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.
the death date that is etched on VA gravestone does not match the date given in his Pension
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Author: Frederick Douglas Learned
Captain Henry Smith was born on 25 December 1741 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and died in 1835.
In his pension application declaration at Cabarrus County, North Carolina, in 1833, Henry Smith, aged 91, described his military career during the American Revolution.
On 1 March 1776, he raised a company of men in Stokes County, North Carolina [then Surry]. He was commissioned a Captain of the Company from the “Council of Safety” in Hillsboro, North Carolina. He marched his Company from Surry County with Colonel Martin Armstrong, Colonel Joseph Williams, and Major Joseph Winston to “Cross Creek,” now Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Tories having been defeated by Colonel Richard Caswell, the Company was dismissed at Cross Creek on 1 April 1776.
About the first of August 1776, in Surry County, he received orders from Colonel Armstrong to assemble his company and marched under Colonel Martin Armstrong to Cubs Creek in Surry. Henry was unanimously elected by the men to be one of the captains in the expeditions, marching against the Cherokee. He joined Captains Samuel Mosby and William Dobson, each with 100 men, and marched under Colonel Joseph Williams through the mountains to the long islands of Holson River. The Regiment was placed under General William Christie [Christian]. His Company marched to Indian Town and then to the Beloved Town where the officers and Native Americans concluded a treaty after which the Company was dismissed 104 days.
In November 1776, he was commissioned as a Captain under Colonel Armstrong. His Company was part of a larger group that marched under Colonel Brevard to Parisburgh on the Savannah River. At Parisburgh, his Company was detached and placed under the command of Colonel Lytle of the Continental Army commanded by General Lincoln. Henry resumed as Captain at the head of a company of Light Infantry. His Company crossed the River then and went down the Georgia side to Briar Creek, where they had an engagement and were defeated in March 1777. He marched from Briar Creek to the Black Swamp in South Carolina where they were discharged on 10 April 1777 having served five months. After the Battle of Briar, he lost his commission and other papers in swimming across the river.
In January 1781, he was placed as Captain at the head of a company of volunteers, having received my commission from Governor Caswell. They marched to meet Colonel Morgan at Cowpens on 16 January 1781. The following day, they took part in the famous battle of the Cowpens. They captured prisoners and then transferred them to Salisbury, North Carolina, where they were discharged, having served for ten days.
Two weeks after the Battle of the Cowpens, he received a commission as a Major in Colonel Armstrong’s Regiment of the North Carolina line from Governor Caswell. During his time with this Company, they were engaged at the Shallow Ford on the Yadkin against the Tories, under Colonel Wright, who was killed, along with six men. They were continually on the march, scouting the county against the Tories. He believed his actual length of service to be five years and three months in all.
When he was serving his country, a party of Tories with the British robbed his house of all of its property and papers. He was about thirty when he moved to Surry County, North Carolina, and later to Cabarrus County.
Archives’ letter states Henry Smith died on 28 August 1835 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Three children survived: Colonel Jacob Smith of Gilman County, Georgia; George Smith; and Freeby/Phoebe Barnhart.
For additional reading, consult his Pension File: S32525 or the transcription by: Elizabeth Osenbaugh; Posted on the website created by Faye Jarvis Moran: http://www.fmoran.com/revs.html
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