1st Pennsylvania Regiment
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1st Pennsylvania Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1775 – 1783 |
Allegiance | Battle of Springfield Battle of Stony Point |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Colonel William Thompson Colonel Edward Hand Colonel James Chambers |
The 1st Pennsylvania Regiment - originally mustered as the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles; also known as the 1st Continental Line and 1st Continental Regiment, was raised under the command of Colonel William Thompson for service in the Continental Army.
History
The Congressional resolution of June 14, 1775 authorized ten companies of expert riflemen to be raised for one-year enlistments as Continental Army troops. Maryland and Virginia were to raise two companies each, and Pennsylvania was charged with raising six. However, Pennsylvania frontiersman were so eager to participate that, on June 22, Pennsylvania's quota of six was increased to eight, organized as a regiment known as the "Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment." A ninth company was added to the regiment on July 11. All thirteen companies were sent to Washington's army at Boston for use as light infantry and later as special reserve forces.
Seven companies of the regiment (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9th) were made up of
Doctor James Thacher, a young doctor from Barnstable who observed the regiment during many of its battles, provided this description of the riflemen:
They are remarkably stout and hardy men; many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed in white frocks or rifle shirts and round hats. There men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great certainty at two hundred yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while in a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of seven inches diameter at the distance of 250 yards . . . their shot have frequently proved fatal to British officers and soldiers who expose themselves to view at more than double the distance of common musket shot. (Source: James Thacher, "Military Journal during the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783".)
As described under "colours", the regiment in 1776 wore green hunting shirts with black caps trimmed white adorned with feather while the officers wore green coats with red facings and similar caps.[1] By the Battle of Boston and by regulation at Valley Forge, blue coats with red facings were issued to the regiment, while most of the regiment's Riflemen continued to wear hunting shirts until wars end.
The regiment saw action during the
The unit also fought at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 and the Battle of Springfield in 1780. Two companies, those of Captain William Hendricks and Captain Matthew Smith, accompanied Arnold's expedition to Quebec and were captured in the Battle of Quebec. The regiment was furloughed June 11, 1783, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and disbanded on November 15, 1783.
Company C of the 337th Engineer Battalion claims lineage from Captain Michael Doudeis Company of York, Pennsylvania, of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment.
Notes
- ^ "1st_Cont_Rifle_Regt1776.jpg". American Civil War Gaming Club (ACWGC).
- ^ McGuire (2006), 249
- ^ McGuire (2007), 71
- ^ McGuire (2007), 259-260
- ^ "Robert Blackwell". University Archives and Records Center. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
References
- McGuire, Thomas J. (2006). The Philadelphia Campaign, Volume I. Mechanicsburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-0178-6.
- McGuire, Thomas J. (2007). The Philadelphia Campaign, Volume II. Mechanicsburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0206-5.
- The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania Wayland F. Dunaway, 1944, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2002.