Redoubt #10 at Yorktown

Okay, so here’s our first sojourn over to my father’s side of the family tree.  Sit up, Jonnes cousins!

One of my father’s favorite ancestors was Sgt. William Brown (1761-1804), arguably the most illustrious soldier in our family history.  Dad was sometimes prone to exaggeration, so I was usually skeptical when he began a lecture on the military exploits of an ancestor.  However, when I began digging into genealogy eight years ago, I quickly discovered that William Brown was the real deal.  His heroism was genuine and historically important.  He is my 4GG (that’s six generations back).

 

 

However, the badge went out of use after the Revolutionary War.  In 1932, a century and a half later, it was reintroduced by the U.S. Army as the Purple Heart we know today.

The Badge of Military Merit has historical, even revolutionary, significance beyond its connection to the Purple Heart.  Military historians believe it is the first instance of an award being given to common soldiers, i.e., enlisted men (at least in European history).  Previously, only officers received military honors.  Washington was well aware of this when he created the award and specifically promoted its importance as a symbol of honor for patriotic citizens in a volunteer army:

“The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all.”^[2]Washington, General Order, 1782

Only three Continental soldiers are known to have received the Badge of Merit.  Sgt. William Brown of the 5th Connecticut Regiment is one of those.  He and Sgt. Elijah Church received their award in a ceremony at Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh, New York on 3 May 1783.

Two original Purple Heart badges apparently still exist.  The one that was awarded to Sgt. Churchill is on display at the New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site in Orange County, New York, just south of Newburgh.  (That’s the one we show in the post above.)  A second one is on display at the American Independence Museum in Exeter, New Hampshire, but its provenance is unknown.  The badge of the third known recipient, Sgt. Daniel Bissell, was reportedly lost in a fire in 1813.

It is a mystery what became of William Brown’s badge.  It apparently disappeared in the 1920s, or was found in the 1920s, depending on which story you believe.  It is known that Paul Clement Matthews (1866-1954), the Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey was the last descendant of Sgt. Brown’s to have possession.  He received it from his father Thomas Stanley Matthews (1824-1889), U.S. Senator and Supreme Court Justice, who received it from his mother, Isabella (Brown) Matthews (1804-1877).  Isabella was William Brown’s youngest daughter (and my 3GG).

Mary McMullin Jones (1858-1951), my great grandmother, was a first cousin to Bishop Matthews and published an article in 1943 about Sgt. Brown entitled, “The Order of the Purple Heart,” which is available online.^[3]Mary McMullin Jones, “The Order of the Purple Heart,” Ohio History Journal 52, no. 1 (January-March 1943): 65-71; online archives, Ohio History Connection … Continue reading  In the article, she simply says Bishop Matthews reports the badge as “lost.”^[4]Jones, “Order of the Purple Heart, 71.  A separate account reports Matthews may have lost it when “moving about from one city to another.”^[5]Marie Paula Dickore, “The Order of the Purple Heart: An Account of Sergeant William Brown who Brought his Badge of Merit to Columbia, Ohio,” Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Ohio … Continue reading

On the other hand, an original Badge of Military Merit was discovered in a barn in Deerfield, New Hampshire in 1924.  Some argue it could be Sgt. Brown’s badge – but if so, how it got to New Hampshire from Bishop Matthews home in Princeton, New Jersey is unexplained.^[6]Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, Insignia and Decorations of the U.S. Armed Forces, rev. ed. (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1945); digital book, WorldCat.org … Continue reading  The Deerfield badge is the one now on display in Exeter, New Hampshire.  If it isn’t Brown’s badge, then it is a badge that went to an unknown recipient whose name was never recorded.

Sgt. Brown of the 5th Connecticut Regiment received his award for extraordinary heroism at the Battle of Yorktown.  He led a Forlorn Hope against a British redoubt on 14 October 1781.  The Continental Army along with the French Navy had the British Army under Gen. Charles Cornwallis bottled up in Yorktown, Virginia.  Two British redoubts stymied the Americans from advancing any further, so it was decided to attempt an attack on a dark moonless night.  Redoubt #9 was assaulted by a French contingent while Redoubt #10 was assaulted by Americans, led, interestingly enough, by Alexander Hamilton.

A squad of brave soldiers volunteered to serve as the point of the spear in the advance, intending to charge up the redoubt embankment against rifle fire and cannon with only bayonets in hand, in hopes of creating enough of a wedge to allow the remaining forces to press the advantage.  Their mission was referred to as a Forlorn Hope because it was considered so dangerous as to be suicidal.  Sgt. Brown was placed in command.  He reportedly did not wait for the sappers to clear the abatis, but jumped or climbed over them somehow and was the first to engage the enemy.^[7]Jones, “Order of the Purple Heart,” 68.  Witnessing his bravery, the rest of his squad followed, and then the main force.  They surprised the British completely and the whole operation was over in less than 20 minutes.  American casualties, fortunately, were not extensive: 9 dead and 25 wounded.^[8]Michael Schellhammer, “Alexander Hamilton – Dangerous Man,” Journal of the American Revolution, (5 June 2013), e-journal … Continue reading   With American cannon now closer to the town, Lord Cornwallis’s entire army of about 7,000 was forced to surrender several days later, thereby ending the Revolutionary War.

Mom and Dad visited Yorktown many years ago and I know Dad enjoyed seeing Redoubt #10 in person very much.  The small scale of the battlefield surprised him, if I remember correctly.

Last winter, I finally visited.  Redoubt #10, which is right next to the York River, has deteriorated over time due to erosion, but Redoubt #9 is still in good shape.  The photo at the top of this article shows Redoubt #10, while the one below shows Redoubt #9.  (That’s me standing on an abatis in the center to illustrate the scale.)  Visitors are allowed to climb and walk all over Redoubt #9 as much as they want, but Redoubt #10 is fenced off for safety reasons.  It has become perilously close to the river over time; the back side is basically sinking into the river.

I recommend a visit to Yorktown Battlefield.  They have a short movie in the visitor center that is quite informative with cool special effects.  The entire battlefield is so small that you can experience the whole thing in less than two hours.

A full scale replica of Redoubt #10 also exists in Carlisle, Pennsylvania at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.