JOHN ROSS REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION APPLICATION State of TN August Term of the County of Giles, Court of said County for the year 1832 On this 23rd day of August in A.D. 1832 personally appeared in open court, before the justices of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, now sitting, John Ross, a resident of the said county of Giles and State aforesaid aged 74 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, ______ June 7th, 1832 that he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated, that is to say - he was in the service as a volunteer under Col. Polk and fought with him under his command at _____ River in South Carolina, in the battle fought at that place, which applicant believes was the first battle fought in South Carolina in the Revolutionary War, He volunteered and entered the service under Col. Polk in Charlotte town Mclinburgh County in the State of North Carolina in the winter season but applicant cannot tell us the year. He was marched under the command of the said Col. Thomas Polk, through North Carolina, directly into South Carolina, on the _____ River where they fought the above battle. He states that at that battle, or skirmish, but a few rounds were fired, the enemy fled and the Americans made several prisoners. He served during this short expedition which was _______against the tories on ____ River, as a malitia man under the individual command of Capt. James Alexander in said Polk's Regiment. He does not think that he was in service in the above campaign more than four or five weeks - nor were they attached to any regular troops during this service. He was marched four home by his officers and discharged. He does not believe they ever got any regular discharge. He states that the said Polk was afterwards General Polk. He next, afterwards, volunteered for five months, for the purpose of marching against the British in South Carolina. Applicant still resided in the said County of Mclinburgh in North Carolina when he last volunteered, which he ______ to do only when absent on military service during the whole Revolutionary War. He was in this expedition under the command of Capt. Brumfield in Col. Locke's Regiment and General Rutherford's Brigade ___ and marched from North Carolina into South Carolina as far as Parryisburgh where the troops lay principally during the winter season. He with other troops, was marched to join General Ash, who was defeated by the British before they reached his quarters. Ash's defeat took place on Brier Creek in the State of Georgia. Some short time after Ash's defeat, in the month of April he was discharged at P__________, his term of service having expired. When he returned home into North Carolina and he next went on an expedition as a volunteer militia man against the tories upon the Catawba River into Ramsour's settlement in the State of North Carolina and fought in the Battle at Ramsour's Mill on the west fork of said Catawba River in which engagement his Capt. Gilley Falls was slain in battle. This battle was warmly contested but the tories who fought the American forces in that engagement were completely defeated and fled leaving the American troops in possession of the field. He returned home the next day after this battle and was dismissed by his commanding officer. He next served under Capt. Johnathan Pott's in General Davidson's Brigade. He does not recollect the term of this service under Davidson but states that it was a long time during this term of service. He was marched though North Carolina flying before the British on to Guilford and was in hearing of the battle fought at that place but was not in the engagement. He was afterwards marched home and discharged or rather dismissed for he does not recollect that they received any regular discharges. He next listed for the term of ten months under Col. Wade Hampton the troops in this service were called state troops. He here again joined the United State Army in the said County of Mclinburgh in the State of North Carolina and marched from there into South Carolina. He was not at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, which was fought by his associate troops on this expedition, and part of the British Army, having been previously ordered as a Sergeant in which capacity, he served during this expedition, to carry the sick to Camden, a town high up in South Carolina on ________ River. Previous to the battle of the Eutaw Springs, he was in the engagements at the taking of Congaree, Fort Orangeburgh, Fort Quarter House and several other places of ________ and was finally discharged at the Four Holes in South Carolina about forty miles from Charlestown, which completed his service during the Revolutionary War. He was under the command of General Lincoln for some time while the State troops lay at Perrysburgh this is the only time that he was attached to the regular troops during the war. He knows of no written documentary which would aid him in establishing his claim. He states that Hugh King and James Shields of Maury County and said State, knew of his being in service in the United State Army or different expeditions during the war but he does not know what statements they can now make as to the above facts. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the Agency of any state to the best of his knowledge. Sworn to in open Court JOHN ROSS 24th August 1832, German Lester, Clk. We Gilbert D. Taylor a clergyman and residing in the County of Giles and said State and Thomas Simpson residing in the same State and County hereby certify that we are well acquainted with John Ross, who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration: that we believe him to be 74 years of age or thereabouts: that he is respected and believed in the neighborhood where he now resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in the opinion. G.D. Taylor Thos. Simpson Sworn to and subscribed on the 24th day of August 1832 Sworn to in open court this 24th August, 1832 And the said court hereby declares this opinion after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier, and served as he states and the court further certifies that it appears to them that Gilbert D. Taylor and Thos. Simpson who have signed the preceding certificate resides in the said county of Giles and that Thomas Simpson who has also signed the same is a resident in the said county and State are a creditable persons and that their statement is entitled to credit. |
Submitted by Pat and Ross Evans