The April 17 to 18, 1781 Mass Drowning Event in Lafayette's Continental Light Infantry Brigade, Patapsco River, Elkridge Landing, Baltimore and Howard Counties, Maryland







by Daniel M. Popek, July 2023

[Part of the "Buried and Forgotten" Revolutionary War Series]

In Association with "Friends of America's Continental Line (Revolutionary War)" Facebook Group






Numerous KNOWN American Continental Army soldiers died on active duty during our Revolutionary War and were
buried in unmarked graves in American soil. One of the largest sites in the eastern United States with known
Continental soldiers is Washington Square in downtown Philadelphia. I estimate that there are about 3,000
American Revolutionary War soldiers buried there. To date, not ONE monument has been erected to any of the
KNOWN American Continental soldiers who were buried in Washington Square. EVERY American soldier who dies on
active duty in ANY of our wars is legally ENTITLED to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs grave monument at
a minimum. WE THE PEOPLE have failed these soldiers because we are complacent, lazy to do research, and elect
people that are not necessarily public servants. Our overpaid federal bureaucracy is also indolent.


The "Friends of America's Continental Line (Revolutionary War)" Facebook Group was formed in March 2019 to conduct research
and report to the American Public about the numerous Revolutionary War Continental Line soldiers who died on active duty
and were buried and forgotten at several historic sites in the eastern United States. Most American Revolutionary War battle
sites do not specify American Killed in Action or Mortally Wounded casualties who can be identified with some research effort.

Soldiers who died of sickness or drowning were equally heroic as our Americans who were killed on the battlefield. It is far more
difficult to identify the burial locations of American sickness deaths as the soldiers were scattered at various military
hospitals. Secondary historical sources like Revolutionary War pension files can sometimes identify sickness death locations
and other important details.








This web page details an accidental mass drowning event that occurred from April 17 to 18, 1781 to some members of
Lafayette's Continental Light Infantry Brigade on the Patapsco River just south of Baltimore. Elk Ridge Landing was
an important port town on the Patapsco River that was beginning to silt up during the American Revolutionary War. In
April 1781, the river waters were still fairly deep and the Patapsco River was at high flow due to spring snowmelt.
The Light Infantry Brigade under Lafayette was marching to Virginia to counter British forces invading along the
James River under General Benedict Arnold and another enemy force under General Charles Cornwallis marching north
from North Carolina. I will begin with a thorough look at the American Continental Light Infantry Brigade.








Lafayette's Continental Light Infantry Brigade, February 1781


This unit was a provisional Light Infantry Brigade created from handpicked Continental soldiers from Continental Regiments serving in the West Point, New York
area. The Continental Army was reforming in the year 1781 so several new recruits were being added to the regiments in the West Point area. Hence, most
of the Continental soldiers who served with General Lafayette were veterans of the 1777 to 1780 Continental Regiments. General Lafayette marched and sailed
his Light Infantry Brigade to the Chesapeake Bay and later Virginia to monitor and engage British Army units through much of 1781. These American Light
Infantry soldiers also participated in the successful Yorktown, Virginia siege. They returned to the North in very late 1781, but some American soldiers
died of sickness on the journey from Yorktown, Virginia. Other webpages will specify sites where these Light Infantry soldiers died and were buried and
forgotten by an ungrateful nation.


Major General Marie Jean Paul Joseph Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette [France] - Commanding Officer
with various Continental Staff Officers and Volunteers, see my book, pages 481 to 485 for details




Colonel Joseph Vose's Light Infantry Regiment [Massachusetts]

Colonel Joseph Vose [1st Massachusetts Continental Regiment]

Major William de Galvan [Continental Officer from France]


1st Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Luke Hitchcock] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Joseph Vose]
2nd Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Robert Bradford] [Parent Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Ebenezer Sprout]
3rd Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain John Fowles (Fowle)] [Parent Regiment - Colonel John Greaton]
4th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain George Webb] [Parent Regiment - Colonel William Shepard]
5th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Joshua Benson Jr.] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Rufus Putnam]
6th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Peter Clayes] [Parent Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Calvin Smith]
7th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain William White (KIA October 13, 1781)] [Parent Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel John Brooks]
8th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain John Burnham (Burnam)] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Michael Jackson]




Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Joseph Sourbader de Gimat's Light Infantry Regiment [Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island]

Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Joseph Sourbader de Gimat [Continental Officer from France]

Major John Palsgrave Wyllys [Connecticut] (Third Connecticut Continental Regiment)


9th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain William Watson/Captain Thomas Hunt] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Henry Jackson]
10th Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain William Park (Parke)] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Benjamin Tupper]
1st Connecticut Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Jonathan Heart (Hart)] [Parent Regiment - Colonel John Durkee]
2nd Connecticut Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Elijah Chapman] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Heman Swift]
3rd Connecticut Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Roger Welles] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Samuel B. Webb]
4th Connecticut Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Samuel Augustus Still Barker] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Zebulon Butler]
5th Connecticut Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Richard Douglass] [Parent Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Sherman]
Rhode Island Regiment Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Stephen Olney/Lieutenant Benjamin Peckham] [Parent Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel Jeremiah Olney]




Lieutenant Colonel Francis Barber's Light Infantry Regiment [New Jersey, New Hampshire, Hazen's Regiment]

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Barber [New Jersey] (First New Jersey Continental Regiment)

Major James Randolph Reid [Hazen's Regiment]


1st New Jersey Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Jonathan Forman] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Matthias Ogden]
1st New Jersey Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Aaron Ogden] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Matthias Ogden]
1st New Jersey Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain William Piatt] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Matthias Ogden]
2nd New Jersey Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Jonathan Holmes] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Elias Dayton]
2nd New Jersey Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Cyrus D'Hart] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Elias Dayton]
1st New Hampshire Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Josiah Munro] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Alexander Scammel]
2nd New Hampshire Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain William Rowell] [Parent Regiment - Lieutenant Colonel George Reid]
Colonel Moses Hazen's New York/Canadian Continental Light Infantry Company [Captain Thomas Pry] [Parent Regiment - Colonel Moses Hazen]




Captain Joseph Savage's Continental Artillery Company [Detachment from Colonel John Lamb's Second (New York) Continental Artillery Regiment]

Captain Joseph Savage (Massachusetts)




Three Regiments of Pennsylvania Continental Light Infantry soldiers were added to Lafayette's Command in the summer of 1781 under
Brigadier General Anthony Wayne. After Yorktown, they would join the Southern Continental Army under General Nathanael Greene.








The adventure for this predominantly New England Continental Light Infantry Brigade began in late February 1781 as they marched south
from the West Point area through New Jersey. Fortunately, a Massachusetts Ensign, Ebenezer Wild (Wilds) of Braintree and Boston,
kept a superb journal of his experiences as a subaltern officer in Captain Luke Hitchcock's First Massachusetts Continental Regiment
Light Infantry Company in Colonel Vose's Light Infantry Regiment. After marching into Trenton, New Jersey on February 28, 1781, the
American Light Infantry soldiers embarked on vessels on March 1st and sailed down the Delaware River to Wilmington, Delaware where
they disembarked. The northern Continental soldiers marched up Christiana Creek stopping at the village of Christiana. Arriving at
the Head of Elk, Maryland on March 3, 1781, Lafayette allowed his soldiers a few days rest before embarking them on sailing vessels
to Annapolis, Maryland. General Lafayette obtained a vessel and went on a reconaissance mission down the Chesapeake Bay while his
Light Infantry Brigade encamped near Annapolis. Returning to Annapolis on April 2, 1781, Lafayette led his Light Infantry Brigade
on vessels back up the Cheasapeake Bay the night of April 5, 1781. The Americans returned to Head of Elk, Maryland on April 9, 1781.

Lafayette wanted to rejoin the American Grand Northern Army under General Washington at West Point, but received orders to march
his Light Infantry Brigade south to Virginia in cooperation with General Nathanael Greene's Southern Army. On April 12, 1781, the
American Continental Light Infantry Brigade marched from Head of Elk crossing the Susquehanna River at the location of the modern day
Conowingo Dam on April 14, 1781. Some of the New England soldiers were not happy with proceeding back to the south and deserted.
Lafayette made an address to his Brigade explaining the importance of their new mission and appealed to their honor to prevent any
additional desertions. Most of the northern Continental soldiers remained with Lafayette (including an ancestor of mine who was a
Sergeant in the Rhode Island Regiment Light Infantry Company) and marched south towards Baltimore encamping north of that town the
night of April 16, 1781.

Passing through the town of Baltimore on April 17, 1781, the American Light Infantry soldiers would have to cross the ferry over the
Patapsco River at Elk Ridge Landing, a significant port town for the State of Maryland. It would take two days for Lafayette's entire
Light Infantry Brigade to cross the Patapsco River. A clear, detailed description of what happened hasn't been discovered in the
historical record yet, but what is known is that one of the overloaded ferry boats capsized spilling several New England Continental
Light Infantry soldiers into the rapidly flowing Patapsco River.


Ensign Ebenezer Wild (Wilds) of Vose's Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Regiment remembered in his journal:

"April 17, 1781. Marched at sunrise this morning, passing through Baltimore. Arrived at Elk ridge landing at 2 o'clk P.M.
Crossed the ferry, and encamped one mile west of the landing. In crossing this ferry we unfortunately had nine men drowned.

April 18, 1781. Remained encamped all day. At evening roll call Colman, a soldier in Capt. Burnham's Company, [Private
Stephen Colman, a veteran soldier from Ipswich, Massachusetts in Captain John Burnham's 8th Massachusetts Continental Regiment
Light Infantry Company (serving in Colonel Vose's Massachusetts Light Infantry Regiment)], was shot for desertion.

April 19, 1781. The weather being unfair, the troops remain in camp. Dined with Lieut. Nason [Lieutenant Nathaniel Nason,
1st Massachusetts Continental Regiment Light Infantry Company] at his quarters. After dinner walked with him to the landing.

April 20, 1781. At eight o'clock A.M. we began our march, leaving our tents and heavy baggage on the ground..."


Private Vaniah Fox of Captain Roger Welles' 3rd Connecticut Continental Regiment Light Infantry Company [Lt. Colonel Gimat's New England
Continental Light Infantry Regiment] recalled in his Pension File [Federal Bounty Land Warrant 5818-100/Pension S9335]: "...In February
[1781] they marched to Virginia under the command of the Marquis De Lafayette. That in crossing the Elk river [Patapsco River] a boat
was sunk and Corporal Covell [unidentified] and six men were drowned, that this deponent was then appointed a corporal to supply the
place of said Covell, which office he held for about one year. That he was at the siege of Yorktown [Virginia]..."

I have studied the New England soldiers of Vose's, Gimat's, and Barber's Continental Light Infantry Regiments for several years now, and
I have reconstructed most of the New England Light Infantry Companies. A few of the Massachusetts Continental Light Infantry Companies
still lack good records, so I only know a few of the soldiers from those specific companies. I have identified five definite Connecticut
Continental soldiers who died by drowning and two likely Massachusetts Continental soldiers all from Gimat's Continental Light Infantry
Regiment who will be listed below.

Let's look at one original muster roll of Captain Elijah Chapman's 2nd Connecticut Continental Regiment Light Infantry Company which
identifies some of our drowning victims. All of the Light Infantry Companies in Lafayette's Continental Light Infantry Brigade were
in reality provisional units with a core of regular Light Infantry soldiers augmented by small detachments of soldiers from all of the
other companies in the parent regiment. So for example, Captain Elijah Chapman's 2nd Connecticut Light Company had his original Light
Infantry Company soldiers with additional men from all of the other companies of the 2nd Connecticut Continental Regiment to get to a
total of 50 soldiers. In the manuscript regimental paperwork, the soldiers who were detached were recorded on the muster rolls of their
original companies. So a researcher has to put the work into looking at ALL of the muster rolls of the regiment for 1781, some of which
may not survive to present day. Connecticut fortunately has pay rolls for all of its companies and published these in the epoch work
"Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution, War of 1812, and Mexican War," 1889.

If men deserted or died from the Light Companies, the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts would send replacements in 1781. However,
I have found no evidence to date that Rhode Island and New Hampshire sent enlisted replacements for their Light Infantry Company losses
being that those two States only had three regiments between them while Connecticut and Massachusetts fielded 15 Continental Regiments in
1781. All of the New England Continental Regiments would send additional Light Infantry soldiers to Colonel Alexander Scammel's Light
Infantry Regiment beginning in June 1781. During the Revolutionary War, it was considered the highest honor for enlisted men or officers
to serve in the American Light Infantry Corps. American Light Infantry soldiers wore a distinct light infantry cap or helmet with a unique
red and black feather.






The original May 1781 Muster Roll for Captain Elijah Chapman's Light Infantry Company from the NARA Microfilm M246 Revolutionary War Rolls Collection.
Click on picture for a larger view.





After analyzing this manuscript Muster Roll, we see several new replacement Connecticut Light Infantry soldiers who were sent to Virginia in June 1781.
Others who were sick or unfit for Light Infantry service were sent back to the Second Connecticut Continental Regiment in the West Point, New York area.
The drowning deaths from this particular Muster Roll include Sergeant Nathan Coley, Corporal Enoch Sperry, and Private Ebenezer Heacock. These men are
all entitled to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Monuments which should be erected in the modern Maryland Patapsco Valley State Park - Avalon Unit.






Known and Likely April 1781 Drowning Deaths from Lafayette's Continental Light Infantry Brigade



1. Sergeant Nathan Coley, Captain Elijah Chapman's Light Company, Second Connecticut Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light
Infantry Regiment], No Federal Pension, Died April 18, 1781 [Muster Roll] Nathan was from Redding, Connecticut and a veteran, serving
since 1775.



2. Corporal Enoch Sperry, Captain Elijah Chapman's Light Company, Second Connecticut Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light
Infantry Regiment], No Federal Pension, Died April 18, 1781 [Muster Roll] Enoch was from Litchfield, Connecticut and a veteran, serving
since 1777.



3. Private Ebenezer Heacock, Captain Elijah Chapman's Light Company, Second Connecticut Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light
Infantry Regiment], No Federal Pension, Died April 18, 1781 [Muster Roll] Enoch was from Danbury, Connecticut and a veteran, serving
since 1775 [one Connecticut state record says Ebenezer died April 17, 1781].



4. Private David Bishop, Captain Elijah Chapman's Light Company [Detached from Captain Ephraim Chamberlain's Co.], Second Connecticut
Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light Infantry Regiment], No Federal Pension, Died April 18, 1781 [Muster Roll] David was
from Danbury, Connecticut and a veteran, serving since 1777.



5. Private Jonathan Jackson, Captain Elijah Chapman's Light Company [Detached from Captain Thaddeus Weed's Co.], Second Connecticut
Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light Infantry Regiment], No Federal Pension, Died April 18, 1781 [Muster Roll] Jonathan was
from Norwalk, Connecticut serving since at least 1780 [one Connecticut state record says Jonathan died April 17, 1781].



Likely Deaths from the Massachusetts Continental Line



6. Private John Scott, Captain William Watson's Light Company [Detached from Captain Thomas Hunt's Co.], Ninth Massachusetts
Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light Infantry Regiment], No Matching Federal Pension, Died April 17, 1781 [Muster Roll]
John was from Boston, Massachusetts or Sharon, Connecticut [see Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution, 13:918].



7. Private Thomas Pendergrass, Captain William Watson's Light Company [Detached from Captain Thomas Turner's Co.], Ninth Massachusetts
Continental Regiment [Gimat's Continental Light Infantry Regiment], No Federal Pension, Died April 17, 1781 [Muster Roll]
Thomas was from Boston or Walpole, Massachusetts and a veteran, serving in Lee's Additional Continental Regiment since January 29, 1778
before that unit was incorporated into Colonel Henry Jackson's Continental Regiment [see Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution,
12:112-113, 424].














There has been no historical evidence found that any of these American soldiers bodies' were recovered. My interpretation is that their
bodies were washed out into the Baltimore Harbor area and lost. However, We the People can put pressure on Maryland State Bureaucrats to
take some Leadership and erect appropriate monuments to these American Heroes who gave their lives for ALL Americans. Let's take a virtual
field trip to the beautiful modern day Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland where Lafayette's Continental Light Infantry Brigade made their
difficult journey back in 1781 at a critical moment in our American Revolutionary War.






Some Photos of Elkridge and the modern Patapsco Valley State Park, Avalon Unit, Howard County, Maryland [all photos taken by Daniel M. Popek]






Modern Aerial Photo Map from Google Maps of the Elkridge, Maryland area. Note Avalon "Parking-Visitor's Center," "Thomas Viaduct@Relay," and
"The Elkridge Furnace Inn" in particular.






November 26, 2016 view of Maryland State Historical Sign in the town of Elkridge.






November 26, 2016 view of the historic inn in Elkridge, Maryland which was standing in April 1781.






November 14, 2021 view of park sign in the modern Maryland Patapsco Valley State Park - Avalon Unit.
The area in the background to the left of this sign where another historical sign stands would make a
great place to erect U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs monuments for our Continental Army drowning
victims from New England.






November 14, 2021 view from a bridge near the previous photo over the modern Patapsco River looking
roughly east.






Walking east on the park road on November 14, 2021 brings an observer to this view under the Interstate 95
bridges.






Hiking further east on the park road on November 14, 2021 brings an observer to this view of the Thomas Viaduct.
Construction on this bridge was begun in 1833. The 1781 ferry crossing was a little bit to the east of the Thomas
Viaduct.






A closer view on November 14, 2021 of a gravel bar of the Patapsco River flowing east under the Thomas Viaduct.






Photo on November 14, 2021 of the approximate area east of the Thomas Viaduct where the original ferry crossing
was in April 1781 (past the clump of trees in the middle).






Artist reconstruction painting of Elk Ridge Landing about the time of the Revolutionary War from a Patapsco Valley
State Park Interpretive sign.






Close up view on November 14, 2021 of above painting from Patapsco Valley State Park Interpretive sign.






November 14, 2021 view to the south of the Patapsco Valley State Park historical sign [to the right of the green tree and
behind the wooden bench] that mentions the April 1781 drowning event. This area would be a good place to erect U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs monuments to the New England Continental soldiers who died by drowning near here in April 1781.






November 14, 2021 view to the west showing a small bridge which leads down to the historical sign and wooden benches.






November 14, 2021 view further to the west and looking south over the small bridge to the historical sign which will be shown
below.






November 14, 2021 view further to the south of the historical sign and rest area which would be a great place to erect
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs monuments to the New England Continental soldiers who died by drowning in April 1781.






November 14, 2021 view further to the south of the Patapsco Valley State Park historical sign and rest area which has plenty
of open space for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs monuments to our New England Continental soldiers who died by drowning
in April 1781.






November 14, 2021 view of the Patapsco Valley State Park historical sign mentioning the April 1781 drowning incident.
The white paint in the inscription is a bit faded.






November 14, 2021 close up view of the Patapsco Valley State Park historical sign.





Inscription on Patapsco Valley State Park historical sign:

"Though now heavily silted, the Patapsco River was once
navigable to this point, and Elkridge Landing, just downstream,
was an important Colonial Port, rivaling old Annapolis. Here
hogsheads of tobacco from neaby plantations were rolled to wait-
ing ships by slaves and oxen along "Rolling Roads."

At a fording point just below the Thomas Viaduct both Lafayette
and Rochambeau crossed the Patapsco with their armies on separate
occasions in 1781 while enroute to Yorktown to force the surrender
of Cornwallis. Lafayette lost nine men and a boat in crossing the
then treacherous waters of the Patapsco."














What can YOU and WE THE PEOPLE do...

I want these true American Heroes who drowned most likely on April 17, 1781 to get proper
monuments to remind all living Americans about their sacrifice and that FREEDOM isn't FREE.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will gladly supply monument stones for Sergeant Nathan
Coley, Corporal Enoch Sperry, and Privates Ebenezer Heacock, David Bishop, Jonathan Jackson,
John Scott, and Thomas Pendergrass. Put yourself in these men's shoes. How would you like
to die for your country and be utterly FORGOTTEN for over 240 years??????? I can tell you
from my research that there are many more Americans who died in our Revolutionary War and are
currently lying buried and forgotten in UNMARKED GRAVES in American soil. Absolutely Pathetic
and Unacceptable !

I can tell you from personal experience that the UNITED STATES OF BUREAUCRACY only responds well
to HIGH VOLUME OF EMAILS/MAIL. Unelected BUREAUCRATS love to sit in their cozy offices and do
nothing outside of their daily routine. There are 330 MILLION CITIZENS in this great nation of ours.
I need a few THOUSAND of you to send emails or letters of support to the following organizations:

Citizens of Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts can write/email your State Governors, Legislature,
and your Federal Elected Officials in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

Any citizen can email the Patapsco Valley State Park Management at: "patapsco.statepark@maryland.gov"

Any citizen can contact the Maryland 250 Commission [which honors the 250th Anniversary of the
Revolutionary War] at this website: "https://goci.maryland.gov/md250/"
and the Director of Maryland 250 at this email: "Michele.Johnson1@maryland.gov"








What? You don't know about the suspected, unmarked Continental Army cemetery at Elkton, Maryland?
Your mainstream media didn't tell you about it??????? Click here for detailed information.








Join "Friends of America's Continental Line (Revolutionary War)" Facebook Group here.
























Sources


James M. Bugbee and Charles C. Smith, editors, "The Journal of Ebenezer Wild (1776-1781), who served as Corporal,
Sergeant, Ensign, and Lieutenant in the American Army of the Revolution," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, Second Series, Vol. VI, October 1890, 78-160.


Daniel M. Popek, They "...fought bravely, but were unfortunate...," The True Story of Rhode Island's
"Black Regiment" and the Failure of Segregation in Rhode Island's Continental Line, 1777 - 1783, AuthorHouse, 2015.
[my own book which covers the colored and white soldiers of Rhode Island's Continental Line in a balanced and
historically accurate account]


John U. Rees, " 'Their presence Here ... Has Saved this State...' Continental Provisional Battalions
with Lafayette in Virginia, 1781, Part 1," The Brigade Dispatch XXXVI, no. 3 (Autumn 2006): 2-23.


John U. Rees, " 'Their presence Here ... Has Saved this State...' Continental Provisional Battalions
with Lafayette in Virginia, 1781, Part 2," The Brigade Dispatch XXXVII, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 2-18.


John U. Rees, " 'Their presence Here ... Has Saved this State...' Continental Provisional Battalions
with Lafayette in Virginia, 1781, Part 3," The Brigade Dispatch XXXVII, no. 4 (Winter 2007): 2-15.


John U. Rees, "Barber's Light Battalion, 1781 (New Jersey Light Company Personnel)" [transcript by John
of manuscript Light Company returns he found in the New Jersey State Archives Revolutionary War Collection].


Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscript Collection and Rhode Island State Archives Manuscript Collection, Providence,
Rhode Island.


NARA Microfilm M246 Revolutionary War Rolls Collection


"Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the War of the Revolution, War of 1812, and Mexican War," Adjutant Generals Office,
Hartford, Connecticut, 1889.


Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, 17 Volumes, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1896 - 1908.


Joseph Alexis Shriver, "Lafayette in Harford County 1781," Privately Printed, Bel Air, Maryland, 1931.




















Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Daniel M. Popek is a descendant through his mother's family of a soldier who served
six years in Rhode Island's Continental Line, including the integrated Rhode Island Regiment (Continental) of 1781-1783.
Daniel's ancestor was a Sergeant in the Light Infantry Company of the Rhode Island Regiment in Gimat's Light Infantry
Regiment and may have witnessed the April 1781 drowning event. Daniel is an Engineering Geologist/Geotechnical Engineer
in North Carolina. He is a member of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society, and the New England Historic Genealogical
Society of Boston, Massachusetts. Daniel is the son of a career Active Duty U.S. Army Officer (Retired), and the grandson
of a U.S. Marine Combat Infantryman of World War II (Third Marine Division). Daniel has lived in several states in the
eastern U.S. during his life including Maryland.








If you have any comments then please send me an email.