The 9th Virginia Regiment (1776-1777)
|
THE EASTERN SHORE OF VIRGINIA was arguably the most exposed section of Virginia to invasion and raids from British and loyalist forces. In the fall of 1775, there was an attempt to raise a battalion of minutemen to defend the counties of Accomack and Northampton. The region was only successful in raising two small companies.[1] In January 1776, the Virginia Convention authorized the creation of a regular regiment to replace the failed minute battalion.[2] This time, the recruiters in Accomack and Northampton had little difficulty raising their companies. Seven of the ten companies of the regiment were raised in Accomack and Northampton Counties, while the other three were raised from counties on the mainland; Albemarle, Goochland, and Gloucester.[3] Col. Thomas Fleming of Goochland was appointed as the first colonel, with George Mathews as the lieutenant colonel, and Matthew Donovan as major (though he died only a month into service). Fleming was a veteran of the French and Indian War, and Mathews had fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant against the Shawnee.
|
Lt. Col. Burgess Ball.
|
Eastern Shore Service. The regiment was nicknamed “the Eastern Shore Battalion” because most of its strength was recruited on the Eastern Shore, and the regiment’s first assignment was to the region. The first months were spent guarding towns along the coastline. The regiment also took part in suppressing Tories in Maryland in July 1776.[4] In December 1776, the 9th Virginia was ordered to report to Philadelphia and join the Continental Army. The regiment arrived too late to take part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, but did participate in the Foraging Wars in New Jersey. Colonel Fleming died of smallpox in January 1777 and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Mathews.
|
The Philadelphia Campaign. The 9th Virginia had originally reported over 700 officers and men in 1776, but by September 1777, it reported just 224 officers and men present. This was due in part to men from the two rifle companies being detached with Col. Daniel Morgan’s Rifle Regiment, while others were detached to Gen. William Maxwell’s light infantry corps. Desertion and disease also accounted for many men being absent from the ranks. As part of Brig. Gen. Peter Muhlenberg’s 1st Virginia Brigade, the 9th Virginia took part in the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. The men of the 9th Virginia fought in the later part of the battle alongside the Brig. Gen. George Weedon’s Brigade in helping to save Washington’s army from total disaster by repulsing British troops and keeping the retreat route open. The regiment had at least six men killed or wounded in battle.
At the Battle of Germantown, Col. Mathews led the 9th Virginia into the action that would make them famous. Their actions earned them the nickname of the “brash and rash 9th.”[5] In the surprise attack, the Virginians, in two divisions led by Maj. Gen. Adam Stephen and Brigadier General Muhlenberg, were among those American troops who pushed furthest into the British line. They ambushed the British 4th Regiment of Foot from behind a fence along Church Lane. A British officer later recalled that the Virginians “threw in a most severe fire” that “knocked down almost the whole of their right wing.”[6] As the 4th Regiment fell back toward Germantown, the 9th Virginia followed quickly behind them. Adam Stephen found the 9th Virginia “advancing with spirit” and ordered the men to charge into the British camp even further, even though he was not their divisional commander. Colonel Mathews led his men, along with men of the 6th Virginia Regiment, into the town of Germantown itself and halted near the market house to gather prisoners and reorganize.[7]
|
Officers, 1776-1777Col. Thomas Fleming Lieut. Col. George Mathews Maj. Matthew Donovan* Maj. James Innes† Capt. John Cropper Capt. Levin Joynes Capt. Thomas Davis Capt. Thomas Snead Capt. Thomas Walker Capt. Samuel Woodson Capt. John Hays Capt. George Gilchrist Capt. Thomas Parramore Capt. John Poulson *Died, February 1776 †Transferred to 15th Virginia, November 1776 |
Once the British forces reorganized, they counterattacked and slowly drove the Americans from the field. During this retreat, the men of the 9th Virginia was forced back toward Kelly Hill and were joined by Maj. Oliver Towles of the 6th Virginia. In the confusion of battle and fog, the Virginians were left unsupported by the rest of Muhlenberg’s and Stephen’s commands and soon were pressed on their front and left. The Virginians tried to fight their way out with bayonets to Kelly Hill where they were surrounded by the rallied British troops. Colonel Mathews was severely wounded by several bayonets, while Lt. Col. John Sayres was killed. Lt. Samuel Waples referred to the fighting on Kelly Hill as “a seane of carnage.”[8] The 9th Virginia was captured at Germantown, with roughly 185 officers and men killed, wounded, or captured. The men were marched into Germantown, this time as prisoners, where the townspeople came out to see the “battalion of tall Virginians.”[9] Most of the men were imprisoned at the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, as well as the State House there (Independence Hall), and later taken to New York.
|
Post-Germantown. The few who were not captured at Germantown were consolidated into one company and attached to the 1st Virginia Continental Regiment. The 1st Virginia State Regiment was attached to Muhlenberg’s Brigade to replace the loss of the 9th Virginia.[10] Many of the surviving 9th Virginia men were discharged while encamped at Valley Forge, and very few recruits were brought into the ranks. By September 1778, only fifty-eight men were still in the 9th Virginia Regiment.[11] During the same month, the 9th Virginia was consolidated officially into the 1st Virginia Regiment. The numerical designation of the regiment was then assigned to the old 13th Virginia Regiment.
[1] E. M. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution, 1774-1787, (Westminster, MD; Heritage Books, 2007), 12
[2] Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide…, (Westminster, MD; Heritage Books, 2007), 59. [3] Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide…, (Westminster, MD; Heritage Books, 2007), 59. [4] “The Ancestors and Descendants of John Rolfe…,” 207. [5] Joynes, Thomas R. “Memoranda Made by Thomas R. Joynes on a Journey to the States of Ohio and Kentucky, 1810.” The William and Mary Quarterly 10, no. 3 (1902): 146. [6] McGuire, The Philadelphia Campaign: Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge, Vol. 2, 101. [7] Tyler, “The Old Virginia Line in the Middle States during the American Revolution,” 31. [8] Samuel Waples Pension, W6427, Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements and Rosters. [9] McGuire, The Philadelphia Campaign… Vol. 2, 133. [10] John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, Timy. Pickering and N. Green, “Orderly Book of Gen. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, March 26-December 20, 1777 (continued)”, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography , 1911, Vol. 35, No. 1 (1911), pp. 67. [11] Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, M246, NARA, Record Group 93, Roll 0107. |
Officers, 1777-1778Colonel George Mathews* Lt. Col. John Sayres† Lt. Col. George Lyne§ Lt. Col. Burgess Ball Maj. Levin Joynes. Maj. James Knox‡ Captain Smith Snead Captain John Blair Captain William Henderson Captain Thomas Parker Captain Nathaniel G. Morris Captain Samuel Woodson Captain John Hays Captain John Poulson Captain George Gilchrist Captain Thomas Parramore *Captured, Germantown †KIA, Germantown §Resigned, October 14, 1777 ‡July 1778 
An imagined portrait of George Mathews, who was later governor of Georgia.
|
Online
“The Eastern Shore Battalion: The Story of the 9th Virginia Regiment" (John Settle, JAR)
“Surrounded" by Don Troiani. Detail. Used with permission.
Burgess Ball portrait from Findagrave.com
George Mathews illustration from J.C. Harris, Stories of Georgia (New York: American Book Company, 1896)
Burgess Ball portrait from Findagrave.com
George Mathews illustration from J.C. Harris, Stories of Georgia (New York: American Book Company, 1896)
|
|
|