which he was told General GATES left there about 10 o’clock in the morning of the battle. That after this defeat he returned home.” “That in a few days after his return home, which was rapid; he volunteered and was marched to New Providence, Mecklenburg County, under Colonel and Captain FORBIS (volunteers), whence he was driven by the British before whom he retreated under General GREENE, over Dan River, to Halifax Courthouse in the state of Virginia. That the British did not cross Dan River, but turned towards Hillsboro, Orange County, NC, and thence up into Guilford and encamped in the New Garden settlement as he understood. That he went to New Providence under the command of Captain FORBIS of his own neighborhood, a volunteer.” “That shortly after the army stopped at Halifax, intelligence came that the Tories were making ravages in their [FORBIS’ company’s] neighborhood. That to quell these, FORBIS and his men were permitted to return home. That on their return, Capt. FORBIS found that the Tories had escaped, and determined to join the general army again, which he did a very short time after the Battle of Guilford. That he did was not in this battle, but was left by FORBIS to go home and get clothing with orders to join him again as soon as practicable, which he was unable to do before the engagement commenced, and found on his arrival at the battleground that he could not join his company or any part of the American army, with certainty or safety. That after the battle, he and others of FORBIS’ Company conveyed their brave commander, mortally wounded, to his home.” “That he continued in the service until he was taken with the small pox, which was 3 weeks after the Battle of Guilford. That as soon as he recovered he was sent by Colonel PAISLEY, belonging still to the minute company, down into the waters of the Alamance in his own county after some Tories who were drafted to increase the American Army and refused to serve.” “That during the latter part of the summer and fall of 1781 until towards Christmas, he was always ready with the minute company to be sent at the command of Col. PAISLEY and Captain ROBERT PAISLEY, by whom they were sent out on various and different tours consuming at least one half of his time. That from 1776 to 1780 he was always ready at the many calls of the militia volunteer officers of his County and that he was out on many other short tours of which he is unable from his memory’s being greatly impaired, to give a correct narrative. That for the aforesaid period he was generally, if not on actual service, considered a soldier of the revolution.” “ That he has no documentary evidence of his revolutionary services. That there are two persons in the bounds of his knowledge who can, from their personal knowledge testify to his services, to wit, ISAIAH MCBRIDE and WILLIAM SMITH, who are, from old age and decrepitude, unable to come with any convenience to come to court. That he was born in Frederick County of Virginia, of which a record is made in his Father’s Bible. That with his father, he moved in 1771 to Guilford NC. That he has lived in Guilford ever since, except for five years or thereabouts he spent in Williamsburg township in the state of South Carolina. That he never had a written commission, but served as a sergeant, quartermaster and forage master.” “That he is known to Rev. WILLIAM PAISLEY, Rev. Eli W. Caruthers, Rev. John Coe (or Cox), Col. Walter McDonnell, Captain Robert L. Gilmore, Joseph Gibson, esq., Findly Shaw, James Thom, Joseph Hanner, JOHN PAISLEY, and David McAdow, esq, and many other respectable citizens in his neighborhood, who can and are willing to testify to his veracity and their belief of his services as a soldier of the revolution.” File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/guilford/military/revwar/pensions/findley166gmt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 7.5 Kb