Diaries, 1776-1792.

ArchivalResource

Wild, Ebenezer, 1758-1794;. Diaries, 1776-1792.

Diaries, 1776-1792.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28838818

7 vols. of diaries kept by Ebenezer Wild of Braintree, Mass. as a member of Jonathan Brewer's (Mass.) Regiment (later the 6th Continental) and (from 1777), of Joseph Vose's Regiment (later the 1st Massachusetts). The diaries were kept from 7 Aug. 1776- 4 Oct. 1779 and 19 Feb.- 8 Dec. 1781, with additional fragments from 1790 and 1792. In addition to general information on camp life, guard duty, drilling, building of the encampments and the like, the entries chronicle the march to Ticonderoga (N.Y.) (1776); the Saratoga (N.Y.) campaign (1777); the march to and defense of Philadelphia (1777), including winter quarters at Valley Forge (Pa.) (1777-78); the Battle of Monmouth (N.J.), (18 June 1778); the campaign and Battle of Rhode Island (1778); and encampments in N.J., Pennsylvania, and Virginia, including the presence of a detachment of the regiment at the siege of Yorktown (Va.) (Oct. 1781). The last diary also contains a few misc. notes for 1790 and 92. (Cont'd) The collection also includes 2 additional vols.: the first contains regulations for the siege of York and Gloucester (Va.) in Oct. 1781, the articles of capitulation, a return of prisoners by Cornwallis, a summary of casualties, and a few misc. poems. The second contains copies of documents and resolutions passed at Newburgh (N.Y.) in 1783 relating to the dissatisfaction on the part of the Continental Army at the lack of pay for service, including copies of a petition to Congress by a committee of the army; George Washington's orders; and his Newburgh Address of 15 Mar. 1783.

1 box.

Massachusetts Historical Society