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The Riflemen of the Revolution V ? . ? * - . T-.TO&' .* ' ?' THE PENNSYLVANIA COMPANIES By ELMO SCOTT WATSON j. v?A3 me summer or i<70. On the benches outside a tavern In the little Pennsylvania town of Sunbury a group of villagers lounged In the warm sun shine and gossiped Idly about the news from the north. At Concord and Lex ington In Massachusetts some farmers had "fit the reg'lars" and there had been blood-letting a-plenty. Away up In New York a leader of the Green Mountain Boys, named Ethan Allen. uttu muuuereu ai me gates or "Old Tl" on the shores of Lake Champlnln and demanded the surrender of the fort "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." The king and hlB ministers had sent three more gen erals, Burgoyne and Clinton and Howe, to Bos ton to help General Gage "hang as rebels and traitors all who continued to resist His Majesty's Government." Stirring events, these I But In this sleepy lit tle village the possibility of war still seemed far away and unlikely. Then suddenly Its calm wns broken. A horseman, galloping In haste and shouting: "Express, ho! Dispatches from Phila delphia !" as he rode, drew up in a swirl of dust before the Inn. And this was the news he brought : On June 14 the Second Continental congress had passed a resolution that "six companies of expert riflemen be Immediately raised In the Colony of Pennsylvania, two In the Colony of Maryland and two In the Colony of Virginia, and thnt each company as soon as completed shall march to Join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light Infantry under the com mand of the chief officer of thnt army." This chief officer had Just been appointed. lie wns a Virginian mimed George Washington ? the same Washington who had distinguished himself at that "bloody business of Braddock" on the Mon ongahela twenty years before and who was even now riding north to "throw Tommy Gage out of Boston." So it wns to be war! Farmers Jogging along the country roads on their way to the grist mill, stopped to talk of It over stake-and-rlvet fences with their neighbors. Packhorse men, setting out on trading expedi tions to the west, carried word of It to every backwoods settlement through which they passed. And at once In many a cabin In the ?clearing, a lanky frontiersman reached up to the pegs above the fireplace and took down his long rifle. In his swift, sure hands It had barked defiance at Pontlac's wnrrlors ; it had brought many a squirrel tumbling down from the highest branch a tree; and It had stopped short the bounding flight of more than one buck deer. But there was bigger gtfme afield now, game which offered a target that no rlfiemnn, be he "expert" or not, wns likely to miss ? the British Redcoats! So from their cablfts'ln Buffalo Valley and the other pettlements along the west branch of the Susquehanna these backwoodsmen hnstened to Sunbury to enroll In the compnny which their neighbor, John Lowdon, was forming. Lowdon had been born of Quaker parents but apparently he was apostate to the doctrines of the Society of Friends for he had fought as an ensign In the French and Indian war. He was an inn keeper at Lancaster for a time, then moved to Buffalo Valley where he was a lending member of the committee of correspondence. On June 2."3 Ixnvdon's commission as captain of a rifle company was signed by President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson of the Continental congress. Four days Inter he wns lending his company across the river to Nor thumberland to bo sworn Into the Continental service. There they remained until one dny early In July when young Dick Grosvenor, the com pnny drummer, beat the long roll to summon CAPT. 8AM BRADY thorn to take tip the march to Reading snri Kaaton and from there start on the long Journey to Boston. In the menntlme congress had pnssed another resolution, directing the Colony of Pennsylvania to raise two more companies, which, with the six already authorised, were to be formed Into a battalion and to be commanded by such of ficer* as the colonial assembly or convention should recommend. ICven before this wOrd came out of Philadelphia the rifle companies were be ing filled to the overflowing. At Samuel (Jotty's tavern (later the historic town of Gettysburg), the York county men were rallying to the lead ership of tJapt. Michael Doudel. In Berks county ? they were swarming Into Reading to enroll under Capt. George Nagel. In Northampton county recruiting (or Capt. Abraham Miller's company was going forward swiftly and from Bedford county In the west came word that Capt Robert Oluggage's men were almost ready to march. Cumberland county was providing two compa nies, commanded by Capt James Chambers and Capt. William Hendricks. In fact, SO prompt had been the response of the Pennsylvania backwoodsmen to the call, that on July 11 congress was notified that two cOffi&a&tet Instead of one hat been enlisted in Lancaster county by Capt. James ROM and Capt. Matthew Smith and. that the Battalion of Rifle tt?u, "raised for the defense of American lib si'."'*' ' '? * * *? ' ? A RIFLEMAN OF 1775 (From the Painting by ChappeL) erty and for repelling any hostile Invasion thereof" would consist of nine companies. They were to be commanded by Col. William Thomp son of Carlisle with Edward Hand of Lancaster as lieutenant-colonel and Robert Magaw as major, all "men whose courage we have the highest opinion of." Each company consisted of one captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and 08 privates. The cap tain received $20 a month, the lieutenants $13^, the sergeants $8, the corporals and the drummer or trumpeter %~yit and the privates $0%. . These riflemen were a miscellaneous lot. The majority of them were Irish, German or Welsh, the second generation of some of the thousands of Immigrants who, In the early years of the Eighteenth century had settled In William Penn's colony. Then, too, there were many de scendants of the Scots who had been driven by religious persecution from their native high lands In the Seventeenth century. They had sought temporary refuge In the provii.ce of Ulster, Ireland, whence "between the years 1720 and 1740, thousands of them migrated to Amer ica and peopled the hills of Pennsylvania's fron tier with a sturdy, rugged race that was destined to play an important part In the formation of our national character." Besides these, there were others of pure English stock and, to make the cosmopolitan nature of the battalion more complete, the rolls of Captain Lowdon's com pany carried the name of John Shawnee, a Shawanese Indian warrior. On these same roils were three other nnmes which should have made Lowdon's company for ever famous. One of them was a Gorman, Peter llentz. Pennsylvania would later hail him, under the name of Peter Pence, as one of her great est Indian fighters. Another was a seventeen year-old boy, a red-headed Irish lad named Sam uel Brady. The future would see him making the name of "Capt. Sam IJrady, Chief of Hangers" a household word along the Pennsylvania-Ohio border. It would know him as the hero of "Hrady's Leap" across the chasm of the Cuya hoga river in northern Ohio. But this would be only one of many of his hnirbreadth escapes from the red men. The third was another Irishman, a rollicking, dark-eyed Celt nnmod Timothy Murphy. Two years later the sharp crack of his long ride would sound the doom of a British army as his bullet punctuated the death sentence of Gen. Simon Eraser at Saratoga. Another year would add to his fame as "the most redoubtedly notori ous marksman In North America and, as the "Scout of the Schoharie," he would Itoromo the terror of hi* Iroquois and Tory enemies In New York. No less notable than the eagerness of such men as these to enlist In the fight for liberty was their speed In reaching the theater of war. "Between the 28th. of July and the 2d. Instant, tho rifle men under the command of Captains Smith, Lowrion, Doudel, Chambers, Nagel, Miller and Hendricks passed through New Windsor (a few miles north of West Point) In the New York government on their way to Boston," said a New York Item In the Philadelphia Evening Post of August 17, 1775. But It was evidently Incorrect, so far as two of the companies ? - Nagel's and Doudol's ? were concerned. A letter, dated from Cambrldgo July 24, 1775, says: "The Heading company of rltles got Into camp last Tuesday (18th,); the rest nre hourly expected and much wnnted." Thus the men from Berks county had the honor of being the first Penn sylvania company to appear on tho scene of action. By July 25 they had been Joined by their sharpshootlng brothren from York county under Captain Doudel. Captain Chambers' company nr rived on August 7 and Captain Hendricks* on August 8. On tho same day Tim Murphy, Sam Brady, Peter Benta and their mates In Captain Lowry's company shuffled their well-worn moc casins through the grass on the campus of Har vard college and shook the dust of the weary miles from their green-thrummed hunting shirts. Ten days later Captain Hons and his company ' swung Into camf>, to he met with much good natured banter at his tardy arrival, because his "Lancaster county Dutchmen were so slow." Al though there Is no record of the date of arrival | of the companies commanded by Captains Smith, Cluggnge and Miller, It was evidently prior to ; August 18. An army return from Washington's i headquarters of that date shows that the Penn- I sylvanla riflemen had three Held officers, nine captains, 27 lieutenants, the adjutant, quarter master, surgeon and mate, 29 sergeants, 1M drummers and fifers and 713 privates present and fit for duty. j Besides these regularly enlisted men there were several "gentlemen volunteers" who had accompanied the riflemen on their march. Among them were Edward Kurd, J?sse Lukens, Matthew Duncan, and John Joseph Ilenry, who later rose to prominence In the history of their state. But more important than these was u young doctor named James Wilkinson. A native of Tidewater, Md., he had studied medicine In Philadelphia and there made the acquaintance of ofllcers of a British regiment, the Itoyal Irish. Ills association with them, as he later wrote, "Inspired In me that love of things military ever after the guiding star of my life." So he accompanied Colonel Thomp son's riflemen to Cambridge where began that amazing career which carried him eventually to the high position of commander In chief of the Army of the United States despite the fact that he was, In the words of one historian, "venal, cowardous, treacherous, a bribe-taker from Spain, a traitor to the United States, and faith less In all relations, public and private." Soon after the. arrival of the Pennsylvania companies at Cambridge, the battalion became the "Second Iteglment of the Ariny of the United Colonies," thus losing their Identity as "riflemen" GEN. EDWARD HAND In the "light Infantry" authorized by congress. F'. ut they lost none of their characteristic fight ing qualities, for, ns one of their captains wrote home, "the riflemen go where they pleaso and keep the regulars In continual hot water." Knrly In September Captain Hendricks' and Captain Smith's companies accompanied Arnold and Montgomery on their III fated expedition against Quebec where Hendricks was killed and most of the riflemen taken prisoners. In the meantime the other companies wore giving their officers and the commander-in-chief plenty of trouble by rebelling against att< mpts to enforce discipline. Itut their "disobedient and mutinous behavior" was somewhat forgiven by their con duct In a skirmish at I^echmere's I'olnt In No vember which won for Colonel Thompson and his regiment th<S public thanks of Washington. On January 1, 177ft, the army was reorganized and these riflemen became members of the First Iteglment of the (Continental Army. In March Thompson became n brigadier-general and Hand succeeded him as colonel. Under his leadership the regiment distinguished itself nt the llattles of f/ong Island, Hrnndywlne, (Jermantown, Paoll and Monmouth and Its members, frequently re ferred to In terms of their commander, made the name "a Hand Illflemnn" a badge of special distinction for a "first-class fighting man" In the struggle for American liberty. 6 WMt?rn N*w*pap?r Union. Uncommon Sense Bi John Blak0 6. Bell Syndicate -WNU Service When Cardinal Wolsey charged his friend Cromwell? not Oliver ? to fling away ambition, he Ambition *'"? f';1"8 ver)r bad advice. The old gentle man, who had got "In bad" with Henry the Eighth was on his way out of the picture. Hut It was the wrong kind of am bition which got him into trouble with the Big Boss. The prelate's real ambition was to run the country and the king and everybody else. And the king, being able to do his own thinking, preferred to conduct the affairs of the country as he saw tit. Of course he went a little bit too far when he began killing off wives, hut he still was a great man. and had it not been for his ambition, nobody would remember him for anything hut one of the Henrys who had been on the throne of England for a while. Keep your ambition working. Von will need it. It Is a stimulant to effort. 1t Is a promoter of thought, it loads men to do more than they nre expected to do. No great man has been without it. The necessity of It ought to be dwelt upon In the schools. Young people ought to be urged to be somebody and do something out of the common run. If all men and women were content to follow the old tracks, to do what ever is dv>ne la the same way that It had always been done, they would he about as progressive as a hill of ants, and about as useful. You live here only once, as far as you know. Make as long of a stay In U as you (Tan, and do as much work hs you can. ? ?????? I don't mean Just ordinary plodding sweat- producing work. I mean new original work. You can't cherish any ambition to be a king today. Those jobs are all arranged for in advance. The only way you could get one would be to buy some little South Sea island and pay the natives to make you a king. I'Ut want to do something that hasn't been done before. Whether it is In science or politic? or missionary work doesn't matter. Don't be satisfied with a little tem porary success. Try to pot yourself a job that will give you influence, and use your in fluence for progress. That is open to the objection that It entails a great deal of work, but one rarely hears of a healthy man hurting himself by work. I have never known a successful man or woman who did not possess a high degree of will The Big power. Boss you can't b.-> your own boss, you can't be anybody's boss. Neither can you do anything Im portant and useful. And If you lack importance and use fulness you are not going to have a very easy time In the world. 1 Laziness Is natural to most people. : So is procrastination, which is the child of laziness. No matter what your job is, you must learn to keep at it until you mas I ter it, or some other fellow is going to I get far ahead of you in the race for | independence and security in life. f'ultlvate your will power. Force yourself to stick to your work Ions: after (he demon of laziness whls | pers In your ear that you are tired | and need a '""t. ??????# Don't worry about wearing yourself nut. | Worry may do that. Work will not. Establish some objective, and try to maintain it. Pick out something that Is worth do ing, and which Is within the limits of possibility. Without an ear for music, you can never be a musician. Without an artist's eve yon can never become a painter or a sculptor. Without unusual physical strength and a good sound heart you can not become an athlete. Hut. t here in something that you can do, and do well, If you have average common sense and the will to keep everlastingly at the task you have set yourself. Find out what It in. Do not choose It because you think it may bring you popularity. You'll get popularity If you Succeed, and you won't need to look around for It. ? When you undertake anything, keep at It, arid carry It through. If, when studying, you find yourself turning page after page of a book, following all the printed lines, and not noting anything that Is there, there Is something the matter with your will. .JCeep that will nt work. Train it to he your bont. Ity and by it will keep you at work, and then you can begin to think about doing great thing*. Rut If the will Isn't exercised. If will refuse to work, and you will go through life accomplishing about half as much as you ought to accomplish, and which you must accomplish if you want to he anything hut Just an avernge lazy, un successful human being. There are too many of sueh people In the world now. Much too mnny. Don't he one of them. Ho your own bos* as far as It Is possible. Simplicity and Chic in Morning I j-* P.VTTEIIN 0310 I It's as fresh as the morning dew ! And It was designed for all those , clover women who like to put in a ; smart appearance at the very be ginning of ev?ry new day. Three or four dresses made up by this pat tern would solve all your house frock ' problems And the expense will prove trilling. Moreover, this pat tern has been designed so simply that to follow it will seem like a tirst les son in sewing. The yoke ntrd sleeves all-in-one with a hit of bodice full ness below, and the decorative pocket I make* this frock very smart Indeed! Percale or gingham in gay plaids or small geometric designs would he ef fective. Add nobby cork or wooden buttons. Pattern 0310 mny he ordered only in sizes 14, 1G, IS, 20, 32, 31. 30, 38, 40 and 42. Size 1G requires 314 yards 30-inch fabric. SEND FIFTEEN CENTS In coins or stamps (coins preferred) for this pattern. Be sure to write plainly your NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE Nl^MREIt and SIZE. Complete, Diagrammed Sew Chart j Included. Send your ord.er to Sewing Circle Pattern Department, 231! West Eight ! eenth street, Now York. FOLLOWED PRESCRIPTION Police Sergeant ? It's a rase ??f lar ceny, Isn't It. sir? Doctor ? 10 r ? not exactly, sergeant. You see, I told him to take sointv I thing warm immediately, and as tie went out lie took my overcoat. ? London Humorist. Nobody Misted "What has become ot the forgotten man ?" "He doesn't exist," answered Sena ; tor Sorghum. "The I'nited States | mail makes daily disclosure? that no j one is so lowly and obscure as not t<? j be on somebody's sucker list." Mi * understanding The Collector ? These antique and i Irons are hand forged. The Chump ? Forged? Well, well! What astonishingly good counter feits they make now.