Benjamin Simpson Revolutionary War service statement
Entry/Object ID
2022.24.1
Scope and Content
Benjamin Simpson's description of his nine-month service in the army during the Revolutionary War, drafted circa 1819 when he was applying for a government pension. The letter is dated York, May 1778, which is where his service began when he joined the company of Lieutenant Josiah Parsons. He describes his duties driving horses and wagons from York to Valley Forge, where he was then inoculated for small pox. Unfortunately for Simpson, he contracted the disease anyway. He stayed with the baggage wags until after the battle of Monmouth, then he was left sick in New Jersey for three months. Simpson eventually joined the army at Hartford, Connecticut and continued to serve at West Point until his term of service was over in March 1779.
