Author: Gary Ashby
On the19th day of August 1833, Fielding Ashby personally appeared in open Court before Andrew Steele, William Gibson, William Force, and Washington Cailn, Justices composing the Oldham County, KY Court. Fielding was aged seventy years and a resident of Oldham County. He was seeking an order to obtain the benefit of the act of congress passed 7th June 1833. He entered the service of the United States in the fall of the year 1779 the day or month he did not remember. He volunteered and went out under Capt John Smith, Lieutenant William Calames and Ensign William Jones, all of whom resided at that time in the County of Frederick Virginia in which county he himself also lived. He marched under the officers from the Frederick County to Richmond Virginia thence down James River to the Country around Jamestown in company with the Virginia Regiment in which Major Charles Magill of Winchester was an officer. They returned after being a short time in the neighborhood of Jamestown and crossed James River at Cabin Point in Surry County and lay some time at Smithfield thence they marched to Petersburg where he lay with the Army some time. He was discharged by General Steuben after having served two months.
In the spring of 1780, he again went into the Service as volunteer for six months under Captain Erasmus Gill in Frederick Co. Va. He was in the Continental light horse company and the horses were pressed for the use of the army and a uniform was furnished by the United States. They immediately marched against some Tories who were embodied near the Warm Springs, VA. After arriving there, the Tories dispersed and they returned to camp at Francis Stribling’s house in Frederick County. They remained some time in camps until an officer in Col. Bland’s regiment of light horse came up to receive the horses of the company in which he volunteered. He was ordered by Capt. Gill to take some men and deliver the horses to Col Bland. After delivering the horses, he was discharged. He had served four months being discharged before his term of service ended. In September 1781 he was hired by Colonel David Canaday and was authorized to hire men to fight in the place of the Quakers. He served with Capt. Henry Catlett Lieutenant and Richard Brily ensign, from Frederick County Va. They marched from near Winchester through Fredericksburg via Williamsburg to York where he remained until Cornwallis surrendered. His whole company was dispatched as a guard of some prisoners to take them from York to about four miles above Winchester Virginia. After arriving there, he was discharged by Capt Bell. He never received any written discharge but was in the service of the United States for eight months & fifteen days.
Fielding was born in the County of Frederick & State of Virginia in the year 1762 and has no complete record of his age.
Fielding resided at the time he entered the service in the County of Frederick, Virginia. He left Virginia in Sept 1784 and moved to Jefferson County then Virginia now Kentucky in 1798. He moved about 22 miles from Louisville to a place then in Jefferson, afterwards Shelby and now Oldham County where he resided at the time of his pension request.

NOTE: Ashby may have confused the years and sequence of his tours. Gen. Baron von Steuben did not arrive in Virginia until Nov 1780. Capt. Erasmus Gill of the 4th Continental Light Dragoons was captured at the Siege of Savannah on 3 Oct 1779 and not exchanged until 22 Oct 1780. Theodorick Bland was Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons until the end of 1779.