Bagby-Grose, Burton. "Find a Grave Memorial - Col Ezekiel Henry Field, Sr",(record added: 10/25/2011).
Darbro, Bert. "Inscriptions on the Battle of Blue Licks Memorial, including a List of participant Names", (USGENWEB archives.com, 06/02/2002).
Field, Eugene and Lucie. "Lucie's Genealogy: Field Family - Virginia Branch, 1635-2010" entry for "John Field (1726-1774) & Anna Rogers Clark Culpeper County Virginia", (www.luciefield.net, created: 06/25/1998, revised: 11/11/2014).
Hammon, Neal O. Daniel Boone and the Defeat at Blue Licks, (The Boone Society, Inc., 2005).
Hammon, Neal O. and Richard Taylor. Virginia's Western War, 1775-1786, (Stackpole Books, 2002).
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution, (The Kent State University Press, 1999).
Lewis, Virgil A. History of the Battle of Point Pleasant: Fought Between White Men and Indians at the Mouth of the Great Kanawha River, Monday October 10, 1774 - The Chief Event of Lord Dunmore's War, (C.J. Carrier Company, 1909).
Skidmore, Warren and Donna Kaminsky. Lord Dunmore's Little War of 1774: His Captains and Their Mne Who Opened Up Kentucky & The West to American Settlement, (Heritage Books, Inc., 2002).
Thwaites, Reuben Gold and Louise Phelps Kellogg. Documentary History of Lord Dunmore's War 1774, (The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1905).
Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413
Pension Application of Benjamin Roberts S31343
Pension Application of George Slaughter W8729
In the course of this overall blog, this writer has encountered situations where two brothers or cousins have both served on board the frigate South Carolina. This has been the case with Nicholas and Johnathan Bartlett (post dated: "12/08/2015"), John and Peter Laboyteaux (post dated: "12/24/2015") and Richard and Gilbert Wall (post dated: "11/19/2014"). Also, the writer of this blog has documented instances of other family members having also served on board other ships-of-war in the patriot Cause. For instance, John Laboyteaux, the father of the two above mentioned Laboyteauxs, serving and being killed on board the Pennsylvania privateer brig, Aurora, as the "Captain of Marines" for that vessel as well as their third brother, Samuel Laboyteaux, serving on board the Continental Navy frigate, Confederacy. There is the situation of Richard Lunt, the gunner's yeoman on board the frigate South Carolina, and his cousin, Cutting Lunt, Sailing Master on board the Continental Navy frigate Bon Homme Richard, both having served at sea on ships-of-war in the patriot Cause. These men form a kind of maritime legacy for their families during the course of the American Revolution and served that legacy fully and well.
The immediately prior post on Lewis Field is one of three addressing the unique perspective cast on the story of the frigate South Carolina. The uniqueness issues from the fact that Lewis Field, as far as we know, was the only man who observed the capture of the frigate South Carolina and subsequently recorded it in writing. This writing was not actually accomplished until he filed a pension application, "Pension Application of Lewis Field S30413", on May 2, 1844, when he was only two months short of his eighty-first birthday. Therefore, the writer of this blog has felt it only right that this man, who has no other connection with the frigate South Carolina, should also be cited in this blog due to the uniqueness of his observations and the fact that he recorded these observations with such detail over eighty years later. Obviously, these sights and sounds had a significant impact on him. But, in doing research and gathering information on Lewis Field, this writer has realized that his family had the same devotion to the patriot Cause as the pairs of related men and families of those men cited in the paragraph above. The focus of this specific post will be to relate those deeds by other family members of Lewis Field and thus provide a fuller picture of this man, Lewis Field, and the role that he played during the American Revolution. In the same manner, the fact that this family, the Field family, had a focus in their devotion, like the families of the men all cited in the above paragraph - their's being a naval, maritime devotion during the American Revolution - is rather extraordinary, too, and "closes the circle", so to say, with the frigate South Carolina. The focus of the Field family during the course of the American Revolution would be a costly one for them in terms of the lives of family members killed in action. This focus was no less than the opening of the "First American West" - Kentucky.
This Field family focus on Kentucky and the westward migration of America, begins with Lewis Field's father and, possibly, his mother, too. According to Field's article, "Lucie's Genealogy... John Field (1726-1774) & Anna Rogers Clark...), page 1, his father was John Field who had a rather long and distinguished military career already. According to the article, "John Field was [a] Lieutenant under George Washington in Braddock's Campaign, and commanded the Virginia troops at the Battle of Point Pleasant, on the Ohio River for which his heirs were granted, by Lord Halifax, a large tract of [land] now in Bourbon County, Kentucky." But, according to Skidmore and Kaminsky's work, Lord Dunmore's Little War of 1774, page v, Colonel John Field was not the overall commander of the Virginia troops in the Battle of Point Pleasant but, he was certainly a well-known and respected commander of the militia troops from Culpeper County, Virginia.
(Note: An interesting point is that the wife of Colonel John Field, Anna Rogers Clark Field, is variously believed and disputed to be a sister of George Rogers Clark of Revolutionary War fame. Some of the earlier sources, around the turn of the 20th century, state directly that she was the said sister of George Rogers Clark, while the later sources clearly state that she is not a sister. According to Field's article, "Lucie's Genealogy ... John Field (1726-1774) & Anna Rogers Clark...", page 1, states that the birth dates and marriage dates of Anna Rogers Clark do not match with a comparison to those of Ann Rogers Clark. The actual sister of George Rogers Clark married Owen Gwathmey on October 20, 1773. Numerous articles have argued that Anna Rogers Clark might have had some connection with the famous Clark family, either familial or fictive, but, she was not his sister nor was she in direct line of descent from the Clark family.)
The Battle of Point Pleasant, fought on Monday, October 10, 1774, has been referred to as the chief event of the war known in colonial American history as "Lord Dunmore's War". In this famous battle, Colonel John Field was in command of the militia troops from Culpeper County, VA. According to Skidmore and Kaminsky's work, Lord Dunmore's Little War of 1774, page 86, "...early in the day [after the battle had already begun] it was realized that the Indians had a greater force than was first thought, and Colonel Field was ordered to the front with reinforcements. He arrived just in time, for the men there had just been pushed back 150 to 200 yards. Shortly, after arriving on the scene, colonel Field was killed..." According to Lewis's work, History of the Battle of Point Pleasant, page 44, a slightly different account is given in which instead of Colonel Field and his troops reinforcing the troops already in combat, they, too, faced by overwhelming numbers of hostiles, joined in the general retreat and "...in this precipitate retreat, Colonel Field was killed..." An account of the circumstances of the death of Colonel John Field, given by Colonel William Christian, was written about five days after the actual battle and is prefaced by "Camp at Point Pleasant, at Mouth of ye Great Kanawha. 15th October 1774". According to this account, taken from Thwaites and Kellogg's work, Documentary History of Dunmore's War 1774, page 265, states that, "Col[onel] Field was killed behind a great tree, looking for an Indian who was talking to amuse him whilst some others [Indians] were above him on his right hand among some loggs, who shot him dead." At the time of his death at the Battle of Point Pleasant, on October 10, 1774, Colonel John Field was forty-eight years old.
(Note: According to Skidmore and Kaminsky's work, Lord Dunmore's Little War of 1774, page 86, after the death of Colonel John Field, a Captain Evan Shelby of the Fincastle County militia took over command of that wing of the militia for the remainder of the battle. His son, Lieutenant Isaac Shelby, took over command of Evan Shelby's company at this point in the battle. According to Thwaites and Kellogg's work, Documentary History of Dunmore's War 1774, page 270, Isaac Shelby would go on to be the first governor of Kentucky, 1792-1796, and then governor again during the War of 1812. Along with John Sevier, he would lead the patriot forces at the Battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 1780 and also lead the Kentucky militia at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813 during the War of 1812. In this last engagement, he was sixty-three years old and was commended for his gallantry in action. He would die at his estate, "Traveller's Rest", in Kentucky on July 18, 1826 and was buried in the Shelby Traveller's Rest Burying Ground just outside the town of Stanford, KY. Today, this cemetery is known as the "Isaac Shelby Cemetery State Historic Site".)
Another of Lewis Field's relations who was both at the Battle of Point Pleasant and also commanded and lead troops in the American Revolution was a brother-in-law, George Slaughter. George Slaughter had married Lewis Field's sister, Mary Field, who was just prior to Lewis in the birth order of the thirteen Field children. According to George Slaughter's pension application, "Pension Application of George Slaughter W8729", George Slaughter and Mary Field married on February 10, 1770 or 1771. Mary, at the time of her marriage to George Slaughter, was about nineteen or twenty years old. A supporting document that is attached to the pension application filed by Mary Slaughter on behalf of her husband, George Slaughter, to receive his pension due him for services rendered during the American Revolution, was submitted by Captain Benjamin Roberts of Shelby County, Kentucky. In his supporting statements, Captain Roberts states that "this affiant [applicant] will further state that he and the said Geo[rge] Slaughter were together at the Battle of the Kenawha in the year 1774 {Battle of Point Pleasant at the mouth of the Kanawha River, 10 October 1774]..." But, according to Thwaites and Kellogg's work, Documentary History of Dunmore's War 1774, pages 261, 267, George Slaughter was not actually in the battle but, arrived at the encampment located at Point Pleasant with reinforcements and fresh food a few days following the battle itself. Still, he was involved in the campaign in which the Battle of Point Pleasant was fought.
As further reflects on Lewis Field's brother-in-law, George Slaughter, in Lewis Field's pension application, Field states "...that he entered the service of the United States In Capt Benjamin Roberts [pension application S31343] company in Major George Slaughters [George Slaughter W8729] Battalion or Corps as it was then familiarly called..." He specifically states that he "...was mustered into Service at a Large frame house called the Red house which was Maj Slaughter's head quarters..." Lewis Field's pension application goes on to state that
"... in the forepart & he thinks probably on the 8th of Dec[ember] 1779 Capt. Mark Thomas & Capt. Slaughters companies having united with that of Capt. Roberts at the aforesaid red house the oath of allegiance was administered to the troops and they some time in December Commenced their march under the command of Maj George Slaughter crossing the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap [Ashby's gap in Loudon County] crossing the Shanandoah [sic: Shenandoah River] and on to Winchester. Then across the Alleganies [Allegheny Mountains] over to Redstone Fort [now Brownsville PA] at the mouth of Redstone Creek on the Monongahela That some, perhaps half or more of the troops were sent down to Ewells or (Newells) store [Newell's Store at present Elizabeth PA]... That they remained at Redstone Ewells and in the neighborhood until they built seven flat Boats and a number of Canoes Peroques and &c. That in the forepart of about the middle of April 1780 they embarked on board their flat Boats and reached the Falls of Ohio [at present Louisville KY] about the fourth of June following..."
(Note: Ironically, Lewis Field's period of incarceration by the Crown forces began about two to three days after he arrived with the rest of his "...Battalion or Corps..." at the Falls of the Ohio where present-day Louisville, KY is located. This incarceration, related in such detail in his pension application, would last for the next two and one half years, from June 1780 until December 31, 1782. It was at the very end of this period of involuntary confinement that Lewis Field would witness the capture of the frigate South Carolina.)
Lewis Field easily relates a journey, on land and by river, of at least five hundred miles, all of it done under command of Major George Slaughter. Major George Slaughter marched and paddled his "...Battalion or Corps..." all that way to support the efforts of George Rogers Clark to capture and hold the territory of Kentucky for the new United States. As cited above, Lewis Field was the brother-in-law of George Slaughter and thus may have felt some degree of family incentive to enlist with the "...Battalion or Corps..." he was raising for services to the state of Virginia. The pension application of George Slaughter, filed by his widow, Mary Field Slaughter, after his death on June 17, 1818, further states that "..she married s'd George Slaughter in Culpepper [sic: Culpeper] County state of Virginia. At the time Mary Field Slaughter filed the application to receive her husband's pension for his services in defense of the United States during the American Revolution, she was living in Gallatin County, Kentucky and was aged eighty-five years old. The wording of the pension application implies that initially she and her husband, George, removed to the town of Charleston, Clark County, IN where he died on June 17, 1818. It would appear that at some point after her husband's death, Mary Field Slaughter removed to Gallatin County, KY and was residing there at the time of her filing for her deceased husband's pension.
(Note: As with so many of these pension applications examined by the writer of this blog in relation to the frigate South Carolina, this pension application is signed by the individual filing it - Mary Field Slaughter - but, it is actually signed in the following manner:
"...Mary her X mark Slaughter..."
This indicates, as do the others before this pension application, that Mary Slaughter placed an "X" as her signature on the official document and was thus illiterate.)
The final of Lewis Field's relatives who served in the westward expansion of America onto the Kentucky frontier was his older brother, Ezekiel Field. According to Bagby-Grose's article, "Find a Grave Memorial - Col Ezekiel Henry Field, Sr", page 1, states that Ezekiel was born in Culpeper County, VA in 1750. He married Elizabeth Field, a second cousin, in 1778. Elizabeth Field had been born in 1756.
(Note: An interesting fact concerning Elizabeth Field is that, according to Fields' article, "Lucie's Genealogy: Field family - Virginia Branch, 1635-2010", entry for "John Field (1726-1774) & Anna Rogers Clark...", she is recorded as having raised the children of her brother, Henry William Stanton Field, after he was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Sarah Watkins.)
At some point after 1778, Ezekiel Field and his wife, Elizabeth, must have removed to Kentucky. According to Bagby-Grose's article, "Find a Grave Memorial, Col Ezekiel Henry Field, Sr", page 1, Ezekiel had risen through the ranks of the Kentucky militia to hold the rank of Colonel. More will be said of this claim later in next paragraph. The year 1782 was a particularly bloody year for the settlers who resided in Kentucky. The British out of Detroit were using their influence among the native tribes to attempt to drive the American settlers out of the region or destroy them, if necessary. During August 1782, a force of mostly native warriors but, with a sprinkling of Loyalists and Canadians, laid siege to Bryan's Station. Kentucky militia were gathered to go to the relief of Bryan's Station, which these forces effected the relief of the beleaguered station on August 17, 1782 due to the withdrawal of the Crown forces towards their home base of Detroit. The relieving forces went in pursuit of the retreating Crown forces but, ran into an ambush on a rise of ground just beyond the Licking River, which they had crossed to reach the enemy forces. What followed was the famous Battle of Blue Licks and is frequently referred to as "the Last Battle of the Revolution". It was certainly not the final action of the American Revolution but, was a terribly costly defeat for the Kentucky militia involved and their families. Of the 182 Kentuckian militiamen involved in the battle itself, over 65 of them were dead or missing at the end of the battle, including Israel Boone, the teenage son of Daniel Boone, killed while in the presence of his father.
In all the records of the battle so far located and reviewed by the writer of this blog, no Colonel Ezekiel Field is found as being a fatal casualty in the battle. One would expect that a "Colonel of Militia" would recieve some kind of recognition for falling in battle at a specific engagement. But, the only reference to an "Ezekiel Field" is among the private soldiers killed in the action. This is according to Darbro's article, "Inscriptions on the Battle of Blue Licks Memorial...", page 2 and Hammon's work, Daniel Boone and the Defeat at Blue Licks, page 124. Yet, there is also a reference to a "...Commonwealth of Kentucky state historical marker at the site..." that directly states that "he was with the heroic band that marched to the relief of the Bryan's Station garrison that had been surrounded by Indians until food was almost exhausted. They routed the Indians and pursued them in their flight to Blue Lick, where the Indians made a stand, and a fierce engagement took place in which many of our boys were slaughtered. In that desperate engagement Ezekiel Field lost his life..." There is also another marked entitled "Military Forebears" that begins with "LT GEN Field Harris, USMC, ancestors included:". The list that follows includes "Col. Ezekiel Field - Revolutionary War; died at Battle of Blue Licks, 1782". There is no source attributed for this photograph of the marker nor any citation as to its geographical location but, it does include a seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky at the top of the marker. This means that the marker is located somewhere in Kentucky itself. Only further research into the battle and location of a genuine list of those killed in action might clear up this detail. But, there was indeed an "Ezekiel Field", whether colonel or private, who did fall on the field of battle at Blue Licks on August 19, 1782.
The writer of this blog's purpose in writing this specific post was to demonstrate that Lewis Field, the young Kentucky prisoner-of-war on board a British prison ship who observed the capture of the frigate South Carolina on December 20, 1782, had a military legacy in his family similar to those in the families of others who actually served on board the frigate South Carolina. His legacy lay not with the efforts of the nascent United States on the high seas where she faced the daunting task of resisting a foe of overwhelming strength in the form of the Royal Navy. Rather, his legacy was in the efforts of his various family members in the geographical area that lay to the west of the young country - Kentucky and the vast stretches of land as well as immense possibilities of that virgin region. Thus, it only seems fitting that this young American hostage should see, with his own eyes, the capture of that frigate that had spawned so many family legacies, only to continue his own legacy by building on what his family had already begun - the conquest and settling of Kentucky.