Posted on by Charlie Frye

“The Trials of War” is Available

I am pleased to announce that The Trials of War is available. Normally, when I publish a new book, I share the most interesting aspects of the research in my posts. This time, my research began with family history. Abiel Frye, Isaac’s oldest brother, shows up in a surprising way. Then the challenge of unraveling how Isaac Frye came to be court-martialed late in 1779.

Ten years ago, when I first sketched out the plot for The Trials of War, I had not known Abiel would factor in. Then, a few years later, while reading Daniel Livermore’s journal entries, Abiel Frye is mentioned in the May 23, 1779 entry: “… I passed the evening very agreeably with our own corps of officers, and Mr. Abial Frye. …”

That led to some research under the auspices of, ‘What are the odds?’ First, Abiel Frye is not a common name in Colonial America. Only Isaac’s father, who died in 1757, and Isaac’s oldest brother appeared in any searches I’ve made, which include Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. Even with all the time afforded me during the COVID-19 shutdown, it took months to finally work out that the 3rd New Hampshire officers indeed dined with Isaac’s older brother, and I also tracked down the story of how they came to cross paths in north-central New Jersey. Here are some of the items I found:

  • This 1912 entry in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s publication, American Monthly Magazine, page 273, includes many pertinent details about Abiel Frye via a sketch of his father-in-law, Eliab Farnam’s service during the American Revolution:

“(2) Farnam (Varnum) — Fry. — Eliab Farnam is called Varnum in Miner’s History (4668), and a reference made to his regiment (p. 191). He was ensign of the first militia in Preston, Conn., Oct., 1771 ; lieutenant in same company May, 1774; and captain of the 8th Co., or train band in the 24th Conn., Oct. 11, 1775. The 24th was formed in May, 1775, and consisted of men from the town of Westmoreland, now Wilkes-Barre, and vicinity, in Pa. His second child, Joshua, was killed by the Indians in 1779 (Miner, p. 466). Abigail, dau. of Eliab Farnam, m. (1) Eleazer Owens, March 20, 1779, who was killed in the Battle of Minisink, July 2, 1779. A posthumous son, Eleazer Owens, was b. Jan. 1, 1780, and m. Margaret Buck (dau. of Elijah and Margaret (Foster) Buck). Abigail Owens, the widow, m. (2) Abiel Fry (or Frye), ensign and second lieutenant in the French and Indian Wars. He was son of Capt. Abiel, and descendant of John Fry, of Andover, Mass. He went from Andover to Pa. in 1763, and was the schoolmaster of the settlement (the Wallenpaupeck) for several years (see Miner, p. 467). Feb. 2, 1784, he m., in Goshen, Orange Co., N. Y., the widow Owens, as before stated, and lived in Goshen for ten years ; was town treasurer, a member of Solomon’s Lodge (No. 1), Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., N. Y (which he joined in 1775), and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1794, he and his wife and five children moved to Tioga Co., N. Y., but in 1806, while in Goshen on business, Abiel Fry d. of a fever. Is this service sufficient to entitle his descendants to recognition in the D. A. R.?”

That entry and question gave me my first clue, given the Frye family genealogies I’ve read indicated that Abiel Frye, had died in Goshen, NY, which is just north of the New Jersey border, only a few miles from the route taken by the troops marching from Camp Soldier’s Fortune to Easton, PA. The reference to Miner’s History of Wyoming, pages 464-476, gives more details, particularly regarding the settlement in Lackaway Township. today called Lackawana, Pennsylvania.

  • Another reference, this time in the September 1903 edition of Sons of the American Revolution’s Spirit of ’76 magazine on page 19 (link to PDF of scanned pages), provides the following:

“Two interesting articles on the early history of Masonry appeared in the October 1901, and the April 1902 issues of “The Spirit of ’76’. In neither one of those was any mention of Solomon’s Lodge, No. 1, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The records of this lodge contain a demit to the effect that one Abiel Fry was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on the 14th day of June, in the year of Masonry 5775, and the year of our Lord 1775.

The above Abiel Fry or Frye was born Nov. 8, 1734, in Andover Mass.; was in the Alarm list there, April 29, 1757; at Fort William Henry Aug 10, 17 57, and continued to serve during the French and Indian wars of 1758-59 and ’60. In the year 1763 he went to the then Province of Pennsylvania. In “Miner’s History of Wyoming”, pages 466-67, reference is made of a certain schoolmaster named Fry. In all probability this is the same Abiel Fry. On the 2d of February, 1784, he married Abigail Farnum Owen (widow), in Goshen … In 1794 he with his family removed to Chemung, N.Y., and in 1793 was made an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Chemung and Newton, now Elmira. …

Further information regarding the Above Abiel Fry or Frye, between 1763 and 1784, especially any information or proof of any service he may have rendered his country or any department, civil or military, is desired. Certain references to him in family history lead to the supposition that he may have been in the Commissary department.”

  • The latter item was attributed as a letter from Mrs. David Gillespie of Lincoln, IL.

Based on the above, I was able to fill in the gaps of Abiel’s history and fully bring him into the story.

Next, I had one rather disturbing fact to figure out. Again, this came from Daniel Livermore’s journal, this time the October 26, 1779 entry: “… and a brigade court martial is called, of which Major Titcomb is President, for the trial of Capt. Isaac Frye, of the third battalion of New-Hampshire forces of which I was a member. The charge brought against Capt. Frye was ungentlemanlike behavior and defrauding the officers of the regiment of public stores. …”

There was a lot to unpack, including the idea that Livermore may have edited his journal after the initial writing, given the clause qualifying that he was a member of the third battalion of the New Hampshire forces. Defrauding the officers, but not the enlisted soldiers, also caught my eye. Two months earlier, Livermore made a remarkable midnight journey, crossing the Great Swamp, riding fifty miles back to Easton and beyond in less than two days. He never explains the reason for his mission, but I found that it occurred the evening after a letter for Brigadier General Enoch Poor, who commanded the New Hampshire Brigade. That letter was from Major Caleb Gibbs, the commander of General Washington’s lifeguard. Gibbs mentions a quantity of liquor captured by Anthony Wayne’s forces at Stony Point. Coincidence? I doubt it. Rum and alcohol of any variety were in scarce supply. You’ll need to read the book to see how this turns out.

-CEF

Posted on by Charlie Frye · 1 Comment

ArcGIS Pro Map Package for Battle of Breed’s Hill

Happy 4th of July! After publishing the List of Americans in the Battle of Breed’s Hill from the Rolls last year, I had intended to also publish the ArcGIS Pro map I used as part of the research to compile the list. Today, I am finally sharing that here today.

Download: Battle of Breeds Hill Troop Locations and Movements.

The above link will open the ArcGIS Online homage page for the map package. In the upper right, click Download, and then in ArcGIS Pro, use the Import tab to add this map to your Pro project.

Included in the Map Package

  • Layers for the initial deployment of troops and artillery at the regiment and, when it was needed, at the company level.
  • Layers for locations of troops and artillery during the initial phase of the battle.
  • Layers for locations of troops and artillery during the final phase of the battle
  • Muster of the names of the Americans who fought (note this is not as current as the spreadsheet in the List of Americans in the Battle of Breed’s Hill from the Rolls.

Requirements

This map package requires using ArcGIS Pro version 2.8 or newer. ArcGIS Pro is available as Part of university site licenses or, like I use it, via the Personal Use Account.

I advise having at least an intermediate or greater level of experience/comfort using ArcGIS Pro to get full value from this map. In particular, skills to query tables within a moderately complex relational data model are needed.

Posted on by Charlie Frye

Aaron Oliver and Ezra Fuller – Memorial Day

In researching my books I learn some of the details about little-known soldiers of the American Revolution who made the ultimate sacrifice. Each year when Memorial Day nears, I try to carve out time to share those stories. This year I chose two who chose to fight for American Independence from Great Britain.

I began learning about Aaron Oliver and Ezra Fuller while researching Honor and Valor because they were soldiers who enlisted in the Continental Army company my great-great-great-great-grandfather, Isaac Frye, captained. In early 1777, the regiment was recruiting and I wrote about how Isaac recruited from the towns near his home in Wilton, New Hampshire.

My habit before writing is to research the histories of the men who served in the Continental Army with Isaac Frye. Early in my research, I found the enlistment documents for Isaac Frye’s company. The first was signed by enlistees who gathered in Wilton, New Hampshire on April 1, 1777. Aaron Oliver and Ezra Fuller were present and they enlisted as private soldiers in the Continental Army for a term of three years. Their signatures are indicated in the image with red arrows.

I research genealogical information for each soldier. I found Aaron Oliver was born on 25 August 1750 in Malden, Massachusetts, and that he was married to Abigail Townsend and they had three sons, Luther, Ezra, and Aaron Jr. In 1777. They were living in Temple, New Hampshire when Aaron enlisted. Ezra Fuller was younger, born in 1757 in Lynn, MA; he was not married. He lived in Mason, New Hampshire when he enlisted.

As I continued my research, I found two unexpected references for Aaron Oliver. The first was a Daughters of the American Revolution publication, Forgotten Patriots, African American and American Indian Patriots in the Revolutionary War, A Guide to Service Sources, and Studies; and the second was Glenn A. Knoblock’s African American Historical Burial Grounds and Gravesites of New England. Forgotten Patriots provides that Oliver was of mixed heritage, “mulatto”. That got me curious and I searched for the names of all the men in Isaac Frye’s company. Ezra Fuller was included as “African American”. Knoblock provides additional history about Oliver and uses his case to illustrate the practice of “warning out”, a practice where towns ousted unwanted or burdensome people from dwelling within their boundaries.

I learned a good deal more about Oliver and Fuller from town histories and several of the muster rolls Isaac Frye and the officers of his company made each month. Several facts that applied to Oliver and Fuller have stuck with me.

  • They were born, and died, as free men.
  • Each could sign his name and therefore I presume could read and write – something three in ten of their white counterparts could or did not do.
  • The monthly muster rolls show Oliver and Fuller were not segregated within Captain Frye’s company. The rolls list the men in groups of five by their “messes”, meaning those who shared meals and tents. Frye’s rolls show messes were initially determined alphabetically. All men in the company were equals in pay, misery, risk, and soldierly duties.

Despite these inferences, I found no specific references to the character or accounts of either Oliver or Fuller in any diaries, journals, or contemporary writings. Their service was as exemplary as any other private soldier in the Continental Army.

Aaron Oliver’s Service

As the Continental Army evacuated from Fort Ticonderoga in early July of 1775, Oliver and two other men, Ensign Samuel Leeman, and Private Jonathan Foster were assigned to guard the baggage and invalids. Thus, these three were caught in the Battle of Hubbardton. Leeman was killed and Foster escaped to the east but was unable to rejoin the company until later. Knoblock provides that Oliver was taken prisoner, and taken to and held in the British prison ships at Wallabout Bay in New York. Oliver’s health deteriorated and he was released from captivity and returned home to Temple in April 1778. Isaac Frye’s muster roll for November 1778 has a notation of Oliver dying on April 30, 1778. At his death, Aaron Oliver was twenty-seven years of age. In December of 1778, Oliver’s widow, Abigail, was warned out of Temple – the town would or could not support them.

I found that fact troubling for having learned Josiah Parker’s story, and after his passing, the Town of Wilton, of similar size and means, appeared to support his widow Phebe and their children until Phebe married recently widowed John Greele a year and a half later.

It is also troubling that I have never found evidence that Aaron Oliver was ever paid or that his widow, Abigail, received any compensation for his service.

Added April 25, 2024: I happened to find one additional enlistment for Aaron Oliver in the Massachusetts Rolls (Vol. 11, p. 635): Oliver, Aaron, Temple. Descriptive list endorsed ” August 4 1775; ” Capt. Ezra Town s co., Col. James Read‘s regt.; rank, Private; age, 25 yrs. : stature, 5 ft. 10 in.; eyes, black; occupation, farmer; birthplace, Malden; residence, Temple; enlisted April 23. 1775; mustered July 11, 1775 ; reported a mulatto ; also reported absent on command.

Ezra Fuller’s Service

Ezra Fuller served in the place of Deacon Amos Dakin, who may also have paid his town or state bounty, a bonus for enlisting. Fuller was apparently very ill at the time Captain Frye’s company marched to Fort Ticonderoga,, as Fuller does not appear on the rolls until joining the company in September after the Battle of Freeman’s Farm. Fuller apparently fits into the company and marches with them into the Battle of Bemis Heights in which he is wounded.

Fuller spends several months recovering in Albany and is among the first to march from there to Valley Forge to join his company at some point between the muster rolls taken on April 4, 1778 and May 2, 1778. However, Fuller is immediately listed as sick. He was apparently taken to one of the hospitals in the area. Because he was not with the company and Captain Frye was also sick, but remained in the camp at Valley Forge, his disposition was unknown. He is listed on the monthly muster rolls as sick at Valley Forge through April of 1779. However, I found a record indicating he died on July 14, 1778 – he was just twenty-one or twenty-two years old. On August 28, 1782, Ezra Fuller’s father, David Fuller, was given his son’s pay.

-CEF

Posted on by Charlie Frye

Will Burton and July 5, 1777

While researching and writing Honor and Valor I found journal and diary entries telling of the first commemorations of the July 4th in 1777. The evening of 5 July, 1777 turned out to be substantially more important. As the sun set that day on the American soldiers at Fort Ticonderoga, outnumbered by 3:1 by General Burgoyne’s army several miles to the north, they loaded what they could carry and left. On boats they carried cannon and baggage south toward Skenesborough (now Whitehall), though most marched east and then turned south toward Hubbardton.

The Americans at Fort Ticonderoga numbered about 3,000 with a majority being Continental Army soldiers and the rest Massachusetts and New Hampshire militia.

Will Burton, barely 15-years-old, a fifer with the 3rd New Hampshire Continental Regiment, and likely full of adrenaline marched with them toward Hubbardton. Will, like my ancestor, Isaac Frye, was from Wilton, New Hampshire. Each of the nine companies in the regiment had a fifer and a drummer. Isaac Frye was at that time a Captain and commanded one of the companies in the 3rd NH, the same one Will had enlisted in three months earlier.

When I wrote the outline of Honor and Valor, I was telling Isaac Frye’s story. I was loosely aware of Will Burton’s service and knew I wanted to include it, but had not worked out how until I began writing the book. After getting stuck trying to introduce Will, I realized he would need to be a major character and a significant part of the story would need to come from his perspective.

I had no idea how important Will’s perspective would prove to be. Isaac Frye was an officer, and any who know the U.S. Army know an officer’s life and experiences are different than those of the privates (the short form of “private soldiers”, the 18th Century term for enlisted men).

Having been a private when I was barely 18-years old in the modern U.S. Army, I had some idea of Will’s role in the Continental Army. Being at the dirty hands end of the chain of command and bound by a sense of duty and a sacred oath builds character. Like Will, I learned it takes more than an oath to become a soldier.

-CEF

The image features the cannon at Fort Ticonderoga guarding against approaches on Lake Champlain.

 

 

 

Posted on by Charlie Frye

Memorial Day Tribute to Five of a 40-Man Scout

September 4, 1777, Major Henry Dearborn of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment wrote the following in his journal:

“a Scout of 40 men under Command of Capt. fry of Colo. Scammels Regt. was Surpris’d By a Body of Indians & others Consisting in the whole of about 300. we Lost out our scout 9 men kild & taken–“

Memorial Day has become the time when we reflect on the sacrifices of our country’s soldiers and their families. Researching and writing my books has afforded me opportunities to learn a few stories of such sacrifices that have seemingly gone untold. Last year I wrote on Josiah Parker. This past year I finally sorted out the story of the scouting party Henry Dearborn wrote about.

Early on the morning of September 4, 1777, Captain Isaac Frye of Colonel Alexander Scammell’s 3rd New Hampshire Regiment led a party of forty men selected from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd NH and the 2nd and 4th New York Continental Army regiments out of their camp by Lowden’s Ferry on the south side of the Mohawk River. After crossing the river, Frye, a New Hampshire Farmer, likely led them along the north side of the river before turning northwest by what is today Alplaus. By early afternoon they were likely near Galway when they were ambushed by the warriors from the Fort Hunter Mohawks, who having been driven from their homes were on their way first to Burgoyne’s camp and ultimately to Canada.

This past summer I was able to use the rolls from these regiments to determine the names of all the men in this scouting party.  It was mostly luck that the rolls were taken on September 5 and 6, listing the men as either on a scout or on command.

Lieutenant Nathaniel McCally and privates Daniel Cook and Daniel Day apparently got separated and did not return with Captain Frye and were listed as missing.  The next date rolls existed for was Jan 1/2, 1778, where I confirmed these men had returned a day or two later. Those January rolls also listed the men who were killed or were listed as missing since the scouting party:

  • Sergeant William Kemp, Morrill’s company, 1st NH
  • Corporal Steven Lovekin, Blodgett’s company, 2nd NH
  • Private Isaac Leeland, Blodgett’s company, 2nd NH
  • Private Andrew Newell, Stone’s company, 3rd NH
  • Private Samuel Page, Gilman’s company, 1st NH

It’s been more than a decade since I learned my 4x great grandfather commanded this scouting party.  It has bothered me that Dearborn’s journal and Anburey’s account were all most of us knew about the events of September 4, 1777.  The names of these men who lost their lives that day while serving in the Continental Army were unaccounted for in any of the histories I’ve read and had eluded me until this year.

This skirmish also claimed the lives of as many as three men in the Fort Hunter party who were led by Odeserundiye (John Deserontyon, aka Captain John), who was wounded during the fighting. Samuel Cooley and Isaac Hill’s brother (I’ve not been able to confirm his first name) are the two names from the Fort Hunter part I’ve found mentioned as being killed. The Fort Hunter party included about 150 men, women, and children.

The full story will be in Honor and Valor, where I included an appendix containing the full 40-man roster.

-CF

Sources:

Anburey, Thomas 1784. “Travels Through the Interior Parts of America in a Series of Letters by an Officer” William Lane, Leadenhall Street, London, England. p391-398

Brown, Lloyd A. and Peckham, Howard H. 1939. “Revolutionary War Journals of Henry Dearborn 1775-1783” The Caxton Club, Chicago, IL. p104.

National Archives, Rolls of Brigadier General Enoch Poor’s brigade (1st, 2nd, and 3rd NH and 2nd and 4th NY regiments) dated Sept 4-6, 1777 and 1-2 Jan 1778. Accessed from 2014-2018 on http://www.Fold3.com.

Acknowledgments:

Eric Schnitzer, Historian and Park Ranger at Saratoga National Historical Park: A little encouragement goes a long way.  Eric put me on the path to looking at all the September 1777 rolls for Enoch Poor’s brigade.

Posted on by Charlie Frye

Freeman’s Farm: The more I read …

For the past few weeks, I’ve been writing the scenes during the Battle of Freeman’s Farm. The perspective is from inside the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment; imagining what it was like to be in the ranks, commanding platoons and companies, and orchestrating the positioning of a regiment on that battlefield.

Most histories are written from a bird’s-eye view with the occasional tidbit coming from the diary or memoir of one of the men on the field. No complaints as those are great reads for getting introduced to the events and people involved. That said, between such histories and paintings of these battles, both new and old, something has been troubling me. How is it, given that each side had roughly 3,000 men, each man roughly twenty cartridges, and fired most of them over the 4-6 hours they were on the battlefield, that there were only a little over 1,000 total casualties?

Do that math:  The Americans fired upwards of 60,000 bullets, and maybe 1,000 found an enemy soldier. The British fired about the same number and only hit half as many Americans.

For having fired a musket and demonstrated, hundreds of times, how a firelock works, while explaining the range and just how far off target they could be at a distance of 75 yards, I was still surprised by these numbers.

As I considered the possible reasons for this, some notions of what must have been happening, strategically and tactically, began to develop.  First, the 18th-century battlefield was more like a chess match than a shooting gallery. Colonels and captains had to preserve their troops by maneuvering on the field with the dual intent of catching their enemy within range of their muskets.

Sidebar:  Is the right word musket or firelock?  If Google’s NGram Viewer is reliable, it looks like it was similar to “flip phones” versus “cell phones”. It seems that firelocks were a specific new form of the musket class of weapon. 

Smoke from firing volleys, providing the fog of battle to hide movements, was only the beginning. Advancing or retreating while firing volleys by platoon allowed for relatively high rates of sustained fire to push groups of enemy troops out of the way, or respectively slow their advance.  Getting close enough, perhaps by flanking (coming around to the side of an enemy’s formation), to warrant a bayonet charge while your enemy reloads was a tempting and dangerous goal. Execute poorly and the tables could be turned rather quickly.

Given that, my respect has risen considerably for the American Colonels (Cilley, Scammell, Cook, Adams, and Hull) who directed their men in the field around Freeman’s farm against Burgoyne and Hamilton on this day 241 years ago. These men did not just rush onto the field ala Mel Gibson (as Benjamin Martin or William Wallace) and clash with their enemy. One of the consistent recollections by the men who were there was of the tremendous amount of musketry.  That meant firing volleys, advancing, wheeling, and retreating if no advantage was gained.

Another thing to take into account was the likelihood that Morgan’s riflemen, and the Jaegers who carried rifles, accounted for a double-digit percentage of the casualties. There were points during the battle where the fighting came to hand-to-hand combat. Both of these facts imply that those muskets accounted for even fewer casualties than the 1 in 60 that my initial estimate suggested.

Consider that not all men on either side were killers. Aiming a firearm with the intent of taking a life is no small thing. Given all the smoke, there were certainly times when finding a target was impossible–just point into the smoke and pull the trigger when commanded to fire.

It seems only one man in five or even six fired a shot that struck an enemy that day. The credit for keeping the American casualties so low goes to the officers who guided their troops on the field and in the woods while they fought for something more than a sixpence.*

-CF

* From a Henry Dearborn quote: “But we who had Something more at Stake than fighting for Six Pence Pr Day kept our ground til Night, Closed the scene, & then Both Parties Retire’d”

Posted on by Charlie Frye

Schaghticoke in the American Revolution, Major VanVeghten scalped

Got to love the Internet for providing the basis to connect the threads of history! See my comment proposing the connecting the thread at the end.

schaghticokehistory's avatarHistory of the Town of Schaghticoke

          In the last post, I related a Knickerbocker family legend that the fort near the Mansion was occupied by Hessian soldiers at the time of the battle of Saratoga. Though I doubt very much that that was true, there is no doubt that there were bands of Tories, Indians, and perhaps Hessians and British roaming through the area during the summer of 1777 before the battle of Saratoga. Major Dirck VanVeghten of the  local militia unit, the 14th Albany County, was killed by one band when he came from Saratoga just before the battle to check on his home in Schaghticoke. One source states that VanVeghten came home on “an intelligence gathering mission.” In either event,  he was accompanied only by Solomon Acker, one of  the soldiers in his company of the 14th Albany County Militia.

            The story of Major VanVeghten really illustrates the great variety…

View original post 662 more words

Posted on by Charlie Frye · 2 Comments

Reflections on Josiah Parker

Memorial Day was not observed in the years immediately following the American Revolution. Soldiers like Josiah Parker, a militiaman from Wilton, NH, who served during the summer and fall of 1776 at Fort Ticonderoga were not much on people’s minds after the Civil War when springtime memorials to fallen soldiers began occurring.

Josiah’s parents, Henry and Sarah Parker lived up the hill from Isaac and Elizabeth Frye in Wilton in the 1770s. Josiah lived a couple miles away, near where Elizabeth’s parents, Timothy and Elizabeth Holt had settled in the early 1770s.

As I was researching The War has Begun, I had quite a time discovering the backstory for Elizabeth Frye writing, in October, about the need to get Josiah a discharge due to his severe illness. That backstory did a great deal to cement, in my mind, the important roles everyone in communities like Wilton played. Their sacrifices were not just categorical things like hunger, sickness, the economic impact of men being absent from farms, etc.

The Josiah Parker who was Fort Ticonderoga and sick enough to be fearing for his life in the early autumn of 1776, was a husband to Phebe, a father to five children, and Phebe was four months pregnant with a sixth child, conceived in the days prior to Josiah being mustered in early July.

Learning what happened to the widows and families of men like Josiah Parker proved fundamental to my writing. How communities coped and the impacts on each individual rippling into the lives of others such the minister of Wilton’s Congregational meetinghouse, Jonathan Livermore provided the threads to make a fabric that richly showed how a community bore the weight of a revolution.

This Memorial Day, take some time to consider what you’ve learned from a Revolutionary War soldier who was killed or died while serving.

Sources

As usual, I am indebted to the work of Abiel Abbot Livermore and Sewall Putnam whose research provided the pieces to this puzzle that matched with those I found in Elizabeth Frye’s letter of October 7, 1776.

Livermore, Abiel Abbot and Putnam, Sewall 1888. “History of the Town of Wilton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire with a Genealogical Register” Marden & Rowell, Printers, Lowell, MA.

Posted on by Charlie Frye

Balancing the Balance of Power

On May 5, 1776, General George Washington wrote to Congress. Among the many items was this paragraph:

“I beg leave to lay before Congress, a Copy of the proceedings of a Court Martial upon Lieutenant Grover of the 2d. Regiment, and of his defence, which I should not have troubled them with, had I not conceived the Courts Sentence upon the facts stated in the proceedings, of a singular nature; the small fine imposed, by no means adequate to the enormity of his offence and to be a dangerous and pernicious tendency: for these reasons, I thought it my duty to lay the proceedings before them, in order to their forming such a Judgment upon the Facts, as they shall conceive right and just, and advancive of the Public Good. At the same time I would mention, that I think it of material consequence that Congress should make a resolve, taking away the supposed right of succession in the Military line from one Rank to another, which is claimed by many upon the happening of vacancies, and upon which principle this Offence seems to have originated in a great measure, and this extraordinary Judgement to be founded; declaring that no succession or promotion can take place in case of vacancies, without a Continental Commission giving and Authorizing it.”

In Congress on May 10, 1776 it was resolved:

“That this Congress has hitherto exercised, and ought to retain the power of promoting the officers in the continental service according to their merit; and that no promotion or succession shall take place upon any vacancy, without the authority of a continental Commission.”

Thus, not even his Excellency, General George Washington, would not have the power to promote an officer in the Army he commanded.  An act of Congress would be required. Even in the early days of the American Revolution, the idea of a balance of power was in practice. Washington also knew who held the power over his own commission, and personally, in later correspondence with Congress made recommendations for many of the officers, in addition to forwarding the recommendations from the thirteen provincial congresses that recommended which officers should be commissioned.

These commissions, however, did not arrive immediately. In Isaac Frye’s case, New Hampshire made the recommendation in March 1777, but the commission was not signed until June 1779, more than two years afterward.

Sources:

George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence: George Washington to Continental Congress, May 5. May 5, 1777. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw447183/.

Livermore, Abiel Abbot and Putnam, Sewall 1888. “History of the Town of Wilton, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire with a Genealogical Register” Marden & Rowell, Printers, Lowell, MA. Page 106 has a transcription of Isaac Frye’s commission to rank as Captain, which was signed by John Jay, President of Congress, on June 16, 1779.

Posted on by Charlie Frye

New Hampshire Continental Bounties in 1777: A model for the Army College Fund?

Early on I learned my ancestor, Isaac Frye, recruited a company of soldiers for the Continental Army in early 1777.  He ranked as a captain at that time, and records show was given 300£, for to be paid as bounties to induce the men to enlist.

For years, I took that literally, i.e., he was given species as in hard sterling silver money.  In those days that was enough money to buy a nice plot of land. Read more