REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION APPLICATION - HENRY CALVIN BAIL Contributed by: Dee Davidson [jcricket@cecomet.net] ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb *********************************************************************** HENRY CALVIN BAIL Henry Calvin Bail is the final version of the name of this veteran of the Connecticut Continental Line and the campaign and siege of Yorktown whose name appears in military records as Hendrick Bail or Baile, as Hondrick Baile, and in H.C. Taylor's Historical Sketches of the Town of Portland (1873, p. 378) as Hendrick Conradt Bail. He was born at Hesse-Darmstadt, Germay [sic], in 1756. Of the approximately 350 Revolutionary War soldiers presently known to have lived in Chautauqua County, New York, he is the only one who served in both the British and American armies during the struggle whose outcome led to the founding of the American republic. In writing of this patriot-soldier's son, Frederick Bail, a War of 1812 soldier, H.C. Taylor writes (P. 378, op. cit.): "The father of Mr. Bail was a 'Hessian.' and with others was attached to the British army during the Revolutionary war. He was taken prisoner by the Colonists, and after being exchanged, deserted, and for many years lived in Connecticut where he married." Again, in reference to Frederick Bail, son of Hendrick Bail (Baile), patriot- soldier of the Revolution, we find in the History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (Warner Beers & Co., 1885), Vol II, p. 1010: "His father was a Hessian soldier, from which body he left while they were in America, during the Revolutionary war." In juxtaposition to these statements we quote from the application of a descendant of this soldier who was admitted, on 1 February 1930, to member in the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, on the basis of his military record in the Continental Army during the Revolution "After coming to America he found the colonists were fighting for a just cause and so joined their ranks." Investigation leads to the conclusion that Hendrick Bail (Baile) whose Americanized name is Henry Calvin Bail came to America as a Hessian mercenary with the British army, deserted, and enlisted in the American patriot-forces out of conviction in the virtue of the colonists' cause. This scenario of his personal history is reinforced by the fact that all his military service in the patriot cause was rendered in the last three years of the eight-year long war and that when he enlisted 20 December 1780, he was placed in the ranks of a seasoned company in a veteran Continental regiment as a trained soldier and a qualified light infantryman. Hendrick Bail enlisted 20 December 1780 for three years in Capt. Roger Welles' light infantry company, 3rd Regiment, Connecticut Line, Col. Samuel B. Webb, commander. His service began 1 January 1781 and continued to 31 December 1781. >From February to November 1781 this company was one of a group of light infantry companies detached from the 3rd Regiment to serve under the command of French officer Jean Gimal in one of the three battalions that comprised Brig. Gen. Peter Muhlenberg's brigade in General Lafayette's Light Infantry Division during the Yorktown campaign. It is of special local interest that Vaniah Fox, buried in Webster Street Cemetery, town of Pomfret, held the rank of Sergeant in the company in which Hendrick Bail served in these months preceding and during the siege of Yorktown. (Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution, Hartford, 1889, pp. 331, 335; Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by M.M. Boatner, 1974, p. 1240; Kates Patriot-Soldiers, p. 241) Information recorded in Lists and Returns of Connecticut Men in the Revolution (1909), XII, pp. 305, 321 and 337, indicates Hendrick Bail (Hondrick Baile) was transferred from Captain Welles's company to Capt. Elisha Hopkins's 5th Company in the same regiment in May 1782. His name appears on muster rolls for Captain Hopkins's company after this date. He is credited with 1 year 6 months 5 days active service on one muster roll and on another for 10 months 13 days. He was discharged 14 October 1783. Hendrick Bail did not receive a pension for his military service in the Continental Army, for he died in June 1810 in the town of Pomfret, Chautauqua County, New York, eight years before the first Pension Act was passed in 1818. His total time in active service would have amply qualified him for pension. Sarah Hotchkiss and Hendrick Bail were married at Windsor, Connecticut 17 December 1781. They became the parents of three sons; Frederick, born 12 December 1785; Solomon, born 10 July 1787; and Josiah, born 23 February 1789. If any other children were born to them, information about them is lacking. Sarah (Hotchkiss) Bail, born in Connecticut in 1759, died in 1799, the exact date of her death and the place of her burial are not known. Frederick Bail, the eldest child of Hendrick and Sarah (Hotchkiss) Bail, was born at Norfolk, Connecticut, 12 December 1785. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Isaac Baldwin, a War of 1812 veteran, of Sheridan, Chautauqua County, New York, on 13 January 1814. She was born at Halifax, Vermont, 13 January 1795. They moved westward in the county to the town of Portland in August 1818, where they remained until moving to Spring Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, in 1836, where she died 17 December 1839. He died 11 October 1872 at Palmyra, Otoc County, Nebraska, aged 86 years 10 months, according to an obituary notice that appeared in the Fredonia Censor of Wednesday, Nov 20, 1872. Frederick Bail served for several months with Chautauqua County troops during the War of 1812. On his claim #6,605 for personal property losses and damage incurred while on active duty, Frederick Bail was allowed an award of $55 (p. 23, Index of Awards on Claims of the Soldiers of the War of 1812, 1860, Reprint edition, 1969). He was living at Spring, Pennsylvania, when this award was made. Frederick and Elizabeth (Baldwin) Bail were the parents of seven children: Parthena - Born 23 February 1815, she married Hiram Smith 8 January 1835, and settled in the town of Pomfret, Chautauqua County, New York. Sarah - Born 17 May 1816, she married in Pennsylvania. Clarissa H. - Born 6 June 1818, she died 18 October 1845. Elizabeth - Born 11 March 1820. William C. - Born 4 November 1821. Maria - Born 11 September 1823. Isaac S. - Born 30 June 1825, he was a farmer and justice of the peace in Spring Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. He Married Jane Sloan, sister of G. H. Sloan and Archibald Sloan of Spring Township. The compiler is indebted to Alice V. Peterson of Westfield, New York, for alerting him to this soldier and assisting him in his preparing this account. Online record Compiled by Rev. Frederick Ward Kates