Simeon Goff, Saving the Continental Army

In October of 1776 Simeon Goff, my wife's fourth great grandfather, was three months into a five month stint in a Massachusetts militia.  That militia was now formally attached to the nascent continental army. During a lull in action, Simeon was finally able to get some rest after the terrible battles for Long Island and New York. In the lull, Nathan Hale had been hanged by the British, and the Continental army was in disarray. This is the story of Simeon Goff and the Continental Army in the battle for Westchester County. General Washington now had a force of about 31,000 men, but it is thought only about half were battle ready. The sicknesses that engulfed the camp in spring and summer never seemed to subside, eating into the utility of the ranks. With the onset of the autumn, the falling colorful leaves were but a fleeting indicator of a more peaceful, tranquil way of life for Simeon and other members of the Continental Army. Simeon Goff would play a roll with his Massachusetts regiment in saving the Continental Army from extinction. 

Depiction of Battle of Pell's Point, Oct 1776

Life in camp was anything but tranquil, it could be downright deadly. Much of the disease was due to poor sanitation, a stalwart of the armies in its early years, and quite frankly a lack of full appreciation of what good sanitary efforts can accomplish. I am sure Simeon's 4th great granddaughter would be appalled at the lack of proper sanitation at the war camps. A surgeon from Delaware, serving with a regiment at the time, provides our 21st century levels of cleanliness a look into the camp life when he wrote: “excrementitious matter was scattered indiscriminately throughout the camp….Many died melting as it were, and running off by the bowels"(Atkinson, 432). Part of the problem was lack of medical care to be provided by surgeons or nurses. Low pay meant few wished to take on a life near the front lines and live in a squalid type quality.  Not as if the doctors would be much help, they probably would bleed the patient to only make matters worse.

John Glover

 

Sickness was only part of the problem. Morale was another. Those that were healthy were not on good behavior. There was theft, robbery, insubordination, desertion, and even mutiny. A company could not sufficiently train without seeing their tents and personal belongings being raided (Atkinson, 432-433). When the soldiers came upon communities, the behavior was no less egregious causing citizens to bolt their doors. This behavior made Washington comment that his troops were “‘infinitely more formidable to the poor farmers & inhabitants’ than to the British" (Atkinson, 433). John Adams would write that he was ashamed of the age in which he lived. Of course, Washington tended to blame the whole of the matter on the lack of a good continental army, and his having to depend on the malicious militias for so much of the fighting. This was noted in a fourteen page monograph to John Hancock. He wanted a permanent army and not one where the enlistments would end within a few months, just as he was about to soon experience as 1776 was drawing to a close with less than three months left to the new year.  Simeon was one of the soldiers who would have his enlistment end on 1 December. He wanted soldiers to be properly compensated with goods, land and ample cash bounties. He would write: “Something is due to the man who puts his life in his hand, hazards his health, & forsakes the sweets of domestic enjoyment.” (Atkinson, 433)

For three weeks there had been a lull in battle, but as the sun began to peak over the horizon, at day break on October 9 the quiet morning was broken by the sounds of heavy artillery on the Hudson River. The battle of White Plains had begun. The battle would last for several days with each side committing errors, Washington reorganizing the units and their commanders during battle, and each side wondering what would be next. For the common soldier, the issue was supplies and food. As 13,000 colonial men marched out of Manhattan they had few beasts of burden to assist in moving food and material, and even artillery. As Atkinson notes (p 440) few provisions were able to be had this October in the countryside of White Plains and New York. This led soldiers and the many camp followers to plunder, showing that the misbehavior experienced in the downtime continued. Men need food and regardless of a full-time army, or part time militia, an army marches on its stomach.

 

Glover Rock at Pell's Point

Regardless of how much food they would have had, men still had to fight. Simeon’s regiment was part of four Massachusetts regiments that would be led by Col John Glover in what is known as the battle of Pell’s Point, or Pelham Point. This battle was part of the large White Plains, and Westchester County engagements. On 18 October 13,000 British forces landed in moonlight at Pell’s Point (See Atkinson, pp 440-443). This British contingent, was unopposed and uncontested as it began to move inland finding unused artillery batteries. Pell’s Point is little mentioned in the literature, but Abbatt, in his 1910 work claims the battle was of significant consequence to the Continental Army at a critical juncture in time (p 267). Recall that the army was retreating after its losses at Long Island and New York, and the British were hoping to put an end to the rebellion. Col. Glover, however, noticed through his field glasses, as the sun was rising, that the British were landing. He took his force of 750 men to meet the British. The nearest American General was three miles distant, and Glover sent a courier to make him aware of the situation. Yet, time did not allow for General Lee to be present. Glover needed to act quick. Like so much in war, Glover’s quickly devised plan was based on subterfuge. He had most of his contingent hide behind a stone wall, while about 40 skirmishers drew the British closer and closer until they were basically at the wall where the Continentals then engaged them in combat. Glover, in the lone account of the engagement, says that “We kept our post under cover of stone wall till they came within fifty yards of us [when we] rose up and gave them the whole charge of the battalion, they halted and returned the fire with showers of musketry and cannon balls” (Abbatt, 271).

Being overwhelmed the Continental soldiers retreated and formed new lines further back. One of the retreats was by the regiment to which Simeon Goff was attached, led by Colonel Read.  In this instance, as a drummer Simeon would have pounded out the retreat signal, for his company. Yet, with 750 against 13,000 the odds favored the British and there was yet another retreat. As the sun was setting, the enemy found themselves tired and discouraged. This small group of Americans inflicted heavy losses on the British. Let me pick up from the work of Abbatt (p 273):

The results of Glover’s all day fight were of the greatest importance, far beyond the loss, heavy though it was, inflicted on the enemy. It secured, first, one day more for Washington’s force to reach White Plains, and second, Howe stunned by the unexpected and heavy loss, encamped for several days after, near New Rochelle. All the while Washington was assembling at White Plains, where he was to fight, October 28th and for the invaluable ten days respite he received he was entirely indebted to the plain matter-of-fact man of Marblehead [Glover], who...says “However, I did the best I could.”

Hence the action at Pell's Point provided sufficient time for the remainder of the Continentals to gather and fight another day, or in this case ten days later. This action was, as Jim Lovell would say, a successful failure,  Many sources note that Pell's Point was an American loss that saved Washington's army. Simeon Goff was a part of the encounter that saved the Continental army from extinction. It was not simply in the delay it caused the British forces, but that the battle helped to change the whole American psyche as to what was possible.  After all, a small group of men held at bay 13,000 men from the best army in the world.

Simeon Goff grave marker

An army runs on its stomach, and in their quest for provisions, the larger group of combatants pilfered food as it made its way north to White Plains. Atkinson notes that, as the battle moved into November, the rebels continued to scourge White Plains--stealing livestock, furniture, and farm implements. (Atkinson, 448) Massachusetts troops were said to be heated with liquor, burned much of some towns, including a church , taverns (probably after confiscating the liquor), and even barns full of hay. It does not appear to be a regiment in which Simeon served, since the commander, Major Jonathan Williams Austin, a Harvard man who had studied law with John Adams, was court-martialed for “wanton, barbarous conduct” ending his service. Washington would simply say of the affair: “cowardly wretches.” (Atkinson, 448)

Yet, the mistakes by Howe, such as waiting due to his losses at Pell’s Point, did not feel much like a huge victory for the American forces. There were complaints about the command of the British still being of better judgement than the American force commanded by George Washington. Once again, Washington had misread the terrain, but he tried to offset his misjudgments, and again would undertake brilliant retreats when necessary. But, the most important thing was that the despondency so infectious after New York and Long Island was being replaced by what Atkinson (448) would refer to “an unaccountable buoyancy could still be found in the rebel ranks despite the perpetual retreat. ‘The army are no ways disheartened,’ a young military lieutenant named Samuel Shaw wrote his parents near Boston. ‘We seem pretty generally to believe we shall beat them at last.’” Washington, who had Simeon Goff and the other men under his command retreat, came to realize that he had mastered the methods of proper and timely retreat, bedeviling British General Howe. This led to a change in attitude which would affect the war. Nonetheless, the battle for White Plains would continue to rage well into November.

 

Map of White Plains, Westchester County

A large contingent of American forces would be captured after finally surrendering during a long battle and having been surrounded by the British forces for days. It was perhaps Washington’s lowest point, with other Generals now questioning his capabilities, as can be summed by a few words he wrote to his brother: “I am wearied almost to death by the retrograde motion of things.” (Atkinson, p 460) The destruction of another large American force was kept from capture by another one of Washington’s masterful retreats.

However, the surprise is that with how most everything had gone so bad for the American forces during the New York campaign, and how over-matched they were by the British in terms of men, training, and leadership, the American armies were still not defeated. Lt Shaw would write in a letter home: “I firmly believe that if heaven had not something very great in store for America, we should ‘ere this have been a ruined people.” (Atkinson, 462) So, once again the army retreated. Some lacking shoes, bodies wrapped in blankets, and this rabble of an army looked for shelter in barns, sheds and a few lucky ones would find a house. The fall campaign was now ending, and with it the service of Simeon Goff. Simeon would receive a discharge on Dec 1, 1776.

Simeon Goff Pension

With this discharge, partially through a retreat across New Jersey in the last days of November, Simeon would break off and undergo a long trek back to Rehoboth in the Massachusetts colony. Simeon would have experience of loss and depredation, but also the knowledge that he, and his regiment had fought hard and well. Simeon was part of the 750 men at Pell’s Point who, according to Abbatt, had saved the whole army from destruction, and what otherwise would to the idea of independence for the fledgling nation, then only in its fourth month of existence.

Simeon would not be with his regiment when it took part in what is perhaps the most iconic movement of the war--the Christmas day movement across the Delaware River to attack on the encamped Hessian forces at Trenton. What I find most remarkable about Simeon’s service during this trying time is that he did not have to serve at all. For five months and 21 days he was away from home, put up with hardship, illness, and loss of friends. During this, his second tour of duty in the war, he served as a substitute for a man named Joseph Pierce. As Simeon walked home from New Jersey, in a counter move to the flow to the army movement, I also wonder if he realized what his regiment had accomplished at Pell's Point?  I also wonder, as he returned home if he thought he had fought his last battle for Independence?  It turn out he would serve briefly in 1777 and again in 1778.

Sources:

Abbatt, William, 1910, “The Battle for Pell’s Point or Pelham, October 18, 1776” Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association, vol 9.  

History.com

Historyis fun.org

Atkinson, Rick, 2019, The British Are Coming, Henry Holt & Co. NY NY

Simeon Goff, and the Key to the Whole Continent

Simeon Goff, a fourth great grandparent of my spouse, served four tours of duty during the revolutionary war.  During 1776 he served from July 1 to December 1.  His Massachusetts company, and regiment, from Rehoboth, was sent to New York where they would be in the struggle for New York. This blog post is a continuation of Simeon's service in the Revolutionary War.  Private Goff would serve his company and regiment as a drum major during 1776 in various engagements of the Revolutionary War in the area of New York. This blog post will be the first part of his service in 1776 and a subsequent post will deal with his service in autumn. His enlistment on July 1, would be one day earlier then when the colonies declared independence. Although, as we all know, July 4 is now the recognized date. 

John Adams of Massachusetts early in the Revolutionary War once described New York as “a kind of key to the whole continent.” General George Washington would also hold New York as important, saying it is “a post of infinite importance” (Atkinson, p 304). Why was New York viewed as a key  location in the war such as to have two leaders of the American Revolution claim its importance? The reason, at least during the Revolutionary War, was the North River, and the belief that if the British gained control of New York they had the capability to, as Washington said “they can stop the intercourse between the northern & southern colonies, upon which depends the safety of America” (Atkinson, 304). Given the archipelago on which the city was located, it had a lot of water, and water was a main carrier of large items of transport during this age of trails rather than highways. People and goods would make their way between colonies by use of water, when readily available. 

Painting of part of the Battle for New York

Due to geography, New York was important, and due to that position, it also would commandeer militias from other states. New Yorkers themselves tended to identify more with the Britain, and hence were loyolists or Tories. Ten colonies had sent militias to New York, where Washington hoped for a battle to end the conflict. Fewer than half the colonial forces were continentals, that is the new regular army, the rest were state militia members. Simeon Goff, my wife’s fourth great grandfather, made his way, with his militia regiment from Massachusetts to New York and would find himself engaged with his unit in the battles of White Plains, Long Island and Pelham Point. Colonel Thomas Carpenter would, in 1776 take the reins of this Rehoboth regiment and lead it into these battles as part of the colonial army. Simeon would serve four tours of duty. His first tour of duty in 1775 is described here and here, where he enrolled on the 28th of April 1775. His first tour was either 3 months and eleven days, or six months, depending upon the record examined. Simeon’s second tour of duty lasted five months from July 1 to Dec 1, 1776. What would the war experience in New York be like for Simeon? This post, and a subsequent post, is an attempt to provide an answer to that question.

One historian has said of the citizen soldiers, that “the great mass knew nothing of war.” In this sense it would be a very rude awakening for the mass of troops gathered. The regiment to which Simeon belonged would be one of the few at or near full strength. Summer diseases had killed or made very ill a large number of men. Dysentery, typhoid, and even malaria would be the main killer in this part of the war, not battle wounds themselves. Diseases were misdiagnosed, and treatment was even more primitive, making for a dangerous combination. One Connecticut continental group had available only 214 of its authorized 728 men. Disease and death left such a horrid smell which permeated both place and people, leading one doctor to comment that the air of the whole city was bad, by saying that in almost “every street there is a horrid smell'' (Atkinson, 358). The battle for Long Island, even with the difficulty of obtaining fit men, would still provide an army of 40,000 souls making it the largest engagement for the long eight year Revolutionary War. We don’t know if Simeon became ill, but we do know that he lived to another day.

John Adams

Logistically, stocking an overseas army, as was the British issue, was more difficult as they had to haul men, horses, food and even forage from overseas. Not to mention, waste, spoilage, and just plain fraud on the part of suppliers. That did not mean that logistics were not also a problem for the colonies. Atkinson (306) notes the following comment by a North Carolina congressman, Joseph Hewes: “ ...but it is a melancholy fact that near half our men, cannon muskets, powder, clothes, etc is to be found nowhere but on paper.” Washington calculated the food needs of a 15,000 man army to be 100,000 barrels of flour, 10,000 tons of meat annually. The concerns arose not just for food, but for flint, blankets, tents, wagons, shoes, and a whole host of other daily items.

I wonder how much of this food was for Washington and his upper echelon. Atkinson (p 431) notes that while Washington was staying five weeks at the Morris house in Westchester County, that “The commander in chief’s household expense ledger...showed a hearty appetite for goose, mutton, veal, turkey pork and duck; the provisions also included a half dozen six-pound loaves of bread daily, apples, green tea, cider, and 163 bottles of good Madeira.” Over 13 cases of wine, assuming 12 bottles to a case, in just a five week period. Washington was living high on the hog, so to speak. While he did not claim a salary, he was reimbursed for his expenses. Party hearty, and the upper echelon of men did.

George Washington

While Washington was well supplied, the one supply for the common soldier in good supply was gunpowder. Gunpowder was had by a few different methods. First, the colonies raided ships, often by falsely flying French colors to board and raid, or pirate, the second avenue was smuggling gun powder, from places in the West Indies or Europe. I guess they viewed it as an acceptable level of piracy with the means justifying the end.

Simeon’s role in the Rehoboth regiment would be like the gunpowder production in 1776, stopping and starting. For his second tour, Simeon was the regimental drummer. He drummed to alert the troops of the regiment as to when to wake, when to put down for the night, when to eat and when to go to church. But, his role was much more important in the thick of battle. His drum would let the regiment know when and where to gather, when to attack and when to retreat. The drummer was to the Revolutionary War what the colors and bugles were for the Civil War. He would likely have been armed with his drum and two drumsticks, hence he was vulnerable, although perhaps he carried a pistol or rifle slung over his back. Often during war, the opponents try to take out the lead staff, and Simeon would have been kept near the Captain of his local unit, to make note of the order given in the heat and fog of battle.

New York Campaign

 
The battles at Long Island over a few days were ferocious, and left both armies at times in a tenuous position. The American left and center fell, leaving a valiant effort by the commander of the American right, General Lord Stirling to fight it out, showing courage and capability that would surprise a biographer who had claimed him a pompous, vain, obese man. The group of Marylanders under his control would fall, seeing over 250 dead or captured. Three of five groups from Maryland fighting in the rear guard would be obliterated, and the other two almost so. As Atkinson quotes: “A chaplain watching from the redoubt on Brooklyn Heights told his journal, ‘O doleful! Doleful! Blood! Carnage! Fire!’ Lieutenant Enoch Anderson of Delaware, who escaped by wading to his chin past a milldam despite a wound in his neck, wrote simply, ‘A hard day this.’” (371)

British commander Howe would record over 1,200 prisoners including three generals, three colonels, and four lieutenant colonels. There were so many the British did not really know what to do with them. The total American wounded and killed was estimated by Howe as over 3,300 men. However, showing the nature of the American army these captured officers were a surprise to the mercenary professional Hessian Soldiers who noted that they “are nothing but mechanics, tailors, shoemakers, wigmakers, barbers, etc.” (Atkinson 372) Unlike the British army, the leaders of the American army were common men, most of whom had to self learn what war was like. Recall that Connecticut regiment with only 214 of its total 728 fit for battle? Well, 208 of the number were killed or missing in action. It was a one sided battle, fully in favor the forces brought by the crown.

Monument Base in Brooklyn, NY
Inscription reads:
"Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lost."

 
It would be a carnage that few could forget. It would bring the 18th century version of PTSD, it would bring about total exhaustion, and a despondency that made soldiers question officers, and officers question soldiers, and field officers question their generals. One Lt Colonel would write that “less generalship never was shown in any army since the art of war was understood.” (Atkinson, 373) Washington had misread the situation on the ground, during and throughout each day of the battle. While he realized the key was New York for its water, he failed because he had no navy to assist. Showing lack of faith in his men, as all around him men fell he would tell John Hancock, that “he could still defend New York ‘if the men would do their duty.’” (Atkinson, 373)

The one thing Washington did right within this whole battle, was his retreat. Although the colonial forces were assisted by a British general who failed to pursue the colonial army as that colonial army licked its wounds in retreat. The British general provided the road map for General Meade in the Civil War when he chose not to go after the retreating confederate army after the Union victory at Gettysburg. The following morning, British pickets would find no one in the American camp. Simeon would gather his drum, and meager belongings during the retreat from the battle for Long Island, and move to a more distant shore.  He, and his company would wait for another battle. Tune in for another episode of Simeon Goff and the Revolutionary War.

Images from Google

Sources:  

History.com

Historyis fun.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, the British are Here, Part 2

Simeon Goff, as seen in the prior post, first enrolled in the Massachusetts militia on April 28, 1775, five days after the legislative call for men to gather arms for the Revolutionary War. Simeon, as noted in prior posts, is the 4th great grandfather of my wife. As part of the regiment from Rehoboth, his hometown, Simeon and and his regiment would be part of the observation, or siege, of Boston, an operation to contain and limit British movement in and out of Boston. 

Simeon, a private in the regiment, would serve three months and 11 days, or six months, depending upon source information. While the regiment did not participate in the June battle of Bunker Hill, actually Breed’s Hill, it nonetheless provided the support of containment in the long line from Roxbury to Chelsea, with Simeon's regiment specifically serving in the section from Roxbuy to Dorchester. Atkinson provides this reference: “An army of sorts soon bivouacked along a ten-mile crescent from Roxbury to Chelsea, determined to serve the god of battle by driving the British into the sea.” (p. 83) There was an almost religious fervor among the 30,000 recruits who responded to the order of the Provincial Congress. A quote contained in Atkinson’s work notes, “‘The ardor of our people is such that they can’t be kept back.’ a committee from New Haven informed John Hancock.” (p. 83) Simeon, per his regimental history, was one of those 30,000 recruits to serve in that line.

1775 era map of the Siege of Boston
from Google

Of course, such citizen soldiers had to set aside their work on the farm or in the shop. However, the need to leave this grand American army for home chores led many to depart after a brief stint of service, which of course provided fodder for George Washington in his claims of the unreliability of the militia. To deceive the British, as to the size of the force, a regiment near Roxbury, perhaps Simeon’s, would march one mile and turn around and march back again, doing so a few times a day. This to try and trick the British forces into thinking there were more colonial forces in place than there actually were. Shortages compounded the problems, particularly in arms and ammunition. Rations, too, were often short. Worse yet, was the lack of proper sanitation and cleanliness in the camp. Think of a combination of wood smoke, cooking meat, rotting entrails left off to the side, and improperly dug latrines and one can quickly get an idea that camp life, and the odor that went with it, was not very pleasant. It is not a situation a red-headed descendant of Simeon Goff would like. This descendant, I am sure, would go in and organize the sanitation situation, putting her organizational and nurse skills to work. After all, she is the one upon visiting a boy scout campout decided the boys needed to clean their hands before eating and she and another mom created, and enforced, a hand washing line. 

Sanitation was one thing, clothing was another. Clothing worn by the militia regiments was what would have been worn on the farm or in the shop. Simeon Goff probably dressed similar to the other members of his regiment. Atkinson describes that Massachusetts regiments “wore the usual homespun linen shirts and breeches tinted with walnut or sumac dye. Most carried a blanket or bedroll, often with a tumpline strap across the forehead to support the weight on their backs.” (93) One woman, Mary Pierce, who became widowed during this campaign, is reported to have made a claim of “five pounds and twelve shillings for his (husband's) lost coat, trousers, stockings, shoes, buckles, silk handkerchief, knife, and tobacco box.” (Atkinson, 112) Clearly, even in the fog of war the parsimonious Puritans pleaded for proper compensation. It makes one wonder what she thought of her husband having perished in battle? She certainly desired just compensation for his lost or stolen snuff box. Such was life for a camp commander.

General Washington at Siege of Boston
from Google

While rations were in short supply, the soldiers got creative. In this situation, 600 militia members set out for an island in Boston Harbor to capture “411 sheep, 27 cows, and 6 horses” (Atkinson, p 87) which garnered the attention of the British forces which failed to stop the raid. If things were bad along the American lines, they were much worse for the British forces. The siege was working in denying food and material to the Bostonian based British. The hardships led the British to move on the area occupied by Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill to find a way out of the mess in which they found themselves. American spies caught wind of the plan, and forces were quickly moved to what was supposed to be the more impenetrable Bunker Hill, but they were misplaced onto Breed’s Hill. Organ pipes were melted down for bullets, and a review of ammunition and gunpowder occurred.

To assist with this battle, nine Massachusetts regiments were ordered from Cambridge to the Charlestown neck, but only five reached this peninsula, due to directional indifference. Just because the regiments were from Massachusetts did not mean they knew where they were going and lack of maps proved a major hindrance to the proper and timely movement of forces. Organization of militias was generally by county. Simeon served with a regiment from Bristol County, and it probably did not help matters as the regiment would be in the dark if they lacked knowledge of the area. They did not have a smart phone to ask siri for directions. They even lacked maps. Those troops at the neck, did not even get on the correct hill, gathering on Breed’s Hill, a more difficult to fortify position, rather than the intended Bunker Hill.

Last Attack of British at Bunker Hill
from Google

Losses at the battle of Bunker Hill were rather significant for the British Army and their hired Hessian soldiers. Exhibiting a certain level of morbid curiosity, Yankees in Roxbury used spy glasses to watch the Brits bury their dead. (Atkinson p 113) The effects of the dead soldiers, on both sides, would be sold to the highest bidder. One wonders if private Pierce’s effects fetched a few pounds.

Bunker Hill would be the first difficult battle leading some combatants to incur what we now call PTSD. As one British officer wrote, “The shocking carnage of that day never will be erased from out of my mind ‘till the day of my death.” (Atkinson, 115) With this carnage, with the shorter term deployments, as we know Simeon served either six months, or three months and 11 days in 1775, and with the deprivations experienced these citizen soldiers performed quite well, which would have been a surprise to General Washington, who as quoted in one source “was unimpressed upon meeting his supposed army outside Boston upon his appointment as commander in chief of the Continental forces in 1775. (history.com) Simeon Goff and the other militia members who came from farms, workshops and mercantile businesses would protect their homeland, the American continent, and do so through a long trying war.

The Observation of Boston was long, at times boring and at times difficult.  In March 1776, the commanding General, George Washington, would pull out from the siege, and send his troops elsewhere.  Simeon's militia was involved in the Observation of Boston, so for all of Simeon's 3 or 6 months service in 1776 it was spent near Boston, north-northeast of his community of Rehoboth.  A future post (or posts) will discuss Simeon's service in 1776.  In the year America became a nation, Simeon would see action, including an event which probably saved the Continental Army and hence the nations newly found independence.


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

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

Landscaping

Thirty years ago we landscaped our yard. When landscaping around the house, I attempted to follow the best practices to enhance energy efficiency for the house. Our house is not properly situated on either a north to south, or east to west axis.  Instead the front of the house faces northeast, and the back southwest. Normally, this orientation would not pose much of an issue, but when I examined doing solar panels, I found an issue.

Aerial view of my house showing tree cover of most of the
southwest roof. The pin (teardrop) is on the peak of the roof
Source:  Google Images

While landscaping, I tried to make the best of this orientation. For example, I know that the strongest winds are generally from the west and northwest, and hence the side of the house that faces the northwest (about 323 degrees) I planted  arborvitaes which act as a windbreak, they also screen the house next door. I placed an evergreen tree to the northeast corner of the house to also help block wind. To limit sun gain in the summer time I planted shade trees in the back yard near the house. The back side of the house faces southwest (about 233 degrees).  The trees to the direct southwest of the house which I planted are locust trees which have a smaller leaf, but a large canopy with both able to extend about half way over the house roof.  I last had the trees trimmed in June 2020, to better form and keep branches from hitting the roof or the house edge. Having them trimmed is rather expensive.  However, the trees provide value in shade which provides comfort to people and reduces cooling costs of the house, lessens area of lawn that is fully exposed to the sun, and hence the grass stays more green in times of drought and/or hot temperatures. The downside is that many of the nice flowers for garden beds like more sun than shade, so it is a balancing act.  The canopies are sufficiently large so that, as the trees have grown, half of my rose and flower bed is mostly shaded, which has taken down the quality of the flower blooms.  Or, as in some cases, the sun loving plants just gradually fade away.

Two Locust Trees along back of House

Due to house orientation the front lawn does not get much sun.  The lawn is shaded by the house, a large ash tree in the front yard, and a street tree that is a locust tree. The street tree was not in place when we moved in the house, and was planted a few years after we bought the structure. I would have thought the realtor would have mentioned it, or they would have had something in their deed restrictions (like I required of developers in Fitchburg when we started to require street trees).  Hence, I have two shade trees in the front of the house rather than my anticipated one shade tree in the front of the house. The area of the front lawn closest to the house does not get much sun, and the lack of grass shows this to be true.  It also shows how trees break up the rain fall, as this part of the lawn seems dryer, even though it is shadier.  

My thoughts on how I landscaped to reduce climatic effects on the house--lower cooling and heating costs, came to mind when I was examining, a couple weeks ago, the possible placement of solar panels on the house. This is where the house orientation poses a problem. The roof on which the panels are best placed, unless a ground mount is used, is best south and then oriented within 90 degrees of south. If south is at 180 degrees, that means it should range from 90 degrees (which is east) to 270 degrees, which is west. My roof line is oriented with the long alignment of the house, which means I have one good roof location for solar, and that is the southwest roof which gets shade from the trees I planted thirty years ago. I really do not want to cut down the trees, nor is it likely financially feasible to place the panels on my northeast facing roof, as the solar efficiency factor is just not  present. 

Northwest edge of the house and arborvitaes
planted to reduce wind to the house. 

My last several years as a planner, as photovoltaic was becoming more affordable, I attempted to get subdividers to position the main lengths of streets east to west so that homes would have much of the roof face south or north. This was based on the fact that many homes have their roof line run with the main axis of the house, and the main axis is often along the street frontage, although it does not need be that way. However, given the 90 degree ability from true south an orientation north to south may be better as you would have, if the house roof ridge ran that direction, two roof faces for solar.  If my house was at a north to south orientation, I would be able to place solar panels on my east roof, say above the garage which does not get much shade at all.  As it is, I am limited to a roof that has the most shade from my passive energy designed landscaping.

Evergreen landscaping planted in the
northwest corner of the yard.

This of course, raises the issue of what passive use of landscaping verse keeping solar. Without shade, a house will get much warmer leading to more cooling costs.  The house in which I grew up, which my Dad designed, had a larger overhang to the south, such that the heat of the sun was blocked from the south windows from, say mid-spring to mid-fall, but was able to get in  the south rooms during the other times of the year to reduce heat cost. House builders have gotten away from such simple measures to reduce the sun affect on a house. Instead of simple design techniques you have energy efficiency requirements which depend on insulation and windows and door openings. By requiring such overhangs, would probably limit the creativity of architects or designers, although that does not mean such passive techniques cannot be used.

Of course, rooftop solar poses an issue too. If a house lacks shade, you may get energy from the sun, but you are also likely paying more to cool the house due to the energy gain from the sun. Not to mention days when you may not need cooling due to the trees, but would need cooling if the trees were not present. In addition, landscaping, trees, shrubs and flowers all provide a non-tangible benefits to the human mind, body and soul.  It is all a balance.

As to the orientation of our house, for me, it means if I wish to go solar I will likely have to explore other options than panels on the roof.  Given the size panels required to offset our electric usage, which by the way is low for other comparable houses, I doubt I wish to see that size freestanding in my yard. After all, I still need a place to play football, even though my body, and my wife, will tell me not to. I do, however, take comfort in the way I landscaped the yard to obtain benefits to the house, ourselves, and our energy bills.

Lincoln's Assassination

It was on this day, April 15, in 1865 that President Lincoln died after being shot by John Wilkes Booth on the night of April 14, Good Friday. Abraham Lincoln is one of the most written about persons in history. Lincoln was shot while attending Ford's Theater in Washington, DC, on what was a pleasant day. After four years of Civil War, and experiencing personal loss, he was finally able to smile.

Ford's Theater, Washington, DC

General Ulysses S Grant, who commanded the forces of the US Military which defeated the states in rebellion attended the scheduled cabinet meeting that day, although without word of Southern General Joseph Johnston's surrender to General Sherman, which would not occur for almost two more weeks.  Yet, historians and others often recognize the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia by General Robert E. Lee to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on Sunday the 9th of April as the date the Civil War ended. Fire works would go off in Washington, DC, at the same time Booth and his accomplices were planning their efforts of assassination of the President and other officials.

Lincoln Memorial
Washington, DC

Lincoln was happy to have had time earlier in the day to visit with his oldest son, Robert, 22 years of age and who had been a staff officer to General Grant. He had suggested that Robert complete his education, which was interrupted by the war, and perhaps take up the law. I suppose, the youngest son, Tad, was having fun and running around the White House enjoying himself and perhaps playing pranks on the cabinet secretaries as they arrived for the scheduled cabinet meeting.  

The cabinet members, and General Grant, found Lincoln in good spirits that morning, and why not?  The war was, for all intents and purposes, over.  Congress was not in session, which Lincoln thought was a good thing as he could approach his idea of reconstruction. Walking out of the meeting Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War and the Attorney General James Speed, would comment on how good their "Chief" looked.  Clean shaven, a nice suit and a warm disposition and hearty smile.  This was in strong contrast to the rumbled clothes, the dreary eyes, and the long sad face experienced over four long years of war. The presidency takes a toll on many of the office, one only need to look at before and after photos of Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama. Lincoln faced perhaps the greatest difficulties of any president, a Civil War, and one can only imagine the heartache he faced. 

Ford's Theater booth where Lincoln was shot

The heartache was not only the personal loss, but the huge loss of men which became evident during the Civil War.  This war was fought with the then conventional tactics, but newer, more advanced weaponry was occurring throughout the war, and the tactics did not have time to adapt to the changing technologies. In addition, medical care had not sufficiently advanced beyond cutting off limbs, not to mention that they really did  not understand sterilization or sterile environments. More soldiers died of disease than they did from wounds of war. Life was different in the 19th century before the sanitary revolution. Thus, the Civil War is known for its death toll due to the lack of proper sanitation, and its advancement of the instruments of war. Many a family lost a loved one, or had a family member maimed.  Whether disease, or the shot from a bullet, neither brought back a husband or son lost to war.  The whole thing is that Lincoln understood what he called the terrible arithmetic, that the north could lose and replace many more soldiers than could the south.  The north's resources were so much greater that what the south had in material, and men. Nonetheless, families would grieve. 

Peterson House, where Lincoln Died
Washington, DC

Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln had four sons, only two of which survived Abraham.  Only one of which, that being Robert, would outlive Mary Todd. Eddie passed away in 1850.  Add to this the death of Willie (William) while they occupied the White House. Willie died of Typhoid fever on 20 February 1862. Mary Todd would never really come to grips with what the death of Willie. Tad (Thomas Lincoln III) died at age 18 in 1870 with causes of death varying from pneumonia to tuberculosis, or heart failure. 

Robert Lincoln would be the only surviving child to Mary Todd Lincoln. Mary Todd Lincoln would have a difficult life, after the death of her husband.  He already fragile mental state, due to the deaths of Eddie and Willie, had reached the breaking point. Back in that time, of course, she was derided for her mental state, and history.com says she became a laughing stock.  Edwin Stanton, ordered her out of the Peterson house, the home across the street from Ford's Theater where Lincoln was taken after being shot and where he died the following morning.  She may have been bi-polar, or some other mental disease, not then recognized.  I know Stanton thought highly of himself, but I often wondered who he thought he was to order Lincoln's wife out of the room?  

The Lincoln Memorial
Washington, DC

The thing is, Mary Todd did love the spotlight and enjoyed being the wife of the President.  This attitude did not help her after her husband's death when people though she was over-extravagant in her grief. History.com provides the following: 

Mary’s servant, dressmaker, and confidante Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley recalled “the wails of a broken heart, the unearthly shrieks, the terrible convulsions” of the bereft widow. Though those reactions might seem appropriate for a woman who witnessed her husband’s traumatic assassination at close range, they were seen as indicative of an unladylike craving for attention at the time.

Frederick Douglass, understood that Lincoln's time had been unfortunately cut short. Douglass in a lengthy eulogy to Lincoln at Cooper's Union in New York, (you can read his address here) made this comment late in the address:

While willing to give, he was equally willing to receive: and so far from feeling ustracised (sic) in his presence, he acted upon me as all truly great men act upon their fellow men, as a Liberator,—He set me at perfect Liberty—to state where I differed from him as freely, as where I agreed with him. From the first five minutes I seemed to myself, to have been acquainted with him during all my life. He was one of the most solid men I ever met, and one of the most transparent.

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln would have a significant effect during the aftermath of the Civil War. If he had lived, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson, would likely never have become President. (Meaning he never would have been impeached.) The President earned political capital from the war, leverage of which he was never to use. Perhaps Mary Todd would have been better too, having her husband at her side and his ability to put up with, but yet manager her. His was a life cut short, and a country to really never know his smile, or to further appreciate his wit. 

Photos by author, April 2007

From Freetown to Freedom

On this day (April 9) in history, 246 years ago, there was no United States of America, but the American Colonies of the British Empire. The town of Freetown in the Massachusetts colony was similar in many respects to other small Massachusetts colonial towns of the era, but there was one big difference.  Freetown was the home of Colonel Thomas Gilbert. Events at Freetown on this date would shape the event that occurred ten days later. In other words, the engagement at Freetown in 1775 was a step of many on the way to freedom, and independence for the colonies.  

Rehoboth Militia Unit Reenactment

Thomas Gilbert was a loyalist, that is, he was loyal to King George III, and the British Empire. Gilbert had served with some distinction during the French and Indian war.  In 1775 he was, however, the head of the second regiment of a loyal group, to which other loyalists in the Freetown area belonged.  He abhorred the growing movement for independence. His loyalty to the crown could not be questioned. He would represent the town in what was called the General Court, in which he served as the chair of the committee which advanced resolutions expressing dismay at the Boston tea party. Under the direction of British Commander General Thomas Gage, he would create stores of war material in his house at Freetown in the first few months of 1775. 

Unit Creation, Nov 1, 1774

Knowing that war was on the horizon, the British needed to have stores of ammunition, powder, and other material for the coming engagement with the American colonialists. To help protect the stands of war material, Gilbert organized a contingent of 300 men of the area to put down any attempt to confiscate the accumulated war material.

American history often tells us that the British started the Revolutionary War.  Of course, the colonies took different actions to get up the British temper.  Freetown was one such event, and perhaps the last event before Lexington and Concord ten days later.  At Freetown, a large group of colonial militias would confiscate some of this war material so well horded by Colonel Gilbert. Gilbert had learned of a coming uprising by the colonial militias and he and part of his small group of 300 men would take some of the material to an English war ship in Newport. However, this agglomeration of colonial militias was 2,000 members strong, and would raid Gilbert's house and in the process take 29 men prisoner, and confiscate over 40 stands of arms and other material which Gilbert was unable to hustle out of town. Those 29 men, who were part of the 300 organized by Gilbert, would later be freed provided they pledged to engage in better behavior. This idea of better behavior probably meant to not take part in any loyalist behavior, if not support the colonial cause. Part of the group of Massachusetts militias to make the raid on Freetown was one from Rehoboth, of Bristol county in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Rehoboth militia company, comprised of men from Rehoboth and other adjoining communities, was chartered in 1774 for the express purpose of an ability to wage war and protect the local population.  By the time of the raid it consisted of 210 men willing to act at a moment's notice.

Freetown Raid Description

Even though during the raid no shot was fired and the prisoners were released, this attack on the military stores housed at Freetown would be a precursor to the first major battle of the Revolutionary War.  The colonialists too were preparing for war, by accumulating war goods and supplies, some of which came from raids, such as at Freetown. The colonialists attacked theses stores ten days before the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord. The colonialists likely knew how many men had been engaged to protect the ammunition dump, and gathered a large, overwhelming force of 2,000 to attack and claim the goods. A march of 2,000 men did not go unnoticed leading Gilbert to save some of the material and goods. 

My wife's 4th great grandfather, Simeon Goff, hailed from Rehoboth, and while he was not part of this Rehoboth Minuteman militia company to raid the stores 246 years past, he would, in short order, join this same militia unit and see involvement in the Revolutionary War. This post will be part of a journey of tracing, through a few different blog posts, this primeval American war and and the engagements and battles of which Simeon would be apart.  In the end, we cannot look through Simeon's eyes, or see what was in his mind, but yet I hope to provide a general sense of what life was like for Simeon.  He was a part of the war in the fight from Freetown to freedom for the American Colonies.  It is the journey of an early American story.

Sources:

https://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fenner1906-3.pdf

Historyisfun.org

Atkinson, Rick, 2019, The British Are Coming, Henry Holt & Co. NY NY

http://www.13thcontinentalregiment.org/unit-timeline.html