The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Hecktown, Lower Nazareth Twp., Rte. 191, about 1.5 miles north of Rte. 22, behind the Trinity Lutheran Church
Author: John Thomas Parsons
John Santee was born in Northampton County, Pennsylvania in 1757, the son of Abraham Santee, an early settler of Northampton County.
In August of 1777 he was mustered into Capt Weygandt’s Company, Col Labar’s Battalion, Northampton County militia, initially as a fifer and later as a private. In the fall of 1777, after the Battle of Germantown, his unit marched to meet up with Washington’ army at Whitemarsh. The battalion became a part of Irvine’s Brigade of Pennsylvania militia. Washington’s army was posted in a very good defensive position, along a ridgeline with creeks protecting each flank. Irvine’s Brigade was posted on a hill (now known as Militia Hill) that anchored the American right flank. General Howe’s British forces moved north from Germantown to Whitemarsh. Howe sent a probing attack force consisting of some Hessian Jaegers, the 16th Light Dragoons, and Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers (a Loyalist unit) toward the American right flank. Washington ordered Irvine’s Brigade to advance and attack that force. The American attack was repulsed, and Irvine was wounded and captured.
The Pennsylvania militia retreated in good order and reoccupied their hilltop positions. Howe, taken aback a bit by the American aggressiveness and recognizing the strength of the American position, decided against a full scale assault and retired toward Philadelphia and winter quarters.
John Santee, along with his fellow militiamen, were discharged and returned home for the winter, while Washington’s Continentals entered winter quarters at Valley Forge. Unlike most of his militia counterparts, this was not John Santee’s only active duty stint. He served tours in 1778, 1779, and 1780, volunteering to serve in campaigns against the Iroquois on the Pennsylvania frontier.
He married Maria Gross in 1782 and settled down to a life of farming in Northampton County. He applied for and was granted a pension in 1840. His pension records his service in the Northampton County militia at Whitemarsh and also credits him with serving in the Pennsylvania Line during campaigns against the Iroquois. He was buried in the church cemetery in Hecktown, Moore Township, Northampton County after his death in 1848.
I am fortunate because I was able to visit the site of John Santee’s action at Whitemarsh two years ago. Whitemarsh is now a state park, but it is a wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary with little reference to the battle that occurred there. Most of Washington’s ridgeline positions are now occupied by upscale housing developments, but Militia Hill is still in pristine condition. I was able to walk down the hill, following the course of Irvine’s Brigade across Wissahickon Creek, until it clashed with the British advance. Whitemarsh, therefore, is the only Revolutionary War battlefield where I have actually been able to trace my ancestor’s movements, literally walking in his footsteps. That, to me, was a unique experience.
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