Captain Matthew Arbuckle's Company, Fort Randolph, 12th Virginia Regiment

Library of Congress, The United States of North America, with the British & Spanish territories according to the treaty (by William Faden, 1783) showing Pittsburgh, Ohio and the "Canoway" rivers.


In order to secure the strategic mouth of the Kanawha river where it meets the Ohio (also known as Point Pleasant), Virginia raised a 100 man company under Botetourt militia officer Matthew Arbuckle, a veteran of Dunmore's war and the namesake of Arbuckle's fort on Muddy Creek in what is now Greenbrier county, West Virginia (for background information on that front see Frontier Defense by the McBrides or The Archaeological Conservancy's video). Arbuckle's company was organized as regular state troops (not subject to serving outside of Virginia without their consent) under the provisions of the Convention meeting in Williamsburg in July 1775.  "An Ordinance for Raising and Embodying a Sufficient Force for the Defence and Protection of this Colony...One other company, consisting of one captain, three lieutenants, one ensign, four sergents, two drummers, and two fifers, and one hundred privates to be raised in the county of Botetourt, and stationed at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the great Kanawah...under the direction of, and subject to, such orders as they may from time receive from the commanding officers at Fort Pitt." (Captain Matthew Arbuckle:a documentary biography by Joseph C. Jefferds p43). The initial enlistment appears to have been for one year, and a second 100 man company was subsequently added to complement the garrison under Captain McKee, with a two year enlistment and bounty for the original company to continue on service (May 6, 1776 Captain Matthew Arbuckle by Jefferds p47).

McKee later testified that:

I do hereby certify that Matthew Arbuckle deceased was appointed a Captain in the Committee of Bottetout [sic: Botetourt] County (of which Committee I  was a member) in September 1775 agreeable to an Ordinance or Convention raising troops for the defence of the Western Frontiers for one year and was continued a Captain two years longer in a subsequent ordinance or convention; which time he serv’d in the capacity of a Captain being together with all the troops stationed on the Ohio [River] incorporated into the 12th Virginia regt. on Continental Establishment in an Act of Assembly passed October 1778[?]. the term of service ending October 1778 and the pay being from Continental paymasters at the [two undeciphered words] mentioned except the [undeciphered] two Mo’s pay [undeciphered word] above which [undeciphered word] of Colo. [undeciphered] Harrisson [sic: Benjamin Harrison, Jr.] who was Commissary and Paymaster for the State of Virginia in that Department. Given under my hand this 13th day Sept. 1784. (Signed) Wm McKee [William McKee] Capt. 12th Virg’a Reg’t. Department of War/ Accountant’s Office/ January 12th 1799

Arbuckle's company mobilized and left Fort Pitt by May of 1776. George Morgan (Of the famous merchant firm of Baynton, Wharton & Morgan and by that time acting as Indian Agent for the middle department) wrote Lewis Morris on May 16, 1776, that "Captain Arbuckle, with a company of Virginia Forces, departed from hence yesterday for the mouth of the Great Kenhawa where they are to rebuild the fort and to remain until further orders from the Convention. I thought it necessary to send an Indian with them, and a proper message on the occasion to the Delawares and Shawnees, accompanied by one of his officers, which I am sure will have a good effect." (Captain Matthew Arbuckle by Jefferds p44).  The Dunmore's war era fort at Point Pleasant, Fort Blair, had been abandoned and subsequently burned by Indians.  Arbuckle's company arrived and built a new fortification, Fort Randolph, named for Peyton Randolph of Virginia. By October of 1776, Arbuckle's company was reorganized on paper as the 5th company of the 12th Virginia Regiment (Captain Matthew Arbuckle by Jefferds p44). 

Clothing and Equipment of Arbuckle's company

 Detail of a Map Cartouche from the October 1775 Issue of The Pennsylvania Magazine 

(The Ann S.K. Brown Collection, Brown University)

The men enlisted in Arbuckle's command appear to have provided their own arms (apparently all rifles) and clothing. Arbuckle wrote to General Edward Hand on October 6, 1777 that he had "...no country arms. Every man a good rifle his own property in good order; scarecely 200 flints in the garrison." (Captain Matthew Arbuckle by Jefferds p87). John Entsminger's pension application states that "...in the same month of October at the same Keeney’s Fort, he inlisted  under Lieut. James Gilmore & was enrolled in Capt. William McKee’s company for the term of two years, attached to what was called the Western troops and was marched to Fort Randolph at the mouth of the Great Kanhawa River [Great Kanawha River] where Capt. Matthew Arbuckle commanded two companies, he being the senior captain, and continued at that station for two years, & was then honorably discharged in October he believes in 1778 having for this time furnished his own rifle & clothing for which he has never received any compensation during which time he was engaged in several sharp skirmishes in one of which his Lieutenant William Moor was killed at his side."   

 Rifle Trigger Guard Fragment Excavated at the Market House site [Williamsburg, Virginia],
 artifact #00022-12AE-00067-AG
Photo by Jim Mullins with permission of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Three men of the garrison lost rifles and clothing in a boat accident as they were transporting provisions down the Ohio from Fort Pitt, two of which seem to have been distinctive as they had brass boxes [N.B. having viewed scans of the original document as shown below the linked transcription by Mr. Harris is in error and the rifles had brass boxes NOT brass barrels].  This potentially implies the majority of the rifles in the garrison may have been less expensive wooden boxed rifles.

 

 William Grills lost a "Brass Box Rifle, an Exceeding Good One..."

Men of the garrison who later consented to joining the other companies of the 12th Virginia with the main (Continental) army outside of the state of Virginia successfully petitioned for the value of their rifles as they had been entitled to an allowance of 20 shillings per year under the terms of the original enlistment as a state regular battalion.

To the Honourable Board of War
Geo Lyne Majr 12th Virginia Regiment
in behalf of fourteen soldiers of Capt. Michael Bowyers Company of the said Regiment,
begs leave to Petition that their Rifles, Powder Horns &c. may be recd. by the Commissary General of Military Stores & that they are receive for them a reasonable Price. The matter Stands this: by an Ordinance of our Convention this Company amongst others was raised for the purpose
of Defending our Frontiers & not to be drawn from thence without their consent, and each man that furnished himself with a Rifle was to receive for the use thereof 20S Per Annum, since which these men have been taken into the Continental Service & marched with their consent from the Monongahalia to this place that they had neither an opportunity of selling them, or lodging them at their homes: No Man's Goal in support of the common cause oughtto operate to his prejudice, that I trust they will receive the value of their Rifles & refer to the Capt's list inclosed.
May 19, 1777 George Lynne Maj.

Petition of Geo Lyne
Maj 12 Virg Bat
read 20 May 1777
prayer granted


Deserter descriptions from the Pennsylvania Packet show clothing worn by some of the men who likely left the garrison for service with the main army and point to the general use of hunting shirts with trousers.

An additional 12th Virginia deserter description from the 13 August 1777 issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette as quoted on page 177 of Phillip Katcher's Uniforms of the Continental Army mentions "Four deserters wearing hunting shirts...Three also wore leather breeches, while the fourth wore trousers or overalls." I have not yet been able to acquire a scan of this particular ad and it may yield further context as to which portion of the 12th Virginia is in question among other details. Knapsacks seem to have been in use by the garrison, in addition to the above deserter description for James Halstead that mentions a knapsack, the pension application of William Pryor mentions the use of them at the Fort in the course of describing the near mutiny caused by General Hand's order reducing the garrison's provisions and pay.

  Detail of  an Iroquois tumpline or hoppus ( Am1983,23.1 ) in the British Museum 
Captain Arbuckles Estate included "1 Beeded Hoppis"

Officers, or at the very least Captain Arbuckle, seemed to have been dressed in "regimentals" as they are referenced in and 1851 deposition of Nancy Edgar (Captain Matthew Arbuckle by Jefferds p102). Captain Arbuckle was killed in 1781 by a falling tree in a storm (the same tree struck Nancy Edgar's father), and his probate inventory (Captain Matthew Arbuckle by Jefferds p97-99) contains several items worth noting:

"Coat Jackett & britches shoes stockings...hat & stock with gloves...1 Beeded Hoppis...One riffle gunn & shot bag...One silver stock buckles knee buckles & sword buckles...1 large silver handled butcher knife..."

A discussion of  Virginia’s Independent Frontier Companies by Gabriel Neville can be found here at JOTAR

 

Although not in Arbuckle's company, a Tory Rifleman named Sergeant William Grant is worth investigation. Grant was drafted and enlisted in the 50 man "Capt.  Michael  Bowyers's  Company  of  Riflemen,  to  be  stationed  at  the  mouth of  the  Little  Kennarah  [Little Kanawha] upon  the  River  Ohio." He was for a time posted in the Tygart's valley during the Cherokee campaign (likely at Westfall's fort in Beverly WV) and deserted to the English army during the Philadelphia campaign of 1777 while in the 12th VA (alternate link here). His narrative illustrates how some of these frontier companies ended up with the main army.

" 1 Hoppis" David "Hesten's" tumpline

Iroquois Tumpline NMAI

One of the most difficult items from the Hastens/Hastings inventory ( http://www.danielhaston.com/people/david-hastings-died1776.htm ) to document and replicate has been his "Hoppis" (evidently the Delaware word for a tumpline, a kind of burden strap).

 (Yuchi ) Indiens Going A Hunting by Philip Georg Friedrich von Reck 

ca. 1736 shows a tumpline in use in Georgia

John Heckewelder (1788)

"It is very common to see a hunter come in with a whole deer on his back, fastened with a hoppis, a kind of band with which they carry heavy loads. It rests against the breast, that which the women rest against the forehead."

from David Zeisberger's History of North American Indians:

"...who carry everything by means of a carrying girth fixed to the forehead, whence the whole burden and (a hundred weight is not considered heavy) is suspended down the back. The men carry everything hung to a carrying girth fixed across the chest. A deer weighing from a hundred to a hundred and thirty pounds they will carry the entire way home before allowing themselves to rest. These carrying girths are made of wild hemp which is first spun. That part of these girths which passes across the breast and over the shoulders is three fingers broad and decorated with various figures. From it depend long plaited, durable bands, to which the burden is bound."

rear view of a utilitarian Iroquois "Warrior tie or burden strap, tumpline made of hemp." 
50 cm long ca. 1710 British Museum Sir Hans Sloane collection

One of my favorite images from the 18th century that depicts a tumpline and encampment is the 1764 "Bouquet" Map by Hutchins (see lower left under the tree with guns leaning against it):

 A GENERAL MAP of the COUNTRY on the OHIO and MUSKINGHAM Shewing the Situation of the INDIAN = TOWNS with respect to the ARMY under the Command of COLONEL BOUQUET by Tho's Hutchins Ass't Engineer

For further info on the Native end of things (and links to some original tumplines), I recommend checking out these links:

 https://frenchinwisconsin.com/2013/09/21/the-humble-tumpline/

http://amohkali.southeasterntrading.com/tumplines.htm

http://www.nativetech.org/finger/belts.html

Native style burden straps or tumplines were sometimes adopted and used by Anglo soldiers and militiamen in the 18th century, but this practice seems to have been more common North of our focal point of Virginia.

Gary S. Zaboly's article "The Use of Tumplines in the French and Indian Wars" (Military Collector Historian &, vol. XLVI, No.3 Summer 1994, pp. 109-113) covers this aspect nicely and has quite a few great references in it. Besides the Hastens/Hastings inventory, a few other references can be found in the south, this one specific to the Cherokee campaign of 1761:


"They threw away those articles which hung by Tomplines over thier Shoulders & some of them even cast off their Bayonets as soon as the Indians began to Fire upon the Line "

The Papers of Henry Laurens: January 1, 1759-August 31, 1763 2nd March 1763 A LETTER SIGNED PHILOLETHES

$30 1777 South Carolina note 

motto surrounding inset reads: "Misera servitus omnis" (All slavery is wretched). 

Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic EndowmentUniversity of Notre Dame,

Having established what this particular piece of equipment was, the next challenge was interpreting how Hastens/Hastings (or whoever) manufactured it. As far as I know, there are no extant tumplines with a Virginia military or militia provenance. Native manufactured tumplines seem to have been generally woven of local plant fibers (basswood, Indian hemp and etc) but the few scattered references I can find from Virginia and other colonial sources seemed to point towards hemp or leather.

Although far north of Virginia, Captain John Knox's Journal (1759 page 352 V1) mentions that British soldiers using webbing during the French and Indian War:

"His knapsack is carried very high between his shoulders, and is fastened with a strap of web over his shoulder, as the Indians carry their pack."

This practice continued to be used to some extent in the British army during the Revolutionary war (thanks to Jay Callaham for sharing this info on the RevWar Progressive list), although sometimes the term "blanket sling" was used:

"Brigade (of Guards) Orders 11 March 1777

"The Waistbelts to Carry the Bayonet & to be wore across the Shoulder. The Captains are desired to provide Webbing for Carrying the Mens Blankets according to a pattern to be Seen at the Cantonment of Lt. Colo. Sr. J. Wrottesleys Company. The Serjeants to Observe how they are Sewed. The Officers to Mount Guard with their Fuzees."

(1st Guards Orderly Book)"


1st Battn (Brigade of Guards) Orders 9 September 1779


"The Men lately Joind having received their Field Blankets, the Serjts. are Ordered, to see that they are Mark'd with the Initial Letters of each Mans Name. The Men are to be provided with proper Straps for Carrying them & Shewn how to Roll them up."

Some of these blanket slings were being made of "Diaper webbing"

THE ROYAL GAZETTE. 04/04/1778  "Sharwin, Sadler at the coffee House Bridge, has imported from London...Diaper web for officers tents, chair bottoms, and blanket slings for soldiers" 

In addition, some British units were using tumplines or blanket slings in conjunction with wallets:

From the 40th Regiment Order Book [as per James Kochan's transcription]:

"......They are to parade with their Necessarys and blanketts neatly packd.
up" [egimental]:O[rders] 14th May 1777

"Each Compy. will immediately receive from the Qr. Mr. Serjt. 26 Slings & Wallets to put the quantity of Necesareys Intendd. to be Carrid. to the field Viz 2 shirts 1 pr. of shoes & soles 1 pr. of stockings 1 pr. of socks shoe Brushes, black ball &c Exclusive of the Necessareys they may have on (the[y] must be packd. in the Aranged manner & the Blankts. done neatly round very little longer than the Wallets) to be Tyed. very close with the slings and near the end -- the men that are not provided. with A blankett of their own may make use of one [of] the Cleanest Barrick Blanketts for tomorrow "

British army images show these blankets being worn both straight across the back (in the style generally seen in depictions of Natives) and also at times diagonally with the strap over the right shoulder and under the left arm.

After Regl. Orders [40th Regt] 7 at Night [18 May 1777]¦

"The Regt: to parade to morrow Morning at 11 oClock with Arms,
Accoutrements & Necessarys in order to be inspected by their
Officers â€" The Necessarys to be carried in their Wallet and slung over the Right Shoulder"

Leather Ojibwe tumpline – AMNH from Isaac Walter's excellent write up The Humble Tumpline

A leather "Hoppess strap" 1780 Virginia:

“Colonel Crockett has made application to me for an order on the Commissary of Hides for as much leather as will make each of his men a shot Pouch and a Hoppess strap. As the Tan Yard is carried on at Continental expense, I don’t think myself at liberty to do it without your Excellency’s direction, Colonel Crockett’s being a State Battalion...

21st July, 1780.” p. 185. Winchester, Virginia And Its Beginnings, 1743-1814 By Katherine Glass Greene - 2007.

In addition to this leather Hoppess strap reference, a soldier in Colonel Miles' Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, known only as "Sergeant R", mentioned his

"...pack, which was made fast by leather strings, was shot from my back and with it went all the little clothing I had. It was replaced by one which had belonged to a British officer, and was well furnished... It was mine not long, for it was stolen shortly afterwards." (The day is ours!: an inside view of the battles of Trenton and Princeton ...
By William M. Dwyer)


Another reference to the same Virginia unit that requested a leather Hoppess strap "Joseph Crockett's Western Battalion, Virginia State Troops, 1780-1782" Copeland, Peter F. and Marko Zlatich MCH, 17 (Fall 1965), pp. 82-83. MUIA Plate 262 includes information that they were issued:

"10 hanks sail twine, 8 coils deep sealine" and raises the possibility of rope being used for this (or potentially some other unspecified) use. Combined with this reference from 1783 (modern West Virginia):

“I was with my father at the rope works making cords to make a hoppose. He was preparing to go in the Revolutionary Army and had got ready ..."

 French image of a rope walk from 1769

In addition, some men in the Virginia back country may have acquired Indian manufactured tumplines.  Captain Matthew Arbuckle was killed in 1781 by a falling tree in a storm, and his probate inventory contains "...1 Beeded Hoppis..." (Captain Matthew Arbuckle:a documentary biography by Joseph C. Jefferds pages97-99).

I elected to go with plain hemp webbing and hemp rope for my conjectural reconstruction (NB: this is indeed NOT based on an extant artifact and is at best a guesstimate!). If further research on Crockett's battalion show they actually received leather tumplines, I will put one of those together too, as that is another period material.

Broadly basing my very conjectural "repro" on basic dimensions from some Native tumplines, I chose a 2 foot section of 2.5 inch hemp webbing with a 1" webbing stitched to that, and several feet of hemp rope attached leading from both ends of the smaller webbing.

A great "how to" video by Isaac Walters on tumplines.

--