SIXTH PENNSYLVANIA BATTALION Penna. Archives, Fifth Series, Vol. II; pp. 194-198. 1776 - This battalion was raised under authority of a resolution of Congress, dated January 4, 1776: "That an additional battalion be raised in the county of Cumberland, in the Colony of Penn- sylvania to consist of the same number of men and officers and to have the same pay and allowance, as the others raised in the said Colony." On the 8th, field officers were recommended, and line officers chosen by the Council of Safety, and on the 10th, the field officers were elected by Congress. The commissions of the company officers, with few exceptions, are dated on the 9th, with rank in the order of their names. Six companies were to be raised in Cumberland, and two in York county, according to a subsequent arrangement. On the 22d of March Col. Irvine writes from Carlisle, to John Hancock, President of Congress: "Sir: I am honored with your orders to march my battallion to New York, which shall be complled with all possible expedition. * * * Many of the arms are old, and want bayonets and other re- pairs. However, I shall not wait for bayonets, as I hope to be supplied at Philadelphia or New York. I have been obliged to pur- hase many rifles, but they, I presume, may be changed for muskets, should the service require it; knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, and many other necessaries the commissioners promised to forward for my battallon, are not yet come to hand. Though I do not mean to wait for them, yet I think it proper to acquaint you, as perhaps your further orders may be necessary. He states the total of his non-commissioned officers, and pri- vates to be seven hundred and ten, aggregate of the battalion, seven hundred and forty-one. On the 11th of May it was at Albany, under the command of Gen. Sullivan, numbering in the aggregate seven hundred and thirty-five. The details of the services of the Sixth battalion being necessarily embraced to a large extent in the historical note to the Second battalion, it is only necessary to make reference thereto, and to supplement them by the following journal of Col. William Irvine of the Sixth: "June 7th, 1776. - Col. Irvine's regiment, and three companies of Col. Wayne's embarked in batteaus at Sorrell, under the command of Gen. Thompson, and proceeded to Nicollet, where we found, and were joined by Col. St. Clair, who had almost seven hundred men under his command. "June 8th. - Crossed the river to Point de Lac; the pilot de- ceived us, for his orders were to steer to within four miles of Trois Riviere. Point de lac is nine miles. Notwithstanding this disappoint- ment we marched with all possible expedition for Trois Riviere; but here our misfortune began. Our guide led us quite out of the way into a swamp, which was sufficient to engulf a thousand men. Before we got disentangled from this dreadful place daylight appeared, so that in- stead of attacking the town of Trois Riviere before day (as was designed) we found ourselves three or four miles from it. Here we were at a loss what to do; had no intelligence of the strength of the garrison; to attack was hazardous, and to retreat without knowing the enemy's strength, we could not think of, therefore marched on. "The river now on our right about fifty yards, we were soon dis- covered, and were saluted by the men-of-war. They fired incessantly while we marched about three-quarters of a mile; here we inclined to a wood on our left, in order to avoid the fire(?) from the shipping, but avoiding one evil we fell into a greater; for we now entered into a swamp, which I suppose to be four miles over. Nature, perhaps, never formed a place better calculated for the destruction of an army. It was impossible to preserve any order of march, nay, it became at last so difficult, and then men so fatiqued, that their only aim was how to get extricated; many of the men had lost their shoes, and some their boots. "At length, about seven o'clock, some officers reached one extreme of the swamp, a few went forward to reconnoiter, brought account back that they saw clear ground and horses at a little more than a quarter of a mile. Then Col. St. Clair, Lieut. Col. Allen, and myself, with a few other officers, strove to draw the men up in some order, which we found impracticable. The General then got up with us, and ordered as many as could be collected, to move forward to the cleared ground, there to form, which was accordingly done with as much expedition as could be expected from men worn down with fatigue, and who were exquisitely thirsty and faint. A few moments after we were formed, the General ordered the whole body to move on, in order to join Col. Maxwell's division of whom we had no account of from our first entry into the swamp, but from a soldier, who said he saw some men about a half mile in front. "A brisk firing then began, which we took to be Maxwell's party. Gen. Thompson then ran towards the front, the firing increased, and seemed very hot. The General sent word to me to send forward the rifle- men of my regiment, but they being chiefly in the rear could not get up as soon as he or I wished. Those of them belonging to the companies then in front, I ordered to turn out and march in Indian file, passing the word for the rear to follow in the same order. I then advanced in front and joined the General, but by this time Maxwell's division was entirely broken and retreating in such disorder, that there was no pos- sibility of rallying them. "Gen. Thompson then ordered us to retreat fifty paces into the woods where he and I used every argument we were masters of to collect and engage the men to make a stand, but our utmost efforts were in vain; not more than about forty men could be got together, an« before this was done a minute, the communication between us and our main body was entirely cut off. The General, Lieut. Bird, and Myself were the only officers now together. "When we were consulting what was best to be done with our small party, we were fired on from all quarters by the Canadians, who were in ambush and skulking in the bushes. We then retreated, in hopes to fall in with some of our people; but the further we marched, instead of our numbers increasing, they decreased, for in less than ten minutes we mustered but seven in all. The whole day we marched through swamps and thickets alternately, without any kind of refreshments, except stagnant water, of which we drank freely. "We heard a great deal of firing all day, both great guns and small arms: the latter were sometimes very near us. In the evening we hoped we were nearly opposite where we expected our boats to be. We halted, to rest and consult what was best to be done, when we suddenly were alarmed by a brick firing where we expected our boats to be, and by which we hoped to escape. The firing we supposed to be on the party with the boats. This nearly destroyed every hope of getting off; we then concluded to lie by till after dark and push a few miles up the river, where there appeared a possibility of finding a canoe, in which we might cross. "About eleven P. M. we marched again four miles, when we discovered a sentry. Knowing then there must be a party of soldiers near, we took a road to our left, in hopes to get past; but now we got into another swamp, which caused our entire overthrow. In short, we waded and wandering here until near daylight; our strength and spirits being now nearly exhausted, we made a fire, lay down and slept about an hour. In the meantime a soldier of our party was dispatched to endeavor to discover the strength and situation of the enemy. At daylight he returned with the disagreeable intelligence that we were quite surrounded, and no way left to get out; to confirm what he stated, we soon saw small parties of soldiers and Canadians dispatched on all sides, who began to fire on stragglers. "Gen. Thompson, Bird and I then concluded it would be better to deliver ourselves up to British oflicers, than to run tbe risk of being murdered in the woods by Canadians. Indeed we were so exhausted as to be unable to march further; accordlngly we went up to a house where we saw a guard, and surrendered ourselves prisoners at discretion. "Col. Nesbit commanded here, by whom we were cruelly treated. His party marched hence for Trois Riviere; a strong guard marched with the whole of the prisoners. Gen. Thompson and I had the honor of being marched for six miles in the common crowd, without further distinction than being placed near the front. The commanding officers would neither allow us horses or a carriage, though we requested it, and represented to him our miserable condition. Notwithstanding, we were hurried off in a few minutes, and pushed exceedingly fast for six miles, when we arrived at headquarters. "Generals Carleton and Burgoyne were both here, who treated us very politely. They ordered us refreshments immediately; indeed Gen. Burgoyne served us himself. We were then ordered in a boat, and put under the conduct of one officer only, Lieut. Wilkinson of the Sixty-second, an exceedingly genteel young man, whom we wish to be able to serve. Now went on board a transport ship in the river. "10th. - Reshipped in another. "12th. - Lieut. Wilkinson relieved by an officer of marines and party. "13th. - Gen. Thompson and Mr. Bird ordered on board Blonde ship-of-war. "14th. - I was taken on board the Triton, likewise a king's ship-of-war. "25th. - Ordered to Quebec. Gen. T., Lieut. Bird and I were then transferred to the Union transport." A return dated Ticonderoga, October 20, 1776, has officers present, one lieutenant colonel, two majors, adjutant, quarter master, surgeon and mate. In Capt. Smith's company, all officers present; four sergeants, two drums and fife, thirty privates fit for duty, nineteen sick present, six sick absent, and three in command. Capt. Hay's company; one captain, one ensign, two sergeants, two drums and fifes, twenty- seven privates fit for duty, twenty-six sick present, two sick absent, three on command. Capt. Talbot's company; one captain, one second lieutenant, one ensign, one sergeant, one drum, thirty privates fit for duty, twenty-six sick present, three sick absent, two in command. Capt. Rippey's company; captain, first lieutenant and ensign, two sergeants, two drum and fife, twenty-nine privates fit for duty, twenty-two sick present, eight sick absent, one in command, five artificers. Of McClean's company; two sergeants, two drum and fife, thirty-five privates fit for duty, ftfteen sick present, six absent, five in command. Capt. Wilson's company; one second lieutenant, one ensign, four sergeants, two drum and fife, thirty-nine privates fit for duty, ten sick present, two sick absent, and two in command. Capt. Alexander's company; captain and ensign, one sergeant, one drum and fife, twenty-two privates fit for duty, twenty-five s1ck present, seven sick absent, four artificers. Capt. Bush's company; captain, first lieutenant, and ensign, three sergeants, one drum and fife, thirty- four privates fit for duty, eighteen sick present, three sick absent, four in command. Wanting to complete; two sergeants, one drum, one hundred and sixty-two privates; dead, one in Capt. Alexander's company, one discharged from Capt. Wilson's. Prisoners with the enemy. Col. William Irvine, First Lieutenant John Edie, captured June 8, at Three Rivers. Capt. Moses McClean, Second Lieut. Abdiel McAllister, Second Lieutenant John Hoge, First Lieut. Samuel McFerran, captured at Isle Aux Noix, June 21. Capt. James A. Wilson, First Lieut. John Grier, captured at Grande Isle, July 24. Five officers sick present, eleven sergeants sick, one drummer in command. N. B. Seventy-eight of the men in column wanting to complete, were killed or taken prisoner at the Three Rivers. Two sergeants and sixteen privates were taken at Grand Isle, 24 July. One corporal missing since 13th of October. Ensign Thomas McCoy, who was thought to be killed, and in whose place Mr. King was appointed, is yet alive, and at St. John's. This battalion reached Carlisle on its return March 15, 1777. and was re-enlisted for three years, or the war, as the Seventh Pennsylvania of the Continental Line.