Georgia
Oglethorpe County
On this fourth day of September eighteen hundred & thirty two personally
appeared in open court before the justices of the Inferior court while sitting for
ordinary purposes Thomas Moody, a resident of the county & State aforesaid, aged
seventy 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 passed on the
seventh of June in the present year entitles and act supplementary to the act for the
relief of certain surviving officers & soldiers of the Revolution. That he entered the
service of the United States against England in the war of the Revolution under the
following named officers & served as hereinafter stated.
That he was born in Cumberland county Virginia on the eighteenth of June
seventeen hundred & sixty two as he learned by reference to the old family Bible
before he left that county ~ That he lived there when he was drafted in the early part of
the summer of seventeen hundred & eighty to perform a tour of six months in the
militia service in the Revolutionary war ~ he doesnt recollect the number of the
regiment to which he belonged ~ He marched from Cumberland county under the command of one
Captain Charles Ballon to Hillsboro in N. Carolina where he was stationed four or five
weeks passing through the various exercises & discipline of a soldier & where he
was reviewed almost every day by General Stephens. He marched from that place under
General Stephens to the battle ground about four miles from Camden S. Carolina & for
the last five days they marched day & night with no other stop than just long enough
to prepare provisions & eat them ~ reached the battle ground about midnight the day
preceding the battle ~ that night the guards of the two armies met and between midnight
& day exchanged some pretty sharp firing ~ the main armies did not meet until sunrise
~ after we were all drawn up in battle array Gates came riding along the lines and gave
orders somewhat to the following purpose, "Let not a single gun be fired until the
British get within six paces, then everyone choose his man, fire on him and bayonet the
rest." After he had passed Captain Ballon exclaimed in the heat of passion, "My
boys, we have heard the orders, but Ill be damned if well stand to them, as
soon as I give the word you must fire." Accordingly, as soon as the British came up
within seventy or eighty yards he ordered us to fire & the command was generally
obeyed ~ deponent was stationed in the left wing of the army if he recollects aright &
as he was in the act of reloading he turned about & saw the Americans retreating
rapidly & particularly he noticed a Major whose name he has forgotten who seemed to be
more alarmed than the rest applying his spurs to his horse and at the same time beating
him with his sword to make him retreat with more rapidity. Presently the retreat became
general & all rushed down into a canebreak about 500 yards off & pushed through it
with all possible dispatch ~ when they got on the hill the other side they were ordered to
make a stand & a feeble effort was made to form a line & rally but the British
came rushing down the opposite hill in hot pursuit & shouting huzzas for for King
George the Americans made a second break and ran like cowards. A fragment of Ballons
company got together again at Hillsboro after running about half the way & marching
rapidly night & day the other part. After spending some considerable time here they
were marched to a place called New Garden in N. Carolina where they were discharged. The
name of the officer who drew us up at New Garden and discharged us from this tour deponent
has forgotten. He got no written personal discharge & he believes the officer in
command took a discharge for the whole company. Ballon had before this lost his command by
reason of his company being reducing to a fragment so small as to make it proper to have
his men divided among other officers.
The next service this deponent performed was a tour of only two weeks duration
~ he acted as a substitute in the place of one Langhorne Tabb who lived in Powhaton County
Va. and entered upon this service about a week after his discharge from the first tour
under the command of one Colonel Goode and Captain Thomas Hubbard who commanded a scouting
party of minutemen ~ marched from home to a little place called Osborns Warehouses
on James River ~ the British at that time were said to lay on the mouth of the Appomattox
~ we were stationed at these warehouses four or five days when we heard cannon over toward
Petersburg & concluded that the British were besieging the town ~ we had had to
deliberate our waggon incoming waving his hat up & down & announcing to us the
rapid approach of the British ~ our numbers were few & we retreated to a place
parallel with Manchester about 7 or 8 miles off ~ there in the evening our Colonel
proposed that Captain Hubbard should take one hundred men, go on toward Manchester, find
out where the British were & what they were doing ~ accordingly we paraded 96 men
& entered upon our march ~ our orders were when the sentry fired on us, rush up &
fire fourteen rounds on the main guard & then return to him ~ but when we got there
the British had burnt the warehouses in Manchester & gone down the river ~ we went
back & reported the news to the Colonel & he instantly followed them down to
Osborns ~ there the Colonel sent the Captain with ten men of whom deponent was one
to find out where the British were ~ we went on to a high rocky bluff on James River &
spied them in that stream. They seemed to be taking on board their vessels some land
forces as they sailed along down the river. They came apparently within a hundred yards of
us & we were exceedingly anxious & gave them the fourteen cartridges we had
prepared for the former occasion but were prevented by the Captain probably because he
thought our fire would be inefficient ~ we returned & made our report to the Colonel
& after maneuvering about awhile we were discharged.
Soon after, say four or five weeks, it fell to my lot to serve a tour of three
months in my own place ~ on this occasion deponent marched under the command of Capt.
Guttherie to Prince Edward Court House where we joined General Lawson & Major Holcomb
~ were stationed there about a month. From there were marched & crossed James River at
Carters ferry & were stationed for some time on the Potomac. He thinks this was
the early part of the summer (say May) of 1781 ~ from here we marched to Jamestown &
were stationed there until our discharge. This tour was of three months duration &
deponent performed the whole of it but he cannot recollect the day when he entered upon it
nor the precise day of his discharge. He never received any personal discharge here nor
did he ever indeed receive a personal discharge in his life.
After remaining at home some days & getting rested deponent agreed to take
the place of a hatter named Robertson of the same county with himself for the sum of 100
� and some clothes ~ as Robertsons substitute he served three months ~ his Colonel
on this tour was one Parker whose men called him General. The name of this Captain was
Haskins ~ he marched from home to Smithfield in Isle of Wight, staid there and at a place
called Mackeys Mills for some considerable time under the discipline and performing
the duties of a soldier ~ from here he marched to Suffolk and was stationed there when
information was received that there were a party of British not far from Long Bridge on
the Dismal Swamp ~ our Colonel ordered us to march in quest of them and we left Suffolk in
the night and reached the place where the British were between 10 & 12 oclock in
the day ~ found them in a fort on the Swamp ~ they had cut a kind of avenue through the
swamp and thrown up a road ~ Colonel Parker marched up to the head of the avenue and made
three of his men advance and fire on the fort in order to induce the British to come out ~
they fired their cannon in return but their pieces were so elevated as to send their balls
entirely above us into the limbs of the surrounding trees ~ our Colonel rode across the
avenue in view of the fort several times and made efforts to induce them to come out but
all without effect. He therefore stationed the guard at that place & the rest of his
forces went below and crossing Long bridge to the opposite side of the swamp began to
prepare refreshments ~ but before we had been there one hour we heard some sharp firing by
our guard ~ we hastened back to it where we found that a party of the British who had been
upon a foraging expedition had returned & attacked our guard. Several were killed on
each side and the skirmish was over before we got there ~ we posted a second guard at the
same place & returned to our provisions. We remained at this place for a few days when
the British sent us word if we did not leave there they would put us all to death. On
getting this information we advanced up the Swamp and soon learned from a deserter that
the British had left the fort and gone to join Cornwallis. On the same day we heard that
the French had blockaded York River. We crossed the swamp again and did not march far
before we were discharged.
When deponent reached home he found that he had been drawn to serve at Yorktown
and he took up his line of march thither under the command of Captain George Allen ~ when
he got there he was under no regular discipline, but was set to digging entrenchments and
continued variously employed until the siege was completed. On this occasion his term was
three months but as soon as Cornwallis was taken there was no further use for him and he
was discharged without having performed much more than three weeks service ~ thinks he can
probably establish part of these services by Robert Colquet of this county. He lived in
Virginia two or three years after the war and moved to Georgia in December 1785 and
settled in Oglethorpe county where he has lived ever since. If Colquets testimony
can be procured he will forward it with this declaration. He hereby relinquished every
claim whatever 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 in the Union.
Thos. Moody
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
William H. Smith, Clerk
Declaration of Mrs. Selah Moody widow of Thomas Moody
For Revolutionary Pension under the Act of February 3rd 1853
State of Georgia
County of Oglethorpe
On this 3rd day of September 1855, personally appeared before Henry
Britain, ordinary, of the county and State above names, Selah Moody, a resident of the
county of Oglethorpe in the State of Georgia, aged 70 years, who being first duly sworn
according to law doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the
benefits of the provision made by the Act of Congress passed Feby 3rd 1853
granting pensions to widows of persons who served during the Revolutionary war. That she
is the widow of Thomas Moody who was a private of Virginia Militia in the war of the
Revolution and a pensioner of the United States by reason of said services under the Act
of June 7 1832 on the Georgia roll at fifty one dollars and fifty five cents per year.
She further declares that she was married to the said Thomas Moody on the 29th
day of December AD one thousand eight hundred and thirty at Oglethorpe Co., Ga by one
Jonathan W. Raines a Justice of the Peace, that her name before her said marriage was
Selah Goolsby, and that her husband, the aforesaid Thomas Moody, died at Oglethorpe Co. Ga
on the 10th day of November AD 1836 and that she has remained a widow since the
death of her said husband.
Selah Moody
Georgia
Oglethorpe County
Court of Ordinary for said County September Term 1855
I, Henry Britain, Judge of the court of ordinary of said county (the same being
a court of record with a seal) & ex officio clerk of said court, do certify that Selah
Moody made & declared the foregoing declaration for pension on the other side of this
paper this day before me in open court witness my had & seal of office this 3rd
September 1855.
Henry Britain, Ordinary
Copy of the marriage license of Thomas Moody & Selah Goolsby no. 2409 ~~
Georgia, Oglethorpe County
To any Judge, Justice of the Inferior Court, Justice of the Peace or Minister of the
Gospel,
You are hereby authorized to join in the Holy state of Matrimony Thomas Moody
and Selah Goolsby according to the Constitution and laws of this State and for so doing
this shall be your sufficient license.
Given under my hand this 29th day of December 1830.
William H. Smith, CCO
Georgia
Oglethorpe County
I hereby certify that Thomas Moody and Celia Goolsby were duly joined by me in
matrimony this 29th December 1830.
Jno. W. Raines, JP
Recorded 24th Jan 1831
William H. Smith, CCO
Georgia
Oglethorpe County
I Henry Britain ordinary in & for the said county in said State do hereby
certify that the above & foregoing copy License is a true transcript and copy of the
marriage license issued to Thomas Moody & Celia Goolsby on the 29th day of
December 1830. And I further certify that the above & foregoing copy of the
certificate returned to this office by Jno. W. Raines, JP is a true copy & transcript
of the original certificate which is now of record in my office.
Given under my hand & seal of office at office at Lexington the third day
of September 1855.
Henry Britain
Ordinary of Oglethorpe County