John Ross
Pension Petition




	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.

________________________________ ________________________________ E. D. Jones ______of said Court
Interrogatories Ques: Where and in what year were you born? Answer: I was born in the year 1758, in McLinburgh County in the State of North Carolina. Ques: Have you any record of your age and if so where is it? Answer: I have a record of my age on a piece of paper at my house in the said county of Giles, which I took from my father's family record the last time I was in North Carolina a number of years ago. Ques: Where were you living when called into service? Where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where do you live now? Answer: I lived in Mclinburgh County, North Carolina during the whole time of the Revolutionary War except when on service out of the state. I since lived in the State of Georgia about 18 years - since which time, I have lived in the State of Tennessee and have been a citizen of Giles County and said last mentioned state for at lease twenty years last past where I now live. Ques: How were you called into service were you drafted. Did you volunteer or were you a substitute. And if a substitute for whom? I volunteered to enter the service above specified in every instance. Ques: State the names of some of the regular officers who were with the troops, under you served; such continental and militia regiments as you can recollect and the general circumstances of your service? I was under General Rutherford, General Sumpter, Col. Polk, Col. Locke, Col. Williams, Col. Wade Hampton, and such others as I have named in the declaration. I have also stated most of the circumstances of my services in the above declaration which I now recollect. Ques: Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so by whom was it given, and what has become of it? Answer: I did receive some discharges but from whom I can not now recollect. I have none in my possession at this time. They have been lost or mislaid. As I long since thought they would be of no service to me. Ques: State the names of the persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution. Ans: There are a number of persons and neighbors who can testify as to my character viz. Thomas Simpson, Thomas E. Gorden, Samuel Hampton, William Morris and Gilbert D. Taylor. JOHN ROSS I, German Lester, Clerk of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions holder for the County of Giles and State of Tennessee do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of John Ross as petitioner testimony whereof I have here into set my hand and affixed the seal of said court at office this 10th day of September 1832. German Lester Clk ____________________________________ ____________________________________


Submitted by Pat and Ross Evans