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.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Corporal
Birth: abt 1760 Death: aft 1830 liv / Campbell / VA
Qualifying Service Description:
Private then Corporal, 4th VA Regiment under Captain John Holcombe and Colonel Elliot
Author: Turner Lee Wilkerson III
My 4th Great Granddaddy, James Holt was the son of Plunket Holt (P-334792) of Prince Edward and Charlotte Counties in Virginia. As noted above, he is believed to have been born around 1760 in Charlotte County (Campbell County after it was founded in 1782), to have spent most of his life there and finally to have died there sometime after 1830. The records show that had mar-ried a young lady by the name of Ellen. Very little is known of Ellen other than that she was the mother of two sons, Coleman and James F. and seven daughters, Sarah, Frances, Elizabeth, Nancy, Polly, Susanna and Martha. Ellen passed sometime prior to 11 Aug 1829, which is the marriage date of James’s second wife, Elizabeth Fielder.
As noted in the patriot archives James’s father was a patriot and supporter of the American Revolution by his patriotic support of feeding and supplying the troops during the war time pe-riod. His son James chose to enlist in the 4th Virginia Regiment which was originally organized in February 1776 at Suffolk Courthouse from ten Virginia Counties including Prince Edward County (Plunket Holt’s birthplace) and the adjacent Charlotte County (James Holt’s birthplace). Charlotte County, it would seem, is the most likely point of enlistment for James in the 1776-1777 time frame, as he would have been approximately 18 years of age. James and his regiment are shown in various rosters of the 1777 encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The record also captures James’s service in a number other Virginia Regiments, 3rd, 9th & 12th in addition to the 4th, in the later months of his enlistment.
History tells us that the 4th Regiment saw action at the Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown, Battle of Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston. We have no clear record at this writing whether James experienced all of these battles—however, given his rank of corporal and the length of his recorded service, we must assume that he had been in battle at various points in his service.
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