Jonah Tirrell

Biography:

Military History:

American Revolution:

Service Description

Enlistment March 1780 into the Fifth Regiment Seventh Company of the Connecticut Line

Private in the Connecticut Line, under Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Sherman from 28 October 1779 to 1 January 1781 And then Colonel Samuel Blatchley Webb from 1 January 1781 until June 1783

Early in 1777, Washington offered command of one of these additional regiments to Samuel Blatchley Webb, who accepted. Webb had formerly served as one of Washington’s personal aides. Webb’s Regiment was allotted to the Connecticut Line on July 24, 1780, and officially designated the 9th Connecticut Regiment. The 9th Connecticut Regiment was consolidated with the 2d Connecticut Regiment on January 1, 1781. Half of Sherburne’s Additional Continental Regiment was drawn Rhode Island and half from Connecticut.

The regiment first saw action at the Battle of Setauket in August 1777 under Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons. It was then sent to the Hudson River Valley, where it served under General George Clinton in the aftermath of the October Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery. In December 1777 the regiment was involved in a failed expedition to Long Island (a more elaborate attempt on Setauket than that of the previous August) in which Colonel Webb was captured. The regiment spent the winter of 1777-78 at West Point, where it assisted in the construction of fortifications (including the Webb redoubt, probably named for the colonel).

In 1778 the regiment was attached to the brigade of General James Varnum. As part of a combined Franco-American attempt to retake British-occupied Newport, Rhode Island, the brigade marched to Rhode Island, where it was involved in the August 29 Battle of Rhode Island. The battle was tactically indecisive, but the regiment was noted for its performance. The regiment wintered in Rhode Island.

Enlistment March 1780 into the Fifth Regiment Seventh Company of the Connecticut Line

The regiment spent most of 1779 in Rhode Island, but was sent to winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey. In the spring of 1780, the remnants of Sherburne's Additional Continental Regiment were merged into the unit, and it was formally added to the Connecticut Line as the 9th Connecticut Regiment. That June, the regiment was involved in the Battle of Springfield, in which a British attempt to penetrated from New York City to the Continental Army camp at Morristown was repulsed. Its winter quarters for 1780-81 were in the Hudson valley.

Brief History of Daniels Unit during his service

On December 1st, the regiment was assigned to winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey and occupied the first line of three in the general line of battle. After suffering a much more severe winter than at Valley Forge, the regiment was detached to serve on outpost duty providing a buffer between Washington's main army and British foraging parties from Manhattan. Other small detachments served on the northeastern Pennsylvania frontier to protect settlers in the Connecticut grants at Westmoreland from Indian attacks. The full Connecticut Division marched back to the Hudson Highlands in June 1780, and took up post near Robinson's Farm on the east side of the Hudson. The 5th then wintered at Connecticut Village, a series of log huts constructed opposite West Point, until Colonel Bradley's formation was disbanded in December 1780.

Because Continental army troop strength had fallen to less than half 1777 levels, Congress consolidated the remaining men into a smaller number of units in the field. Effective January 1, 1781, Colonel Bradley retired and remaining soldiers of the 5th became the core of the new 2nd Connecticut regiment. The third and final formation of the 5th Connecticut was then formed from the officers and men of the old 1st and 8th regiments -- both veteran units tracing their history back to 1777. Under new commander Colonel Isaac Sherman the regiment consisted of eight battalion companies and one light infantry company for a total of 483 men.

During the spring of 1781, the light infantry companies of Connecticut regiments were detached and the battalion companies participated in several expeditions around New York City under General Washington. When Washington moved half his army south to rendezvous with the French at Yorktown, two of the 5th's companies were assigned to General Lafayette's command. The bulk of the regiment remained in the Hudson Highlands to decoy the British command in New York from determining Washington's true intentions. The two companies that marched off to Yorktown were selected to participate in the famous midnight attack on British redoubt #10, in which Sergeant William Brown of Stamford earned the highest Medal of Merit awarded to the ranks during the entire war - a purple heart. Only three were given. Another 5th Connecticut soldier, Sergeant Jeremiah Keeler of Ridgefield, was given a ceremonial sword by Lafayette himself for his bravery in the assault.

After the British surrender at Yorktown, the reunited regiment wintered again at Connecticut Village near West Point and participated in the large celebratory parade in review with French troops at Verplank's Point. With hostilities near an end the army was further consolidated and the men of the 4th and 5th regiments were assimilated into the other three regiments. On January 1, 1783, the regiment was disbanded for the final time and its remnants joined Bradley's veterans in the 2nd Connecticut. In June they were all furloughed when the Continental Army was disbanded.

In 1975, exactly 200 years after its first formation, a group of Ridgefield men received a charter from then Connecticut Governor Ellla Grasso to reform the 5th Ct. as an honorary unit. On October 30, 2004, the re-enactor unit celebrated its 30th anniversary as living monuments of the patriots who fought for independence in George Washington's army.'

Sources:

Fold3.com Ancestry Operations National Archives

History of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment 1775-1783

Served in; Moore's Regiment of Militia also known as the 9th New Hampshire Militia Regiment was called up at Lyndeborough, New Hampshire on September 29, 1777 as reinforcements for the Continental Army during the Saratoga Campaign. The regiment marched quickly to join the gathering forces of Gen. Horatio Gates as he faced British Gen. John Burgoyne in northern New York. The regiment served in Gen. William Whipple's brigade of New Hampshire militia. With the surrendered of Burgoyne's Army on October 17 the regiment was disbanded on October 27, 1777. Gen. John Stark gave to the regiment a Brass 4 pounder cannon captured at the Battle of Bennington.

Service: Listing at D.A.R. Revolutionary War

• Marriage to Joanna Lincoln: (1779 — Age: 20) Bristol, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: (1790 — Age: 31) Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: (1800 — Age: 41) Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: (1810 — Age: 51) Bridgewater, Grafton, New Hampshire, USA
• Residence: New Hampshire, USA
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy by SmartCopy: May 12 2015, 11:21:30 UTC