Pension Application of William King: S32364

                        Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris

 

State of Virginia, Montgomery County Sct.

On this 7^th day of January 1833, personally appeared before the Justices of Montgomery county court now sitting, William King, a resident of this county and State aforesaid aged 77 or 78 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 the 7^th June 1832. That he entered the service of the United States under the following officers, and served as herein stated; viz. He enlisted in the county of Bedford, Virginia, about two years before Gates defeat [on 16 Aug 1780], for a term of two months and [one or two words illegible] at the lead mines in the county of Wythe (Virginia) under the command of Colo. Charles Lynch  Captain Robert Adams, and Lieutenant [Thomas] McReynolds, which term he fully served out. The ensuing Spring, is father Avra King was drafted in the county of Bedford, Virginia, by Captain Charles Watkins and Lieutenant Thomas Logwood for a term of three months, which tour this applicant undertook to perform in place of the said Avra King. At this time, and under the command of the above named officers, this applicant was marched towards Jamestown, (Virginia) which place the troops did not reach, having been met by an express, which stated that the enemy had left Jamestown, and that their aid was no longer necessary, at that place: Upon the reception of this inteligence, the company to which this applicant belonged, received a final discharge from Colonel James Callaway, after having served about one-half the term for which his father had been drafted. About fifteen months after this time this applicant again entered the service in the county of Bedford. (Va. as a substitute for James Mays under command of Capt Nathaniel Tate, Lieutenant Stephen Goggin, & Ensign Richard Edmondson, and was marched to Hillsborough North Carolina, where he remained until about the first of November, and was then marched towards Charleston South Carolina for the purpose as he understood, of meeting Cornwallis, passing by Guilford Courthouse and through Mecklenburg [NC] to Charlotte Court house where the company to which he belonged joined Gen’l. Gates’s army. Thence he was marched to the Cheraw Hills, South Carolina, where the army took up their winter quarters. During this march we were overtaken by Gen’l. Green who assumed the command, and ordered Gen’l. Gates under guard to Philadelphia. From the Cheraw Hills, this applicant was marched to Mecklenburg county Virginia as a guard over some Bagage Waggons and live Hogs, under the command of Captain Isaac Webb, Lieutenant Charles Webb, and Ensign William Triplett. this company or guard left the hogs and waggons in the county of Mecklenburg and marched from thence to Banisters old Bridge in Halifax Virginia, where the applicant received a written discharge from Captain Charles Webb, which was afterwards put in the hands of Colonel James Callaway for the purpose of receiving the pay to which the applicant was entitled; although this applicant entered the service but for three months he was continued in it from the last of June until the succeeding March. [See note below.] In August following this applicant volunteered under the command of Colo. Benjamin Logan to guard the western frontier of Virginia, now Kentucky, in which service he was engaged two years, not constantly under arms, but subject to a call at any time, what was then called a minute man; During this time he was engaged two months as an Indian spy. This applicant together with the forces under the command of Col. Logan was transfered to the command of Gen’l. [George Rogers] Clark, at Bryants Station [near present Lexington KY], and was marched from thence to the mouth of Licking river [at present Cincinnati OH]  and there joined the regular troops, and from thence were marched to an Indian Town on the great Miami river, called the Standing stone, which Town with six others this applicant assisted in burning [Nov 1782], and then marched back to the mouth of the Licking where the army was discharged. He hereby relinquishes 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;

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.             Wm King

 

County of Washington S.S.

on this first day of September 1837. before me, the subscriber, a justice of the peace for said county of Washington personally appeared William King who on his oath declares that he is the same person who formerly belonged to the company commanded by Captain Robert Adams and after him he was in the Company commanded by Captain Nathaniel Tate afterwards under Captain John Graves and was attached to several other companies and at the time he received his discharge he was under Captain [“Poage” interlined] Webb in the regiment commanded by Collonel Locan [sic] in the service of the United States; that his name was placed on the pension roll of the State of Virginia from whence he has lately removed; that he now resides in the State of Indiana, where he intends to remain, and wishes his pension to be there payable, in futer. The following are his reasons for removing from the State of Virginia to the State of Indiana  the state of Indiana being a free state and he wanted to get out of a slave state. and some of his children lived in Indiana and he thought his children could get land easier than they could in Virginia.         (signed) William King

 

NOTE: The account of King’s service with Gen. Horatio Gates and Gen. Nathanael Greene is confused. King apparently enlisted before the Gates’s defeat: Capt. Nathaniel Tate’s company of Bedford militia is recorded as having been at the battle. If King was there, he may have been among the Virginians who threw down their loaded muskets and ran at the first charge of the British. During the battle Gates fled to Hillsborough NC and eventually reassembled some of his scattered army. Gates was then fired by Congress, and at Charlotte on 2 Dec 1780 he transferred command of the southern army to Gen. Nathanael Greene. Gates was not arrested, as implied in this declaration. After Greene took command he sent a large portion of his debilitated army, including King probably, to the hills near Cheraw SC to avoid presenting too tempting an objective for Cornwallis. It is likely that the hogs and other supplies King helped guard were shipped to, rather than from, the winter quarters at Cheraw. Most likely this tour of duty was from the last of June 1780 until March 1781.