Charles Hulett served as a drummer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. After being captured following the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, he enlisted with the British Army. However, he later deserted and rejoined the Continental Army under Nathanael Greene. The document examines Hulett's military service in detail, including his experiences in various battles and campaigns in New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia. It also discusses the pension Hulett received late in life for his Revolutionary War service.

1. Saber and Scroll
LectureSeries
April28,2016

2. CHARLES
HULETT,
Continental
Army Drummer
A Revolutionary Life
Re-examined
Presented by Anne Midgley

3. Introduction
While the historiography of the War
for American Independence is vast,
the unique experiences of an
individual soldier are not commonly
studied—even recent “war and
society” studies look at the
experiences of groups of people.
To appreciate the cataclysmic effect of
America’s first large-scale civil war
on the people of the country, it is
helpful to follow a common soldier
through the ordeals of war.
Cover image: Yankee Doodle, Oil on canvas by A. M. Willard, c. 1875.
Drawing of a member of the Stockbridge Militia by Johann Von Ewald, 1778. 3

4. In one version of the story . . .
• The British captured Hulett following the
June 1778 Battle of Monmouth
Courthouse.
• They “carried [Hulett] in captivity to the
West Indies.”
• Hulett enlisted with the British to escape
the “horrors of his imprisonment.”
• Hulett enlisted with the British as a
musician and accompanied their return to
the United States.
• He deserted to re-join the ranks of the
Continental Army under Nathanael
Greene.
U. S. Pensioners, 1818-1872, Virginia, Act 1832, National Archives and Records Administration, via Ancestry.com; Charles Hulett pension file no. S. 9592, New Jersey. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and
Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, National Archives and Records Administration, Ancestry.com database.
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5. Hulett and the Northern Campaign: New Jersey State troops
[Hulett] was attached to Captain Neil’s company of New Jersey Artillery and served with it in its hard fought
battles at . . . Princeton, where it was almost cut to pieces after the fall of its commander (from his obituary – May
1835)
• By 1775, the New Jersey Whigs controlled the province and had ousted any militia
officers with Loyalist leanings.
• Charles Hulett joined the New Jersey militia in 1776, when he turned sixteen.
• In 1776, New Jersey established state troops—known as the “New Jersey Levies,”
or “Five Months’ Levies,” when the Provincial Congress authorized two artillery
companies.
5
• Hulett’s first experience
of war was as a matross,
or gunner’s mate, in the
Eastern Company of
Artillery, under the
command of Captain
Daniel Neil.
Mary Mapes Dodge, George Washington directing the artillery at the Battle of Trenton, St. Nicholas an Illustrated
Magazine for Young Folks (New York, New York: The Century Co., 1886)

6. Hulett and the Northern Campaign: Battle of Princeton
• The January 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton followed on the heels of Washington’s success
against the Hessians on Christmas Day, 1776 at Trenton, New Jersey.
• During the American’s move toward the British garrison at Princeton, British troops under
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood encountered an American brigade led by General
Hugh Mercer, and a pitched battle ensued.
• Despite being outnumbered more than two-to-one, the British fought ferociously. Their
bayonet charge nearly routed the Americans.
6
• Blood was everywhere and flowed in
rivulets across the frozen ground.
• Mercer ordered a retreat, then fell to a
British shot.
• The Americans wavered and nearly
crumbled before the furious British
attack.
• Washington arrived on the scene with
reinforcements and stemmed the rebel
retreat.
The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton oil on canvas by John Trumbull, 1831.

7. Hulett and the Northern Campaign: Battle of Monmouth
[He] enlisted in Captain Nichols Company . . . first Regiment of
New Jersey . . . on 7 May 1778. He was engaged in the battle of
Monmouth and was wounded in the leg and then or soon after
taken prisoner (from August 1845 pension request)
• New Jersey turned to conscription to fill the
quota of men they owed to the continental war
effort.
• Drafted into service, Hulett joined Captain
Isaac Morrison’s company of the 1st New
Jersey Regiment, commanded by Col.
Matthias Ogden, as a nine-month in May
1778.
• Hulett served the first eight months of his
enlistment as a drummer and his final month
as a private.
• Neither his service cards from May 1778 to
February 1779 nor his company’s muster rolls
indicate that Hulett was injured, or captured
by the British.
7

8. Britain’s World War
British General John Burgoyne’s surrender of his army at Saratoga on 17 October 1777 played a crucial role in
the war. His defeat led directly to the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between France and the former American
mainland colonies of Britain in 1778—and Britain lost its singular focus on subduing the American revolt
• Britain turned its attention to
defending its holdings in places as
distant as Minorca, Gibraltar,
India and the British West Indies
while also protecting the home
islands from the threat of French
invasion.
• The British West Indies were
scattered across the Caribbean
and included Jamaica, Britain’s
most valuable island colony.
• Britain’s Bahaman Islands lay to
the northeast of Cuba. The
majority of Britain’s island
colonies lay far to the east, in the
Lesser Antilles.
8
A new & accurate map of the West Indies and the adjacent parts of North & South America, J. Hinton, 1755. Library of
Congress Geography and Map Division.

9. Britain’s World War
The expanding conflict led Britain to expand its recruiting of provincial soldiers. Reforms undertaken in
December 1778 “put the Provincial Establishment . . . ‘upon the most liberal footing.’” These changes
significantly improved the terms of service offered to provincial officers and enlisted men.
• New Jersey had a significant proportion of
Loyalists. It had been a battleground for over
three years following Trenton and Princeton.
• A “war within a war” raged in New Jersey as
raids and skirmishes occurred between the
Loyalists troops stationed at Staten Island
and various New Jersey rebel militias.
• Similar to events in South Carolina, the civil
war in New Jersey made neutrality an
impossibility.
• Many Hulett/Hewlet families resided in New
Jersey and New York. A number appear as
Loyalists.
• It is possible that family influence played
some role in Charles Hulett’s choice to enlist
with the New Jersey Volunteers on 1 April
1780.
9
The Province of New Jersey, divided into East and West, commonly
called the Jerseys. Engraved & published by Wm. Faden, 1778.

10. Hulett and the New Jersey Volunteers
10
• Two months after donning the red coat of
the Volunteers, sometimes referred to as
“Skinner’s Greens,” Hulett faced the harsh
reality of civil war in New Jersey.
• Hessian Lieutenant General Baron Wilhelm
von Knyphausen, a seasoned veteran, in
command of the troops remaining in New
York City and its environs.
• Knyphausen launched an invasion of New
Jersey on 6 June 1780.
• The combined force of British, Hessians,
and Loyalists that he brought from Staten
Island to New Jersey outnumbered the
Americans by nearly a two to one margin.
• Knyphausen’s force of more than six
thousand men included the New Jersey
Volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel
Joseph Barton.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library.
"Wilhelm von Knyphausen, Baron." New York Public Library Digital Collections.

11. Hulett and the New Jersey Volunteers
11
• Battles—including the Battle of
Connecticut Farms and the Battle of
Springfield—occurred over a two-
week period from 7 June to 23 June,
following Knyphausen’s advance
into New Jersey.
• Rebels, led by Nathanael Greene,
understood the urgency of the
situation; if the British won through
to Morristown, they would likely
defeat the smaller Continental Army
and seize the Americans’ supply of
ammunition and artillery.
• Hulett and the Volunteers set off to attack the Americans defending the Vauxhall
Bridge. Here Hulett came face to face with his old Continental Army commander,
Colonel Ogden, and the men of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment of the Continental Army.
• Knyphausen’s troops did not re-engage the Americans; rather they set fire to the houses
in Springfield. As the Americans battled the conflagration, the British retreated.
The Battle of Springfield, John Ward Dunsmore, 1908.

12. Hulett and the Southern Campaign
• On 25 August 1780, Hulett subsequently
transferred to Captain James Shaw's Light
Infantry Company, which became part of the
new corps of Provincial Light Infantry,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John
Watson Tadswell Watson.
• The light infantry battalion included men from a
number of provincial units. Watson’s light
infantry became part of the force that Clinton
assigned to General Alexander Leslie.
• Clinton dispatched Leslie with 2,500 troops to
the Chesapeake Bay area to “make a diversion
in favor of . . . Cornwallis.”
• Leslie and his men landed at Hampton Roads,
Virginia on 20 October 1780.
• The British loss at King’s Mountain, which
occurred just days before had destroyed the
British left flank.
British Lt. General Alexander Leslie, by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1775.
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13. Hulett and the Southern Campaign
• Cornwallis sent transport ships to hurry Leslie
and his men to Charleston, where they arrived
on 14 December.
• Cornwallis placed Watson and the light infantry
under the command of Colonel Francis, Lord
Rawdon.
• Watson became responsible to protect the “lines
of communication within the eastern district of
the province along the Santee River.”
13
Francis Rawdon, 1st Marquess of Hasting and 2nd Earl of Moira, by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1783-1784.

14. Hulett and the Southern Campaign
• Unfortunately, for Watson and his men, that
placed them in the region where Colonel
Francis Marion operated.
• Marion—the “Swamp Fox”—carried out an
extensive guerilla war against the British
• The British defeat at Cowpens on 17 January
1781 set Cornwallis racing after Daniel
Morgan to regain his captured troops.
• Leslie and approximately 1,500 crack troops
joined Cornwallis.
• After the British pyrrhic victory at the Battle
of Guilford Courthouse on 15 March 1781,
Nathanael Greene, moved south to attack and
destroy the British in their isolated posts.
14
• Rawdon was left in command of the scattered British forces in South Carolina,
including Watson and the Provincial Light Infantry.
• Watson and his men had numerous clashes with the guerrilla forces of both
Marion and Thomas Sumter.
Francis Marion, Library of Congress.

15. Hulett and the Southern Campaign: Battle of Hobrick’s Hill
Nathanael Greene and his men clashed with Rawdon on 20 April 1781 at the Battle of Hobrick’s Hill, another
dearly bought British victory
• Marion and Lieutenant Colonel
Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee
besieged the small command that
Watson left behind at Fort Watson.
The garrison yielded to its
attackers after a nine-day siege.
• Meanwhile, Watson and his men
encountered significant delays as
they marched to aid Rawdon. They
forded numerous streams and
swamps, pausing to build a sixty-
foot bridge to ford one of the
rivers.
15
• They did not reach Rawdon at Hobrick’s Hill. When they joined Rawdon, the British
evacuated Camden. The Provincial Light Infantry, now reduced in ranks from the
incessant small battles and skirmishes, accompanied Rawdon’s pullback.
• The American forces continued to pick off the British outposts. Those fell until only a
few remained. Greene moved his army west to attack Ninety Six.
Battle of Hobrick’s Hill, F. C. Yohn, 1898.

16. Hulett and the Southern Campaign: Siege of Ninety Six
• Loyalist Colonel John Harris Cruger and
his men conducted a spirited defense of
Ninety Six, sallying forth on a number of
occasions to engage in bayonet attacks on
the besieging forces.
• Cruger held out until 18 June.
• Greene and his men retreated, alarmed
that Rawdon and a sizable force under his
command, including the Provincial Light
Infantry, was rapidly approaching to
relieve the fort.
• Rawdon, realizing it was impossible to
adequately protect Ninety Six, ordered the
town torched and evacuated its Loyalist
citizens.
16
Battlefields may be significant under National Register Criterion C for the presence of important examples of military
fortifications. Shown here are the ruins of the British Star Fort and Patriot siege lines laid out by the brilliant Polish military
engineer, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, at Ninety Six in Greenwood County, South Carolina. These are rare surviving examples of 18th
century military constructions (Photo by Ninety Six National Historic Site). U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service.

17. Hulett and the Southern Campaign: Summer 1781
• Campaigning through the heat, humidity, and disease-ridden swamps of South
Carolina had ruined Rawdon’s health.
• Rawdon sailed for Britain in July 1781, replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander
Stewart.
• Watson moved north to re-join British Commander in Chief Henry Clinton.
• The men of the Provincial Light Infantry to supplement Stewart’s command.
• On 8 September 1781, Greene attacked Stewart at Eutaw Springs.
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18. Hulett and the Southern Campaign: Battle of Eutaw Springs
• The Provincial Light Infantry engaged in the
battle as part of the reserve force attached to
Captain John Coffin and as part of the light
infantry assigned to Major John Majoribanks.
• Stewart’s men numbered about two thousand,
and included both British regulars and
provincial troops.
• Greene’s men totaled a bit more, about twenty-
four hundred, included Continentals, state
troops, and militia.
• Greene described the battle that followed as the
most obstinate fight he ever saw; officers on
each side fought “hand to hand and sword to
sword.”
18
• The battle decimated the Provincial Light Infantry. It suffered 48 casualties of the 108 men it
fielded that day.
• Hulett’s captain, James Shaw, died in Charleston on from wounds he suffered at the battle.
• Hulett became a prisoner-of-war.
One of the bloodiest battles of the war,
it ended with yet another pyrrhic
British victory. Stewart’s losses
approached fifty percent of his men.
The British suffered 85 killed, over 350
wounded, and 430 missing.
Battle of Eutaw Springs, Alonso Chappel, 1856.

19. Appendix
19

20. RevolutionaryWar Pension Highlights
• James Monroe’s First Annual Message to Congress contained an appeal to act on behalf of
poor and aging Revolutionary war veterans. It resulted in the Pension Act of 1818.
• Act allowed any “officer, soldier, mariner, or marine who had served for at least nine months in a
Continental line or served until the war ended and was in ‘reduced circumstances’” to collect a
pension, provided that “testimony of service and an oath of indigency” was made before a court
• It excluded men who had seen service solely as members of the militia
• Costs of the program ballooned far beyond projections as nearly fifteen times the number of
expected pensioners filed claims.
• An 1820 amendment suspended all pensions until claimants proved their poverty before a
court official—only the most poverty-stricken veterans could obtain a pension.
• A 1823 revision expanded the asset test eligibility to veterans with estates not in excess of
$300.
• The War Department raised the amount to $960 in 1828.
• Pension Bill of 1832 removed a means test and broadened eligibility to include members of
the state troops and militia.
• July 1838, Congress further extended the pension act to provide half pay and pensions to
widows, who married Revolutionary War veterans prior to January 1794.
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21. Hulett Pension Highlights
• Charles Hulett collected a military pension under the
provisions of the Pension Act of 1832 until his death
in 1835.
• His half-year allowance was $16.50, and payments
occurred each September and March on a semi-
annual basis from September 1831 to March 1835.
• This initial pension was based on Hulett’s service in
the New Jersey state troops, which served with the
Continental Army beginning in 1776 and participated
in the Battle of Princeton.
• A Certificate of Pension written on 12 November
1845 notes that Charles Hulett, deceased, of
Frederick, Virginia “was a musician in the company
commanded by Captain Neil of the Regiment
commanded by Colonel Van Dyke in the New Jersey
line for 9 months.”
• It further reflects a half-quarter payment in 1846 and
a final half payment in 1850.
U. S. Pensioners, 1818-1872, Virginia, Act 1832, National Archives and Records Administration, via
Ancestry.com; Charles Hulett pension file no. S. 9592, New Jersey. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension
and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, National Archives and Records
Administration, Ancestry.com database.
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