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Masonry's Missionaries

by Jack Soroka, KTCH

Military men were Masonry's mission-
aries, and to grasp the full role of the
Military Lodge, now all but extinct, one
must recognize and appreciate early
British Freemasonry. Of course the first
and older Grand Lodge was the Premier
London organization formed at the
Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St.
Paul's church yard on St. John the Bap-
tist Day 24 June 1717. This original
group, an English invention, helped to
erect and then recognized the Grand
Lodges of Ireland and Scotland in 1725
and 1736 respectively.

The early Grand Lodge years were not
without turmoil(1), and many operative
Free Masons were not in accord with the
speculative Masons--much less with a
Grand Lodge concept. Over-zealous
speculatives tended to establish Freema-
sonry as an exclusive English society--
gentry oriented--and not shared with
other regular Freemasons possessing less
than lofty lineage. This early and serious
innovation presented itself as the justifi-
able reason for the formation, in 1751, in
London of the rival ancient (sometimes
referred to as Antient) Grand Lodge of
Free and Accepted Masons. This rival
Grand Lodge, always in harmony with
the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scot-
land, widely appealed to regular work-a-
day Freemasons. It was led by Laurance
Dermott, an Irish Freemason of extraor-
dinary intellect and wit, who successfully
and permanently dubbed his movement
"antient" while labeling the first and
older Premier Grand Lodge with its fol-
lowing "modern." The older Premier
group in turn declared the so-called rival
Ancient group to schismatic; however,
the moderns and antients ultimately
merged themselves into the United
Grand Lodge of England in 1813, thus
harmonizing the craft and providing the
mecca for modern speculative Freema-
sonry.

The eighteenth century found En-
gland, France and sometimes Germany,
as colonial powers, engaged in a struggle
for world domination. The struggle for
supremacy, by the time of Masonry's
Great Union of 1813, had been won by
Great Britain under English leadership.
Great Britain of course was the name for
the British Empire where principals were
England, Scotland and Ireland along
with England's supporting colonial
structure. England having gained naval
superiority after the 1598 defeat of the
Spanish Armada, was ruled by Kings
George I, II, & III. The Kings(2), during
their reigns, 1714-1820, raised, trained,
and deployed, where necessary through
the world, a huge army consisting of
more than 100 regiments. These regi-
ments were trained and encamped in
Ireland .

Society at this time was led and domi-
nated by the English who in turn existed
under the George Kings--with tenden-
cies toward tyranny. Private clubs, stray
secular religious groups and spurious so-
cieties were kept under close surveillance
to detect disloyalty to the crown. Such
societal conditions had a great influence
upon the development of Masonic ritual
and regulations; thus the reason for the
many clear and pointed statements of
loyalty found in the several Masonic
charges. Masonry's use and develop-
ment during this period proved to be
quite remarkable; for, on the one hand,
it became an invaluable instrument for
the crown to maintain loyalty amongst
the army " Regulars, " while on the other
hand, it stirred up great interest amongst
the "Craft." An Army Craft who occu-
pied their minds with such time-consum-
ing activities were not lost to long hours
of boredom while their regiment was in
cantonment; moreover, the Craft in turn
were looked upon by their superiors as
individuals possessed of high integrity.
(Cantonment in this case being that pe-
riod of regimental encampment between
duty assignments).

Military lodges on a much smaller scale
existed in France, Sweden, Poland, Prus-
sia, Germany, the low-countries and the
Balkans- however, it was within the Brit-
ish Empire, including North America,
where they flourished. Military lodges
reached their zenith by the 1813 union of
the two English Grand Lodges, number-
ing in excess of 250; furthermore over
200 had received their warrants from
Grand Lodges in Great Britain(3)(--135 of
which had been issued by the Irish
Grand Lodge alone. The number of
Lodges commenced to dwindle to a great
extent in the l9th century, and by 1886
there were only 16 Lodges open and
working in the British army. At the time
of the outbreak of World War II, Military
Lodges had become practically extinct.

The nineteenth century ushered in
many great changes in government and
Masonic concepts, and it was a time of
the development for United States of
America, replete with its many institu-
tions of constitutional government.

Therefore, a corresponding prolifera-
tion of Grand Lodges occurred, based
upon territorial jurisdiction--an ideal(3a)
firmly implanted in the minds of the
colonial craft. As said by Josiah H.
Drummond "PGM" of Maine, "Inde-
pendence in civil government naturally
suggested independence in Masonic
Government." Furthermore, indepen-
dence had impressed upon the colonists
that since the just powers of government
are derived from the consent of the gov-
erned, then why should not a territorial
Grand Lodge derive its authority from
the territorial Lodges? When a territorial
government for a new state had func-
tioned to a point of operating under its
own approved constitution and the nec-
essary legislative, executive and judicial
bodies, it was ready for statehood. Usu-
ally at that moment, a convention of
territorial Masonic Lodges was called to
form, erect and institute a Grand Lodge
for the newly emerging state. Thus, the
stage for Masonry's migration from east
to west between north and south was
simply and satisfactorily set. At the close
of the l9th century there were forty nine(4)
separate and autonomous Grand Lodges
in the United States of America--one for
each of the forty-eight states plus one for
the District of Columbia.

Why did Military Lodge Masonry,
which contributed so much to the estab-
lishment of Freemasonry throughout the
world, particularly in America, become
obsolete and finally all but extinct by
1900? Primarily, it was because of the
unwritten American law of territorial ju-
risdiction. As territories were formed
which later became states, frontiers were
diminished. Frontiers were the wilder-
ness areas yet unsettled and under the
control of the military In the early part
of the century, America was a vast and
fierce wilderness; however, at the end,
the frontiers were all tamed and settled
into states, and the need for military
protection no longer existed. Except for
the sad American Civil War experience.
The use of Military Lodges all but evap-
orated in the United States. Lodge war-
rants were on occasion turned back to the
issuing authority, sometimes they were
absorbed in the formation of a Grand
Lodge and then re-issued to a stationary
Lodge in a new state and sometimes they
were kept by mustering out personnel
and for all intents and purposes lost to
posterity.

America's great Civil War descended
like a blight upon the new nation in 1861.
Too many newly formed Grand Jurisdic-
tions, particularly of the Middle West
and the deep South, in a rush of patrio-
tism issued dispensations on a wholesale
basis--practically to anyone for the ask-
ing. As a consequence more than 200
Lodges existed for the duration with little
or no supervision or regulation. Despite
the fact that the Civil War was one of the
bloodiest hand-to-hand conflicts in the
long history of man, soldier Masons
sometimes in blue and grey, as Brothers-
together, met upon the level, acted by the
plumb, and parted upon the square. The
fraternal courtesies(5) exchanged between
the Craft in these two armies sometimes
extended beyond the field lodge room to
conditions upon the battlefield. On the
occasion, when a distressed soldier
brother gave the Masonic sign of dis-
tress, it is a known fact that an opposing
soldier brother would rush to the rescue
to save the distressed brother and spare
him to the prison guard for captivity.
Some Grand Lodges and Grand Masters
felt that Civil War Military Lodge Ma-
sonry was deplorable and that it was
practiced in a capricious and arbitrary
manner, that scoundrels were made Ma-
sons, and that no records were kept: the
notoriety of such actions has in the main
never been substantiated. At the mo-
ment, when one thinks of the recent mil-
itary action called "Desert Storm," one
notices that America's young military
men--yet unstained--represented, as a
whole, a very high caliber of person,
possessed of good morals and high integ-
rity--probably much the same as their
Civil War grandfathers of 130 years ago.
Certainly as a group their conduct, their
morals and their integrity were equal to,
if not above, some of our Grand Lodge
men. We need not look too far to find
some who have been suspended or ex-
pelled for their convictions of civil or
moral offenses. Though the chapter of
Civil War Army Lodge Masonry may be
somewhat dismal, it happened only for
the reason that the warrant-despensing
Grand Lodges failed to provide a satis-
factory method for supervision.

The contributions of Military Lodge
Masonry to the good of the order have
been many, varied and substantial and
they are too numerous for enclosure in
this treatise. Prior to the narration of a
select few exemplary contributions, one
can't help but marvel at the success of the
simple British system. It was never smit-
ten with jurisdictional complications,
with slipshod lodge room performance
and with voluminous records. The Brit-
ish system, uncomplicated and yet effec-
tive, granted the warrant to an officer of
the regiment or the naval vessel who was
satisfactory to the Grand Lodge. If the
trust in the officer was not misplaced,
there was no problem. Usually, the C.O.
served as the first Worshipful Master,
and he decided when, where and if
Lodge was held; also, besides the inves-
tigating committee, he passed on candi-
dates for the degrees. If the C.O. was
replaced, the Lodge was permanently
closed until a new C.O. who was a Ma-
sonic Brother took over. Sometimes this
meant that a regiment or ship, with a
non-Masonic C. O., was without a Lodge
for quite awhile. In effect the officer was
an acting British Grand Lodge officer
when there was an open working Lodge
within and under his command. Fur-
thermore, the warrant issued to a British
regiment, subject to recall, was for the
life of the command, and it was for au-
thorization,(6) except in the case of the
modern English Grand Lodge, to confer
all three symbolic degrees, as well as that
of the Royal Arch and the Knight Tem-
plar. Most British regiments existed for
a half-century or more, and a few for over
a century. In terms of military life, some
of these warrants were quite aged upon
retirement. The History of Freemasonry by
Robert Freke Gould shows in systematic
detail the sea and field Lodges aboard
British naval vessels and attached to
army regiments. There, regimental
names, classifications, Lodge warrants
and dispensation dates appear.

Of some particular interest and signifi-
cance to Americans is His Majesty's
62nd Loyal American Regiment,(7) redes-
ignated in 1757 as the 60th "Royal
Americans. " Masonic annals show some
unusual personnel coincidences even
though this regiment was raised in
America. John Young, Deputy Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland,
was the senior of four battalion majors
while the Earl of Loudoun, 1736 Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of England,
was the Colonel-in-chief of this regi-
ment--yet designated the 62nd. Since
the regiment was neither raised nor
trained in Ireland, its Lodge warrants
were obtained while carrying out field
assignments. Though John Young was
promoted to the full rank of colonel and
appointed Provincial Grand Master over
all Scottish Lodges in America and the
West Indies, the Lodges No. 3 and No. 5
in the Second and Third Battalions re-
spectively of the 60th were warranted out
of Quebec,(8)Canada, 27 December 1759
immediately after the Quebec conquest.
The second and third battalions of the
Royal Americans were attached to the
nine or ten brigaded regiments of Gen-
eral Wolfe' s victorious army on the
Plains of Abraham.

On 28 November 1759, as soon as prac-
ticable after the surrender of Quebec and
as the British were wont where several
regimental field Lodges were in canton-
ment, the Masters and Wardens met and
collectively concluded by consensus that,
of the Brethren present, one possessed of
the greatest skill and merit should take
upon himself the name of Grand Master by
authority of the eight or nine Lodges
present. Consequently, Mr. John Price
Guinnett, Lieutenant, in His Majesty's
47th Regiment was unanimously pro-
claimed as such. The new Grand Master,
installed in due form, appointed Bro.
Thomas A. Span, Captain, 28th Regi-
ment, his deputy, and Brothers Hunting-
ford and Prentice Senior and Junior
Wardens and Brother Paxton, Sergeant,
47th Regiment, Grand Secretary.
Huntingford was a private in the 28th
Regiment while Prentice, an Irishman,
was a non-com in the 43rd Regiment.
Though the initial proceedings raised a
few eyebrows, nevertheless, Freema-
sonry was firmly planted and estab-
lished-again via Military Masonry, and
this time in Canada. Many prominent
Masons were present in General Wolfe's
army but not listed in the proceedings;
however, their extensive experience with
Grand Lodge procedure must have been
eminently available. Prominently pres-
ent were Col. John Young, commanding
the Royal Americans, Deputy Grand
Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
and Provincial Grand Master over all
Scottish Lodges in America and the West
Indies; Col. Richard Gridley, Grand Se-
nior Warden of the Provincial (Modern)
Grand Lodge, Boston; Captain Robert
Ross, 48th Regiment later Grand Secre-
tary of the Grand Lodge of the Grand
Lodge of Ireland, 1786; and Brother
Thomas Dunckerly, gunnersmate on
H . M . S. Vanguard. Dunckerly was in
1760 patented by the (Modern) Grand
Lodge England to regulate "Masonic"
affairs in the newly acquired Canadian
Provinces. At the Feast of St. John the
Evangelist, 27 December 1759, the new
Grand Lodge of Quebec met in due form
and issued several warrants for new
Lodges. Battalions two and three re-
ceived warrants No. 3 and No. 5, respec-
tively, to hold lodges in the 60th Regi-
ment, Royal Americans. The principal
duty assignments of this regiment were
in skirmishes with the Indiana, in major
engagements with the French at Louis-
berg, Champlain Valley, Ticonderoga,
Crown Point, Quebec, and later in the
capture of Detroit and in colonial South
Carolina. While the regiment was a part
of the British conquest and occupation of
Detroit, a Charter was granted in 1764
by George Harrison, Provincial (Mod-
ern) Grand Lodge of New York, for a
Lodge in Detroit. The Lodge, listed no.
448 on the English register, was named
"Zion Lodge" by its members. Some
say that since the charter for the Lodge
was not in the form of a Military War-
rant, and that it was definitely located in
Detroit, it, therefore, was a Stationary
Lodge. A Lodge which only happened to
have a lieutenant from the 60th Regi-
ment as its master. Probably, this was the
reason why the Lodge was left behind
when the British withdrew in 1796 in
favor of the Americans. The Lodge fluc-
tuated in its allegiance between Cana-
dian and New York Jurisdictions until
1826 when it united to form the Michi-
gan Grand Lodge, being Zion No. 1 on
that register. The romance of this regi-
ment is captured by Hervey Allen in his
historical novel entitled Bedford Village
published by Farrar & Rinehart, Inc.,
New York and Toronto, 1944.

His Majesty's staid old First Regiment
of Foot, the royal regiment now called
"The Royal Scots", has turned in one of
the most impressive Military Lodge per-
formances of all. In this regiment were
two Lodges of Irish constitution and reg-
istry, No 11-1732, the first and oldest;
and No. 74-1737, issued to the First and
Second Battalions respectively. After
1800, Masonic allegiance(9) became di-
vided: the First Battalion continued to
hold Warrant No. 11 (Irish) 1732, the
Fourth Battalion held Warrant No. 289
(Scottish, "The Royal Thistle "), 1808--
both battalions then stationed at Que-
bec; while the Second Battalion, now in
India, held Warrant No. 574 (English,
"Unity, Peace and Concord"), 1808.

The Seven Years War, 1756-1763, be-
tween Britain and France was called the
French and Indian War on the North
American continent. This is the earliest
period of Regimental Lodges in large
numbers being present with armies in
the field. According to Lieut. T.R. Hen-
derson in his essay entitled "Freema-
sonry in the Royal Scots" (The Royal
Regiment) page 14:

" It appears that many of the Lodges
in British Regiments during this war
worked side by side with continental
Lodges working under the Rite, or
System, called the Strict Observance.
During the fighting, many prisoners
were made on both sides, and the
Masons among them fraternized in
each case with their captors. In the
British Isles especially, wherever there
were depots of prisoners-of-war,
Lodges composed of such detenus in-
variably sprang into existence. Con-
sequently, the British Military Lodges
became familiar with the Rite of Strict
Observance, which pervaded all conti-
nental Europe at this time.
"This Rite of Strict Observance was based
upon the tradition that at the time of the
destruction of the Templars during the
fourteenth century, some Knights took
refuge in Scotland and there preserved
the Due Succession of the Order. These
Knights are said to havejoined the guilds
of Masons in that kingdom and so origi-
nated the Society of Freemasons.

Becoming thus acquainted with this
rite, the British Military Lodges took a
great interest in the Knight Templar de-
grees that were then being worked by
such bodies as the Grand Encampment
of Ireland, the probable forerunners of
the present Templar organizations of the
British Isles and the United States of Amer-
ica. They started to work them in large
numbers, and in doing so contributed
greatly towards their dissemination
through-out Britain and America.

These Knight Templar degrees appear
to have been worked in the Military
Lodges at first on the authority of their
craft warrants alone, as was the custom
in the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. For example, it is known that
the Irish Lodge No. 11, attached to the
1st Battalion 1st foot, during the last
quarter of the eighteenth century only
possessed one warrant, namely its Blue
Warrant, yet it worked Royal Arch,
Knight Templar and Knight of Malta
Degrees under its authority. But later,
separate warrants seem to have been is-
sued to authorize Lodges to work these
"higher" degrees. For instance, it is on
record that on leaving Madras in 1831
the Masons of the 2nd Battalion 1 st Foot
'did travel to the city of Madras, and
there in due and antient form did hand
over...Blue(i.e., Craft),Red(i.e., Royal
Arch) and Black (i.e., Knight Templar)
Warrants to the Provincial Grand
Master' .

Though the Revolutionary War con-
cluded in America's favor, the influences
of previous British customs and tradi-
tions remained strong and indelible
amongst the citizenry of the new na-
tion--The United States of America.
About five years after the formation of
Lodge No. 11 in the 1st Battalion, the
Grand Lodge of Ireland on 26 October
1737 granted Warrant No. 7410 to "2nd
Battalion--Royal Regiment of Foot"
and as further stated by Lieut. Hender-
son, page 34:

Proceeding to North America in
1757 with the battalion to which it was
attached, this Lodge was present at
the siege of Louisburg in 1758. At the
beginning of August the same year
Lodge No. 74 was moved into the
garrison of Albany, New York, where
it remained for the best part of a year.

It appears that the officers of the
Second Battalion who were members
of Lodge No. 74 were 'scholars and
gentlemen', and on taking up duty in
the Albany garrison 'brought with
them, and kept up, a large and valu-
able library of rare books' which they
left to the city when the battalion was
ordered away in 1759. This would
seem to be the first instance recorded
of an Army Lodge forming a study
circle, and is a curious sidelight on the
tastes of the early regimental Masons.
Some of the volumes belonging to this
collection are still preserved in the
Library of the Albany Female Acad-
emy.

During its stay at Albany the Lodge
seems to have initiated some of the local
gentry, for on leaving that place in 1759
its members gave the local Brethren, in
accordance with what appears to have
been an unauthorized custom, a copy of
the Warrant of the Lodge with the follow-
ing endorsement thereon, to enable the
Brethren of Albany to continue their
Masonic meetings.
Copy of Endorsement:

We, the Master, Warden; and
brethren of a Lodge of Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, No. 74, registry of
Ireland, held in the Second Battalion
Royal, adorned with all-the hohors
and assembled in due form, do hereby
declare, certify and attest, that
whereas, our body is very numerous
by the addition of many new mem-
bers, merchants and inhabitants of
the city of Albany, they having ear-
nestly requested and besought us to
enable them to hold a Lodge during
our absence from them, and knowing
them to be men of undoubted reputa-
tion and men of skill and ability in
Masonry, and desirous to promote the
welfare of the Craft; we have, there-
fore, by unanimous consent and
agreement, given them an exact and
true copy of our Warrant as above,
and have properly installed Mr. Rich-
ard Cartwright, Mr. Henry Bostwick
and Mr. Wm. Furguson, as Assistant
Master and Wardens of our Lodge, al-
lowing them to set and act during our
absence, or until they, by our assis-
tance, can procure a separate Warrant
for themselves from the Grand Lodge
in Ireland.

Given under our hands and seal of
our Lodge in the city of Albany, the
eleventh day of April, in the year of
Masonry 5759, and in the year of our
Lord God 1759.
SIGNED

John Steadman, Secretary. No. 74 of
Ireland. Anias Sutherland, Master.
Charles Calder, Senior Warden.
Thos. Parker, Junior Warden.

After a number of years, and beyond
the term of the Third Provincial
Grand Master, Francis Goelet--the
old substitute Warrant of No. 74 was
confirmed by the Fourth Provincial
GrandMaster, GeorgeHarrison, Febru-
ary 21st, 1765; and while naming the
same Master, Richard Cartwright, to pre-
side; William Benson, Senior Warden;
andJohn Visscher, JuniorWarden; des-
gnated the Lodge as Union Lodge, No.

Thus, Irish Freemasonry was firmly
planted and recognized in the North
American colony--the Commonwealth
of New York.

When the 1st Battalion was assigned to
Gibraltar in 1839, its Lodge No. 11 was
unable to continue to work and its Dor-
mant Warrant was sent home to Ireland
to a few of the surviving members with
the depot companies at Templemore. Be-
cause of various political secret societies
with an avowed purpose to overthrow
the government, chief of which was the
"Orange Society, " Parliament passed
an act outlawing same. Military author-
ities, being uncertain of what political or
other movement might be fostered be-
hind the locked doors of the Military
Lodges, suppressed them equally with all
other secret societies. Subsequent thereto
" the last entry in the records of the
Lodge closes with the remark "Warrant
given up - April, 1847 - by order of
Colonel Maunsell'(11). " Thus was 115
years of most impressive Military Lodge
Masonry brought to a close.

Inadvertently and yet unsettled, a great
Masonic controversy was introduced
when Army Lodge No. 441 initiated
Prince Hall and fourteen others (Ne-
groes) on 6 March 1775 in Boston. Lodge
No. 441 (Irish) was attached to the 38th
Regiment of Foot--a part of General
Gages army quartered in Boston at the
time. The Master of the Lodge was Bro.
J.B. Batt.(llA) Prince Hall and his associ-
ates did have some semblance of Ma-
sonic Right, though subject to limita-
tions, for there is a record that "Afri-
can" Lodge No. 1 at Boston celebrated
St. John's Day 27 December 1782, and
John Rowe, Provincial Grand Master of
the Modern Grand Lodge of Boston,
allowed the Negroes(11b) certain latitude
which was expressed by Prince Hall him-
self as being permitted "to walk on St.
John's Day and bury our dead in
forme. " On 27 September 1784, the
Modern Grand Lodge of England
granted a Warrant for "African Lodge"
No. 459. The Warrant was not received
in Boston until 29 April 1787. Probably
this was the last Warrant issued by the
Grand Lodge, which erased the same for
lack of returns in 1813 when the English
(Modern and Antient) Grand Lodges
merged. If intolerance, bigotry, and rac-
ism could absent themselves from this
controversy, Prince Hall Masonry would
most likely be as Regular as any of the
other Masonry erected by Military Ma-
sonic Missionaries.

The last successful era for ambulatory
Military Masonry occurred during
America's separation from Great Britain
via the Revolutionary War. At this time,
there were approximately seventy-five
active Warrants for Traveling Lodges in
the conflicting forces, ten of which were
in the colonists' Continental Army
Lodges in the beginning were mostly for
enlisted personnel, and Masonry spread
upward from there to the commissioned
officer ranks. In general, the well-being
of Military Masonry seems to have been
mainly dependent upon the enthusiasm
and assiduityl2 of a few non-commis-
sioned officers until the latter part of the
eighteenth century. During Revolution-
ary War days, at least in the Continental
Army, the Army Lodges were primarily
for officers. So far as is known, American
Union Lodgel3--with extant records,
and the most famous of the period, was
entirely made up of commissioned offi-
cers of every rank and station. This
Lodge, in effect, served as a glorified and
confidential officers' club. This group,
Warranted 15 February 1776 by the
(Modern) Provincial Grand Lodge, Bos-
ton New England, was attached to the
Connecticut line of the Continental
Army, and it became America's great
promoter, as well as, conservator of Free-
masonry for the new republic. Whenever
the Connecticut army line was in canton-
ment, "American Union" was at work:
it conferred the degrees of Masonry upon
many who later became well known for
their political and military feats, it pre-
served and perpetuated the fine tradition
of Table Lodge--Feasting, and it kept up
the customs and usages of Speculative
Masonry via its long-time Worshipful
Master--Jonathan Heart- who in his
own special manner presided for the ed-
ification of the Craft. Heart became the
First Grand Lecturer in what at a later
date, 1789, became the Grand Lodge of
Connecticut, a testimony to his profi-
ciency and prominence as a Mason.
When the war concluded in America's
favor and the army forces were mustered
out of service, American Union on 23
April 1783 "closed and to stand closed
until called again by the Worshipful
Master. " 14 This occurred 28 June 1790
at the newly built town of Marietta,
Ohio, the seat of government for the new
Northwest Territory. Jonathan Heart,
again an army captain serving in Fort
Harmar just across the river from Mari-
etta, instituted the Lodge with himself as
Worshipful Master, Benjamin Tupper
and Rufus Putnam as Wardens, and
leaving there with them the old Warrant
which he kept in his personal effects after
the war's end. Thus was preserved for
westward migration Regular Freema-
sonry--eighteen years before ever there
was a Grand Lodge of Ohio.

Army Lodges Warranted By American
Prouincial Grand Lodges
(See chart below)

Except for the extant records of Amer-
ican Union Military Lodge kept by Jon-
athan Heart, hardly any information ex-
ists concerning the other Army Lodges
in the American Continental Army. Such
brief accounts as may be seen are avail-
able in The Old Lodges of Pennsylvania
1730-1800, Volumes I & II by Julius F.
Sachse, Litt. D., and these usually relate
the request and the circumstances for
granting the warrant.

After a rather extensive study and re-
view of the subject matter which treats of
ambulatory Traveling Military Masonic
Lodges, the author has concluded that
the preponderance of good the Army
Lodges have done for the betterment of
the institution of Masonry far, far, and
away outweighs the minor infraction of
rules conjured-up by stifling Grand
Lodges bent on regulating every initia-
tive of the Craft. The study reveals that
the percentage of rogues and scoundrels
admitted and, therefore, the percentage
of suspensions and expulsions from the
Order remain about the same today as
they were two hundred and more years
ago when military type Masonry was at
its peak.

Although Ireland did not contribute
much to the genesis(l4A) of Freemasonry,
it did by its conservatism preserve many
old customs which otherwise might have
been lost. From 1732 onwards, the Irish
system of Ambulatory Warrants granted
to Military Lodges did more that any-
thing else to sow the seeds of Freema-
sonry throughout the world.

As the British Army established out-
posts in various places in the world in the
eighteenth century, so its attached Army
Lodges disseminated Freemasonry in
adjacent communities. Irish Lodge No.
128 in the 39th Regiment of Foot made
the first Mason in India in 1757 and it
later erected many Lodges throughout
that country. In America in 1759 Irish
Lodge No. 74, in the 1st regiment of
Foot, instituted Masonry in Albany,
New York, by leaving an exact and true
copy of its warrant with an accompany-
ing endorsement, as well as, installing its
first set of Lodge officers.

On 28 November 1759 six Army
Lodges, five with Irish Warrants and one
with an American, met and formed the
Grand Lodge of Quebec, thus planting
Masonry in Canada. The Irish Warrants
present at that proceeding were Nos.
192, 218, 245,136,195. The lone Amer-
ican was " Louisburg Lodge No. 1 (Mod-
ern) 13 November 1758, Provincial
Grand Lodge--Boston." Of interest to
some Americans, is the first meeting of
the Quebec Grand Lodge. There, the
60th Royal American Regiment of Foot
was granted warrants No. 3 and No. 5 to
hold Lodge in battalions two and three
respectively. Probably this is one of the
better examples of Traveling Warrants
having been granted with little or no
record of what happened in and to the
Lodges; especially in light of the fact that
the colonel in command was Mr. John
Young, the Deputy Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Scotland, and the Pro-
vincial Grand Master of Scottish Masons
in North America and the West Indies.

Three Stationary Colonial Lodges and
six British Army Lodges in 1782 (again
demonstrating that Masonry tran-
scended the vicissitudes of war) inaugu-
rated the Transition Grand Lodge of
New York. It received a warrant from the
"Antient" Grand Lodge of England;
however, in 1784 Robert R. Livingston,
"A Modern," became Grand Master
and the Lodge then became the Grand
Lodge of New York as it is known today.
The six British Lodges were No. 52 En-
213 English Ancient--4th Battalion
Royal Artillery; No. 215 English An-
cient--Regiment Auspachbeyreuth; No.
441 Irish--38th regiment; Lion's Lodge-
--57th Regiment.

Lodge No. 218 Irish--48th Regiment
foot made many Australian(l5) Masons,
and on 6 January 1820 instituted "The
Mother Lodge of Australia, " No. 260--
Irish registry, now No. 1 under the
Grand Lodge of New South Wales. Ma-
sonry came to Japan via " Sphinx
Lodge" No. 263 Irish--20th Regiment
Foot. When it had initiated a goodly
number of Yokohama citizens, it estab-
lished a Lodge there which enabled Ma-
sonry to continue after the regiment de-
parted in 1866.

The so-called Higher Degrees of Ma-
sonry, namely the Royal Arch, the
Knights Templar, and the Knights of
Malta, had great appeal to regimental
army of ficers. The Degrees were discov-
ered in Europe in the system called the
Rite of the Strict Observance.l6 During
the Seven Years War (1756-1763) as it
was called in Europe, several British
Army Lodges became thoroughly ac-
quainted and imbued with the Order,
and disseminated the Degrees (under
their craft Warrants only) in Ireland,
England and, somewhat later, in Amer-
ica. The Irish Grand Encampment, hav-
ing taken under its wings these so- called
Higher Degrees, seems to be the fore-
runner of the English and American
Grand Encampments. Even though the
first written record of these Higher De-
gree Conferrals, including the Knights
Templar, exists at present at St. Andrews
Lodge (Scottish) Boston, dated 28 Au-
gust 1769, the High Degree germs seem
to have been carried and spread by the
British Army Lodges with English (Anti-
ent) Warrant No. 58 and Irish Warrant
No. 322 in the 14th and 29th Regiments
of Foot, respectively. These regiments
were on station in Boston from 1766 for
several years. A thorough study of Brit-
ish Army Regiments with attached Mil-
itary Lodges serving in continental Eu-
rope between 1745 and 1765 quite possi-
bly would reveal the sought-after an-
swers to questions about the genesis of
the so-called High Degrees of Royal
Arch, Knights Templar and Knights of
Malta Masonry; especially should the
relationship of the Army Lodges with the
system or the Rite of the Strict Obser-
vance, be closely looked into.

Traveling Lodges at first existed in the
British Army for enlisted personnel only.
It later spread from the non-com to the
commissioned officer ranks, and it was
used as a means to fight boredom during
times of regimental cantonment. As has
been already noted, the Wardens and the
Secretary for the first Grand Lodge of
Quebec, erected 28 November 1759,
were enlisted men. In Lodge No. 11, the
oldest Army Lodge of all, while on sta-
tion in the West Indies, developed a pe-
riod of dormancy between 1801 and
1808 when every member, except a ser-
geant, was either killed or dead. He kept
the Warrant and began registering Ma-
sonic replacements who joined the bat-
talion. In 1808 when he had forty or
more new members, he opened and set
the revived Lodge back to work.

One of the most famous of all Army
Lodges, at least from an American point
of view, was American Union Lodge at-
tached to the Connecticut line of the
Continental Army. It was granted a war-
rant from the Provincial (Modern)
Grand Lodge of Boston on 15 February
1776. This, the only American Lodge,
with extant records, was and remained
under the auspices and direct personal
control of Jonathan Heart the most
prominent Mason of the Revolutionary
War Period. He was the longtime Secre-
tary and Worshipful M aster who kept the
Warrant among his personal possessions
after the war. The Military Lodge was
closed 23 April 1783 and to stand closed
until called by the Worshipful Master.

Many famous American army officers
of high rank attended American Union
Lodge either as visitors or members. For
example, among the visitors were such
Brethren as George Washington, Israel
Putnam, and Arthur St. Clair, while
amongst the membership were such gen-
erals as BrothersJoel Clark, Samuel H.
Parsons and Rufus Putnam. Joel Clark
was Charter Master, while Jonathan
Heart, ensign, was Secretary at the time.
At General (Mad Anthony) Wayne's
capture of Stony Point in 1779, a chest of
Lodge utensils and a Warrant were taken
by the Americans (from Unity Lodge
No. 18--17th Regiment of Foot) Subse-
quently, for disposition, these were
turned over to Brother Samuel Holden
Parsons, a short-term Worshipful Mas-
ter of American Union Lodge. General
Parsons returned these benign articles
with a salutation, under a flag of truce.
The GREETING in brief said:

When the ambition of monarchs or
jarring interests of states call forth
their subjects of war, as Masons we
are disarmed of that resentment
which stimulates to undistinguished
desolation; and however our political
sentiments may impel us in the public
dispute, we are still Brethren and our
professional duty apart ought to pro-
mote the happiness and advance the
weal of each other.

Aside from Knight Templary's Acts of
Charity and Deeds of Pure Beneficence,
this majestic act of courtesy ranks as one
of Masonry's finest moments of chivalry.

Infantry Captain Jonathan Heart, sta-
tioned at Fort Harmar at the confluence
of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers,
called American Union Lodge at Mari-
etta in Campus Martius on 28 June
1790. He reconstituted American Union
as a Stationary Lodge operating under
the authority of the old original Warrant
which he left there on deposit. The rein-
stituted Lodge, with former Revolution-
ary War Generals Rufus Putnam and
Benjamin Tupper as Wardens and him-
self as Worshipful Master, received the
official recognition of the Grand Lodges
of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The
colorful old Lodge, finally, took its place
at the head of the westward migration in
the new nation--The United States of Amer-
ica. Although it is to Britain and her
simple system of Regimental Army
Lodges that all Masons in General are
indebted for most of their priceless Ma-
sonic heritage; still it is to American
Union Lodge--The Great Promoter, the
Great Conservator--that American

Freemasons in particular owe a much

larger debt.

Footnotes

1. Dean N. Goranson, Frccmasonry, A Rcmarkabk
Tcchniquc(1981), P.20

2. Encyclopcdia Britannica, Xl.

3. T.R. Henderson, Lieut., the Royal Scots
"Freemasonry in the Royal Scots (The Royal
Regiment) (1934)", pp. 8-9.

3A. Robert Freke Gould, Th~ His~ory of Frccmasonry
(New York Cincinnati & Chicago, 1889), IV,
pp. 301-302

4. H.L. Haywood, Well-Springs of American Freema-
sony.

5. Clarence R. Martin, Grand Master of Indiana,
"Traveling Military Lodges," reprint article--
Conference of Grand Masters in the United
States (Washington, D.C., Feb. 23, 24, 1943)
pp. 45-46.

6. T.R. Henderson, Lieut., "Freemasonry in the
Royal Scots, p. 115

7. Charles T. McClanachan, History of lhc Mosf
Ancicnt and Honora6lc Fra~crni~y Frcc and Acccplcd
Masons Ncw Yorkfrom thc Earlics~ Da~cs ( 1888), pp.
425-426.
8 . A .J . B . M ilbou rne P . D . D . G . M ., G . L . Q.

"Freemasonry in the Province of Quebec 1759-
1959 (1960), pp. 2-8.

9. Lieut. T.R. henderson, "Freemasonry in the
Royal Scots," p. 9.

10. Lieut. T.R. Henderson, "Freemasonry in the
royal scots," pp. 34-35.

11. Lieut. T.R. Henderson, "Freemasonry in the
Royal Scots," p. 28.

11 A Harry E . Davis, A History of Frccmasonry Amon~
Ncgrocs in Amcrica (United Supreme Council
AASR, NJ, PHA, (1946), 29.

I IB. Coils Masonic Encyclopcdia (Macoy Publishing
and Masonic Supply Company, Inc., New York,
1961), pp. 437-438.

12. Lieut. T.R. Henderson, "Freemasonry in the
Royal Scots," p. 15.

13. "Connecticut Freemasonry and the American
Revolution," Masonic Papers for the Bicenten-
nial, Vol . I ,1 975, Philosophic Lodge of Research
A.F. & A.M. (Hartford, Conn.), p. 8.

14 Lewis C. Wes Cook, ed., "American Union
Lodge 1776-83 " Colonial Frccmasonry, Missouri
Lodge of Resea;ch, Chpt. XVII, Vol. 30, ( 1973-
74), pp 1 94-205 .

14A. Douglas Knoop, M.A., Hon. 'A.R.I.B.A.
and G.P. Jones M.A. Litt. D., Thc (~cncsis of
Frccmasonry (Q.C. Correspondence Circle, Ltd.,
1978, Manchester Univ. Press, 1947), pp. 319-
320.

15. Lieut. T.R. Henderson, "Freemasonry in the
Royal Scots, " p. 17 .

16.16id, pp. 14, 15, 27.



The Philalethes, October 1993

