Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution, (The Kent State University Press, 1999).
Unger, Jane. "Berks County Men Who Died on the Ship 'South Carolina' on December 19, 1782", (Berks County PAGenWeb Project, 2004-2013).
Unger, Jane. "Berks County Revolutionary War Soldiers, 1777-1778", (PAGenWeb Project, 2004-2013).
Unger, Jane. "Berks County Revolutionary War Soldiers, March 1777- March 1780", (PAGenWeb Project, 2004-2013).
---------, Nancy. "Abstracts of Pension Applications on File in the Division of Public Records, Pennsylvania State Library", (Berks County PAGenWeb Project, 2004-2013).
---------, Nancy. "Third Battalion - Those Who Marched August 11, 1780", (Berks County PAGenWeb Project, 2004-2013).
Pension Application of Jacob Fleischer S2214
Pension Application of John Fox S2219
Pension Application of Michael Spatz S3957
The men of Berks County served long and well in the course of the American Revolution. They not only filled positions in the Line of Pennsylvania but, also served in the militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Also, at least some of them served on board the frigate South Carolina and were on board the frigate when it was captured by the three British men-of-war on December 20, 1782 off Cape Henlopen, DE. Their service on board the frigate South Carolina has caught the interest of this blog writer which, in turn, has lead to three posts concerning these men from Berks County, PA and their service. For ease of reference, these posts are dated "09/28/2014", "01/01/2015", and "06/05/2015". There is an associated post dealing with the recruiting officer, Edward Scull, and his efforts at recruiting in Berks County, PA just prior to the frigate South Carolina leaving on her brief, final voyage. This post is dated "03/12/2015".
The second source cited above, Unger's work, "Berks County Men Who Died on the Ship 'South Carolina' on December 19, 1782", lists the names of twenty-one men who evidently died while on board the frigate South Carolina. Referring back to the post dated "09/28/2014", these men probably died on board various different British prison ships in Wallabout, Bay, NY after the capture of the frigate South Carolina by three British men-of-war on December 20, 1782. Yet, there exist three pension applications - those of John Fox, Jacob Fleischer, and Michael Spatz - that state that there were about seventy men who were enlisted along with them in Berks County, PA and served with them until the capture of the frigate South Carolina. After this event, all three of these pension applications state that the entire contingent of men from Berks County, PA was confined in the Jersey prison ship in Wallabout Bay, NY where the majority of them perished due to disease or starvation. The above three named men are the only three who we know of for sure who were among this marine contingent enlisted in Berks County, PA.
The writer of this blog feels that the list of men cited within the post entitled "Other Marines on board the Frigate South Carolina" and dated "12/27/2014" may not actually contain the names of all of the men recruited from Berks County, PA. The pension applications of John Fox, Jacob Fleischer, and Michael Spatz all imply that about 70 men were recruited in Berks County, PA and marched to the frigate South Carolina as she lay in Philadelphia, PA harbor. The list contained in the previously cited post of "12/27/2014" contains the names of 72 men. But, in many of the cases, these men's "positions" on board the frigate South Carolina are in question with many of them having the citation for their "position" reading "Marine?". A likely solution is to examine the militia rosters for Berks County during the years of the American Revolution and compare these with the section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170, for similarities. It is possible that at least some of these freshly recruited marines would have come to the frigate South Carolina with previous militia experience and thus would have earlier appeared on militia rosters for Berks County prior to their service as marines on board the frigate South Carolina. Again, this may well work for some of the men but, almost certainly not for all of them. Many of them could easily have been recruited with no previous military experience whatsoever.
The writer of this blog engaged in the activity described above and located possibly thirty names of men who appear both on Berks County, PA militia rosters and also appear in the section of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. There are several issues with these men and their names but, these issues will be dealt with after the men are cited, along with their possible earlier militia affiliations and any "positions" they occupied on board the frigate South Carolina. The men are presented in alphabetical order and their information is cited in the following manner: the first column contains their names as cited on the Berks County, PA militia rosters. The second column contains their names as found in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina". The third column contains their "positions" according to Lewis's work, pages 135-170. Directly below the first column is cited the militia affiliation these men have cited in the Berks County, PA militia rosters. Some of these men have several militia enlistments or there may have been many individuals by that same name who likewise had previous militia enlistments prior to signing onto the frigate South Carolina. All of these will be cited in the citations found below.
Henry Balty Henry Balty Marine
Capt. Nagle's Company
1777-1778
John Baur ------- Baur Sergeant (Marines?)
Capt. Strouse's Company, 1st Battalion
1777-1778
Henry Bear Henry Bearns Marine
Capt. Rheim's Company
1777-1778
John Bower John Bowers ----------------
Capt. Strouse's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Henry Brown Henry Brown -----------------
Capt. Geist's Company, 3rd Battalion
1777-1778
John Cock John Cockran ------------------
Capt. Growl's Company, 5th Battalion
1777,1778, 1779
John Davis John Davis ------------------
Capt. Growl's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
John English John English -------------------
Capt. Weidner's Company, 3rd Battalion
August 1780
Peter Fisher Peter Fisher --------------------
Capt. Wanner's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Capt. J. Sand's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
John Gren John Green Landsman
Capt. Folck's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
David Herman David Herman ---------------------
Capt. Boder's Company, 3rd Battalion
1777-1778
John Hill John Hill ----------------------
Capt. Growl's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
John Kuhn John Kuhn Marine
Capt. Strouse's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1778
John Lorah Johann Lohra German marine, gunner
Capt. Wombledorf's Company, 6th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
Christian Miller Christian Miller ----------------------
Capt. Krick's Company
1777-1778
Capt. Shradle's Company, 3rd Battalion
1777-1778
Capt. Emrick's Company, 3rd Battalion
1777-1778
Henry Miller Henry Miller -----------------------
Capt. Crouse's Company, 2nd Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Capt. Crouse's Company, 2nd Battalion
1777, 1778
John Miller John Miller -----------------------
Capt. Hill's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Capt. Shepler's Company, 6th battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
Phillip Miller Phillip Miller -----------------------
Capt. Folck's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Capt. Lentz's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Capt. Reiff's Company, 1st Battalion
March 1777 - March 1780
Capt. Folck's Company, 1st Battalion
1777-1778
Capt. Reiff's Company, 1st Battalion
1777-1778
Capt. Strouse's Company, 1st Battalion
1777-1778
Capt. Voyge's Company, 2nd Battalion
1777-1778
John Morris John Morris -----------------------
Capt. Geist's Company, 3rd Battalion
1777-1778
John Moyer John Moyett -----------------------
Capt. Growl's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
John Peter John Peter -----------------------
Capt. Rodermel's Company, 2nd Battalion
1777-1778
John Robinson James Robinson -----------------------
Capt. Morgan's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
John Smith John Smith ---------- , Marine?
Capt. Filbert's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
George Snider George Snyder Engineer
Capt. Folmer's Company, 6th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
John Snider John Sneyder -----------------------
Capt. Growl's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
Capt. Folmer's Company, 6th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
Capt. Huy's Company, 2nd Battalion
1777-1778
George Stephens George Stephens ----------------------
Capt. Whetstone's Company, 3rd Battalion
1777-1778
William Taylor William Taylor Sailor
Capt. S. Sand's Company, 5th Battalion
1777, 1778, 1779
George Whitman George Whitman ----------------------
Colonel Thompson's Regiment
1775-1781
Henry Yeager Heinrich Yeager Marine?
Capt. Nagle's Company
1777-1778
Several of these men have numerous citations for company and battalion affiliations cited below their names in the first column above. This is due to there being possibly several men by that same name listed in the militia rosters of Berks County, PA. This is particularly true for the more common Anglophone last names cited in the rosters. There is no possible way of knowing for sure that the correct individual whose name is cited in the section of Lewis's work, "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina" is indeed the individual cited in the many militia rosters for Berks County, PA. Thus, for each of these names that appear multiple times, all citations associated with that name have been cited in the list above.
There are several issues with this list of potential men who may have served on board the frigate South Carolina. First, there is the issue that even though these men may have served in the militia in Berks County, PA they may not have necessarily served on board the frigate South Carolina. Their names, though corresponding exactly in first names and very close in second names, may actually be a set of completely different individuals. For instance, Phillip Miller, who has the largest number of citations below his name, might conceivably not be the same Phillip Miller in question who served on board the frigate South Carolina.
Second, there is the issue of slight derivations in the spellings of last names. This has always been an issue whenever this blog has dealt with citations of the full names of individuals who may or may not have served on board the frigate South Carolina. This blog writer has usually relied upon the rather simple, or simplistic, model of the same exact first name and slight differences in the spellings of the last name. The names that display these types of differences in this post are:
Henry Bear - Henry Bearns
John Bower - John Bowers
John Cock - John Cockran
John Gren - John Green
John Lorah - Johann Lohra
John Moyer - John Moyett
George Snider - George Snyder
John Snider - John Sneyder
Henry Yeager - Heinrich Yeager
There are nine men cited here out of a total of twenty-nine men cited in the overall list. It is completely feasible that their names experienced a slight transcription error in recording them on the Berks County, PA militia rosters and that this is the basis of the differences between these militia rosters and that of the frigate South Carolina found in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. The writer of this blog feels that this is a distinct possibility because these same men's names are the only occurrence of these exact spellings encountered in the Berks County, PA rosters. As an example, the first man cited - Henry Bear - is the only occurrence of this combination of first and last names in all of the militia rosters examined. Thus, again, this blog writer has ascertained that his name may well be a derivation of Henry Bearns who does appear on the roster of the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina. In the case of the two Germanic first names cited in the above short list - Johann and Heinrich - these are the German equivalents of John and Henry, which are the first names for the associated individuals cited in the Berks County, PA militia rosters.
A third issue, and an interesting one, is that of the second individual cited in the compiled list of twenty-nine individual's citations. The writer of this blog will cite him in full here:
John Baur ------- Baur Sergeant (Marines?)
Capt. Strouse's Company, 1st Battalion
1777 - 1778
It can easily be observed by examining the second column, which is the column dedicated to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", page 136, that this individual, ------- Baur, does not have his first name designated. But, in examining the Berks County, PA militia rosters, one finds a John Baur cited. This is the only Baur cited in any of the Berks County, PA militia rosters. Thus, if this is the same Baur in both cases, the militia roster provides this man's first name - John. There are numerous individual's names in Lewis's "Appendix", pages 135-170, that do not have their first name's cited, only a (-------) provided. This would be only the second time in the entire course of this blog that an individual's first name that is not cited in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina" , pages 135-170, has been potentially located and identified through another source. The fact that this individual is cited as having been a sergeant and possibly a marine on board the frigate South Carolina also may indicate that these are the same man.
Fourth, there is one issue of rank and correct first name and two others of "position". The issue of rank deals with John/James Robinson. In the Berks County, PA militia rosters, the citation next to his name reads "Robinson, John 1st Lieut.". But, his entry in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina" , page 164, his name is cited as James Robinson and he is cited as as having "no position" on board the frigate South Carolina. This would seemingly indicate that he was an enlisted man on board the frigate. It seems improbable that a man who held an officer's rank in the militia would allow himself to be recruited as an enlisted man on board a state navy vessel. But, this is not completely impossible. He may have been tempted by the possibility of personal gain from prize money or he may have hoped to quickly rise in rank to an officer's status due to his earlier rank and service in the state militia. It is unlikely but, not unfeasible. But, his slightly different first name, John as opposed to James, presents so difficulties in that very, very rarely does one see different first names in questions of identity. There is a John Robinson who served on board the frigate South Carolina but, he has "British Soldier, 17th Regiment" cited as his "position" on board the frigate. Only for James Robinson is there no "position" cited after his name. There may be no relationship here but, this blog writer felt that this should be included in these citations because no other Robinson's are found in the Berks County, PA militia rosters. The same type of consideration applies to George Stephens. the citation for "position" on board the frigate South Carolina reads "Engineer". He would have more than likely been considered a "gentleman volunteer" as such and would have been accorded "officer" status after the capture of the frigate South Carolina. Finally, there is the situation of John Smith. He is cited twice in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", page 166. His second citation is also under the name of Johann Smitte but, has John Smith as an alternate spelling. One of the "position" citations is no "position" and the second one is "Marine?". The original, compiled list cited above indicates that there was only one John Smith found among the Berks County, PA militia rosters. But, the fact that two men by this name served on board the frigate South Carolina may indicate that one of them was from Berks County, PA and the other one was recruited from some other locale. Again, there is no way of knowing for sure which one is the man from Berks County, PA, if either of them are from there to begin with. There could be a stronger argument for the Johann Smitte being from Berks County, PA simply because of the greater occurrence of German-heritage names found on the militia rosters from that county.
In conclusion, this post indicates that even if only a portion of these above twenty-nine citations are correct associations of identical individual's, there were some former militiamen on board the frigate South Carolina who, though possibly inexperienced with the world of ships, were indeed experienced with handling long arms and facing the enemy on fields of battle rather than at sea. Some of these men were combat veterans, instead of being thoroughly inexperienced at the world of conflict that had engulfed their homes and lives. These men would have lent an experienced combat-tested presence on the decks of the frigate South Carolina for her second, brief voyage that ended just off Cape Henlopen on December 20 1782.
A bit more of information is known about this group of men, tragic though it may be. Further research, has located which British man-of-war carried some of these men into captivity in British-held New York City harbor on December 23-24, 1782. The following information has been gleaned from the captive lists for each of the Royal Navy men-of-war which participated in the capture of the frigate South Carolina. This list is incomplete in that it does not include all of the twenty-nine names cited in the original list cited above. But, we do know that the men cited below were indeed captured on board the frigate South Carolina on December 20, 1782 and transported into New York City harbor on the named British man-of-war. The list is as follows:
On board the HMS Diomede:
Henry Balty
Peter Fisher
John Miller
John Peter
John Smith
John Snider
George Stephens
William Taylor
George Whitman
On board the HMS Quebec:
John Davis
John Davis
On Board the HMS Astrea:
John Davis
John Gren
John Hill
John Hill
Henry Miller
John Miller
Phillip Miller
John Morris
(Note: There are a few instances of repetition in this list of captive Americans. There are three John Davis's, two John Hills. and tow John Millers. Two of the John Davis's are on board the HMS Quebec and one is on board the HMS Astrea. Both of the John Hills are on board the HMS Astrea. One of the John Millers is on board the HMS Diomede and the other one is on board the HMS Astrea. There are two John Millers cited in the original, longer list above. Yet, the Berks County, PA militia rosters cite only a single man by each of the other two names. But, Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170, cites three men named John Davis, two named John Hill, and two named John Miller as having served on board the frigate South Carolina. We have no way of knowing for sure which of these names are connected with one of the men who served on board the frigate South Carolina. It could easily have been that a man by that specific name was recruited from another location and was also on board the frigate South Carolina when she was captured by the three British men-of-war on December 20, 1782. But, since these are captive's lists from each of the British men-of-war that participated in the capture of the frigate South Carolina in late December 1782 and since the Berks County, PA men were all recruited for what turned out to be the final voyage of the frigate South Carolina leading up to the capture of the frigate, then there exists the possibility that some of these men may well be the very individuals cited in the original list above.)
For the officers and gentlemen volunteers of the frigate South Carolina, capture by the British would have meant parole on Long Island and waiting for the cessation of hostilities. The war only had a few more months before the definitive peace treaty was signed. But, for the NCOs and enlisted men of the frigate South Carolina, capture by the elements of the Royal Navy would have meant incarceration on board one of the prison "hulks" moored in Wallabout Bay, NY, in particular, the infamous Jersey. For many of these same men this would have been a death sentence and would have lead to a shallow grave along the slowly eroding shores of Wallabout Bay, NY. We know for sure at the very least twenty-one of the Berks County, PA men died while in British custody. So, man for man, a small bit of Pennsylvania will remain along the shores of Wallabout Bay, NY for all eternity.