bantarleton:A recreation of Peter Brewer, a Continental Army soldier killed in 1777, via the Saratog
bantarleton:A recreation of Peter Brewer, a Continental Army soldier killed in 1777, via the Saratoga National Historical Park.Peter Brewer of New Boston, New Hampshire, was just the sort of soldier that the state’s recruiting officers were looking for when they were enlisting men and boys for the Continental Army in the spring of 1777.Peter was enrolled as a private soldier in the state’s 5th Regiment of Militia. As such, he was subject to the state’s January 1777 resolve which acknowledged that “there may be frequent Occasion to draft Men” from amongst the state’s militia regiments due to a “sufficient number not appearing by voluntary Inlistment [sic]” for the Continental Army. Peter was one of hundreds of New Hampshiremen so selected, and he entered the service on March 18.Unlike the vast majority of his countrymen, Peter chose to enlist for the war’s indefinite duration. Doing so came with the reward of “bounty land” which would be assigned to him after the war’s successful conclusion. Peter was undoubtedly looking forward to the day when he could settle into his hard-won 100-acre property.Peter was a private soldier in Captain Morrill’s company of Colonel Joseph Cilley’s 1st New Hampshire Regiment, which formed part of the Fort Ticonderoga / Mount Independence garrison in Spring 1777. His regiment retreated with the rest of the American Northern Army during the British onslaught from Canada that summer, at which time Peter and his compatriots suffered from a lack of food, threadbare clothing, and little to cover themselves at night but brush and wood planks.By September, the Northern Army girded itself for battle. Cilley’s Regiment fought hard in the Battle of Freeman’s Farm (September 19), in which fight the regiment suffered more casualties than any other American unit (over 60 killed and wounded). Peter survived unscathed, but he was killed by the enemy over two weeks later in the subsequent October 7 battle of Bemus Heights.The Americans probably buried Peter’s remains near where he fell in an unmarked grave.Unfortunately, we don’t know if Peter was formerly enslaved or born free, nor do we know anything else about his personal or family life. Perhaps, someday, we’ll know more! -- source link
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