Apr 16, 2013 - Sale 2310

Sale 2310 - Lot 30

Unsold
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000
A RARE VALLEY FORGE MUSTER ROLL (AMERICAN REVOLUTION.) Valley Forge muster roll of a company of Bailey's Massachusetts Regiment. Document Signed by Colonel John Bailey, Captain Hugh Maxwell, and Henry Sewall as Deputy Muster Master. 2 pages, 12 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches, on one sheet; minor marginal wear and folds. Valley Forge, PA, 10 March 1778

Additional Details

This roll lists the names of 4 officers and 47 enlisted men of Captain Hugh Maxwell's company in the 2nd Massachusetts Regiment (here described as the "First Massachusetts Regiment of Foot"). They had joined Washington's main army at Valley Forge after serving at Saratoga in October 1777. The document lists the soldiers by rank, giving their names, term of service and "Remarks." While most of the soldiers listed were enlisted for a three-year term, about a quarter had enlisted for the duration of the war. Wet weather and poor sanitation would conspire to kill nearly 2,500 men that winter, but this company was doing well--only three are noted as being "Sick absent." At least one of the soldiers was African-American, Cato Gray of Pelham, Massachusetts. Other members listed were veterans of the Lexington Alarm of 19 April 1775. Valley Forge muster rolls appear on the market quite infrequently.