1776 Regiments Table, Massachusetts

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Massachusetts Revolutionary Regiments Table

Purpose

This page contains a table of Massachusetts American Revolutionary War Regiments with their commanders spanning the timeframe of the war, which should help people find the most appropriate unit category for their profile if they know a commander's name or regiment number.

Determining the best unit to use for the 1776 Sticker template can be quite confusing, since regiments can be named numerically or by a commander's surname, or both at the same time, and this changes over time. Things to keep in mind when trying to understand and use this table:

• Additional Units ^[1]
• Detachments - sometimes certain companies were "detached" from their organizational regiment and ordered to march elsewhere and be temporarily under another the command of another commander.
• Artillery Units are not shown yet, and were not strictly Massachusetts anyway.
• "brigade" and "regiment" were sometimes used interchangeably

Columns Key

Each column represents a time period of the war:

• Militia - note any militia origins (TODO: I may not keep this.)
• Massachusetts Provincial (1775) - latter 1775: the regiments were first named as Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiments. Wikitree Categories include "Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment (1775), Continental Army, American Revolution"
• of Foot - the numerical "Regiment of Foot" that Washington designated starting in August, 1775.
• Continental - 1776 reorganization of regiments into Continental Army units. Wikitree Category names include "Continental Regiment, Continental Army, American Revolution"
• Massachusetts (1777) - another reorganization, with "Massachusetts" returning to the names. Wikitree Category names include "Massachusetts Regiment (1777), Continental Army, American Revolution" (with one having 1780 in parenthesis).
• 1781 - more reorganization
• 1783 - more reorganization. Note that most units still active in 1783 were disbanded in November.

Cell Contents

The numerical designation, where it appears as a link, is a link to the Category, which should include more detail on that specific regiment during the appropriate time frame. The commander's surname, if linked, takes you to that commander's profile, which may include more detail. Footnotes appear as needed to help keep the table concise. Click on it to take you to the explanation below.

Rows

Units appearing in the same row represent general transitions from one regiment to another of the commander. In some cases, some of the company's, that is to say the Captain's, in a regiment transitioned differently than the rest, in which case the cells of the table are grey. All the rest of the company's/Captain's are implied in order to keep the table manageable.

Table

Footnotes

• BA - Bond dies August 31, Lt. Col. Alden takes command rest of 1776
• BP - Col. David Brewer dismissed October 24, Lt. Col. Putnam takes command
• BS - Col. Samuel Brewer dismissed 9/17/1778, Sprout takes command
• DH - Doolittle dismissed October , Lt. Col. Holden takes command
• FT - Francis dies July 1777 , Col. Tupper appointed command
• GA - Gerrish dismissed August 19, Lt. Col. Baldwin takes command
• GB - Gardner died July 3,, Col. Bond takes command
• HG - Heath promoted to General June, Col. Greaton takes command
• MH - Mansfield left service Sept. 15, Lt. Col. Hutchinson commanded regiment the rest of 1775
• NN - Col. John Nixon promoted to General August 9, command passed to Lt. Col. Thomas Nixon the rest of 1776.
• TB - Thomas promoted June 22, Lt. Col. Bailey takes command
• WH - Whitcomb's 5th was disbanded, Jonathan Brewer left the service, and command of the 6th regiment was given to Whitcomb
• WW - A.Ward (Artemas) promoted to General June 17, Lt. Col. J.Ward (Jonathan) takes command

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Extra Continental regiments and Additional Continental regiments

• Heitman, Francis Bernard. Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution (W.H. Lowdermilk & Co., Washington, DC, 1893)

• Henshaw, William, 1735-1820; Washburn, Emory, 1800-1877; Smith, Charles Card, 1827-1918; Henshaw, Harriet E; "The orderly book of Colonel William Henshaw"; 1881 Boston, A. Williams and company

• The Massachusetts Magazine (Salem, Mass., 1908-1918);

• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, 1896);

Development Notes

• 10th (1777): who commanded it after Tupper until disbandment? Or was it disbanded at the start of 1783? wikipedia pages seem to conflict on this.
• Col. Ebenezer Learned
  • listed as commanding on the, but no evidence. Is this confusion with "4th Regiment of Foot" ?
  • There is evidence that he commanded the 15th Battalion early in 1777, but not sure if this means 15th regiment. His health was not good, and he would retire by April, but he was doing something.
    • "Massachusetts, Revolutionary War, Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2RH-J1S6 : 17 March 2018), Ebenezer Learned, 06 Feb 1777; citing Military Service, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 2,028,305.
    • "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGKC-PNDT : 1 March 2021), Ebenezer Learned, 6 Feb 1777; citing Military Service, Massachusetts, United States, Citing various published state rosters, United States; FHL microfilm 103140758.
• The whole thing needs careful review for accuracy, i.e. compare WT Category page with wikipedia info and what is here.
• If/Where to put active militia units, examples Whitney/Sparhawk, I put them at the bottom for now. The column definition is not perfect. Should these rows be shaded?
• Woodbridges row could be made clearer?
• Questions related to Category: Massachusetts Line, American Revolution subcategories:
  • Should Category: 6th Massachusetts Regiment, American Revolution be "merged" into one of the other 6th's (1775 or 1777)? if legit, needs explanation
  • Should Category: Colonel Brewer's Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution be "merged"/redirected to Category: 12th Massachusetts Regiment (1777), Continental Army, American Revolution ?
  • Should Category: Colonel Bailey's Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution be removed?
  • Militia units subcategoried here rather than Category: Massachusetts Militia, American Revolution
    • Should they be in both?
    • What is the best naming scheme: "Colonel X's Regiment", "X's Regiment", "C County, Massachusetts Militia", "Nth C County, Massachusetts Militia", "Nth Regiment, C County, Massachusetts Militia" subcategorized under "C County, Massachusetts Militia"
    • Should Category: Colonel Mitchell's Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution be Category: 4th Regiment, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Militia, American Revolution ?
    • Should Category: Colonel Ashley's Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution be Category: 1st Regiment, Berkshire County, Massachusetts Militia, American Revolution ?
    • Should Category: Colonel Stearns Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution be Category: Worcester County Militia, Massachusetts Militia, American Revolution ?
    • Should Category: Major Cary's Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution be Category: 4th Regiment, Plymouth County, Massachusetts Militia, American Revolution ?
    • Is Category: Colonel Keyes Regiment, Massachusetts Line, American Revolution a militia unit?
    • Is Category: Colonel Nicholas Dike's Regiment, American Revolution militia? I put it at the bottom for now.
• Is it possible to add anything meaningful in "Militia" column? Most (every?) commander came from some militia unit, so maybe. On the other hand, militia units continued to exist in parallel, so how does that mess up the table? See the Woodbridge row.
• Would the last 2 columns, 1781 and 1783, be better off as a combined, "notes" column? Maybe just a date of disbandment?
• I'm not satisfied with how the exceptional captains/companies are displayed, e.g. Benson. Should they be shown in smaller type? italicized? colors? Make it more obvious which regiment they belong with. Also, show/explain that all other companies, i.e. "remnants" are implied in the other rows.
• "allegiance" explanation: needs a concise sentence, with link to more details/sources.
• Artillery units not shown yet. A couple came out of Massachusetts, so I could add those.
• Would it be useful to extend this to include other state units, or should they be on separate pages?
• I need to add source links. Wikipedia has many. Or is that clutter better left to the Category pages, some of which have Space pages associated with them?
• Unexplained:
  • Col. James Wesson: in MSS: 8th "Mass. regt. commanded by said Wesson " ? Wesson commanded the 9th, so is the 8 a typo?
  • Col. Samuel Brewer's MSS entry says 1st regt ? Probably a typo.
• Work to be done elsewhere:
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Line#1777_establishment says 9th from remnant ot 21st, so update needed on Category: 9th Massachusetts Regiment (1777), Continental Army, American Revolution wrt origins?
  • Category: 6th Massachusetts Regiment (1777), Continental Army, American Revolution needs origin and commanders notes
  • Lee - needs WT Category