The journal and order book of Captain Robert Kirkwood of the Delaware regiment of the continental line ...

PART I "A Journal of the Southern Campaign "

1780-1782

PART II "An Order Book of the Campaign in New Jersey, 1777" The brave, meritorious, unrewarded Kirkwood "

EDITED BY

REV. JOSEPH BROWN TURNER

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE

WILMINGTON 1910

PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE LVI

The Journal and Order Book ^ ?*

i

vn Captain Robert Kirkwood

of the

Delaware Regiment of the' Continental Line

PART I

"A Journal of the Southern Campaign" 1780-1782

PART II "An Order Book of the Campaign in New Jersey, 1777"

The brave, meritorious, unrewarded Kirkwood "

EDITED BY

REV. JOSEPH BROWN TURNER

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE

WILMINGTON 1910

Press of the Delawarban Dover, Del.

Gil;

Foreword

"Render, therefore, to all their dues; Honour to whom honour is due."

So far as Robert Kirkwood is concerned neither the State of Delaware nor the Historical Society of Delaware has obeyed this injunction. One of the most intrepid and fearless men Delaware has produced has received little notice and scanty praise. The MSS. volumes containing his "Journal" and his "Order Book" have been allowed to accumulate dust on a shelf of the library of the Historical Society for thirty-four years. In justice to a brave son of the State they are now published, with the following letter containing his ancestry:

Bloomington, Indiana, July 14, 1876.

Dr. Lewis P. Bush:

Dear Sir —

When I saw you in Newark a few weeks since you requested me to furnish you a statement of any facts in my possession in regard to the ancestry and early history of Captain Robert Kirkwood. With this request I cheerfully comply, although at this distance of time perhaps little new can be given on the subject.

The family from which Captain Kirkwood was descended removed from Scotland to the vicinity of Derry in the north of

Ireland in the latter part of the seventeenth century. In 1731 the captain's father, Robert Kirkwood, then a youth of perhaps 18 or 20 years of age, emigrated to this country in company with the widow and two infant children of an elder brother, William, then recently deceased. Robert Kirkwood, some years after his arrival in Delaware, married a Miss Sarah McDowell, a native of England and a member of the religious society of Friends. They lived on a farm about two miles north of Newark — a farm recently owned by Andrew Gray, Esq., and adjacent to the lot on which the White Clay Creek Presbyterian church now stands. They had nine children, eight of whom were daughters. Robert, the only son, was born in 1756. Of his childhood nothing is now known but the fact of his early manifesting a fondness for reading and study — a fact which decided his father to educate him for the ministry. He was accordingly placed in the Newark Academy where he pursued his classical studies with great diligence and success. On the commencement of the revolutionary war, however, the young student at once abandoned his literary pursuits and promptly espoused the cause of his countrj^

You informed me in conversation that the manuscripts of Captain Kirkwood had been deposited in the library of the Delaware Historical Society by his grandson. Gen. R. K. Whitely. It is therefore unnecessary that I should attempt any account of his public services. You are probably aware also that an interesting biographical sketch of Captain K., by P. Benson Delany, M.D., may be found in Graham's Magazine for March, 1846.

Of the family that came over from Ireland with Robert Kirkwood the descendants are now very numerous. The widow, Mrs. Sarah Kirkwood, some time after their arrival in Delaware, married a Mr. Gallagher, then a member, I think, of

White Clay Creek church. Her son, Robert Kirkwood, who died in Harford county, Maryland, in 18 10, was my grandfather.

With pleasant recollections of my former residence in Delaware, I remain, dear sir,

Yours very truly,

Daniel Kirkwood.

To the above it may be added that Capt. Kirkwood married Sarah, a daughter of Joseph England, Jr., of White Clay Creek hundred, who was, as his mother had been, a member of the Society of Friends. His father was for many years a Ruling Elder in the White Clay Creek Presbyterian Church. At the very beginning of the Revolution Robert Kirkwood, Jr., was commissioned, January 17, 1776, First Lieutenant of Capt. Darby's Company, Colonel Hazlet's Regiment. He received his commission as Captain, December i, 1776, and was transferred to Colonel Hall's regiment as second Ranking Captain, and served to the end of the war as Senior Captain in command of the Delaware Battalion. He was brevetted Major, Sept. 30, 1783. The State of Virginia alone recognized and rewarded his services. In 1787 he received from Virginia a grant of 2000 acres of land in the North West Territory, in what is now Southeastern Ohio. His land was probably in Belmont Co., whither he removed soon after the grant was made. He was a Justice of the Peace in "the North West Territory" in 1790, and a carefully written copy of the laws promulgated by Gen. Arthur St. Clair is found in the back of his journal, together with some interesting items from his docket. On the 4th of March, 1791, Kirkwood was commissioned Captain in the Second Regiment U S. Infantry, and

6 CAPT. ROBERT KIRKWOOB

marched under General St. Clair in his unfortunate expedition against the Indians. In the battle near Fort Recovery, — his thirty-third engagement, — he refused to retreat with the defeated army, and died with his face to the foe on the 4th of November, 1791, at the age of forty-five. Captain Kirkwood left two children:

1. A son, Joseph Kirkwood, who removed with his father to the Ohio Territory. His children as late as 1875 were still in possession of the lands granted to their grandfather in 1787.

2. A daughter, Mary, who married Arthur Whitely, of Dorchester Co., Md., and was the mother of General R. H. K. Whitely, by whom the Historical Society was made custodian of these valuable MSS.

Joseph Brown Turner.

Dover, Delaware, December 6, 19 JO.

Part I JOURNAL

of the

Marches of the Delaware Regiment

of the

Continental Line

in the

Southern Campaign

1780-1782

Kept by

Captain Robert Kirkwood

Journal of Marches from Morristown, East Jersey, Southerly

When

Year 1780

April 13th.

May

8th.

June

1st.

2nd.

3rd.

4th.

6th. 7th.

I left Morristown four days before the Maryland and Delaware Line, and arrived at Newark, in the Delaware State

From thence went to Lewes town, and returned back to Newark

Set sail from the Head of Elk, in Compy with 50 sail of vessels, being the Second brigade in the Maryland Line, Destin'd for Petersburgh, Virginia, at which Port the vessel I was in arrived the 23 Inst

Decamped from Petersburgh, and marched to Rockaway Court House

Marched to Jones's Bridge, and Encamped

Marched to Commissarys Lambs, Brunswick County. . .

Marched to Short's Ordinary

Marched to Stony Creek

Marched to Roanoke which we crossed at Taylor's Ferry and lay upon its Bank, (this river is about 350 miles long)

Marched into Granvill County, North Carolina

Marched this day to Genl. Parsons

15 17

15 16 18

18 10 lO

When

Year 1780

I Miles

June

22nd. 30th.

July

1st. 2nd.

2nd. 3rd.

4th. 6th.

8th. loth. nth.

Marched from Genl. Parsons, and encamped on the

South Side of Flat River

Marched this Day to Hilsborough

Marched and crossed Haw River

Marched and lay in the woods

This day marched to Chatham Courthouse

Marched this day to Deep River which we crossed. . . .

Marched to Wilcoxes Iron Works

Marched to Hollinsworth's Farm on Deep River

This Day the Honble. Majr. Genl. Gates arrived and

took Command of all the Southern Troops. Marched this day to Spinks Farm Randolph County,

No. Carolina

Marched this day to Cottons Farm

Marched to Smiths Mill, on little River

Marched to the River Pee Dee and crossed at Masseys Ferry, incamped on Ingram Farm, Hanson County. .

Marched this Day to Mays Mill

Marched to Thompsons Creek. The line at this place divides North & South Carolina

Marched this day near Hendersons Cross roads

Marched and encamped in the pines, received Information that the Enemy was advancing

Marched to Big Linches Creek

Marched and encamped in the Pines

Marched to Little Linches Creek to gain the Enemys right

20 15 15

6 18

14 12 18

18 18 18

10 18

18 17

5 16

16 1114