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gracehosborn · 19 hours ago

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A Short Biography of James Gilliland Because If I Don’t Talk About Him I May Go Insane

This man. This man is a SHINING example of why I want to create a companion anthology to The American Icarus full of interesting short stories or scenes I can’t include in the main narrative.

Let me explain—under the cut because this got LONG! No apologies whatsoever.

James Gilliland was married and had a number of children (exact number is unclear) prior to joining the war effort. [x] Evidently, he helped run a “a mercantile and mathematics school” (though… The Papers of George Washington editors don’t source this claim?). [x] Of joining the war effort, Gilliland later recalled that “upon the enemies Approach to N[ew] York I retreated from thence with my family & what part of my effects I could find time & opportunity of bringing off: enter’d the Service as [Lieutenant] in Col[onel] A[lexander] Hamilton’s Comp[an]y [of] Artillery.”

Indeed, on March 14. 1776, Gilliland was appointed 2nd Lieutenant of the New York Provincial Company of Artillery, headed by Alexander Hamilton. [x]

I would assume, due to having already started a family, that James Gilliland was slightly older than his ~19-year old captain, however I haven’t found definitive proof of his age as of writing this.

On August 12, 1776, Captain Hamilton wrote to the Convention of the Representatives of the State of New York that “there is at present a vacancy in my company, arising from the promotion of Lieutenant Johnson to a captaincy in one of the row-gallies, (which command, however, he has since resigned, for a very particular reason.).” Hamilton requested that 1st Sergeant Thomas Thompson be promoted to the vacant lieutenant spot, which would result in the “advance of Mr. Gilleland [sic] and Mr. Bean” in rank to fix the issue. Thus, on August 15, Thomas Thompson and James Gilliland were given promotions. [x]

Below are illustrated depictions of an officer in the general uniform of Hamilton’s company, and a sergeant in the company’s winter dress:

Source: Smith, Digby; Kiley, Kevin F. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of The American War For Independence, 1775-1783 Lorenz Books, 2008, pg. 121.

James Gilliland was with the company through the summer and fall of 1776, participating in many of the company’s happenings (for a much more detailed discussion of the company’s actions, please see this timeline). On October 21, Hamilton recorded in his company pay book that Gilliland was paid “Cash.” No other entries were made on his page spread, which does raise some questions.

Around December 4, 1776, Gilliland, “from domestic inconveniences, and other motives, resigned his Commission to General Washington” as Hamilton later explained. [x] Gilliland was not done with military service, however. Soon after, Gilliland became the director of ordinance of Fort Montgomery just south of West Point. His name appears on a list of officers dated in 1777 for the fort. I have included the document below, due to its being found on Ancestry.com (which I equally love and despise) and with the knowledge that I only have access to Ancestry’s library through my university. Is this what I should be utilizing that resource for? Probably not, but here we are.

Source: U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, New York: Willet's Regiment of Levies, 1781-1783, Folder 173, Subgroup: Various Organizations, Folder 181, pg. 619; Microfilm Publication M246, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93, National Archives And Records Administration. Digitized by Ancestry, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/records?recordId=1728379&collectionId=4282&tid=&pid=&queryId=6cca2cdf-dbdb-4a3c-9de8-f61e4bdb211d&_phsrc=Jgh152&_phstart=successSource

On October 6, 1777, Fort Montgomery and the nearby Fort Clinton were taken by British forces, resulting in Gilliland becoming a prisoner of war. It’s unclear as to when he was exchanged, unfortunately. As well as the conditions he experienced while a prisoner.

Fortunately for James Gilliland however, on March 13, 1779, while encamped at Middlebrook, New Jersey, General George Washington wrote in his General Orders that he wished for Gilliland and eleven others to report to headquarters as the group’s members were to be nominated to the companies of sappers and miners.

Months later, Gilliland was promoted to the captain-lieutenancy of Captain Bebee’s company of sappers and miners by way of Washington’s General Orders of August 2. [x] Gilliland served in this position until June of 1781, when in the General Orders of June 19, he was promoted to captain of one of the companies of sappers and miners. [x]

Below is an illustrated depiction of a private in the Company of Sappers and Miners, dated 1781. Although Gilliland was commissioned as a captain, he would have worn a similar uniform.

Source: Smith, Digby; Kiley, Kevin F. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of The American War For Independence, 1775-1783 Lorenz Books, 2008, pg. 123.

Unfortunately for James Gilliland, he revealed to George Washington in a letter of September 3, 1781, that his family’s situation was of great distress in light of his position as captain:

I should feel my self altogether Happy & Contented but for that load of distress with which I foresee my Family consisting of a wife & Eight small Children must be overwhelm’d, from not a Partial but a total want of the great essentials of their Support, Provisions & Firewood, to purchase which hitherto they have been under the disagreeable Necessity of Selling their Furniture, not even Excluding their Bedding, and all their Resourses in that way being now Exhausted, must depend upon the Cold hand of Charity for a Support during my absence unless an order is given for letting them draw four or five Rations of Provisions from the Commissary & an addequate quantity of Fuel from the Qr Master Genl at Newburgh where they now reside the value of these articles to be Stopped out of my Pay hereafter.

It’s so heartbreaking to see that after so many years had past, his family had to sell their possessions just to stay afloat.

Gilliland requested a hearing to have Washington “take my Case into Consideration & Grant such relief as in your po[wer]” however, there is no explicit indication that this was done.

James Gilliland was active at the siege of Yorktown, and in a full circle moment, he served under Alexander Hamilton in his corps who stormed Redoubt 10 the night of October 14, 1781. Hamilton wrote about Gilliland’s actions in a letter to the Marquis de Lafayette on October 15, simply stating that “Capt Gilliland with the detachment of sappers and miners acquitted themselves in a manner that did them great honor.”

The Yorktown campaign had taken a toll on Gilliland’s health, for a later letter (of August 3, 1782) reveals that Washington allowed for the captain to stay with his family over the winter of 1781-2 to recover from an illness that had been brought on by “the Fatigue I underwent during the course of that Campaign.” [x]

Alarmingly, Gilliland’s relationship with the officers of his company was so poor that he sought to explain the situation in the same August 1782 letter. His officers had “avowedly entered into a malicious combination to make my life unhappy whilst among them,” Gilliland claimed, “and thereby renders it impracticable for me to perform my duty in the manner I could wish.” The captain concluded that their motivation for doing so was simply “envy for some testimonials of approbation of my conduct at York Town, with which I was Honor’d” as well as Washington allowing Gilliland to stay with his family over the ensuing winter to recover from the campaign. He also noted that in June of 1781, having “relapsed into my former Illness,” he had been granted permission to “retiring into the Country, conformable to the Doctor’s advice.”

By October, Gilliland’s poor situation with his officers had not seen any significant change. In a latter of October 9, 1782 to Washington, Gilliland remarked that it would be “utterly incompatible with my felicity to continue longer amongst a Sett [sic] of Officers, combined against me either thro’ envy or from an unjustifiable ardency for promotion” with whom he could not maintain “that harmony which ever ought to Subsist Amongst Officers.” Gilliland also acknowledged that he had yet to receive part of his pay dating back to 1780 and another sum since 1778. Though “small in itself” this money was then “Essentially Necessary to the Support of my family, to whom I return pennyless after upwards of Seven years faithful Service.” Ultimately, Gilliland asked to retire from the Army as a result of the building circumstances against him.

After the war, James Gilliland found work in New York City as a “gauger” by 1789 as can be seen in the New York City Directory, and lived “near the Exchange.” [x] It is evident that this position was appointed by a petition Gilliland wrote on May 31, 1789, wherein he simply asks to continue in the post on account of his family’s financial needs.

Unfortunately, as far as I can find, James Gilliland’s paper trail stops here. What is extant however is absolutely fascinating, so naturally I couldn’t help but come here and rant about him.

Note: The links provided for the letters Gilliland wrote to Washington, and Washington’s General Orders are “Early Access Links.” This means that the permanent links have yet to be made for these documents, as the teams behind Founders Online are still in the process of digitizing the remaining volumes of The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series to the database. Eventually the links will break; I might forget to update this post and as such I have provided exact dates.

#grace’s random ramble #amrev #james gilliland #alexander hamilton #george washington #new york provincial company of artillery #sappers and miners #the american revolution #battle of yorktown #american history #historical alexander hamilton #historical resources #historical research #battle of the raritan river #amrev fandom

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