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The Nation Makers by Howard Pyle (Battle of Brandywine)

William Cowan (c. 1742-1814) Revolutionary War Service

Table of Contents

Introduction

Armed with sparse context clues, an entry in the notoriously inaccurate Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) lineage books (below), and some family lore, I dove head first into Revolutionary War records for substantiating evidence of William Cowan’s military service. This is my first experience with Revolutionary War genealogy and history of battles and regiments, so I don’t have a knowledge base to work from.

The DAR lineage book states William Cowan was “one of Gen. Anthony Wayne’s picked men at the battle of Paoli” and a biography of Cowan’s grandson states “Cowan’s grandfathers, William Cowan and Joseph Keyl, had fought in the Revolutionary War at the battles of Brandywine and Stony Point.” If the DAR birth year is correct, William Cowan would have been 34 years old in 1776.

Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 036

Potential Revolutionary War Records for William Cowan

I’m not sure how many individuals by the name of William Cowan are represented in the following records. More research is needed to eliminate irrelevant records. I color coded the regiments for easier cross referencing with potential matches in the individual battles. Keep in mind these may not be exact matches. Sometime “battalion” and “regiment” are used interchangeably, sometimes not, and there was a lot of reorganizing throughout the war. Also, William Cowan’s Lancaster County property was seized by the sheriff to settle a debt owed William Brisben, and sold to James Fleming in 1771. He also owned land in West Fallowfield, Chester County (which was later seized in 1790 to settle another debt, this time to his sister Elizabeth Boyd, and that land was sold to her husband William Boyd) so I’m not sure which county he would have been associated with at the time of the war.

  • William Cowan 1st Battalion, 8th Company, Lancaster County (7th Class) Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card, 31 May 1782. This company was recruited in the Salisbury Township and commanded by Capt. William Brisben under Lt. Col. John Boyd followed by Lt. Col. James Messer.
  • William Cowan, 4th Artillery Regiment (aka Proctor’s Continental Artillery Regiment) Revolutionary War Index of Final Settlement (outstanding claims by individual soldiers for their service pay).
  • William Cowan 6th Battalion, 4th Company, Chester County, 1780 Muster Roll index. Could be Capt. Jeremiah Talbot’s Company (4th) of the 6th Battalion of Pennsylvania Troops under Col. William, Irvine.
  • William Cowan, Pvt 6th Pennsylvania Regiment Capt. Thomas Bull’s Company under Lt. Col. Josiah Harmar. November 1778 Muster Roll for the month of October, also states that on May 1 he had been “sick at Yellow Springs.” Compiled Service Record of the same, states his term of enlistment was the duration of the war. The 6th Pennsylvania Regiment was raised in January 1777 primarily of recruits from from Berks and Chester counties.
  • William Cowan, Pvt 7th Battalion, 6th Company, Lancaster County (7th Class) Index of Class Roll 1777-1780. It seems 7th Battalion/Regiment are sometimes used interchangeably. The 7th Pennsylvania Regiment (originally, the 6th Pennsylvania Battalion) was led by Col. William Irvine under Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne. There’s also a 7th Pennsylvania Battalion listed for the Lancaster County Revolutionary War Militia by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission led by Col. John Boyd in 1777 and Lt. Col. Alexander Lowrey in 1780.
  • William Cowan, Pvt. in Col. Matthew Smith’s Regiment (9th Pennsylvania) Return of the detachment of the different Corps under the command of Capt. Antoni Selin bringing boats from Middletown to Wyoming from 2nd to 18th June [1779] being 17 days,” incl. Col. Smith’s Regiment. Compiled Service Record of the same.

Revolutionary War Battles

I also looked into the three battles mentioned in the family lore: Brandywine, Paoli, and Stony Point. Here is a very brief synopsis of those battles, in chronological order, and any information I’ve been able to find about potential involvement of the above-listed regiments.

Battle of Brandywine

11 September 1777

Flag carried by the 7th PA into the Battle of Brandywine

Largest battle of the Revolution (30,000 combatants). The Continental Army lost the battle and the city of Philadelphia due to a flanking maneuver by the Redcoats. However this battle was important for the cause because it proved the Rebels could hold their own against the full force of the British Army. The following regiments took part:

  • 7th Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Col. Thomas Hartley under Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne
  • 4th Continental Artillery Regiment
  • 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Brg. Gen. Thomas Conway under Maj. Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling.
  • 9th Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Brg. Gen. Thomas Conway under Maj. Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling.
  • Under Maj. Gen. John Armstrong Sr, both the Lancaster County Militia commanded by Col. James Watson under Brig. Gen. James Potter and the Chester County Militia commanded by Col. William Evans under Brig. Gen. James Irvine.

Battle of Paoli

20 Sep 1777

Battle of Paoli by Gatta, 1782

Also called the Paoli Massacre. After Brandywine, the Continental Army was short on supplies. Gen. George Washington positioned them on both sides of the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading to keep an eye on the British in Philadelphia and access supplies in Reading. He ordered Gen. Anthony Wayne’s men to harass the British and keep them busy. At 10 pm on September 20, British troops took Wayne’s army by surprise, attacking silently with the bayonets of their unloaded muskets. The Americans camp was destroyed, more than 50 men died, and more than 200 were taken prisoner. The following regiments took part:

Battle of Stony Point

15 July 1779

he Battle of Stony Point by J.H. Brightly, c1857

Dramatic night mission to retake important strategic outpost along the Hudson River. Led by Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne’s elite seasonal combat organization composed of 1,200 hand-picked light infantrymen from various regiments. Ended in vindicating victory for Gen. Wayne and the Americans. Click here for a detailed description of the battle. I have not yet found and don’t know if there exists a muster roll of Gen. Wayne’s picked men. I did find a November 1776 Muster Roll of officers under Wayne and a 1783 Return of Recruits by Alexander Martin for Gen. Wayne. Pennsylvania forces involvement included:

  • 6th Pennsylvania Regiment
  • 4 Pennsylvania Companies under Col. Richard Butler of the 9th Pennsylvania Regiment
  • 2 Pennsylvania Companies under Col. Christian Febiger of the 2nd Virginia Regiment

Lancaster County and the Revolution

There’s a lot of helpful background info in chapter XLIII (page 573) of the book Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a History, Vol II, edited by H. M. J. Klein, Ph. D., Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc. 1924. While the name Cowan is not mentioned in this chapter, there’s a narrative of the period leading up to the revolution that includes names that intersect with the Cowan family, such as Lightner, Ellmaker, Jenkins, Shippen, Boyd, and Rutter. There’s also an analysis of the formation of the Lancaster County regiments that fought in the war. While again, I’m not sure what county William Cowan would have been associated with at that time, I am going to quote a few excerpts that speak to the regiments he could have been a part of. I will continue the same color-coding as above and also bold any names that have appeared either within the research contained in this post or connected with the extended Cowan family for other reasons:

Lancaster county was prominently represented in the commissioned personnel of the second Pennsylvania military unit organized. Congress on October 12, 1775, recommended the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania to raise a battalion of the Line. No difficulty was experienced, notwithstanding that the pay of a private was to be only five dollars a month, that he would have to find his own arms and clothes, with the exception of “one felt hat, a pair of yarn stockings, and a pair of shoes.” The unit became known as the First Pennsylvania Battalion, Colonel John Bull, its commander, describing it in November, 1775, as the “Pennsylvania Battalion in the Army of the United Colonies.” Second in command was Lieutenant-Colonel John Philip De Haas, of Lancaster county, or, strictly, from that part of Lancaster county which is now in Lebanon county; and when the battalion gathered for active service at Philadelphia in January, 1776, De Haas was in command. Col. Bull having resigned. The regimental surgeon, Dr. Robert Boyd, was of Lancaster county. Another Lancastrian was Lieut. Adam Hubley, Jr. There are many familiar names in the commission personnel, and also among the rank and file, among the officers being Jenkins, Patterson, Jones, Allison, Davis, Morgan, Hughes; but they cannot be certainly placed. Jonathan Jones raised one company in Caernarvon township, but of Berks county. However, its personnel probably contained many men from the Welsh settlement in Lancaster county. Part of the First Pennsylvania Battalion saw service in Canada and Northern New York. In October, 1776, the battalion became the nucleus for the formation of the Second Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line.

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The Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment was commanded by Colonel Francis Johnston, from organization in September, 1776; and among its officers the following may have been from Lancaster county: Francis Mentges, Frederick Vernon, Andrew Lytle, William Magee, James Gilchrist, James McCullough, Hugh Steel, Robert Anderson, John Carr, Caleb Pierce, John Barckley, Nathaniel Smith, Joseph Irwin, Richard Allison. In the Sixth Regiment, commanded by Colonel Robert Magaw, was Captain John McGowan, of Lancaster, and the following may also have been of the county: Jacob Bower, Jacob Moser, Robert Wilkins, Jr., James Gibbon. In the Seventh Regiment, under Colonel William Irvine and Lieutenant-Colonel David Grier, were few officers from Lancaster county, it would seem; Captain William Bratton however was paid by Colonel Galbraith, heavy sums representing bounties on men recruited. His junior officers were Lieutenant Thomas McCoy and Ensign William Armstrong.
The Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, under Colonels Aeneas Mackey (to 1777), and Daniel Brodhead, had among its officers officers Lieutenant-Colonel James Ross. In the Ninth Regiment, commanded successively by Colonels Irvine, Morris, and Butler, were Majors John Patton , Matthew Smith, Captains Robert Caldwell, Thomas Gourley, Joseph Erwin, John Davis, Lieutenants William Brown, Joseph Davis, William Thompson, Nathaniel Smith.

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The Pennsylvania Artillery, commanded by Colonel Thomas Proctor, who was an Irishman, seemed to have been recruited mainly among the Irish, or Scotch-Irish. But there are some Lancaster names among the units of Artillery Artificers.

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