The Privates

Common Soldiers, Uncommon Times

Howard Pyle

Chapter 11: The Privates

Join me as I trek through history following the lives of “my” people. By nature a restless breed, they were among the early colonists, the soldiers who served in the Revolutionary Army, and the land-hungry Scots Irish who settled the West. They helped shape an extraordinary nation, and in turn became indelibly American. I’ll post (and email) you each chapter of “Unsettled” as it’s written. You will find back chapters here. It’s a history that becomes more personal and a little crazier as it unfolds. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Private Nathaniel Richard Martin, 1753-1840

On August 8, 1776, the 23-year-old Martin enlisted as a private in the 4th Regiment of the North Carolina Militia. Born and raised in Caswell County, he was the only child of James Thomas Martin, a native of Sussex, England and Sarah Rachel Harris. Martin’s mother was from a prosperous slave-owning family in Albermarle County, Virginia, where the family possessed “a large body of land.” While Caswell County itself was never a battlefield, over the war’s duration Caswell County soldiers, including Martin, fought in at least 25 battles and skirmishes, including major battles at Germantown, Brandywine, Monmouth and Brandywine Creek. Shortly after enlisting in the North Carolina Militia, Martin was ordered to Georgetown, Maryland, (now D.C.). There he was inoculated then isolated for a month under nursing care. After he recovered, Martin rejoined his regiment and by September he was in Pennsylvania hunkered down at Brandywine Creek.

The Battle of Brandywine Creek

In the early morning hours of September 11, 1777, Washington’s troops, including Martin, stood watch on the east bank of Brandywine Creek. However, a thick blanket of fog had rolled in overnight preventing the men from seeing beyond the barrels of their muskets. Washington hadn’t accounted for fog when he positioned troops at crossings up and down Brandywine Creek. The creek was the last line of defense against the British drive to capture Philadelphia, 20 miles northeast. The British considered Philadelphia, the American capital, as both a tactical and symbolic prize.

The fog also compounded a critical error in Washington’s plan, which was to fortify every bridge crossing the creek and to block the British advance. Except he missed two crossings—one some 17 miles upstream where 9,000 British soldiers under the command of General Charles Cornwallis awaited marching orders. At 5:00 a.m. under heavy fog, the British flank began the nine-hour march to Chadd’s Ford. The army advanced with remarkable pace considering the logistics of moving thousands of men, horses and artillery, without alerting the Americans. Cornwallis’s men arrived at Chadd’s Ford in early afternoon to reinforce General William Howe’s 6,800 British and Hessian troops who already were engaged in heavy fighting with the Americans. The British had outflanked Washington’s army. Still, the two armies continued fighting into the late afternoon when British forces broke through Washington’s line. The battle was lost, but it wasn’t over.

In a bold move, Washington ordered Major General Nathaniel Greene, his most trusted officer, to mount a rear-guard attack on the British so that the bulk of the Continental Army could escape. Greene’s men quickly moved to catch the British in the open and counterattacked. As the sun was going down, Greene’s men fell back into a grove of trees, firing on the British from behind the trees to draw them away from Washington’s main army. With the help of Greene’s courageous troops and the leadership of “the boy general” the Marquis de Lafayette, Washington’s men were able to withdraw under the cover of night. The British, foregoing a nighttime pursuit, pitched camp to rest and to prepare for the next battle with Washington’s patriots.

The Battle of Brandywine was the largest one-day battle of the American Revolution with the two armies totaling 30,000 men. The Continental Army counted 1,300 casualties while British casualties were between 600-900. The loss at Brandywine allowed the British to occupy Philadelphia within weeks. The Americans, however, considered the battle a moral victory. A soldier who served with Martin in three major battles testified before the pension board that Martin was a “brave active and faithful Soldier ever willing and present, when and where his duty called him.”

Undeterred, Washington later wrote John Hancock: "Notwithstanding the misfortune of the day, I am happy to find the troops in good spirits; and I hope another time we shall compensate for the losses now sustained.”

Private James William Murphy Sr., 1735-1812

Less than a month after the defeat at Brandywine, Washington’s troops marched to Germantown, a village sixteen miles northeast of Philadelphia. Washington was desperate to recruit more men and allowed boys as young as 16 and men as old as 60 to serve. One of those men was a 41-year-old soldier named James William Murphy. He enlisted in the 4th Regiment of the Virginia Militia under Brigadier General Charles Scott. Scott’s Brigade was a tenacious fighting force of soldiers mostly from Virginia. The brigade fought alongside Washington’s troops in the battles of Trenton, Germantown, Monmouth, and Stony Point.

When Murphy enlisted in the army in the spring of 1776, he left behind a wife and ten children in Baltimore. During his three years in the army, he fought in at least four battles and spent the winter at Valley Forge. The only mention of his service is the fact that he served—and survived. He was born in Charles County, Maryland, where his grandfather Daniel Murphy had settled when he came to America from County Carlow, Ireland. The elder Murphy had immigrated in 1679, the first year of a massive immigration where in four years 20,000 Irish immigrants arrived in Maryland.

The Battle of Germantown

By October 4, 1777, two brigades of Howe’s British army were already camped outside of Germantown. This time, Washington was confident of a victory as the Continental troops outnumbered the Hessians, German mercenaries, 11,000 to 9,000. But Washington’s battle plan was undone by among other things, darkness and yet another heavy fog. One of his brigades, disoriented in the fog, fired on their own men thinking they were enemy troops. In the end, Washington’s troops suffered 1,100 casualties, twice that of the British. His troops again retreated under darkness. Although twice routed by the British, Washington’s army proved to be determined fighters. With the onset of winter, Washington retreated to Valley Forge, 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia where during a brutal winter, the troops would train for the battles ahead.

Winter at Valley Forge

Most likely, Martin and Murphy were among the 12,000 Continental troops camped at Valley Forge. The camp’s population also included African American and Native American soldiers, plus upwards of 400 women and children. At first Washington objected to the presence of families, but later came to appreciate them (and pay them) for their work as nurses, cooks, laundresses, and seamstresses. Martha Washington joined her husband for a part of each winter encampment, including Valley Forge. One visitor to the camp wrote, “In the midst of all our distress there were some bright sides of the picture…Mrs. Washington had the courage to follow her husband to that dismal abode... .”

Although it was bitterly cold, Washington used the winter months to shape the army into a true fighting force. Under the stern leadership of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben, the soldiers were drilled in military discipline. More important, Steuben trained them in combat maneuvers they would later deploy against more experienced British regulars. During that time, Washington received news of an alliance between France and the American colonies. France, a rival of the British, also was sympathetic to the cause of democracy. The alliance meant the Americans could count on France to help fund the war, The French government also agreed to provide weapons and supplies, and to loan the assistance of the French navy. This pledge of support boosted morale in the short run and would prove key to America’s ultimate victory.

Emboldened, Washington, with the help of Scott’s troops, implemented an audacious plan that would change the fortunes of the war. The general daringly led his men across the icy Delaware River and marched ten miles to Trenton, New Jersey, where they surprised and subsequently defeated a garrison of 1,500 Hessians troops. A week later, the Americans again prevailed against the British at Princeton. In each battle won or lost, Washington demonstrated ingenuity and resiliency as a leader—and earned him the loyalty of his troops. The Continental Army emerged from these trials a hardened fighting force prepared to continue to fight the British. By war’s end, more than 231,000 men had served in the Continental Army, with no more than 13,000 serving in one place at a time.

The War Ends

The Treaty of Paris, signed September 3, 1783, brought a victorious end to America’s fight for independence from Great Britain. Penned in fitting flourish, the treaty was signed by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay representing America, and David Hartly of Great Britain. The Americans plainly stipulated in Article One of the treaty that the Crown recognize America’s independence and its rights as a separate nation.

Martin Returns Home

The Treaty of Paris was the last thing on Martin’s mind that September. Martin was back home in Caswell County, North Carolina, thinking only of his wedding, set for October 25, 1783. On that glorious fall Saturday, he and 17-year-old Frankey Turner were married in the presence of both families. The joyous occasion also marked the return of Frankey’s oldest brother, James Turner, who had been wounded in battle.

Martin flourished in his home town. Respected for his military service, Martin also went on to be revered as minister of the Bush Arbor Primitive Baptist Church from 1817 to 1834. He and Frankey raised their five children Richard, Lewis, George, Henry and James in Caswell County. For his military service The Rev. Nathaniel Martin was granted 228 acres of land in Sumner County, North Carolina, which he sold in 1786. Martin also received a war pension of $80 a year, which he received until his death on December 15, 1840 at the age of 87. His widow, Frankey, received her husband’s pension until her death on May 13, 1842. They were both buried in the Martin Cemetery near the Bush Arbor Primitive Baptist Church in Caswell County.

Murphy Moves On

Not much is known about Murphy after the war, except that he returned to Baltimore where he and his wife Elizabeth raised a houseful of children—eight sons and two daughters.

At the end of the war, those who served for the duration were entitled to receive free land. Enlisted men like Murphy were entitled to 100 acres of free land. Between 1776 and 1855, the federal government issued 500,000 warrants to more than 61 million acres of designated land. However, there is no record to show whether or not Murphy received his land. He was awarded an annual pension of $40 beginning in 1789 and continuing until his death. He lived in Baltimore for the next two decades before moving to Norfolk, Virginia in 1810 where many of his children lived. He died there two years later, at the age of 77.

Turning Points

The newly independent nation emerged from the American Revolution in an expansionist mood. Article One of the Paris Agreement recognized America’s independence and its rights as a separate nation, while Second Article guaranteed the its claim to the lands from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River. The young government, following Britain’s practice of offering free land to populate the colonies, planned to do the same. The Americans believed that the country’s success depended upon its ability to settle these lands and to exploit their natural resources. Expansionist fervor eventually would push for settlement beyond the Mississippi across the vast western lands and onto the Pacific Ocean.

Despite their common place in American history, Martin and Murphy likely never met. Their descendants would be counted among those who continued the family’s penchant for moving on. The Martin’s moved down to Georgia then west to Texas while the Murphy’s settled in Kentucky, where my grandfather was born. Eventually two descendants of these Revolutionary War patriots would meet in the oilfields of Oklahoma and marry.