A PENNSYLVANIA MAN'S ACCOUNT OF HIS REVOLUTIONARY WAR SERVICE, INCLUDING IN COL. PROCTER'S ARTILLERY, ON BOARD PENNSYLVANIA PRIVATEERS, AND AS A POW ON THE INFAMOUS HMS JERSEY PRISON SHIP

...we were taken by a British Frigate called the Empheon and I and the whole crew were then taken to New York and there put On board the Prison Ship called the Jersey and their severely Ill treated, and Indeed almost put to starvation their I remained about 3 weeks & about four days. Then endeavoiered to make my escape from on board the said prison ship....

Autograph statement of service by Christian Miller (ca 1757-1845?), formerly a private in the Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery (later known as Procter's Continental Artillery Regiment and the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment), and a crew member aboard multiple privateers. POW British Prison Ship HMS Jersey. N.p. [Reading, Berks County, PA?], n.d. [ca 1785 - late 1790s]. 2p, 7 7/8 x 12 1/2 in.

Miller's statement opens: "Christian Miller the 2d late a private in the Armey of the United States in the Revolutionary War Enlisted in the borough of Lancaster 1777 early in the Spring of the aforementioned year in the Company of Artilly Commanded by Captain Duffy & Received the bounty of twenty dollars of Lieutenant Aims said Enlistment was for 3 years or during the War & belonged to the Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillry Comanded by Colonel Thomas Procter and continued in said service in the same company until the 16th day of January AD 1781 and at the escperation of said servitude Received an Honourable discharge and which said discharge was signed by Brigadier General Anthony Wain...." 

From there, Miller provides details of his service, including dramatic exploits on board multiple privateers and reference to his time as a prisoner of war. He writes, in part: "...was in the Battle of Brandywine in Sept 1777 after at the Battle of Germ[antown] in October 1777 ...AD 1781 in the Spring of the same year I entered on Board of the Ship Menerva carried 20 Guns under the command of the Capt Earl then at Philadelphia on the passage we Engaged One of the Enemys brigs carried 12 Guns she struck and we took her as a prize She was from Liverpool Laden with dry Goods bound to Charlestown and said prize we sailed to Havanna were the Captain disposed of the Goods..." Miller continues identifying his service on board various vessels: the Brig Flame under the command of Captain Nixon McClanaghan bound for Philadelphia, when they were run aground on a sand bar at night losing their ship and cargo. Then on the 20-Gun Ship called the Royal Lewis commanded by Captain Stephen Decatur sailing from Philadelphia during which voyage they took four prizes, until meeting with a British frigate and "finding her to be of superior by 20 Guns we were Obliged to lighten our ship by heaveing over board 18 of our Guns" then arrived safely in Philadelphia; departed again after re-outfitting the ship with "the usual Number of Guns" and sailed four days before being taken by the British Frigate "Empheon" [likely HMS Amphion], taken to New York City, and put on board the prison ship HMS Jersey where he was "severely Ill treated, and Indeed almost put to starvation...."

Miller's characterization of the ill treatment and near starvation he endured while on board the prison ship Jersey coincides with contemporary prisoner of war accounts from survivors of incarceration there. An estimated 1100 men were confined on board a ship designed to hold 400 men, resulting in insufficient rations, cramped and unsanitary conditions, widespread disease, and a horrific death rate amongst those held captive. Miller does not detail how he was able to make his escape from the notorious prison, only stating that he effected it "by the help of providence." Making his way from New York to Philadelphia, he fell sick in Germantown due to his "Ill treatment" and was confined for five months to his bed making his recovery. Remarkably, Miller recounts how he set out again from Philadelphia as a sailor on a privateer, this time on board the "Ship Trooper Captain Howel [Howe]" bound for St. Thomas. On this, Miller's last voyage, they narrowly escaped a British frigate "of a very superior force" before arriving at Baltimore and "peace was declared."

Miller's statement concludes with an expression of his desire to be compensated for his service: "...haveing understood that I am entitled a certain share of Land particularly appropriated by the Acts of Assembly for the use of the Old Soldiers who fought in the Armey of the United States in the Revolutionary War .I therefore Humbly ask the attention of the Legislature to grant me my share of Land...your Petitioner is Thankfull to his Country for the fare sum he has already received from his Country." The last lines of the manuscript begin to explain that "the situation in which your petitioner is at present placed induces him to call on his Country for the Land...your petitioner owes to Mark I Bid [end document]" suggesting that a final portion of this statement of service may be missing.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly granted Revolutionary War bounty lands, known as Donation Lands, to officers and soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line who served until the end of the war. The Donation Lands Act was passed in March 1785 by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, granting tracts ranging from 200-500 acres of land depending on rank in a designated territory in western Pennsylvania. Seeking to claim his portion of the bounty lands, Christian Miller inked this amazing testimonial to his years in service of the United States. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments (1996) lists a Private Christian Miller of Pennsylvania as receiving 200 acres, an amount that would correspond appropriately to his rank. Pension records for Miller from 1818 corroborate the specific details of service offered here, and include a Bounty Land Record Card indicating that Miller assigned 100 of his acres to John Klein in the 1790s, perhaps opting to monetize land for immediate cash in the post-war years as had many veterans of the war. This aligns with the suggestion at the end of the manuscript that Miller was in need of funds for debts owed.           

This document is an extraordinary testimonial of a young man who served his country on land and sea and experienced tremendous personal peril. Miller is listed among the non-commissioned officers and privates of the Pennsylvania Regiment of Artillery, with an enlistment date of 1 January 1777 and discharge at Trenton 15 January 1781. Regimental rolls for the 4th Artillery Regiment Continental Troops specifically list Miller as a "Matross" in Captain-Lieutenant Patrick Duffy's Company of Colonel Thomas Procter's Regiment of Artillery. Procter's Pennsylvania Artillery Company was engaged in one form or another in most of the major battles of the Revolutionary War, including at Brandywine and Germantown as referenced by Miller. The regiment wintered at Valley Forge during the perilous winter of 1777-1778 only to go on to engagements at Monmouth, Green Spring, and the Siege of Yorktown. Miller's subsequent service on board well-known Philadelphia-based privateers is an interesting turn for a young man who had already served a three-year enlistment. He may have been enticed into the dangerous waters by the prospect of the lucrative "prize system" which enabled successful privateers to earn far more than a Navy sailor or Army soldier. As Miller's statement makes clear, the dangers of privateering were very real, and the cost for those unfortunate enough to be captured were high.

A fascinating account of one Revolutionary War soldier's service.

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America] [Maritime, Privateers]

Scattered losses particularly along the folds, sometimes affecting text. Some text faint. Expected age, wear, and toning. Apparently incomplete.