RARE and very early, 1775 Pennsylvania RIFLEMEN document, a medical receipt SIGNED by East Hartford (CT) PHYSICIAN Samuel Flagg for “Medicines + administering to” a SICK SOLDIER (listed as “Con’s Dorcaty”) in CAPTAIN John Lowdon’s Company in Colonel William Thompson’s Pennsylvania RIFLE Battalion. Thompson’s RIFLE Battalion was the very FIRST in the Continental Army, organized on June 25th 1775.
The document is dated August 24th 1775, written entirely in the hand of Thomas Seymour of the Connecticut Pay Table Committee, and is genuinely SIGNED by him at the conclusion. The backside of the document is genuinely SIGNED by Dr. Samuel Flagg as well, again on August 24th 1775 (at Hartford), acknowledging receipt of 19 shillings and ten pence for his medical care from the Connecticut Treasurer.
According to the journal of “Aaron Wright” (a PRIVATE in Lowdon’s company), Captain Lowdon’s RIFLE company was sworn in at Northumberland (PA) on June 29th 1775 and received their marching orders on July 7th. During the “Siege of Boston”, Captain Lowdon’s RIFLE company marched thru Litchfield, Connecticut on August 24th 1775 on their journey to Boston. The location of Captain Lowdon’s Company on the date of this document (August 24th) would therefore place them in the area of Dr. Flagg’s medical practice. On August 26th the company crossed the Connecticut River near Hartford and reached Dudley, Massachusetts on August 30th. Thereafter they travelled through Framingham, Watertown, Cambridge, and eventually reached Prospect Hill in Somerville – where they were stationed during the British siege.
The document is addressed “To John Lawrence Esq’r Treasurer” of Connecticut and reads in full - “Sir, Pay to Sam’l Flagg Physician for Medicines + administering to Con’s Dorcaty a Sick soldier of Capt Lowdens Company of Rifle Men the Sum of nineteen Shillings and ten pence as per acct + Charge the same to acct of Colony Conn’t August 24th 1775 / Tho’s Seymour (signed) Com’tee”.
This is a SUPERB Revolutionary War “Siege of Boston” related document referring to an early Pennsylvania RIFLEMEN who was “SICK” and was treated by a physician. Early Rev War documents concerning “Riflemen” rarely turn up, particularly one with medical content as well. Captain John Lowdon’s Company was the SAME company that the legendary SNIPER / SHARPSHOOTER Timothy Murphy ENLISTED in (see info of Timothy Murphy below).
PENNSYLVANIA RIFLEMEN a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14th 1775 authorized TEN companies of expert RIFLEMEN to be raised for one-year enlistments in the Continental Army. Both Maryland and Virginia were individually ordered to raise two companies each, while Pennsylvania was charged with raising six. This resolution directed each company, once organized, to proceed to Boston to join the New England troops besieging the British. On June 19th, five days after the resolution, the Continental Congress commissioned George Washington the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. The individual Pennsylvania rifle companies were incorporated into the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion commanded by Colonel William Thompson, and they have the distinction of being the very FIRST rifle battalion in the newly formed Continental Army. Due to the number of volunteers from Pennsylvania, the original six companies authorized by Congress was expanded to nine companies under Colonel Thompson’s command. The various companies of Colonel Thompson’s Battalion joined the Boston siege between late July and August of 1775. Two of Thompson’s rifle companies participated in Benedict Arnold’s unsuccessful assault on Quebec in December of 1775. Some riflemen from Pennsylvania have the distinction of being involved in the FIRST mutiny in the Continental Army at PROSPECT HILL on September 10th. The rifle companies were composed of volunteers mostly from the backcountry or frontier regions where they acquired valuable experience hunting game and defending against Indian attacks. They were talented sharpshooters who could place shots within a seven-inch target at 250 yards and were known to target British officers. Until the first rifle companies arrived outside Boston, the primary weapons in use there were smoothbores.
CAPTAIN John Lowdon (1730 - 1798), whose LAST name is sometimes listed as “Lowden” or “Loudon”, lived on a farm called “Silver Spring” in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. On June 25th 1775, the Continental Congress appointed John Lowdon a Captain of a company of Riflemen in the Battalion commanded by Colonel William Thompson. According to Francis B. Heitman’s Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, Lowdon may have served in the Quebec Campaign and been wounded at Montreal on November 12th 1775, or perhaps he received a wound at Lechmere’s Point in Cambridge (MA) on November 9th 1775. More research is probably needed to confirm this. After his enlistment expired, Lowdon returned to Pennsylvania and was elected a member of the “Supreme Executive Council” in November of 1776. By order of the Supreme Executive Council in 1784, Captain John Lowdon’s company of Northumberland County Volunteers marched to Wyoming during the unrest known as the Third Pennamite War. There are also references to John Lowdon as having been a slave owner.
SAMUEL FLAGG (1736 - 1811) was a physician from East Hartford, Connecticut. Along with Dr. Timothy Hall, Flagg set up a hospital there for the inoculation of small pox in 1791. Both Samuel Flagg and his son, Samuel Flagg Jr., were members of the Connecticut Medical Society.
TIMOTHY MURPHY (1751 - 1818) and his brother enlisted in CAPTAIN John Lowdon's Company of Northumberland County RIFLEMEN on June 29th 1775, and subsequently served in the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Long Island. Thereafter, he was promoted to Sergeant in the 12th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Line and served at Trenton, Princeton, and New Brunswick. An expert marksman, he was able to hit a seven-inch target at 250 yards. Murphy was chosen for Morgan's Rifle Corps, and was transferred to that elite organization in July 1777, shortly after its inception. In August of the same year, Murphy was one of 500 hand-picked riflemen sent north to reinforce the General Gates American forces opposing British General Burgoyne's invasion of Northern New York. At the Battle of Bemis Heights (the Second Battle of Saratoga) on October 7th 1777, Murphy reportedly fired the shots that killed Sir Francis Clerke and General Simon Fraser, throwing the British command of the battle into disarray. Returning to the main army, Murphy suffered through the winter at Valley Forge. He was involved in harassing the British withdrawal from Philadelphia before General Washington ordered three companies of riflemen northward in July of 1778, responding to attacks on the New York frontier. Murphy and his fellow riflemen garrisoned in the Schoharie Valley and conducted long range patrols of Indian lands to the south and west. He participated in the attack on Unadilla in October, 1778, and was a part of Sullivan's Expedition against the Iroquois.