Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Pension Application of Joshua Mersereau S7224
This is the first instance in the entire five plus years of writing this blog that the writer has encountered a questionable pension application or, in this case, a "Declaration for a Land Warrant". This may be due to the writer not really knowing what to look for in regards to the veracity of these types of applications or declarations. But, this is also the first instance of finding additional application information that disputed an earlier application by Joshua Mersereau.
In the previous post, "...To Sail the Deep, Blue Sea, in Defiance of the British Crown...": Joshua Mersereau, Carpenter, on board the Frigate South Carolina - A Revolutionary Life Lived and Disputed" and posted "01/23/2020", evidence was presented by an otherwise unknown "Commissioner L.P. Waldo" that there were numerous discrepancies in the application for a land warrant by Joshua Mersereau that caused this commissioner to reject his application. Commissioner Waldo makes several very cogent and forceful arguments for questioning the validity of the claims made by Joshua Mersereau. Not the least of these forceful arguments is that there existed no proof of evidence for any services rendered to the United States prior to his appointment in the Commissary Department. Towards the end of his examination of this specific "Declaration for a Land Warrant", Commissioner Waldo states that he assumes that the services of two separate individuals have been conflated together in this official request for a land warrant through the state of Pennsylvania. Ultimately, Commissioner Waldo suggested the land warrant application be officially rejected. This report was filed with the Pension Office on November 11, 1854 and respectfully signed by "L.P. Waldo, Commissioner". Yet, his rejection of the application for a land warrant was clearly stated and not in doubt or questioned at all.
There are at least two instances with primary source documentation - both cited by "Commissioner L.P. Waldo" - where the lack of pertinent information works for the rejection of the declaration for a land warrant application of Joshua Mersereau. The first instance has been cited in the previous post cited in the paragraph immediately above - "...To Sail the Deep, Blue Sea, in Defiance of the British Crown...": Joshua Mersereau, Carpenter, on board the Frigate South Carolina - A Revolutionary Life Lived and Disputed" and posted on "01/23/2020". This is the instance of Joshua Mersereau not naming any of the officers to whom he was subordinated when he was acting and serving as an enlisted man in the ranks. It was usual in pension applications and land warrants to name these officers as one's immediate superiors to whom questions of veracity could be easily put, if they were indeed still alive at the time of the individual's application. Joshua Mersereau nevers mentions any junior officer to whom he was subordinated except Captain Jacob Cheeseman of the 1st New York Regiment of Foot. But, he mentions that he - Joshua Mersereau - was a "recruiting officer" for Captain Cheeseman's company and yet implies that he did not really actively serve with the company. Later in his pension application, he mentions service in a "...Corps of Virginia Rifle men..." under Major Stevens, Capt. Otho Williams, and Lieut. Abraham Shepard...". The date of filing of the pension application for Joshua Mersereau was June 5, 1840, sixty-four years after the events in question. But, in his declaration for a land warrant from the State of Pennsylvania, supposedly given on May 3, 1855, seventy-nine years after the events in question, Joshua Mersereau only refers to Captain Otho Williams and not the other two officers. Someone parenthetically pointed out in his declaration for a land warrant that Capt. Otho Williams was an officer of the Maryland Line and did not belong to the Virginia Line to which Joshua Mersereau was supposedly attached. This paltry lack of reference to junior officers whom Joshua Mersereau served under is striking in comparison to the number of different services he alleges to have experienced during his service in the patriot Cause. This issue was forcefully pointed out by Commissioner Waldo on November 11, 1854 in his argument for rejection of the "Declaration of a Land Warrant" of Joshua Mersereau.
The second instance, and possibly the most damning one to Joshua Mersereau's efforts at gaining a land grant from the state of Pennsylvania, is the absence of Joshua Mersereau's name from all of the three rosters of captive Americans on board the three British men-of-war that carried them into New York City's Harbor after the capture of the frigate South Carolina on December 20, 1782. The writer of this blog has documented the rosters of the three British Royal Navy men-of-war that carried these unfortunate American prisoners-of-war into New York City's harbor for further disposal by the British Royal authorities there. These rosters all appear in Middlebrook's work, The Frigate South Carolina: A Famous Revolutionary War Ship, (Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1929.) and are cited in this overall blog by the following titles and order:
"Bound for New York City" - Roster of Captive Americans on board the HMS Diomede - December 20, 1782 and posted on "03/24/2015".
"Bound for New York City, Pt. II" - Roster of Captive Americans on board the HMS Quebec - December 20, 1782 and posted on "03/25/2015".
"Bound for New York City, Pt. III" - Roster of Captive Americans on board the HMS Astraea - December 20, 1782 and posted on "03/26/2015".
An examination of these rosters immediately proves to the reader that the men were not organized alphabetically by their captors but, rather listed as they were brought before the ships' purser. In response to this manner of recording their prisoners-of-war, the writer of this blog has taken it upon himself to cite the men in alphabetical order for ease of locating a potential prisoner-of-war among all of those cited. The writer of this blog has ordered the captives by officers first and NCOs and enlisted men next. In each of these categories, the captured men are divided into naval and then marine contingents, both for officers and enlisted men. The name "Joshua Mersereau" appears nowhere on any of these lists of captured Americans being carried into New York City's harbor for further disposal by the British authorities. Yet, Joshua Mersereau claims in his pension application, "Pension Application of Joshua Mersereau S7224", that:
"I was one of the crew of the ship [frigate South Carolina] when she sailed which was on or about the 21st of December same year [1782], we were chased by 3 British Ships, the Diomede, the Aystrich [sic, Astraea] and the Quebec, we were captured, and in the battle I received a wound in my leg which has never since healed, I was conveyed with the rest of the crew of the South Carolina, to New York, and put on board the Scorpion prison Ship. On or about the last of January I was permitted to retire on parole and remained a prisoner in that situation until peace was ratified by treaty in 1784.".
The prison ship Scorpion is referred to several times in Edwin G. Burrows's work, Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners during the Revolutionary War, (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2008.). These references frequently name other mariners who were incarcerated on board the Scorpion, one of whom successfully escaped from the prison ship. But, none of these references concern Joshua Mersereau. One would think that a man of such wide success and accomplishments as Joshua Mersereau (if one is to believe his claims in his pension application) would have been mentioned as being secured on board this smaller, second-tier prison ship in Wallabout Bay, NY.
Also, Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 94, states that only six were killed and wounded in this epic, one-sided battle of the single patriot ship-of-war against three British Royal Navy men-of-war. The text also states that almost all of the casualties on board the frigate South Carolina were among sailors aloft in the rigging. It seems strange for a carpenter to be aloft during a running battle between unequal numbers of warships. Again, yet, Joshua Mersereau's pension application clearly states that he was one of the patriot mariners wounded that day and the wound would bother him for decades to come afterwards.
These are both primary sources in which doubt is cast upon the claims of Joshua Mersereau in both his "Pension Application of Joshua Mersereau S7224" and his "Declaration for a Land Warrant B.L.Wt. 3792-160-55". Yet, there are also several secondary sources that dispute the claims of Joshua Mersereau. The writer of this blog will attempt here to concisely present at least some of these sources at his disposal that dispute his claims. The writer will cite briefly the significance of each of these sources to this overall blog in order to indicate to the readership that these are important sources that contain little or no reference to Joshua Mersereau as having accomplished any of his martial claims and thus earning a place in these works concerning the American Revolution.
The first source cited is Bobby Gilmer Moss's Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.). This source has been a virtual "gold mine" of personal information on numerous personnel - officers, NCOs, and enlisted men - who served on board the frigate South Carolina. Even though the title indicates that the men cited within this work are South Carolinians, the author frequently includes those who served on board the frigate South Carolina even if they were not native to South Carolina. Joshua Mersereau's name is not found in this important work. but, the name "Joshua Meisereau" is found with the following citation associated with that name:
"Joshua Meisereau - he served as a carpenter's mate aboard the South Carolina during 1782 and 1783. A.A.5180A, Y233."
The second source cited is Janie Revill's Copy of the Original Index Book: Showing the Claims Filed in South Carolina Between August 20, 1783 and August 31, 1786, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969.). This source, like the previous one, is a vital source of information concerning personnel, both native to and non-natives of South Carolina, who served on board the frigate South Carolina. On pages 385-386, there appears a lengthy list entitled "A List of the Officers & Men of the Frigate South Carolina to Whom Certificates Have Been Issued". Joshua Mersereau's name does not appear on this list. But, again, as in the previous cited source, on page 237 there appears the name of "Joshua Meisereau" and cited information indicating that he received his pension claim against the state of South Carolina on October 29, 1785. But, the name of "Joshua Meisereau" also does not appear on the "List of Officers & Men..." cited immediately above in this section. Men are cited in this "List of Officers & Men..." who received their pension claims after the date indicated for Joshua Mersereau. Thus, the absence of his name from this "List of Officers & Men..." is a rather puzzling omission in light of his name appearing in the body of the text as having received a pension claim from the state of South Carolina.
The third source cited is Marion and Jack Kaminkow's Mariners of the American Revolution, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1993.). This short work (about 250 pages) is an excellent compendium of sailors who sailed for the patriot Cause during the American Revolution, and were ultimately captured and incarcerated by the British. It gives the mariner's name, his locale of origin, the British prison to which he was consigned, and his ultimate fate. This work has been invaluable in assisting the writer of this blog in determining the original point of origin of crew members of the frigate South Carolina. Many, many of the officers, NCOs, and enlisted men that sailed on board the patriot frigate are cited within this fine work. There is no citation for Joshua Mersereau contained within this work.
The fourth source is Francis B. Heitman's Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution: April 1775 to December 1783, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.). Joshua Mersereau claims to have been an officer at various times during his term of service in the American Revolution yet prior to his service on board the frigate South Carolina. The first position occupied by Joshua Mersereau was "...as a recruiting officer under the Uniform of an Ensign...". Later, he declares that he was an "Assistant Commissary of Prisoners" which surely would have carried some sort of commissioned status for Joshua Mersereau. Yet, the name of Joshua Mersereau is absent from this important work addressing the men who led the Continental Army through the difficult times of the American Revolution.
The fifth source is Harry Thayer Mahoney and Marjorie Locke Mahoney's Gallantry in Action: A Biographic Dictionary of Espionage in the American Revolutionary War, (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc., 1999.) As indicated by the title of the work, this is a biographical compendium of spies and espionage on all sides during the course of the American Revolution. On pages 240-242, these is a lengthy entry for the role played in espionage by the Mersereau family during the American Revolution. It is entitled "Joshua and his son, John Mersereau - American". The Joshua referred to here is Joshua III, the father of the man we have in question in this post - Joshua IV. John would be Joshua's older brother of whom there are many references. No reference is made to Joshua IV except, possibly, at the very conclusion of the entry. The passage in question makes reference to John handing off his espionage responsibilities to "...John's sixteen year old brother [who] replaced him as a courier in the spy network making the trip between Staten Island and New Jersey in a small skiff.". This could be the young Joshua Mersereau IV but, the younger brother remains unnamed according to this account. Yet, even this account palls in comparison to the claims of service by Joshua Mersereau IV in his pension application.
The sixth, and final, source available to the writer of this blog is Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck's Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants: Awarded by State Governments, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996.). This work is over 600 pages long and contains an exhaustive listing of all bounty land grants awarded by state governments as a result of services rendered during the American Revolution. Joshua Mersereau's name does not appear in this work. Yet, according to his "Declaration for Land Warrant", filed on May 3, 1855, it appears that Joshua Mersereau IV was indeed assigned a warrant number - B.L.Wt. 3792-160-55. This number should appear in this work by Lloyd Bockstruck but, it does not appear anywhere in this work. This may be an indication that the "Declaration for a Land Warrant" from the state of Pennsylvania was indeed declined by the state as recommended by "Commissioner L.P. Waldo" on November 11, 1854.
There is serious disputation in both primary and secondary sources to the services alledgedly rendered by Joshua Mersereau during the American Revolution. His record, as presented by himself, was long, distinguished, and deserving of great reward by a grateful country and government. But, the two primary sources, coupled with the six secondary sources, seem to indicate a quite different account altogether. It is possible that what we have here is an 18th century version of "Stolen Valor" as it is referred to in the 21st century - an individual claming to have accomplished duties and won glory and fame for himself that are implicitly untrue. As a point in fact (in that it addresses this overall blog on the frigate South Carolina), it would appear that Joshua Mersereau may have indeed worked as a carpenter's mate (eventhough he claimed to have been a full carpenter) on board the frigate South Carolina as she lay in Philadelphia's harbor but, departed the ship before she actually sailed for the Capes of the Delaware in mid-December 1782. This would suffice to address the absence of Joshua Mersereau's name on any of the three rosters of captive Americans on board the three British men-of-war that brought the prisoners-of-war into New York City harbor.
Yet, to be fair and even-handed, there is one supporting piece of evidence for Joshua Mersereau's services in the American Revolution. This is contained within the pension application for a midshipman on board the frigate South Carolina for her second and final cruise - "Pension Application of Abijah Hunt S23271". The next post, and probably the concluding one for Joshua Mersereau, will exaimne this pension application and it's implications for this post on Joshua Mersereau.