American Revolution
Military Units from Delaware
by Ralph Nelson, Historian for the Delaware Society SAR (1997-2006)You are here:
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Latest Changes:
07Sep30 - fix Cooch link /
07Dec13 - reformat table, add 2 photos /
08Apr08 - add 198th Sig Batt /
The Delaware Militia Flag of 1777 |
Delaware was a small state, but it was a vital link in the shipment
of food and supplies between the northern and southern states.
Goods went by ship down the Delaware River from Trenton NJ
and Philadelphia PA and up the tidal Christina River to the port of Christiana DE.
They were then carted across Delaware to Head of Elk (present-day Elkton MD),
where they were put of ships bound for Baltimore MD and Norfolk VA.
The militia played a vital role in national defense by protecting these supply lines. Delaware supplied one regiment of Continentals (full-time troops available to fight outside the state) that served throughout the war. Several other military units also fought outside the state or were pressed into Continental service when the Continental Army was preparing for battles in Delaware or in nearby Pennsylvania. |
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This Page: County Militia |
Flying Camp |
(Haslet's or Hall's or First) Delaware Continentals
Second Delaware Continentals | Re-enactment Units | Redesignated 198th | Annotated Bibliography |
The Delaware MilitiaIn Delaware the militia was made up of five battalions. In 1776 the Delaware General Assembly passed a law that required all white males (except clergy, judges, jailers, and indentured servants) between the ages of 18 and 50 to serve in militia companies that were to drill at least nine times a year. [Hancock, p 150]The 1st New Castle County Battalion, under Col. Thomas Duff, had seven companies, three of which fought at Princeton in January 1777, where Col. John Haslet, who formed the first regiment raised in Delaware for out-of-state service, was shot and killed. The 1st New Castle County Battalion may also have served as a scouting force during the British invasion and the U.S. harrassing action near Cooch's Bridge in August of 1777. The 2nd New Castle County Battalion, under Col. Samuel Patterson, had eight companies. In August of 1777 the 18,000 British troops landed south of Elk Landing (Elkton MD) The 2nd New Castle Battalion was assigned to Maxwell's Brigade of Light Infantry in the Continental Army, and the men were paid by the Continental Congress (rather than Delaware) for this duty. On 1777 Sep 03 Maxwell's Brigade fought a delaying action known as the Battle of Cooch's Bridge (near Newark DE). This was the only military engagement in Delaware that involved both U.S. Continentals
and British troops. More Americans died here and more American and British troops
were present here than at Yorktown in 1781.
Shortly after this battle a militia flag was captured by the British in Christina DE,
where Samuel Patterson lived. It is likely that this was the flag that Patterson's unit used.
The flag is now in the collection of the Historica Society of Delaware.
The Lower New Castle County Militia was made up of two companies. [Ref: unpublished history article by Wade Catts of Newark DE.] The Kent County Militia, commanded by Gen. Caesar Rodney, helped block British foraging near Middletown when a British force of some 18,000 men came ashore near Elk Landing MD in August of 1777. See at left the text of the state marker on Cheney Clow's Fort. The Sussex County Militia, commanded by Gen. John Dagworthy, was kept busy by continual armed resistance from a large Loyalist population in that county. |
First Delaware Continental RegimentThis unit was raised in January 1776 -- a year before the Continental units were established by the Continental Congress -- as Haslet's Light Infantry Regiment. Following Haslet's death it was rebuilt in 1777 as the Delaware Continental Regiment, also referred to as the Delaware Continentals. Because it was led by Col. David Hall it was also called Hall's Regiment. Hall was severely wounded at Germantown and did not accompany the regiment after that, although on paper he remained its leader. The regiment was badly mauled at the first battle of Camden in 1781, after which the remaining soldiers were consolidated into two companies, which were then brigaded with the Maryland Continrntal Regiment until mustered out at the end of the war in 1783.The Delaware Regiment compiled a distinguished record of service, participating in most of the major battles after independence was declared. More complete descriptions of the battles are provided in "The Delaware Continentals", by Delaware Society member Christopher Ward (Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington DE, 1941). Page numbers below indicate the location of information for the role of the Delaware Continentals in the battles listed.
Delaware Regiment's organizational lineage,
Delaware Regiment's battles fought,
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Second Delaware Continental RegimentWhile this unit was active for only five months (July to November 1780) it participated in several very interesting events. One author [Green] called it "Delaware's forgotten regiment" because they are not mentioned in The Delaware Continentals 1776-1783 (cited above). Green included a history of the unit in The Story of Delaware in the Revolution.In the spring of 1780 Gen. Washington was assembling a strong military force to displace the British from New York with the aid of the French fleet and troops under the command of Gen. Rochambeau -- who had arrived at Newport in July of 1780. The (first) Delaware Regiment was not available for service in New York since it had sailed south from Elkton on May 8 to counter the strong British force in Charleston SC. By June that Delaware regiment was in North Carolina, and it was badly mauled by the British at Camden SC on August 16. In response to Washington's request for more troops for a proposed attack on New York, the Delaware legislature created the 2nd Delaware Regiment in July of 1780 with Henry Neill of Lewes as Lt. Col and Commandant. In August they marched to Washington's headquarters in Englewood NJ. They were assigned to guard the pass overlooking Dobbs Ferry (or Sneeden's Landing, now Palisades NJ). On September 11 their gunfire helped cover the escape of a U.S. row-galley from a British gunship. This row-galley carried Gen. Benedict Arnold -- commander of the West Point garrison. He had been trying to get to a meeting with British Major John Andre to discuss his treasonous plans, but was foiled by British sailors who did not know that he was working to help the British side. Shortly after Arnold and Andre's next meeting (on September 20) Andre was captured and Arnold's treason was foiled. Soldiers from the 2nd Delaware Regiment helped with crowd control when Andre was hanged on October 2. Soon after that the regiment was assigned to repair roads near Trenton, and on October 20, 1780, the men were dismissed from service. |
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Delaware Flying CampThis unit was activated for only four months (1776 Sep-Dec) and had an enlistment of about 480. [See Delaware Archives, Military] It was drawn from militia companies, the defensive forces normally used only within the state's borders.The Flying Camp was led by Col. Samuel Patterson, a miller from Christiana DE who had experience from the French and Indian War. In early September 1776 the unit was sent to northern New Jersey to help repel the British invasion force on Staten Island. They attacked a fort and drove in the outer defensive forces, but they did not capture anything. They returned to Delaware when their out-of-state obligation ended on Dec 1, 1776. [Green] Patterson later led the 2nd New Castle Battalion of Militia. |
"Partisan" Units from DelawareMilitary records indicate several other units that were raised in Delaware and were affiliated with Continental units other than the Delaware Continentals. Several of these involved Allen McLane, who was born in 1746 to a Philadelphia merchant. In 1774, at the age of 28, he moved to Smyrna (Kent County) to begin a trading business. In 1775 he enlisted as a Lieutenant in the Kent County militia batallion (under Caesar Rodney). In 1789 he became a U.S. Marshall [usmarshalls.gov]
and in 1797 he was promoted to Collector for the Port of Wilmington. [Ward]
Biography of Allen McLane
[ushistory.org]
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Living Historians (Re-enactors)The memory and spirit of the Delaware Continentals are kept alive by several groups who participate in battle re-enactments, act as color guards, and teach history in schools and at other civic meetings.Delaware National Guard Ceremonial Detail
-- From 1976 to 2002 a group of National Guard volunteers formed
a ceremonial unit known as "The American Rifles". They performed several
times a year until death and old age thinned their ranks below four.
The unit was revived in 2006, starting out with twenty men.
The ceremonial unit wears the elaborate uniforms and grenadier caps that
Haslet's Light Infantry Company wore in 1776. At the start of the war
there was time and fabric available to keep uniforms in good repair.
At the end of the wear the regiment was far from home and in abject poverty,
so they wore whatever they could get.
The uniform consists of
The original National Guard Ceremonial Unit wore a mitered cap of stiff leather painted with the regimental crest, which consisted of a fully rigged ship at the top, a sheaf of wheat inside a garter, and a scroll at the bottom. The garter bore the phrase "Liberty and Independence", and the scroll said "Delaware Regiment". This cap is depicted on the cover of The Delaware Continentals [Ward]. Subsequent research indicated that this cap was created well after the Revolution and that the Delaware Continentals wore the same black tricorn hat as was worn by most other regiments. [Ref. private communicaton to RDN from C. Russel McCabe.]
Delaware Society SAR Color Guard
-- The Major Robert Kirkwood Chapter of the Delaware Society has a
North Carolina Recreation: Kirkwood's Company -- This unit of the Brigade of the American Revolution (BAR) portrays the remnant of the Delaware Regiment which fought with the Maryland Brigade after the Delaware Regiment was decimated in the first battle of Camden SC. They wear frontiersman uniforms. Ohio Recreation: Kirkwood's Company -- This BAR unit holds annual memorial services in standard Continental uniforms at the monument that was erected (near Fort Recovery in Ohio) to honor Delaware Capt. Robert Kirkwood and others who died here when a 1791 military expedition suffered a major defeat. Robert Kirkwood was a captain in the Delaware Continentals and fought in 32 battles of the Revolutionary War. |
California: the Delaware Light Infantry Company (1776)
-- Some of the soldiers in this unit wear the same uniform as described above
for original Delaware National Guard Ceremonial Detail.
Others (see right) wear a military cocked hat with yellow tape
on the edges and a cockade made of black silk ribbon.
Their Web site disappeared in 2007.
Insignia of the 198th Signal Battalion |
Still the First Regiment of the First StateHaslet's Light Infantry Regiment (later re-named the Delaware Continental Regiment is perpetuated today by the198th Signal Battalion, Delaware Army National Guard |
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The distinctive unit insignia has three elements:
The shield is white, the old color of Infantry. The eleven mullets (stars) represent the eleven battles and campaigns in which the organization served during the Civil War The red fleur-de-lis is for World War I service and is also the color of the Coast Artillery. On 1934 Jun 13 the insignia was originally approved for the 198th Coast Artillery.
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Annotated BibliographyDelaware Archives, Military -- Revolutionary War records transcribed and indexed by the Delaware Public Archives): Vol. I (Mercantile Printing, Wilmington DE, 1911)Vol. II (Mercantile Printing, Wilmington DE, 1912) Vol. III (Charles L. Storey Press, Wilmington DE, 1919) Green, Charles E. -- The Story of Delaware in the Revolution (William N. Cann Press, Wilmington DE, 1975) -- was written for the 1976 bicentennial and includes information on all of the army and navy units provided by the state of Delaware. The author was a member of the Delaware Society SAR. Hancock, Harold B. -- "Liberty and Independence" (Delaware American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1976) The author was a member of the Delaware Society SAR. Hill, Stephen: The Delaware Cincinnatti (Dorrance and Co., Bryn Mawr PA, 1988) National Archives and Record Administration (NARA: www.nara.gov) has the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, and Record Group 93.3 is RECORDS RELATING TO MILITARY ORGANIZATION AND SERVICE 1775-1912. This has been microfilmed as series M880, and copies are available in many regional repositories. Records related to Delaware units are
Peden, Henry C, Jr.: Revolutionary Patriots of Delaware 1775-1783 (Family Line Publications, Westminster MD, 1996) The author is a member of the Maryland Society SAR. Ward, Christopher: The Delaware Continentals, 1776-1783 (Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington DE, 1941), reprinted 2001 by the Delaware Heritage Commission -- is the most comprehensive treatment ever published about this regiment. The author was a member of the Delaware Society SAR. Wright, Robert K., Jr.: The Continental Army (U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington DC, 1983) The author is with the U.S. Center for Military History. Page 273 gives the organizational lineage that is paraphrased on this site. On 2000 Jun 13 this page was posted on the Web at www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/del.htm, but it has since been removed. For a bibliography of DE in the Revolution see U.S. Amy. Historical Resources Branch. |
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