Pension Application of George Lemon: S38137
Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris
On the 9th day of December 1822 personally appeared in court of said County being a Court of record George Lemon who being first duly sworn according to Law doth on his Oath make the following declaration (in order to obtain the provision made by the act of Congress of the 18 of March 1818 and the 1st of May 1820) that he the said George Lemon in the year 1776 he enlisted with Lieutenant Adam Wallace in the 7th Virginia Regiment at that Commanded by either by Colo Dangerfield or Colo Bucknor. His full enlistment was for the term of 18 months, that before the said term of enlistment expired he again enlisted during the War and continued without interruption in the service until the period of Colo. Buford defeat in South Carolina [29 May 1780] in which action he was wounded and made a prisoner by the enemy & never was exchanged untill the army was discharged. I do solemnly swear that I was a resident Citizen of the United States of the 18 March 1818 and that I have not since that time by gift sale or in any other manner disposed of my property or any part thereof with an intent to diminish it, so as to bring myself within the provision of an Act of Congress entitled an act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval services of the United States in the War of the Revolution passed on the 18 day of March 1818, and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me any property or securities or contracts or debts due to me nor have I any income other than is contained in the schedule hereunto annexed and by me subscribed–
Schedule I have nothing – that he is by occupation a carpenter but is unable by reason of his age & infirmity to make a living that he has no wife Geo his + mark Lemon
Jacob Lemon being first duly sworn deposeth & saith that he saw the said Geo Lemon march out of Staunton under the command of Capt Adam Wallace who then had the command of a company of Continental soldiers that he never saw the said Geo Lemon untill some years after when he returned from Bufords defeat wounded which wound was then unhealed and that he a man without property of any description.
Henry Bonyers being first duly sworn deposeth & saith that he acted as Lieutenant & Adjutant to a detachment of Continental troops of the Virginia line which marched to South Carolina with under the command of Colo. Abraham Buford and was defeated at a place called the Hanging rock near the Waxhaw [sic: Waxhaws] settlement, that he knew the said George Lemon to a be a soldier in that detachment and has been informed and has reason to believe that he was wounded and taken prisoner by the British troops at the defeat aforesaid, that he knows nothing of the length of his service in the army – all of which is [word illegible] to be certified and the court being a court of record doth also certify that the said Jacob Lemon & Henry Bonyer are creditable witnesses.
NOTES:
George Lemon’s pension commenced on 18 August 1823 when he was living in Alleghany County VA, formed from Botetourt County on 5 Jan 1822.
Lemon was with Col. Abraham Bluford, commander of the 3rd Virginia Detachment of Scott’s Virginia Brigade, which was sent to relieve the southern army under siege at Charleston SC. En route Bluford received word that Charleston had surrendered, and while retreating to North Carolina he was overtaken by Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton’s cavalry near Waxhaws SC (about 20 miles north of Hanging Rock) on 29 May 1780. After a single charge Buford saw that his men stood little chance against mounted swordsmen, so he sent a flag of truce to Tarleton offering to surrender. At this point Tarleton’s horse was struck and fell, and the British, apparently thinking the truce had been violated, began slashing the Virginians, ignoring pleas for quarter. The patriots fought back, but out of more than 350, 113 were killed and 203 captured. Tarleton summoned medical aid for the wounded Virginians, but the incident cemented his reputation for brutality, which is caricatured in the fictional movie The Patriot. In later battles many Americans retaliated for “Buford’s Massacre” by offering only “Tarleton’s quarter” to surrendering British troops.
**George Lemon is also referenced as George Layman..(RBW)