American Revolution
American Revolutionary War 1778 Muster Roll Document "Camp White Plains" NY - 1st Massachusetts Regiment !
July 31, (17)78-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Manuscript Document Signed, "Luthor Bailey, Adj(utant)," Continental Army Muster Roll, 1st Massachusetts Regiment, Col. John Bailey Commanding, Camp White Plains (NY), Choice Very Fine.
The 1st Massachusetts Regiment was an infantry unit of the Continental Army that fought during the American Revolutionary War. It was first authorized on April 23, 1775, four days after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first official American Army Regiment. This original historic 1st Massachusetts Regiment, Revolutionary War Document measures 8" x 12.5" rectangular Legal Folio, 2 pages, written on both its face and back. There are a few trivial chips along the margins with just some minor fading, otherwise being well written and presented upon the proper laid watermarked period paper, in superior condition. This important Document lists the disposition of the eight companies of the extremely historic, 1st Massachusetts Regiment, John Bailey Commanding, including the officers, staff, and rank & file, totaling 379 soldiers fit for duty, signed on the verso "Luther Bailey," as Adjutant. Also noted are those soldiers that are on furlough, detached on other duties, or those being held prisoner, or that are too sick to serve. This regiment was only at two-thirds of full strength, which was not an uncommon situation in the American Army throughout the Revolutionary War.
On August 1st of 1779, Vose's Regiment was redesignated as the 1st Massachusetts Regiment of the 2nd Massachusetts Brigade in the Highland's Department. On 1 January 1781 the regiment was re-assigned to the 1st Massachusetts Brigade in the Highland's Department, and was disbanded on November 3rd of 1783 at West Point, New York. That original, historic Revolutionary War lineage continues today, as carried forward by the United States Army 104th Infantry Regiment.
The 2nd Massachusetts Regiment was a unit of the Massachusetts Line in the 1777 establishment of the Continental Army. It was a successor to a number of Massachusetts provincial regiments from the army's 1775 establishment (principally the 2nd Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment), and was known as the 23rd Continental Regiment during the 1776 establishment. It was raised on April 23, 1775 under Colonel John Thomas outside of Boston, Massachusetts; the commanding officer for much of its existence was Colonel John Bailey.
This remarkable, historic Regiment would see action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, New York Campaign, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton, Battle of Saratoga and the Battle of Monmouth. The regiment was disbanded on November 3, 1783 at West Point, New York.
The 2nd Massachusetts Regiment traced its lineage to Thomas' Massachusetts Regiment, one of twenty-seven infantry regiments raised by the Bay Colony in the spring of 1775 after the outbreak of the American Revolution. Given an authorized strength of 599 officers and men, Thomas' Regiment drew its personnel from northern Plymouth County, forming them into ten companies. The men enlisted to serve until December 31, 1775.
Incorporated into the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, Thomas' Regiment participated in the Siege of Boston as part of General George Washington's Main Army. On July 1st, the unit changed its name to Bailey's Massachusetts Regiment. When George Washington reorganized the Continental Army for 1776, he consolidated Bailey's Regiment with Cotton's Massachusetts Regiment, designating the new entity as the 23rd Continental Regiment. The 23rd was supposed to contain 723 officers and men enlisted for one year and divided into eight companies. Remaining with the Main Army, the 23rd endured defeat in Washington's unsuccessful defense of New York City and then tasted victory at Trenton and Princeton.
On September 16, 1776, Congress necessitated another reorganization of the Continental Army by voting to raise eighty-eight infantry battalions for the duration of the war. On January 1, 1777, Washington combined the 23rd and 7th Continental Regiments, along with elements of the 13th and 21st, into an amalgam known as "Bailey's Regiment." On February 9th of 1777, General Washington assigned Bailey's Regiment to the Northern Department to help counter the pending British invasion of upstate New York.
By mid-August 1777, Bailey's Regiment had joined the Massachusetts regiments of Colonels James Wesson and Michael Jackson, the 1st New York Regiment, and the 1st Canadian Regiment in the 4th Massachusetts Brigade, under Brigadier General Ebenezer Learned. Learned's Brigade figured prominently in the Saratoga Campaign, assisting in the relief of Fort Stanwix, stiffening the American left flank at Freeman's Farm, and spearheading the attack that shattered the British right at Bemis Heights.
Ordered to return to the Main Army on October 27, 1777, Bailey's Regiment was reassigned to the Highlands Department a year later. In 1779, it added a light infantry company to its table of organization and was re-designated as the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. The 2nd Massachusetts remained in service until November 3, 1783, when it was discharged.