CERTIFYING SERVICE OF A SOLDIER IN THE CONNECTICUT LINE

Autograph document signed by Lt. Col. Ebenezer Gray. "Camp," 7 August 1782. 1 page, 8vo. Docketing to verso. 

A war-date document signed by Lt. Col. Ebenezer Gray of the 7th Connecticut Regiment. This document is addressed "To the Honourable Committee Pay-table Hartford" to "certify that David Bradley has served as a soldier in the 4th Connecticut Regiment..." 

When the Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, Gray (1743-1791) was in one of the first three companies from his native Windham County that was sent to participate in the Siege of Boston. From there, his military career only grew: He was commissioned lieutenant and quartermaster of the 2nd Company, 3rd Connecticut at the beginning of 1776, taking part in the New York and New Jersey Campaign. For his service in the Battle of Trenton, Gray was promoted to brigade major, then later major of the 6th Connecticut. On 15 October 1778, Gray received his last promotion as lieutenant colonel of the 7th Connecticut, a position he stayed in until his service ended in June 1783. 

It is unclear how Gray would have encountered this David Bradley, whom Gray attests was in a regiment he neither enlisted in nor commanded concurrently. According to the docketing — which says the 6th Connecticut became the 4th — and muster records, Bradley would have been in the 6th but only after Gray was major of the regiment. Interestingly, there is a record of a David Bradley on a pay table record for the 4th Connecticut from 20 September 1782 in the Museum of the American Revolution's Patriots of Color Archive, so perhaps Bradley was a Black soldier. 

An interesting Revolutionary War-era document. 

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]