Samuel Griffin 1739-1808 French and Indian War

In early America the standing military was the British Army. Many young American men hoped to gain a commission in the British Army as a career choice but for the most part military service in America was service in the colonial militia. In answer to military needs, primarily as adjuncts to the British Army, each year the colonies would issue a call for the militias to rally and they would set aside funds for the effort. In addition to a strong sense of patriotism an important attraction for joining was the issuing of land grants to those that served. Such was the case with the French and Indian War. Each locality usually had a group of men with some military experience and these, in answer to the call from the Colony, would raise a company of men. Enlistment usually lasted for a campaigning season that covered the good weather months. What we see is men joining the local militia for a part of any one year, they were then discharged, then starting over in the next year, the Captain of the local militia would raise a new company made up of some veterans and some newcomers. Most men in the ranks would only serve for one or two years. The story of the French and Indian War is written in another part of the Blog. We find Samuel serving in the 1757 Campaign and again in the critical 1759 Campaign. The more detailed records exist for the year 1759. Capt. Peleg Redfield indicates that in 1759 a large portion of his command had served with him previously. The year 1757 saw the French reach the peak of their power in North America. Having made incremental gains in its efforts to control the St. Lawrence water route 1757 saw the French make a final push past Ft. Ticonderoga, which they called Fort Carillon, on to the southern end of Lake George. In August of 1757 they successfully captured Fort William Henry an event memorialized in James Fenimore Cooper’s “Last of the Mohicans”. The defeat and the massacre that followed served to stiffen the resolve of Great Britain to evict the French from North America. To the Connecticut Militias this event marked a moment of crisis prompting a change in orders to every company as everyone was called to rally behind an effort to stem the French tide. Remember in addition to national security concerns the Connecticut economy was heavily involved in developing the lands along the St. Lawrence corridor for future land grants. In February 1757 the General Assembly had resolved to raise 1400 men for the next campaign. The companies were recruited and the troops were organized and trained and held at the ready for their assignments some of which may keep them close to home. In fact their duties often allowed them to stay at home at the ready for any call out. Enlisting in the early spring the units were busy in their various assignments when the event on the Lake Champlain Front prompted a change in orders. A sampling to these orders provides a sense of the state of affairs in 1757. “To Coll. Jonathan Trumble, Coll of the 12th regiment. Sir in obedience to your orders of the 8th and 9th instand I called together the Company under my command and have detached 25 men out of said Company for the service expressed in said order which is the forth part out of said Company…..”. “ 1757 August ye 10th the following is a Muster Roll of ye first Company of militia detached or drafted out of ye Militia of ye 5th regiment in the Colony of Connecticut on ye ninth & tenth days of Instant August in order to march for ye Succor Release & assistance of ye forces at Fort Edward, Fort William Henry and parts adjacent”. “ Colony of Connecticut To Capt. Isaiah Brown and the Company under his command in Col. Andrew Burrs Regiment for the Service at the Time of the Alarm for Relief of Fort William Henry and parts Adjacent August 1757”. In 1757 Samuel Griffin was an unattached young 18 year old. He probably left his sister Thankful’s house to join the Militia. In 1757 he was part of the Fourteenth Company of the First Regiment. Called up in March he served until December. Connecticut’s contribution to the French and Indian War in 1759 was to sent four regiments of its militia under the overall command of Major General Phineas Lyman to support the main British effort. Samuel Griffin served in the Eighth Company of the Second Regiment. The following records are from the Adams Collection which is housed in the Connecticut State Library. For 1757 COL. LYMAN’S REGIMENT REGIMENT OFFICERS. Phineas Lyman (of Suffield appointed Colonel and Captain of the first company, Feb 1757. Discharged Dec. 2. Nathan Whiting (of New Haven) appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Captain of the second company, Feb 1757. Discharged Nov. 24.Nathan Payson (of Hartford) appointed Major and Captain of the third company……Timothy Hierlihy….Adjutant… Rev. Benjamin Spaulding of Fairfield entered the service as Chaplain and received pay for seven months service. Elisha Lord… Surgeon…Silas Baldwin Surgeon’s Mate….. Jabez Hamlin, Hezekiah Huntington, Theophilus Nichols appointed Commissaries of Purchase, Josiah Wright, Commissary at Fort Edward… FORTEENTH COMPANY-CAPT. WARD Andrew Ward (of Guilford), Captain. Peleg Redfield (of Killingworth), First Lieutenant. Thomas Pierce (of Plainfield), Second Lieutenant. Zebulon Butler (of Lyme), Ensign. A Muster Roll of Cap. Andrew Ward’s Company that served under the command of Lieut Colonel Nathan Whitting at No 4. In the pay of the Colony of Connecticut anno 1757. Samuel Griffen Time of Inlistment March 20 Time viz weeks & days 37 weeks and 1 day. ( Andrew Ward was Abigail Bradley’s great grandfather) For 1759 SECOND REGIMENT- COL. NATHAN WHITING REGIMENTAL OFFICERS Nathan Whiting (of New Haven) appointed Colonel and Captain of the first company, March 1759. Joseph Spencer (of East Haddam) appointed Lieutenant- Colonel and Captain of the Second Company, March 1759. Discharged Nov. 30, 1759. David Baldwin (of Milford) appointed major and Captain of the third company, march 1759. Discharged Dec 2, 1759. Rev. Edward Eells of Middletown appointed Chaplain, March 1759. Daniel Porter Jr. of Waterbury appointed Surgeon, March 1759. Samuel How of Ashford appointed Surgeon’s Mate, March 1759. Anthony Carpenter of Norwalk appointed Commissary, March 1759. Joel Munson, Sargent Major. James Sparrow, Sargent Major. EIGHTH COMPANY-CAPT. REDFIELD Peleg Redfield (of Killingworth) Captain. George Nettleton, First Lieutenant. Abraham Tiler. Jr. (of Haddam) Second Lieutenant. Edward Shipman, Ensign. A Pay Roll of Capt Peleg Redfield’s Company in the 2nd Regiment of the Connecticut Troops in Anno Dom 1759 Samuel Griffen Times of Inlisting Apr 10 Discharged Dec 1 (Indorsed) Hartford 7 Feb. 1760 Peleg Redfield Capt of ye within company hereby certifies ye said Company there were Six men who had Served as Sarjents five as Corporals and fifty nine as Privates in a former campaign. Capt Peleg Redfields Pay Roll 1759 Theop Redfield Sarj, James Redfield Serj, Parm Bonfoy p, Joel Wright, Ab Tyler L ( The pay roll listed all of the men in the company and recorded the death of two of their numbers) It is left up to our imaginations to fill in the blanks of what life was like for Samuel in the militia. History is full of stories of marches along ancient Indian trails through trackless forestland often guided by the Native Americans. There are stories of the struggles to improve the trails to facilitate the movement of equipment and supplies. Popular entertainment has provided us with images of the frontiersmen and the life they lived. While we envision a life of high adventure, the truth is probably the opposite, a life of hardship and struggle. I have included a couple of accounts of the dangers that Samuel and his fellow militiamen faced. “An account of an attack near Lake George in 1759. On July 2nd 16 of the Jersey Blues were sent without the camp to gather a little brush for the General’s Baker, but were not an hour gone before they were surprised in sight of the camp by a party of the enemy, consisting of about 240, who killed and scalped six, wounded two, took four prisoners, and only four of the whole party escaped. They shewed themselves plainly to the whole Army after they got the scalps, gave a hollow, and then made off to their Battoes, (small flat bottom boats) which were not more than two miles from the Head of the Lake, A large party was ordered out after them, but in vain. They butchered our people in a most shocking manner, by cutting pieces of flesh out of their neck, thighs and legs.” Captain Pierre Pouchot commandant at Fort Niagara for most of the war recounts in his memoirs how the Native American would scalp his foe. “as soon as the man is felled, they run up to him, thrust their knee in between his shoulder blades, seize a tuft of hair in one hand & with their knife in the other, cut around the skin of the head & pull the whole piece away. The whole thing is done very expeditiously. Then brandishing the scalp, they utter a whoop which they call the death whoop….. If they are not under pressure & the victory has cost them lives, they behave in an extremely cruel manner towards those they kill or the dead bodies. They disembowel them & smear the blood all over themselves.” Samuel Griffin left us a noble heritage. To honor him we have an obligation to share his story all of his posterity. 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