history. well, it's such a pleasure to be able to introduce dr. holly a mayor who is been a dear friend of mine for decades. now. we are catching up a little >> trying to calculate the years. it was back in the 19 hundreds when we first met one another. it's amazing how that sounds now. doctor mayor, is a professor emerita from the make adult the college of graduate school of liberal arts at duquesne university in my hot stat hometown of pittsburgh, pennsylvania, where she taught for many decades. where she did two stints as chair of the history department there after joining duquesne. after receiving your ph. d. at the college of william & mary. she has also served as the visiting harold k johnson chair of military history at the u.s.

army war college out in carlisle pennsylvania, the carlile barracks. and is currently, during this academic year, at west point, where she is serving as a charles bowling professor of history. she has also been in commission, served with the u.s. army reserves. so, she stands a long time ago but still stands fairly straight, still recognizable as a military person still. she is the author of a whole slew of articles about the military and historical -- sorry, the military, political, social intersections of history in the era of the historical american revolution. the colonial era. her first book, belonging to the army, camp followers a community during the american revolution, still in print and absolutely an essential text for studying this period of time. but she is here to talk tonight about her hot off the

press, i think this is maybe literally hot off the press, new book. congress's own, a canadian regiment, the continental army and the american union. canada? what does canada have to do with the american revolution? please join me in warmly welcoming doctor holly mayer. >> thank you so much. it is wonderful to be here with all of you and to share in this community of history and the revolution in particular. and to, of course, examine this particular, very unusual regiment, and uncommon regiment for an uncommon revolution, as we could also say. so, i'm starting off, and i just want to point out that that is an image. it is a painting from john tehrani that is on the cover of my book. i figured i might as well say kudos to him as well for helping illustrate my book as well as of course being here. and his many other

illustrations and paintings, in a month, that you will be able to see. well worth, it wonderful. so, with congress's own, i wanted to talk about a few things with the regimen in particular. and then actually spend more time talking about sergeant major john h. hopkins. who was the person who introduced me to this regiment, through his writings in that journal that i found at the historical society of pennsylvania. i wanted to take a step further to talk about this with you. and make sure i'm going in the right direction here. to pick up and talk about the congress's own regiment, which actually went through three or four different names through its lifetime. as uncommon regiment, it was first formed, actually, it january of 1776. authorized by the continental congress for moses hazen as the colonel and lieutenant colonel edward antill as the second in command. it was commissioned as the second canadian regiment. so, it brings us up to this point about why a canadian

regiment. i asked students that time, did you know that canada was involved? yeah, there was an invasion, the americans lost. they had to retreat from quebec by june of 76 and they're gone and that was the end of canada. well no, not really, not by any means in here. but while the american invading force was up in canada, it was already starting to recruit canadians to join in this rebellion. certainly, the continental congress was sending out declarations to the canadians, especially the french canadians. essentially saying, come join us, rebel with us! and you might think it goes back to the enemy of my enemy as my friend. the french canadians, at one point, had certainly been the enemies of most of the new englanders and most others who had been

fighting colonial wars with the french and their indian allies through a series of imperial conflicts. but at this point, it was let's invite the canadians and because we truly want this to be a continental rebellion. let us have a true continental congress with canadian representatives. let us have a continental army, which includes canadians as well. as we invite others to join us in what was first, of course, a rebellion, a defense of the rights of americans. or these continental provincials in the early part. and then, after july of 76, ultimately a revolution for the independence of the country itself. we saw, they were joining us. the first regiment, first canadian, was by james livingston, who had already been in action up there. so, he got the first canadian. and moses hazen got the second canadian. to give you some background on moses hazen he had been in rogers rangers during the seven

years'war and then he had. actually gotten a commission with the 44th regiment of foot. which ultimately led him to retire in the montreal region and around saint-jean in canada itself. i like to point this out, here is an american who did get a british commission as opposed to washington, who did not. hazen actually was really, really torn about which way he was going to go in this conflict. he was getting a pension from the british government for his service during the seven years'war, he was right there on the borderlands, if you can see it up there in canada, up along saint-jean just south of montreal. would he give up that pension? would he give up those lands to join to this american rebellion? at first, he wasn't sure. he was really on the fence in those borderlands which way he was going to go. ultimately, in the, and of

course, as we know, he decided to join with the americans, with the pro visa that he could create his own regiment and that he had command of that regiment. the second canadian regiment, in this case. hazen is not the person, though, that i really want to talk about. i want to continue on with this regiment on a few other points. second canadian was then in the retreat from canada and at that point it had lost about half of its recruits on that retreat. down to crown point and then for the condo rogin on to albany. through the summer of 76, there was a true question as to whether or not these canadian regiments we continue. canada was not choosing to join in this rebellion. so, why would you have this other canadian regiment? the original idea behind it was that it would be like all the other colonies that became states, as it would have its own iteration of a regiment. but if it's not

joining the rebellion, what are we doing with this regiment? ultimately, what happened is that congress, by september of 76, went back to hazen, and he was really pushing for this, and said yes, we will reauthorize your second canadian regiment. that you can recruit among the canadian refugees that were up around albany. certainly, recruit those that had come with the american forces to ticonderoga. but we are also authorizing you to recruit among all the states. so, here is another unique factor about this second canadian regiment. that it is allowed to recruit elsewhere. well, this brings up the next point. how many people from elsewhere would actually want to join the canadian regiment if they're from pennsylvania, new jersey, maryland, connecticut, rhode island? which is where they're trying to recruit. in the middle of

that, certainly by the end of 76, going into 77, we see than the advertisements going out, the recruiting going out for congress's own regiment. this is not something necessarily that congress had authorized, it seems to have come out of the regiment itself. i think it actually probably came from lieutenant colonel antel who was part of this. he was more of a thinker, i think, then moses hazen was, quite frankly. i see hazen as the pugilist. he was always rather irritating as an individual, from what i can see. i think it's commanding officers saw him as that. certainly, general knocks at the end of it said that this was a man who was blessed with one of the most obstinate tempers he had ever seen. but it was a kind of temper that meant this regiment continued in action through the rest of the war. but given, this it starts going out for recruiting for congress's own, so you can

see what's going on here. you can't recruit for second canadian among all of them but you can for congress's own guard. here, it's got elite status. this is really good, this is better than simply the first pennsylvania. really? the first virginia? why not congress's own. and they did tremendously well. this regiment was authorized 1000 man. so, much bigger than the common continental infantry regiment. but, it was authorized 1000 and by the spring of 77 it was hitting close to 900 men who had enlisted in this regiment. now, they all say? absolutely not. see it in the records. some of these guys joined up, put the cockade in their cap, got their bounty money, and head it off. we've got that, they do not all stay, but, it was tremendously successful recruiting under congress's own. unfortunately, this regiment did not always get along well with others. they got a rather in for a low reputation for what they were

doing and congress came back and said, you're not supposed to be calling it congress's own. so what is it supposed to be called? back to second canadian? no, that is not doing recruiting. they tended to keep going, which was traditional, by hazen's name. so it was hazen regiment by much of the score. but it also knows it by some of the -- the captains put little cor under their roster. they knew how they were being recruited and how they were doing the recruiting. so, they were incredibly successful under that name of congress's own. they continue to do that through the rest of the war, even after 1781 when james livingston's regiment was demobilized. as well as other foreign recruits joining hastens regimen, and it became known as the canadian own regiment. let me say, that is

not what is in the pensions account. hazen or congress's own is usually what you say. they picked up on that identity. this leads me into the other one that they want to talk about. this is how we get is that they were recruiting among all of these other camps in the new york area. they are sending recruiting officers down here into pennsylvania, into these other states to the point where they've got soldiers from 11 of the states in the regiments. the only ones we do not have it would not have anybody from south carolina or georgia in this regiment. but, they have somebody from every other state. they've got this tremendously unique regiment that was caused canadian, was called congress's own, but, in some ways is a microcosm of the

continental army itself, is that within this company and many of them were segregated by states, there were still two that were french canadian, with officers who were talking french with her soldiers with all of these other recruits. so, sergeant major john h. hopkins had actually first enlisted in a pennsylvania unit. and served through it. and then, january of 77 was up for reenlistment. so many of the soldiers who were listed in 76 were on short term placements. so, the army was trying to recruit an army at this point. and, john h. hopkins realist in congress's own. as he realest it, because he also had service time, and also because he was so literate he was a writer, he had come to that moment. he was first given

a corporal's enlistments. and then, very quickly, within weeks was made a sergeant of the regiment. so, john h. hopkins, who is he? i think he is from philadelphia. some of this, i will not say full assumptions, but i am following clues. i spent probably way too much time trying to find this guy in the records. not always the easiest person to find, but, from what i could understand. first of all, by reading his journal is that he kept talking about his typographical brethren. hey talked about printing offices, hey talked about newspapers. he was holding newspapers and books in his knapsack's. in fact, when you look at that journal over there they have it on the page. he is talking about what he

lost when he threw his knapsack when he was running before those british highlander's to get away at brandy wine. and then, part of, it when you look and there he is talking about the papers, the quills, the books, and all the things he had in his knapsack's. we've got this point that he was affiliated with the printing at some point. went a little further and actually found a runaway ad for an apprentice that ran away from david zeller's printing shop here at philadelphia. this was back at 58, you would just go, is this the same guy as john hopkins, printing, pennsylvania. you know, yeah, it is very likely. unfortunately i could not nail it down for sure because it did not say in his journal, anywhere, but he was a runaway apprentice. i wonder why. but,

there was this and of course you get that little hints in this looking at hawkins in his story. he had run away from david sellers shop. david zeller had been the partner of david hall, who had been the partner of benjamin franklin. who was the most notorious runaway apprentice of all, right? you are going, oh, he is well in that kind of tradition in some form or another. from what it appears he must have come back and serve out his term as an apprentice. or found something else because he is back here in pennsylvania and philadelphia. but, obviously not finding a job or his own independent shop. and thus, there he was, enlisting in the continental army during the revolution. in this thing, we followed him in but it also makes sense about why he would be a sergeant. and, certainly a sergeant major. this is somebody who can keep the records, and he was. he was writing some of the orderly books. so we have proof of this

individual, the big part was that journal. of course, i looked at that journal and it is wonderful. i think about the material resources when you can touch this. and i was, when you are hearing this and going 250 years ago he was writing in this. and so, from his pen and ink to my eyes, to say what is going on in his world at that time. he is speaking to me through the writing, and, i intern i'm trying to speak to you through his writing as well. to introduce you a bit to his world and what he saw in this revolution. so to take it from there. again, he is there in a regiment that had probably close to 1900 men serving it over the course of the war. again, unique and tremendously large of a unit in their. so i wanted to take it a step further from his journal and

this. and we can come back to talking about this. certainly to answer your questions about the regiment itself, where it served, and how. but what i really wanted to pick up on in here is that cruise country campaign. that is not as familiar to many people looking at the revolution. just like a canadian regiment is not so familiar. but, one of the great things and's journal is, when he talks about what he things as he when he is marching through this country. who is he talking to? who are some of the people? he is looking at a community that is becoming a nation. he is seeing what is similar and different as he is marching through it. this brings me back to this point that i wanted to point out. i am picking up on another scholars work who was talking about imagined political communities in this. and he

promised that a nation is an imagined political community, because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow numbers. they will never meet them or even hear of them, yet, in the minds of each lives the image of their community. that image of communion can exist of the same time, their shared experiences, or overtime through events like this. so, we are part of that imagined community that is part of the nation. and, we are doing it through him. so, right now, as we work through his words we are part of the imagines community of that developing nation. in the 17 70s, going through the 1780's. so, we are sitting here in philadelphia, here in 2021 in the philadelphia that he was living

in and 1776. that he marched through it on the way to not yorktown, also, he sailed through it in 1781. and, the like, but we are part of that imagined community. we are part of an imagined community right now, we are all finally getting to see each other. but, there are those who are over there, or over zoom, i say hi to you, you are part of this imagined community! we are all together to look at this particular history. the other part thatr ht benedict anderson had mentioned in his is that, when we form these communities, he talked about journeys or pilgrimages between times and statuses and places. so, again, we're part of that journey. but these are meaning creating experiences that create the experience of the imagined community. so, i'd like us to consider to that when we look at the continental army as it

is marching through the united states, the new united states, they are creating this community. and it's not all imagined. they are actually experiencing it, they are actually seeing it, they're actually meeting these people. so, here it is. that's philadelphian who is meeting people up in massachusetts and new york and up into the coups country that is vermont and new hampshire. he is meeting them and he is making these distinctions about are they like us or unlike us? are they with us or not with us, in some form? and we expand that to all of the thousands and tens of thousands who were part of that army at that time, taking what is imagined and making it real in some form or another. so, we come back to that reality as we look back to hawkins. i wanted to pick that up, especially in this one aspect. coos country

campaign, this was in 1779. even before this, in 1778 there was talk of another invasion into canada. general lafayette was giving control of that possible invasion in 78, let's go for it. certainly, hayes and was good, let's get back to canada, my state is back, there i want to get my land back and the rest of it. and it went nowhere, okay? that was the end of it in 78, they could not get the supplies, they could not get the support. quite frankly, general washington was not real fond of the idea., he had other things he need to do and 78 instead of worrying about canada. so, it was put on the backburner. then on the sixth of our march 79, washington ordered hazen's regiment to move into the coos country. at that point, hazen regiment had spent the winter at what was called putnam's folly, which is outside of reading, connecticut. one of the largest encampments in this war and probably the largest inhabited

area at that point in connecticut. in their. so, a big town. they were given the orders to start marching north, into the coos country and then to eventually cut a road from havre hill, new hampshire, up at the top there, threw into what where the new hampshire grants. also called the pretended state of vermont at that point. and to move up toward the canadian border. so, these are the orders. what was the reason for it? hazen's orders were to scout the area, build a road and engage the populace. so, three components to that mission. he wanted hazen in particular to discover whether the inhabitants would support and expedition from coos to canada. so, he saying, go out and do it. especially if they are going to do with the

french support which, by that time, america had. so, he was going, why don't you go up and do that? hazen is delighted to take his regiment up there to do this. now, what he didn't realize and what washington did not tell him is that this was actually part of washington's greater strategy. which, three fold, can be seen as a strategy of disinformation out to the enemy and those who are within the colony and the states as well as up to canada. a diversion against the enemy in canada. so, if they think the enemy is coming one way, they might not be watching as closely in another direction. and then also, ultimately, a bone to throw to people like hazen who had kept harassing him. remember, he had that obstinate temper. about making

an invasion into canada. can you all figure why washington wanted a diversion in the spring and summer of 79? what do we got? look a little over there to new york on that border. you may have heard of general sullivan and a campaign against the native americans into new york, to move against that enemy. wouldn't make a lot of sense, if you're sending sullivan up one way, to have hazen create a diversion in another locale? it's a faint, all right? move them in a different direction. so, hazen is delighted and he sends its troops up. and this brings us back to hawkins then. hawkins describes what he is seeing on that track that you see listed on their. so, they're basically following the connecticut river valley, moving up into new hampshire and then across into what will be vermont. so, he

describes the various towns and peoples of this track. they move out and three divisions. essentially, what would have been three battalions within the regiment itself as they see it. moving up, first through to springfield, massachusetts. at springfield, hawkins records at daybreak on the 14th of april. all three divisions march out, followed by a baggage train. he records eight wagons, 21 teams. 21 teams to be pulling these wagons? those have got to be really heavy wagons. and they definitely are. because what's on them? loaded with spades, shovels, axes, picks, carbines, horseman's swords, pistols and other military stores. carpenters tools, our murderers tools, provisions. they are out to really cut this road and they are taking all the tools with them. i think for a minute with that would look like to the community is through which

this baggage train is going with these soldiers in these three divisions. who may not have seen a lot of soldiers up to this point. but they are moving through. this is part of hazen and gauging the populace. it is not just the tools to cut the road, this is, if you will, to show the flag in this area. this is a borderland on this revolutionary frontier, where much of the action is beyond their but they are not forgotten. okay? we are sending troops up there to deal with issues they are worried about. and of course, hazen is still hoping he'll get his lands back. so, we've got that part. they've got that and they are trailing behind their own traveling forge. if they break their tools, they can fix them. they've got that in the wagon

trail as well. so, again, they're marching out. we've got all of these animals, all of these wagons moving out to show the force of the continental army. and by extension, congressional authority. that they are moving on that into these hinterland's. this is part of creating that political community as well as sending the military up. so, they started marching in it halle territory. but hawkins is looking there. where are the level roads? where is the beautiful pine tree country? where the trees are shading the road on a hot day? that's really important, when you're wearing woolen's and marching through this and it's warm. where are the fine houses and the farms? he looks at north hampton. what a handsome and large village, though much

scattered. checking it out, how does this work. but he goes, the court of justice is small but a very elegant house. the side work is very grand. so, other things, pointing out how people are living with. he's praising some areas that he goes through and then he denigrates others. swan see, for instance, was despicable. not good for any pr there. wall pool, oh lord the, wall pool. he's handsome troop scattered, others in barnes. the poor, mean, despicable, wretched town could not afford one regiment room in their dwelling houses for one night. this is the first night that our men have been under the necessity of lying in barnes on this march. so, fascinating point. in this, he is revealing that, as i have been marching through these communities, they have been court-ordered in peoples homes. the inhabitants along this track have been welcoming these soldiers into their homes. if not had to lay out underneath the stars or, at that point, up

to that point, in barnes. i will point out that it could all be welcoming. at another point, to as you look at what hazen is doing, he is also perfectly willing to threaten councilman along the way. that, if you are not willing to give us the supplies that we need, for instance flour, then we'll take it. if you don't let a stable are horses in your barns, we will then put them in any way. and we will stay there until you supply. so, again, that obstinate temper. you can be very willing to do it or we will use a little bit of authority to give away what. that was part of it, it was interesting that the despicable one is the one makes the man sleep in the barn. these other ones with the wonderful communities are welcoming the

soldiers into their homes. he was very happy to leave, that was 24th of april. arrive in charleston, handsome, the small. lovely, it resembled princeton, new jersey. again, there is this other side to it where he is taking what he knows and comparing what he is just meeting, hey, they are like us, they are like princeton, we have these connections. they are part of printer down here in philadelphia, there was a surplus of printers down here in philadelphia at the time. but, he was certainly looking

out there and you see things like, oh, albany, do you have a printing press here. i see nobody is using it, well, he was drafting a letter to say, would you be interested in also letting me have setting something up. he looked at what was up in dartmouth college, they have a printing press, wonderful, this liberty of liberties is the printing press. he thought this was great. that is true civilization is to have a press. he is out there, looking

for other opportunities and you go, this is what other soldiers were doing as well as they are marching through, is are they going to go back home or are they going to look for opportunities elsewhere? in the process of all of this hawkins was chasing those out as he isn't's regiment was out there collecting intelligence, denying intelligence to the enemy, as they were saying it because they were also sending elements up into canada at that point. checking in with native americans, trying to have native american allies or at least keeping them neutral, if nothing else in there, and making sure they knew our settlers were protected from and also made sure that they were not engaging with the enemy at that point. they

regiment was showing the flag as it was moving into the border land to cut the and fishman off, as it did and by the end of august hazen had, indeed, cut that wrote up to what is now called hastens notch. it is right there below the canadian border, he was within sight of the canadian border when he got orders from washington to return. that washington had gotten what he wanted out of this exposition, they feint had worked, sullivan's exposition was successful, it was time for hazing to bring his regiment back so that it would be ready for engagements they were the rest of 79 and moving into 1780 at that point, so with this, and i know i am coming to the end of this, they do continue on, if we go back to what you have said, after the cruise

country campai through their, they went backo morristown, they regiment suffered through the hardships of morristown in the winter encampments there in 1780, they regimen did march t yorktown in 1781, hawkins was very good about recording that one as well, the long trip down into yorktown, what heas seeing there, at yorktown the regimen did distinguish itself. in particular it's light infantry company, which ha been attached to lafayette's light infantry corps through the summer of 1781, and the light infantry company of hastens regime was part of the assault party under hamilton, which beathe french who are trying to take read out number nine at the exact same time. after yorktown the regimentas sent up to lancaster, pnsylvania, not too far from here and, they were on guard duty with the prisoners of war there, where i would like to point out at haze and, again, was pressing for and get invasion of canada. through into 1782 you know, let's do it and everybody is waiting for the diplomats to get everything done, to get the peace treaty, let's end this, and there is hayes and going, come on we have one last chance let's go for canada again, i

love it. washington writes him back going, interesting, send me your plans, you know and i think this is great. as a senior officer he is going, write it out for me about how this would actually work, and the trouble, is that only kept his unoccupied for a few weeks and he had already said they planned back. but at that point washington had other things for them to do, they were brought back up to new york, spent most of the rest of the war up at pumped in waiting for the furlough, most of the troop was furloughed in july, by june and july of 1783, one small contingent of it then continued up to west point, between west point and new bern where they stayed until the army was totally disbanded in november of 1783. here was a regiment that served from basically 1776,

when it was authorized in january, to november of 1783. and, and it, sergeant major john h. shotguns was with it from 1777 through two 1783, and i am very thankful that he left us a journal to see part of this regiments travels, thank you very much. shall we? january >> behind you, just raise your [applause] hand. maybe i will kick things off as soon as our contingency plan comes into effect with our handhelds. i really appreciated your casting the role of the

continental army as a sort of nationalizing force, it is something that for those of you who are familiar with our core exhibition here at the museum he will recall that very dramatic tableau seen with the life cast figures of the snowball fight with george washington breaking up this fight between new england and virginia soldiers. we did that, of course, because we wanted to our mind or tell visitors for the first time that the nation did not spraying out of the heads of the man who are exhibition, and you see that display of soldiers buttons from the period of 1777. and the valley forge accountant, when you was first printed on the buttons in the uniforms. one of the things we wanted to

convey is that this is actually the first time most americans would have seen the usa, the first time that appears is on the body of these continental army soldiers. i think this regiment, again, being a regiment without a country is just an incredible embodiment of that process. >> they very much were. when you start looking at the rosters, at the end of this war lieutenant benjamin moore, who was actually the nephew of fred hastened started to do a roster, they were pulling all the names together and hawkins was part of that, he had also done part of the roster and move them together, which is that master roster that had about, i counted 1482 soldiers on that roster. and then i also did morey surgeon folded about

another 400 or so who were not on it, the french canadians who had laughed, who had stayed in canada instead of coming down or had retreated. we get into about 1900 with all. but, on that roster today did not have places where they came from. which was absolutely apart because wait around what they wanted their bounty lands they had to have a state affiliation by which to get it, but, about 300 of those names just had you asked after them, in other words they just had no state affiliation only the united states affiliation, and after that we saw the pennsylvanians, new yorkers and new jersey and the like that you saw, but the u.s. was essential. for the french canadians it was also essential for some of the foreigners. some of the prisoners of war at lancaster joined hastens regiment, germans more than the english in that case, others had also joined, it was very much a multiethnic, multilingual regiment there with the

continental army. >> what happens to sergeant major hawkins after 1783? >> that is the hard part, sergeant major hawkins almost disappears. there are only two other records i found and they were both about bounty lands in particular, as he was selling them off or distributing them elsewhere. basically, my 93 i cannot find him. i actually went into the records for the yellow fever hospitals to say whether he died and one of the hospitals, to see whether that happened, i could not find his name. i was a little relieved by that point, i did find at least to john hopkins is in the philadelphia directories. one was more of a cobbler and the other was a grocer i thought, you know is it possible? if he is who i think he was he may have had some experience with leather working in the family.

i am more inclined to think he could be a grocer. with his experience it would have been relatively easy for him to set that up and to go into trade. he definitely did not become a farmer, i think he was too urban for that, i did not have that kind of experience but i spent a lot of time trying to do it, i was determined to find this guy. i wanted to, who left this marvelous journal, i have spent all this time reading about him. i want to meet hand, you know? more than hazen, hazen, no problem but hawkins i really wanted to find. i couldn't, one of my colleagues said, that is part of the story here, is that so many of the people that we have named on these rosters, this is all we have of them. we know that they lived, we have their name, and we have nothing else. we know more about him but he also represents so many of the soldiers who came in, enlisted, fought, and disappeared. >> do we know where those

journals were between him disappearing into the is there and then ending up at hsp? or how they came into the collection? >> i have not seen it but if we want to talk to the hsp. >> there is a guy over there who might be able to help us with this. >> i will say, what is evident in this, at some point they were together, so, actually when he was writing them they were in smaller, paper bound kind of stitched together pages. and then, at some point, somebody decided to put them within a leather binding. and when they did they were one or two pieces bound out of order. i was going, it stops here but then that is not going to this page. and, then i find it later on in the journal, there was a little bit of a difference. and if you take a good look at the journal you will notice the

pages are of different sizes and they differentials again is showing where this first came from, and that the binding was later for this. >> thank you, doctor, i am going to throw the first question to one of our guests watching from home, this is from riley sutherland, who clearly is a fan of your past research. reilly asked, did dr. mayors will research reveal anything about the canadian women attached to the regimen? and if so, did their experience differ from other camp followers in other revolutionary british forces. >> absolutely, i managed to get a little bit in here about the women with the regiment i, could not leave camp followers, out there was no way. what we do know is that women and children did also retreat with the french canadians at the

retreat from canada. moses hazen's wife, charlotte, was also a refugee, edward antill's wife was a refugee. she also kept bearing children in camp, and losing about half of them in camp through the process of this war. there were certainly other soldiers who had their wives and children with them in camp, and, what is interesting is that within a few years, at least with the french canadians, seeing that some of the soldiers who had come down we're starting to marry the daughters of the other soldiers who had come down. they were maintaining their community ties in the camps. it is that it was much older soldiers with teenage daughters, but, if you look at the regulations, at some points they were saying women over the age of 14 would not be allowed to be in camp separately. you go, well, at that point you get married, you

get rations, you are allowed to stay in camp. i did not find as many women following with the anglo soldiers, certainly not with the deserters from the german or the british side coming in with them. most of the time that is where they could stay closer to home, one of the things for camp followers to always remember is are they coming out of areas in which there is action? they are following because they are all few refugees, not simply because of the funding. but, yes, they are there, they are in the book. >> i am curious, can you talk a little bit about fast forwarding to the 19th century when those who have a survived to the pension act in 18 18 to 32, what were you able to find out through those sources? which i think should be known by all americans, this is the first oral history archive of an american conflict, 80,000 pension records in the national

archives. it is still such a bountiful field to plow, what did you learn about the ceo are? >> first we find out the best records usually come after 1820, when you say you have to show need and what you all, what you don't on, and they are making this by the time you get into the 1830s. at this point they are just saying, you survived, we can pension you off at that point. in the 18 40s is also when the widows could ask for the pensions based on their husbands service, the soldiers service, and they would have to give proof of if they were actually married. the first of the accounts said, were you married during the war, then later on where you married within so many years of the war? and then, finally, it did not matter when you married the veteran. just that you have been married to one of the soldiers. what was tremendous

and where i got most of these records was among the french canadians, because actually, congress, or the war department was tending to push against some of them, especially going that means that she got married when she was 13, now, that campy, there must be something wrong. no, they actually did mary at 13 and some of these cases, and here are the reasons why. and they would try to get more information from these women, most of them were illiterate and she cannot write her lame, she does not know this but she can give you the story. or tell tales about, well, we stood up in the barracks before everybody in the company and declare that we were married with the company commander there to supervise us, so, it was a common law marriage. and then, for them, they were waiting until a priest would arrive and could actually do the sacramental

marriage at this point. which did happen. there was a missionary priest by the name of father farmer who went up to the encampments and married some of them and baptized some of the children. so we have that. but, what they were doing was telling us these little intimate details of their life, at least one they thought they got married, if they had had children while they were still in camp with them at some point. the other part that was tremendous is they had maintained the community. for many of the french canadians new york state gave them bounty lands and those bounty lands were up past blacksburg. so, they were right on the canadian border. some of them were within 50 miles of where they had lived before the war. so, they were very close to home again at that point. and they had created a community up there. and then, and the pension accounts you have a sister being witness to sister. from being witness to a brother's children. to than their children are representing

their parents in these accounts. but, they really were all very much a strong community this way. so, it was a great other story, there. >> it is certainly been a theme of much of your work is thinking of these institutions whether they're regiments or armies, as communities. >> it really comes through. i think they would stay together better if they have become a community. have that sense of affiliation with them. as i said, it is also picking up on this idea of creating a community that is a nation. so, you have the smaller communities and then the bigger line that keeps growing from them. >> i will ask another question from our friends on the internet, walt, jarred, i am just wondering if john hopkins says anything about the famous couples and inside dealing that those of us who have been studying the later years of the revolutionary war may have heard of. >> not as much, i wish he would,

there are quite a few gaps in his record. part of it, as you would see, as he lost part of his journal when he was running away from the highlander and brandy wine. los there was another account, when he was up at albany they had marched up from wilmington to albany for that first so-called eruption into canada and 78, and he had lost stuff out of his pocket that he thought was stolen. and there one another journal at that point. so, there are gaps in the record, at that point would i do see at the end, and this was before the new bergh conspiracy, as he was talking about hazen and hastens military family all together in aaron's kyler's house up there. and they are sitting around, and he is trying to write his journal, and he is trying to write letters and people are singing and dancing all around him. and then, the housekeeper, apparently, at that point just kept trying to push his stuff

aside. he is saying, i am in fear of my life right now as she is brandishing knives at me to put down on the table, to set the table for dinner. he was talking more about things that intimately concerned hand as opposed to those greater events. i would have loved to say they account about mutiny in new jersey, his regiment alyssa was putting it down. that is one of the gaps in the journal. >> i was about to call on john race. >> holly, could you tell us what you know about any african merchants with the regiment? >> i did look this up, i was checking it out. there were a few african americans in hazen's regiment. but, what made it difficult is that in

the rosters they were not putting down race next to the soldiers names killing. they put down where they came from, because that is where they were soupy supplied and paid. but, there was no indication of race. so, what i started to do is i was researching some part of what we can do by naming. you know, there is a name that seems like it was often associated with african americans. if i ran across that name i would try to research it, and i did find a few that way by tracing them back through census accounts. >> kate's, who could've been cato membered at one point was found as a freight person of color up in connecticut, but, he was never noted that way in the regiment himself for it. another person that i came across, i found about three or four is all i could say for sure that i had cooperating evidence to say that this was a person of color, one was john saratoga. he is an interesting character in this, no

indication whatsoever about race, where i found out was later on at the end, of the war is that edward chan, who was the pay master of the regiment, putting the paperwork saying that all monies due to john saratoga were to go to him, for he is my slave for life. so, here we know that we had, so, kate's member it was a free person of color, and then we have john saratoga who is an enslaved person, both serving in the regiment on the roles. major john taylor, from virginia brought an enslaved servant with him, and registered him into the regiments, so that he was then getting rations and pay through his enslaved servant. so, we do know that they were there, there were other accounts from putnam's regine minute at one

point about 27 men and hazen's was part of putnam's regiment. there were 27 african americans with the regiment at that time, some of them will probably end hazen's regiment. i was really trying to track them down but i found it very interesting they did not make that designate are, and what does that mean? that they are not making that designate are on these troops? >> before we give everyone the opportunity to get their book signed, to appreciate the amazing work we have on loan from hsp or imagine what that knapsack contained with our recreation, it is our long tradition for scott stevenson to have the final question. [laughter] >> i do like to have the final word. i am curious, have portions, presumably not all of the diary has been published, i am just curious if what would you like to say about that.

>> i did, and the mets of doing this, this is one of the things where your research goes wrong or right, i am not sure where it is, but, when i first came across the sergeant major's journal, and he is my sergeant major, i started to think, while this would be a great thing to transcribe, annotate, and then publish as a primary source for years, so i have transcribe the entire journal, i have got the transcription in my records, but, i got so involved going, every time i was going to anti-something, oh, i have to learn more. i have to learn more. the next thing you know is i think i'm writing a re-monograph, here. i think i have another story in this. there is a part of me that is still thinking, maybe i should still go back and publish this

primary source for use in schools and elsewhere, whether or not that is an important anymore as we do more and more digital history is the question. if i don't go in that direction i will give the transcription to hsp, it does not make sense of it stays on my computer at that point. [applause] [applause] >> well, the second half of my final question is just, more broadly, as we approach these 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence, it will be somewhat of a celebration, i hope you are in philadelphia, i am just curious what you are thinking about, what are your aspirations, what are you worried about, open-ended question, how are you reflecting on the commemoration, and anniversary that is coming up? >> i am certainly hoping i will still be here to celebrate that, right now i am just working, i am actually an editor for a volume on women waging war, it is a collection of essays about

the women's side of this war, it is under contract with the uva press and should be coming out next spring. that is the project in the near term, then it may be revisiting sergeant major hawkins. >> fantastic, thank you very much for joining us here tonight. fantastic. well, thank >> we order your copy of the congressional directory for the 118th congress. your access to the federal government with contact information for every house and senate member. in corner information on committees. the presidents cabinet, federal agencies and state governments. sarah -- reorder your copy tayor early spring delivery. 29 9tion panhandling. every purchase helps support the nonprofit operation at c-span's shop that oregon. >> weekends on c-span two are

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