Simeon Goff, the British are Here, Part 1

The budding of the trees and flowers in the first few weeks of spring of 1775 was a testament to the unusually warm winter and spring experienced in the northeastern colonies of British America. While the new growth presaged the start of a new nation, it also offered a stark contrast to the mayhem and destruction of war that was soon to flower. Nine months previous the Port of Boston was closed by British warships and the British now occupied Boston; the first shots of the American Revolution would be heard in Lexington; and Simeon Goff, my wife’s fourth great grandfather and a young man from Rehoboth, of the Massachusetts colony, would volunteer for a Massachusetts militia on April 28, 1775. This is one of a series of blog posts placing Simeon Goff in varied actions of the Revolutionary War.

Birth Record

Simeon Goff, per his pension record, would first serve ten days as a substitute in place of Benjamin Coomes and then enlist. He would, according to the pension records, serve a total of six months in the Massachusetts company under Captain Bliss in 1775. Records differ to a certain degree. The muster roll has him enlisting on April 28 for 3 three months and 11 days.  He notes, in his pension request, that he served as a substitute until about May 10, which means his April 28 enlistment he first served as a substitute before enlisting himself upon the conclusion of the ten days of substitute service. Since it was all volunteer one wonders why the needs to be a substitute? I can only think that he did not know what awaited him, or his memory, by the time of filing the pension request in 1832, had failed him, or a muster roll maybe missing.

Muster Roll, last name was Goff and Goffe

Perhaps the unusually warm spring was the tipping point in moving much of the populace from discontent and civil disobedience to full blown war. Given the many precursors to the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord, war seemed more and more inevitable. It may just have been a matter of time, and that time arrived in April of 1775. History is intractable. After the initial battles of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, followed by those of some other colonies, put out a call “for thirty thousand American troops to turn out, and legions left farm, shop and hearth” (Atkinson, p 83). Recruits were promised a coat, or the value of a coat or money in lieu of the coat. Simeon Goff would, near the end of his six months of service, on October, 26, 1775 make a claim for a coat or money-in-lieu. The record does not indicate his choice.

After years of movement toward war, the war had now started. Simeon Goff answered the call of the Provincial Congress and, along with some of his brothers, would assist the colonies in their fight against Great Britain. Simeon, who enrolled in a Massachusetts Militia on April 28,1775, was assigned to a company under the command of Captain Bliss, who like Simeon, hailed from Rehoboth, Bristol County, of the Massachusetts colony. The militia was generally a Rehoboth affair, as the commander of the regiment, Timothy Walker, also hailed from Rehoboth. Simeon’s enrollment was less than ten days following the first battles of what would be an eight year long slog of a war. This, along with other posts, will look at the campaigns or battles in which Simeon Goff would render service during the Revolutionary War.  Essentially, it is an attempt to place his duty to in forming the ideals of freedom and liberty. For over one year the war would rage before the purpose of the war would be laid out with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This post, and the next post will look at and place his first service in this Massachusetts regiment into a historical context.  

Order for Bounty Coat
or Payment in Lieu

 
To set context, however, requires a few qualifiers. First, being during a pandemic this is based primarily on sources readily available online or a book I recently read. For example, I have not used the Wisconsin State Historical Society Library to gather information. Second, the information for Simeon’s service is not heavy on dates, but I have been able to obtain an understanding of his service in at least a few campaigns by working forward to backward from a known date. Simeon would serve four different tours as part of the local militia, some mixed between substitute and his own service. And some for short periods of time. His service in 1775 would be his longest continuous service in one year, and his next longest was four months and 21 days from early July to Dec 1, in the year 1776. It would be interesting to know what he thought when answering that first call to duty in April of 1775. Perhaps being a substitute for ten days allowed him to gauge the life of being a soldier, or he was tentative about taking time away from the farm. Being young he would have had the stamina and ideals of a young man wishing to make an impact and have a part in an event which would come to change the world.

Muster Roll

While the Provincial Congress call of men to arms is thought to be the precursor to the continental army, the latter came into being by legislative action of the continental congress on June 14, 1775. Commander of the Army, General George Washington liked to complain about the state militias. He would note their lack of training, their short-term service agreements, and his dislike of what he called their slovenly behavior. For many years historians tended to agree with Washington, but over time many have come to understand and appreciate the role the militia units played in this conflict.

Part of Pension Record which indicates served
10 days as a substitute  and then enlisted for six months

To appreciate the effort of the militias, one only needs to look at Lexington and Concord and the important role played by the minutemen, which were state militia. The unit Simeon would join was originally chartered in 1774. By early 1775, the force would be 210 men strong. Minutemen were a special type of Militia, ready to advance at a moment’s notice. While this unit was not involved at Lexington and Concord, to which closer units responded following the call of Paul Revere and others, the unit did play a role. In anticipation of violence, on April 9, 1775 they were sent to Freetown, Massachusetts where they, without firing a shot, seized over 40 stands of British arms, and munitions and other related items. Clearly, there was provocation on the part of the colonialist rebels. On 19 April the regiment moved to the Roxbury and Dorchester areas near Boston where, in 1776. They would come under the overall command of General Washington, with many authority layers in between. Boston was the refuge of the British command, fully isolated but for the sea. It was these non-professional, these first of American citizen soldiers, who helped win the war. Yet, even with this success, they came under the scrutiny of the Colonial commander. Simeon’s first two of four tours would be with this company, first known as the 22nd regiment and later, with reorganization, as the 13th regiment.

Siege of Boston, Gen Washington
Google images

These posts are not intended to a full recounting of the battles in which he was engaged.  There are plenty of books and other sources which document battle details.  Rather, it is an attempt to give an idea of what life was like for Simeon in the militia and army of the colonies. The regiment to which Simeon's company was attached served its full service in 1775 as part of the Observation of Boston. This action would go until March of 1776, when Washington would pull out from the siege. Part two, of "Simeon Goff, the British are Here," will examine life around June 1775, with the Battle of Bunker Hill.  

Sources:
History.com
Historyisfun.org
Atkinson, Rick, 2019, The British Are Coming, Henry Holt & Co. NY NY
https://www.historyisfun.org/yorktown-victory-center/militia-in-the-revolutionary-war/

Simeon Goff Pension Record and Muster Records, from Ancestry.com

www.ralstongenealogy.com

Unless otherwise noted, images from Ancestry.com