OFFICERS OF THE REGIMENT
The Pennsylvania Archives are availabe online at footnote.com.
The Correspondence of Col. Stephen Moylan along with other Pennsylvania and Continental Officers is among some of the gems contained in these archives.
Another great on-line link to one of the most cited pieces of documentation of the Officers of the Continental Army as presented in the Historical Register by Francis Heitman. The original edition, is available in PDF format from the Hudson River Valley Institute. We are very thankful to have this resource available.
As an aid to users, the divisions of the register are divided alphabetically as follows:
53-130 A beginning with Abbe, B, C ending with Colombe
131-206 C beginning with Conn, D, E, F, G, H,
207-282 H beginning with Hamilton, I, J, K, L, M,
383-358 M beginning with McRenolds, N, O, P, Q, R, S,
358-447 S beginning with Savage, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Note: Within each section the PDF page format begins at 1.
In section 1, the A-B division is at PDF Page 13. The B-C division is at page 56.
The original edition, is incomplete and contains some errors. Subsequent editions include additions and updates to the Register. As we acquire the updates, they will be presented on this page.
Rank.........................Alphabetical List.................Notes
Lt. ANDERSON, JAMES See Below
Cornet BAMPER, JOCOB See below
Lt. BEDKIN, HENRY to Capt Pulaski LD
Quartermaster BENNETT, PATRICK Civilian agent See Memorial in National Archives via Footnote.com
Capt. BIRD, WILLIAM
Cornet BOWEN, JOHN/JEHU From 4th Md Brother of James & Sabrett
Major BULL, EPAPHRAS Temporary duty from 2LD
Surgeon CATHCART, WILLIAM
Cornet COBURN, JOHN
Capt. COOK, JOHN
Capt. CRAIG, CHARLES
Capt. CRAIG, JOHN
Lt. CROSS, WILLIAM
Cornet DORSEY, LARKIN
Lt. DORSEY, RICHARD to Capt Maryland Arty
Capt. DORSEY, THOMAS
Capt/Major FAUNTLEROY, MOORE See Memorial by Peter Manifold in National Archives via Footnote.com
Cornet FELL, WILLIAM
Capt. FRANK, LAWRENCE
Cornet FUNC, JACOB
Lt/Capt GILL, ERASMUS
Capt. GRAY, GEORGE
Lt. GUTHREY, GEORGE /GUTHRIE - see paper
Lt. HALLET, JONAH from Malcom's Addl Regt 04/25/79
Capt. HEARD, JOHN
Cornet HENDERSON, JOHN
Lt. HENDERSON, WILLIAM Paymaster
Capt. HOPKINS, DAVID To Major 1LD
Lt. HORD, JOHN To Capt. Lee's Legion
Capt. HOWARD, VASHELL/VACHEL
Lt/Capt MANIFOLD, PETER
mate/Surgeon MCCALLA, THOMAS /MCCAWLEY
Lt. MOORE, NICHOLAS R To Capt Baltimore City Horse
Colonel MOYLAN, STEPHEN
Lt. OVERTON, THOMAS To Capt 04/24/81 for service in the South
Cornet PEYTON, DADE
Capt. PIKE, ZEBULON
Capt. PLUNKETT, DAVID
Cornet/Lt ROBBINS, JOHN
Cornet/Lt/Capt SMITH, LARKIN
Cornet SULLIVAN, JOHN
Lt Col TEMPLE, BENJAMIN from 1LD for Col White
Surgeon Mate THOMPSON, JOSEPH
Lt/Capt TRENT, LAWRENCE
Major WASHINGTON, WILLIAM LtCol 3LD
Lt Col WHITE, ANTHONY W. to 1LD
Cornet WHITE, GEORGE to 1LD
Chaplin WILLAIMSON, SAMUEL
Cornet/Lt/Capt WILLIS, HENRY III Also did duty with 1st Cont Arty from Va
Cornet YULE, JAMES Deputy Wagonmaster-General at Velley Forge, 1778
OFFICERS OF THE REGIMENT BY RANK See this (Jan) 1779 Return.
STATE NAME PROMOTIONS FROM/TO DATES NOTES
PA COLONEL STEPHEN MOYLAN JAN '77 to NOV '83 to BRIGADIER
FIELD OFFICERS (Lt COLONELS)
NJ ANTHONY WALTON WHITE FEB '77 to DEC '79 to 1LD
VA BENJAMIN TEMPLE DEC '79 to END FROM 1LD
MAJORS
VA WILLIAM WASHINGTON JAN '77 to NOV '78 to 3LD
CT EPAPHRAS BULL from 2LD APR '80 to FEB '81 (temporary) to 1st
VA MOORE FAUNTLEROY to MAJOR AUG '79 to END? prisoner/exchanged?
TROOP COMMANDERS (CAPTAINS)
VA A MOORE FAUNTLEROY JAN '77 to AUG '79 captured/RELEASED TO MAJOR
VA B DAVID HOPKINS JAN '77 to ? '80 to MAJOR 1LD
PA C THOMAS DORSEY JAN '77 to AUG '77 OMITTED
MD D DAVID PLUNKETT JAN '77 to MAR '79 RESIGNED
VA E VACHEL HOWARD JAN '77 to MAR '78 DIED
PA F CHARLES CRAIG JAN '77 to SEP '77 WOUNDED at Brandywine Sept 11, 1777
VA ? WILLIAM BIRD JAN '77 to JUL '78 RESIGNED
VA ? GEORGE GRAY DEC '77 to MAY '79 RESIGNED
PA ? JOHN CRAIG DEC '77 OR '78 to END
VA C JOHN HEARD FEB '78 to END
MD E? NICHOLAS RUXTON MOORE MAR '78 to DEC '78 RESIGNED/to MD CAV
NJ C ZEBULON PIKE DEC '78 to END
PA F PETER MANIFOLD AUG '79 to OCT '80
VA D ERASMUS GILL DEC '79 to END captured/exchanged
VA ? LAWRENCE TRENT +79 to END
VA ? LARKIN SMITH APR '80 to END
PA B HENRY WILLIS III DEC '80 to APR '81 RESIGNED
VA ? JOHN COOK ? '80 to '83
VA B THOMAS OVERTON APR '81 to END vice Willis resigned.
PA F LAWRENCE FRANK ? '82 to END?
The troop commanders were assisted by the lieutenants, cornets and non-commissioned officers,
the sergeants and corporals. Two lieutenants served in each troop, and served as regimental
adjutant, paymaster and quartermaster. Many 4th Dragoon Lieutenants were promoted to captain
and command of a troop.
LIEUTENANTS
PA WILLIAM CROSS JAN '77 to JUN '77 to CAPT to 4TH PA
VA JOHN HORD JAN '77 to ? '79 to CAPT to LEE'S
PA HENRY BEDKIN JAN '77 to APR '78 to PULASKI to CAPT
PA RICHARD DORSEY JAN '77 to APR '78 to MD ARTY
VA JOHN HEARD JAN '77 to FEB '78 to CAPT
PA WILLIAM HENDERSON FEB '77 to MAY '80 RESIGNED
MD NICHOLAS R MOORE FEB '77 to MAR '78 to CAPT MD CAV
PA JOHN CRAIG MAR '77 to DEC '78 to CAPT
VA GEORGE GRAY DEC '77 to MAY '79 to CAPT
NJ ZEBULON PIKE MAR '78 to DEC '78 to CAPT
PA PETER MANIFOLD MAY '78 to AUG '79 to CAPT
VA LARKIN SMITH SEP '78 to APR '80 to CAPT
PA HENRY WILLIS III DEC '78 to DEC '80 to CAPT resigned April 24, 1781.
PA JAMES ANDERSON ? to DEC '80 PRISONER
PA GEORGE GUTHREY ? '81 to END
PA DADE PEYTON JUN '79 to ?
PA JOHN SULLIVAN OCT '79 to PULASKI? to CAPT?
NY JONAH HALLET OCT '79 to NOV '82 from Malcom's Addl Regt 04/25/79
VA THOMAS OVERTON JUL '79 to APR '81 to CAPT from 1VA
PA LAWRENCE FRANK OCT '79 to ? '82 to CAPT
VA LAWRENCE TRENT OCT '79 to ? to CAPT
VA ERASMUS GILL MAR? 80 to END to CAPT
VA JOHN ROBBINS OCT '81 to END
CORNETS - see Papers of the Continental Congress,August 30th, 1779
One Cornet served in each troop. Some had regimental functions similar to the lieutenants.
This rank is similar although not the same as ensign in the infantry as dragoon
cornets were armed junior officers. Some Cornets advanced to Lieutenant and higher.
Several 4th Dragoon Cornets were promoted to lieutenant, captain and command of a troop.
PA JOHN COBURN JAN '77 to ?
PA JOHN HENDERSON JAN '77 to JUL '78 OMITTED
MD LARKIN DORSEY JAN '77 to SEP '78 RESIGNED
PA JACOB FUNC JAN '77 to ?
PA WILLIAM FELL FEB '77 to MAR '78 OMITTED
NJ ZEBULON PIKE MAR '77 to MAR '78 to LT
PA HENRY WILLIS III
VA LARKIN SMITH AUG '77 to SEP '78 to LT
PA LAWRENCE TRENT ? '78 to OCT '79 to LT
PA PETER MANIFOLD APR '78 to MAY '78 to LT
NJ JOCOB BAMPER, QM AUG '78 to MAY '79 OMITTED
PA JAMES YULE SEP '78 TO ?
PA JOHN BOWEN OCT '78 to ?
VA DADE PEYTON MAR '79 to JUN '79 to LT
VA GEORGE WHITE
PA JOHN SULLIVAN ? to OCT '79 to LT
HALBERT? (from 1779 return by rank) see above
JAMES ANDERSON was born in Chester Co., Pa., in 1750.
He served as a Private in Capt. John Lacey's Company, 4th Penna Infantry, commanded by Col. Anthony Wayne.
This regiment entered service in 1776, and. took part in the battles at Long Island and Ticonderoga.
He next enlisted in Col. Stephen Moylan's Regiment of Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was commissioned Lieutenant.
He was captured by the British, and exchanged in December, 1780.
(Family Rec. Pa. Archives, 2d Series, Vol. to, pp. 126 and 238; Vol. 238; Vol. p. 128.)
REGISTER OF THE CALIFORNIA SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Information about Cornet Jacob Bamper provided by Annette Bamper [email protected]
He was born either in 1756-57, most likely in Bergen County, New Jersey.
He was baptized in the Dutch RC of Paramus as well as several of his siblings.
Revolutionary War Record;
2d Lt, 2d NY, 21 Nov 1776. Resigned 21 July 1777.
He was married in Jan 1778 in Clarkstown NY, which may explain the break in his service.
Cornet 4th Dragoons 12 Aug 1778. Regimental Quartermaster Sept 1778. Omitted May 1779.
He had applied for pension from NJ in 1818 and was dropped under the act of May 1, 1820.
He died Jan 12,1825.
He is buried in the Methodist Cemetery HoHoKus, NJ.
SURGEONS
PA WILLIAM CATHCART APR '77 to MAY '78 RESIGNED
PA THOMAS MCCALLA/MCCAULEY MAY '77 to NOV '82 MATE to SURGEON
PA JOSEPH THOMPSON MATE JUN '80 to END
CHAPLIN SAMUEL WILLAIMSON MAY '78 to MAY '79 OMITTED
QUATERMASTER PATRICK BENNETT '77 to ? '80
The following information about 4th Dragoon Troop Commanders is from
The Pennsylvania Line
Regimental Organization and Operations, 1776-1783
By John B. B. Trussell, Jr.
Illulstrated By Charles C. Dallas. Jr.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Harrisburg 1977
Troop A, commanded by Capt. Moore Fauntleroy. After serving in
1776 as an ensign and second lieutenant in the 5th Virginia (infantry)
Regiment, he was appointed a captain in the 4th Continental Light Dragoons
on January 21, 1777. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Germantown,
on October 4, 1777. The date of his escape or exchange is not known; but
as noted above, he was promoted to major on August 1, 1779. 12 Records
do not indicate the promotion or appointment of any officer to fill the
captaincy he vacated. The regiment's first appointment to captain after
Fauntleroy's promotion was that of Larkin Smith, but that did not take place
until April 1, 1780, eight months later. Smith, still another Virginian, had been
commissioned a cornet in the 4th Dragoons on August 1, 1777, promoted
to lieutenant on September 4, 1778, and after becoming a captain continued
with the regiment as long as it remained in existence.
Troop B, commanded by Capt. David Hopkins, of Virginia. He had
been a volunteer with Benedict Arnold's Quebec expedition in 1775, and
was appointed a captain in the 4th Continental Dragoons on January 21,
1777. At an unknown date in 1780, he was promoted to major of the 1st
Continental Dragoons. It is possible that his replacement was Capt. Henry
Willis, of Pennsvlvania, concerning whom the records are contradictory.
He was appointed a cornet in the 4th Dragoons in June, 1777, and
according to one version, 15 was promoted to second lieutenant on June
25, 1781, and to captain on an unspecified subsequent date, serving to the
end of the war. Another version, 16 however, says that he was promoted to
captain on December 22, 1780, and resigned his commission on April
24, 1781, at which time he was replaced by Capt. Thomas Overton*, a
Virginian, who had been a lieutenant in the 9th Virginia (infantry) Regiment
until July 1, 1779, when he had been appointed a first lieutenant in the 4th
Dragoons. He served with the 4th Dragoons through the rest of the war.
* Found name spelled Oberton in Penna Archives.
There were Two Overtons, John and Thomas, brothers or cousins? Both served in Virginia Regiments. Only Thomas served in the 4th Dragoons. (see Heitman's)
Troop C, commanded by Capt. Thomas Dorsey, of Pennsylvania.
He began his service as a captain of infantry, initially in the 1st Pennsylvania
Battalion and then in its sucessor unit, the 2d Pennsylvania Regiment. He
became a captain in the 4th Dragoons on January 10, 1777. but is listed as
"omitted" in August of the same year. No promotion occurred which can
be associated With the departure from the service (due the mutiny) of Capt. Dorsey.
The first such promotion after he left the regiment, which took place on
February 8, 1778, was that of John Heard, of New Jersey. After having been
a second lieutenant of New Jersey artillery in 1776, Heard had become a first
lieutenant of the 4th Dragoons on January 20, 1777. He served as a captain
in that regiment from the date of his promotion to the end of the war.
Troop D, commanded by Capt. David Plunkett, of Maryland. His prior
service had been as a second lieutenant in Smallwood's Maryland Regiment.
Appointed a captain in the 4th Continental Light Dragoons on January 10,
1777, he was taken prisoner on October 20 of that year (location and
circumstances unknown, although possibly in conjunction with the defense
of Fort Mercer, near Red Bank, New Jersey), and resigned from the army
on March 13, 1779. Possibly to fill this vacancy, Peter Manifold was
promoted to captain from first lieutenant on April 14, 1779. One of the
comparatively few Pennsylvania officers, he had originally joined the
regiment as a cornet, on April 14, 1778, being promoted barely two weeks
later (on May 1) to lieutenant. He resigned on Octoher 30, 1780. Apparently
the vacancies remained unfilled for some time.
Troop E, commanded by Capt. Vashel D. Howard, of Virginia. He was
commissioned a captain in the 4th Dragoons on January 24, 1777, but died
on March 15, 1778. 22 There was no promotion to captain in the regiment
from that time until December 22, 1778, when John Craig, a Pennsylvanian,
was promoted from first lieutenant. He had been a second lieutenant in the
2d Pennsylvania (infantry Battalion and a first lieutenant in the 3d
Pennsylvania (infantry) Regiment before transferring to the 4th Dragoons on
March 22, 1977. He stayed with the organization to the end of the war.
Troop F, ? CHARLES CRAIG of Pennsylvania, was commissioned a Captain and
Troop Commander of the 4th LD on Jan 10, 1777.
He was wounded at Brandywine Sept 11, 1777 and did not return to service.
(Capt Charles Craig in not cited in The Pennsylvania Line).
His prior service dated from 1775 as a 1stLt, of Thompson's Penna Rifle Regt,
June 25, 1775; to Captain, Nov 9, 1775; then he bagan his Conntinental Service
as a Captain of 1st Continental Line Jan 1, to Dec 31, 1776.
Other officers who at one time or another served as captains in the 4th
Continental Light Dragoons were:
Capt. Zebulon Pike,* of New Jersey. Appointed a cornet in the 4th
Dragoons on March 1, 1777, he became the regimental adjutant on
November 20, 1777, was promoted lieutenant on March 15, 1778, and
captain on December 25, 1778. On June 1, 1780, he was appointed
regimental paymaster, holding that position until the end of the war. 74
Capt. Erasmus Gill, of Virginia. He was appointed a captain in the 4th
Dragoons in Fehruary, 1779, but with a retroactive date of rank of
December 25, 1778. He had prior service as a sergeant, ensign, and second
lieutenant in the 2d Virginia (infantry) Regiment. On October 3, 1779,
he was taken prisoner at Savannah, Georgia, and after his exchange (on
October 22, 1788, served to the end of the war. 25
Capt. Lawrence Frank, of Pennsylvania. Having been commissioned a first
lieutenant, 4th Continental Light Dragoons on October 1, 1779, he was promoted
to captain some time in 1782 and served in that grade throughout what remained of
the war. 26
From the Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789
SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1779
A Memorial from the officers of the 4th regiment of light dragoons was read.
Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee of Conference. (See
page1,
page2)
This memorial was signed by;
LtCol Anthony Walton White,
Capt Zebulon Pike,
Lt William Henderson, Paymaster
Patrick Bennet Quartermaster,
Cornet Dade Peyton,
Surgeon William Cathcart,
Capt John Heard,
Lt Henry Willis,
Capt John Craig,
Lt Peter Manifold,
Thomas McCalla
Lt Larkin Smith,
Lt Erasmus Gill - See signatures of Larkin Smith and Erasmus Gill
See the GW Papers Index References
for the officers that appear in the Correspondence of General Washington.
It is an honor to serve the descendents of the 4th Continental Dragoons by presenting
our research and the contributions of the descendents and other interested persons.
If you have any comments, additions or corrections to the data presented,
please email us at: [email protected]
or sign the guestbook and make your presence known.
Links to other sites on the Web
Officers Who Took Oath of Allegiance at
Valley Forge, 1778
The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
The George Washington Papers at the University of Virginia Library
Journals of the Continental Congress at the Library of Congress
Historical Register of the Officers of the Continental Army