John Haslet
John Haslet (c. 1727 โ January 3, 1777) was an American Presbyterian clergyman and soldier from Milford, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War and an officer of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, serving as the first Colonel of the 1st Delaware Regiment. He was killed in action at the Battle of Princeton.
Early life and family
Haslet was born in Straw, Burnfoot, County Londonderry in Ulster, Ireland, about 1727, son of Joseph and Ann Dykes Haslet. As the eldest son, he attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland, earned his degree in divinity in 1749 and was ordained a Presbyterian minister at Ballykelly, County Londonderry, in 1752. About 1750, he married Shirley Stirling, daughter of the Presbyterian minister from Walworth, Ballykelly.[1] They had a daughter Mary, called Polly, born about 1752. Shirley most likely died in childbirth, as Polly was raised by her uncle, Samuel Haslet and followed her father to America in 1765.
By 1764, he had settled near Milford, Delaware, and married Jemima Molleston, the widow of John Brinkle and sister of Henry Molleston. Records of the Presbyterian Historical Society of America do not show him as a preacher in America; rather he is commonly referred to as "doctor" Haslet, reference to his medical practice. In 1767, he bought a tract of land called "Longfield", now inside the northern limits of Milford just off Roosa Road. They had four children together, Ann, Jemima, John and Joseph.
French and Indian War
Arriving in America in 1757, he served in the French and Indian War as a captain in the Pennsylvania militia. He was part of the Forbes Expedition that captured Fort Duquesne in November 1758. He wrote a letter describing the condition of the fort.
American Revolutionary War
In response to the request of the Continental Congress, the Lower Counties Assembly raised the 1st Delaware Regiment, placing Haslet at its command on January 19, 1776, with the rank of colonel. Known as the "Delaware Continentals" or "Delaware Blues", they were from the smallest state, but at some 800 men, were the largest battalion in the army. David McCullough in 1776 describes them as turned out in handsome red trimmed blue coats, white waistcoats, buckskin breeches, white woolen stockings, and carrying fine, 'lately imported' English muskets. Raised in early 1776, they went from north in July and August 1776, arriving in time to engage in the entire sequence of events surrounding the British capture of New York in 1776.
At the
Retreating across
With expiring enlistments leaving fewer than 100 men remaining in his regiment, Haslet
Legacy
Haslet was first buried at the First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Philadelphia. By an act of the Delaware General Assembly on July 1, 1841, his remains were disinterred and moved to the Presbyterian Cemetery in Dover, Delaware. In 2001, the State of Delaware dedicated a monument to honor him at Battle Monument Park in Princeton, New Jersey.
John Haslet was perhaps the best soldier Delaware had to offer, and the next best soldier, his good friend
Notes
- ^ It may be doubtful that his first wife was Stirling's daughter, since he would have been elderly, having been minister at Ballkelly since the start of the 18th century.
References
- McCullough, David (2005). 1776. Simon & Schuster, New York.
- Munroe, John A. (1993). History of Delaware. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-493-5.
- Ward, Christopher. (1941). The Delaware Continentals, 1776โ1783. Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington.
- Scharf, John Thomas. (1888). History of Delaware 1609โ1888. L. J. Richards & Co., Philadelphia. ISBN 978-1142119973.
- Walters, Fred B. (2005). John Haslet: A Useful One. F. B. Walters, Philadelphia.
- Colonel John Haslet
- Price, David (2022). John Haslet's World: An Ardent Patriot, the Delaware Blues, and the Spirit of 1776. Permuted Press, LLC, New York.