Peter Bauerman

Citations

1. [S1249] M. I. Di Ninni, Legacy of Life, page 251-253 - Peter was taxed for 100 acres of land in Penns Twp. In 1781. In his application for a Revolutionary War Pension, Peter stated that he was from Weisenburg Townshp, and that he had served as a substitute in the Northumberland County Militia, for his brother George, fighting the Shawnee Indians, in New York.
   On Aug. 4, 1832, Peter was residing in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee, where he filed an application for a Revolutionary War Pension, under the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. His application reads as follows:
   State of Tennessee, Second Judicial Circuit, Blount County, Circuit Court, July Term of 1832. On this 4th day of August, 1832, personally appeared before the honorable the Circuit Court for the County Circuit and State aforesaid, now sitting, Peter Bowerman, a resident in the County and State aforesaid, aged seventy-four years, on 24th May, 1832, as he believes. Who, being first duly sworn according to law. doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. That he entered the services of the United States under the following Officers and served at herein stated—At about the age of nineteen years and near Christmas in 1777, he enlisted for one year in Weisenburg Township. Pennsylvania. (Bucks County, he believes under Capt. Thom. Craig in the 2nd Regiment commanded by Col. John Wood; the Major’s name forgotten, Captains Christie and Bonner of the same regiment are the only officers names remembered—Rendezvoused at Easton, Penna. marched to Philadelphia got clothing     ___________and
   were then marched to Ticonderoga where the troops got into Batteaun and went down the lake and landed within a few miles of Quebec, as applicant understood, to aid Gen. Montgomery in the attack on that place. When the troops were landed and ready to march, an express was received informing then Of the defeat and death of Gen. Montgomery. We immediately took to our Batteaun and put back. were pursued by three British Vessels as far as the water would permit than to follow, we continued our retreat to Three Rivers, thence to an encampment, name not recalled. soon after were ordered to attack the British at Three Rivers where they had taken station. We marched to the place, were repulsed with great loss, thence marched to Ticonderoga, remained there some time during which a slight attack was made by the British on Ticonderoga by land and water, only a few canon were fired and they retreated, the applicants term of one year service there expired and he there enlisted again for three years under the sane Captain Thomes Craig in the came Regiment as he believes, soon after were marched to Philadelphia thence to Jersey and joined the army under General Wayne, were marched about to several places, not remembered, until they attacked Stoney Point. which they carried. Applicant there received a wound in the head in entering the Fort. After the surrender of Stoney Point we left it next day, and returned to ____     old encampment at a place called Hood Cove, as
   applicant thinks, remained there some time and went into winter quarters at Morristown in Jersey. There the applicant was attached to General Washington's Life Guard. Next spring applicant ____ was ordered with the troops sent to attack a Block House, opposite Fort Washington, in this we were repulsed with the loss of about 300 men as the applicant understood at the time, we returned to Head Quarters, applicant continued in the Life Guard, and was in the fund at Whtte Plains, and remembers that there were three spies taken there, Americans. who were tried and hung on the same gallows together. Applicant was discharged honorably at Hackensack above New York his term of three years having expired. On his return home crossing the Delaware River the canoe upset, and he lost his knapsack, discharges and clothing afterwards applicant went as a substitute for his brother George Bowerman, who was drafted for two months as applicant believes, to fight the Shawnee Indians.
   Applicant was mustered into service in Captain Wyrick’s Company under Col. Esterman’s Command, marched up the west branch of the Susquehanna River, fought and defeated the Indians below and near Long Island; then returned to Sunbury and was there again honorably discharged, but this discharge is also lost ---- Applicant has no discharge or documentary evidence, nor does he know of any person by whom he can prove his services. He never received any pay or certificate therefore and cannot at this distant day give any further or more satisfactory account of his services than is herin before sstated---- He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or an annuity except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency of any state.
   
   Sworn to and Subscribed (Signed) Peter Bowerman
   This day and year first
   Aforesaid---
   Danl. D. Fonte. Clerk.
2. [S506] Note: Peter was taxed for 100 acres of land in Penns Twp. In 1781. In his application for a Revolutionary War Pension, Peter stated that he was from Weisenburg Townshp, and that he had served as a substitute in the Northumberland County Militia, for his brother George, fighting the Shawnee Indians, in New York.
   On Aug. 4, 1832, Peter was residing in Maryville, Blount County, Tennessee, where he filed an application for a Revolutionary War Pension, under the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. His application reads as follows:
   State of Tennessee, Second Judicial Circuit, Blount County, Circuit Court, July Term of 1832. On this 4th day of August, 1832, personally appeared before the honorable the Circuit Court for the County Circuit and State aforesaid, now sitting, Peter Bowerman, a resident in the County and State aforesaid, aged seventy-four years, on 24th May, 1832, as he believes. Who, being first duly sworn according to law. doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. That he entered the services of the United States under the following Officers and served at herein stated—At about the age of nineteen years and near Christmas in 1777, he enlisted for one year in Weisenburg Township. Pennsylvania. (Bucks County, he believes under Capt. Thom. Craig in the 2nd Regiment commanded by Col. John Wood; the Major’s name forgotten, Captains Christie and Bonner of the same regiment are the only officers names remembered—Rendezvoused at Easton, Penna. marched to Philadelphia got clothing     ___________and
   were then marched to Ticonderoga where the troops got into Batteaun and went down the lake and landed within a few miles of Quebec, as applicant understood, to aid Gen. Montgomery in the attack on that place. When the troops were landed and ready to march, an express was received informing then Of the defeat and death of Gen. Montgomery. We immediately took to our Batteaun and put back. were pursued by three British Vessels as far as the water would permit than to follow, we continued our retreat to Three Rivers, thence to an encampment, name not recalled. soon after were ordered to attack the British at Three Rivers where they had taken station. We marched to the place, were repulsed with great loss, thence marched to Ticonderoga, remained there some time during which a slight attack was made by the British on Ticonderoga by land and water, only a few canon were fired and they retreated, the applicants term of one year service there expired and he there enlisted again for three years under the sane Captain Thomes Craig in the came Regiment as he believes, soon after were marched to Philadelphia thence to Jersey and joined the army under General Wayne, were marched about to several places, not remembered, until they attacked Stoney Point. which they carried. Applicant there received a wound in the head in entering the Fort. After the surrender of Stoney Point we left it next day, and returned to ____     old encampment at a place called Hood Cove, as
   applicant thinks, remained there some time and went into winter quarters at Morristown in Jersey. There the applicant was attached to General Washington's Life Guard. Next spring applicant ____ was ordered with the troops sent to attack a Block House, opposite Fort Washington, in this we were repulsed with the loss of about 300 men as the applicant understood at the time, we returned to Head Quarters, applicant continued in the Life Guard, and was in the fund at Whtte Plains, and remembers that there were three spies taken there, Americans. who were tried and hung on the same gallows together. Applicant was discharged honorably at Hackensack above New York his term of three years having expired. On his return home crossing the Delaware River the canoe upset, and he lost his knapsack, discharges and clothing afterwards applicant went as a substitute for his brother George Bowerman, who was drafted for two months as applicant believes, to fight the Shawnee Indians.
   Applicant was mustered into service in Captain Wyrick’s Company under Col. Esterman’s Command, marched up the west branch of the Susquehanna River, fought and defeated the Indians below and near Long Island; then returned to Sunbury and was there again honorably discharged, but this discharge is also lost ---- Applicant has no discharge or documentary evidence, nor does he know of any person by whom he can prove his services. He never received any pay or certificate therefore and cannot at this distant day give any further or more satisfactory account of his services than is herin before sstated---- He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or an annuity except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency of any state.
   
   Sworn to and Subscribed (Signed) Peter Bowerman
   This day and year first
   Aforesaid---
   Danl. D. Fonte. Clerk
   
   Courtesy of Dorothy Bowerman Fleischhauer.
3. [S506] Note: *Peter actually enlisted in January, 1776.
   1. Peter’s company, commanded at that time by Capt. Thomas Craig, arrived at the American camp outside Quebec by May 6, just in time to join in the retreat from their siege of the city.
   2. This was at Sorel, where the Richelieu (Sorel) River empties into the St Lawrence. Peter was probably with the detachment that was left behind at Three Rivers while the rest of the Army went on to Sorel, but they ran so low on provisions there that they had to retreat to Sorel, as well.
   3. The attack on Three Rivers was a tremendous defeat for the Americans. They were badly outnumbered on the ground, and were also under fire by British ships. Hundreds of their soldiers were killed, lost, or captured, and the retreat back to Sorel took several days, with no food or supplies along the way. The Army finally settled at Ticonderoga a month later. During that time they had little shelter or food, and roughly 3500 of them had smallpox, dysentery, or malaria. Many died.
   4. Thomas Craig was a Lieutenant Colonel by then; Rudolph Bunner was the next commander of Peter’s company. In 1776, Peter’s unit was the 2^nd Pennsylvania Battalion, the next year it was made the 3^rd Pennsylvania Regiment. Peter served under a number of company commanders while he was in the 2^nd/3^rd. Thomas Craig was promoted Colonel of the regiment the next summer, and commanded it for the rest of the war. That may be why Peter remembered him.
   5. Peter’s “several places not remembered” included the Battles of Short Hills, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth Courthouse, and the winter at Valley Forge. Later he fought at the Battles of Connecticut Farms/Springfield.
   6. The attack on Stony Point was made in July, 1779, by the Light Infantry under General Anthony Wayne. The Light Infantry, like the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard, was an elite unit of hand-picked men. Peter must have been quite a soldier.
   7. Muster Rolls for April & May, 1780, confirm Peter’s service in the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard, often referred to by the soldiers as “the Life Guard”.
   8. The Blockhouse at Bergen or Bulls Ferry—another of General Anthony Wayne’s exploits. Losses were actually about 60, heavy for a skirmish, but not as bad as Peter remembered.
   9. These men were sentenced to hang on June 18, 1780.
   10. The Army was at Hackensack in the fall, but one source says Peter deserted on Aug 19, 1780, the same days the C-in-C Guards held their muster. Was he traveling between units? I haven’t been able to find out.
   11. Capt Wyrick was under Colonel Hosterman’s command in the Northumberland Co., PA militia.
   12. Long Island in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, not Long Island, NY. Peter also served in the militia in TN.
   Courtesy of Dorothy Bowerman Fleischhauer.
4. [S506] Note: Marriage records for Peter's daughters and their husbands is the Knox County Chancery Court Docket and also in the Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 found on Ancestry.com. [Courtesy of Dorothy Bowerman Fleischhauer 4/20/2012].
5. [S506] Note: TNGenWeb – Blount County, Tennessee: Will Abstract of Peter Bowerman: Date of Will – 3 May 1835; Children – Henry Bowerman, Michael Bowerman, Jefferson Hoover Bowerman, Sallie Bowerman; Witmnesses – Alexander Ish, Jacob Ligenfelter; Souorce: Moore, John Trotwood, Records of Blount County, Tennessee, Wills, [Nashville, Tenn.?]: Works Progress Administration, 1937 -
   http://tngenwebblount.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/…
   [Compiler Note: A copy of this will needs to be found to verify this & get additional information. klm].