| 2008, Aug 8 - Jim York - New Re enactors Group |
[John Dunlap's confused?:]
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Revlist/conversations/topics/109298
Dunlap's Guard
A Very Brief History
John Dunlap was born in 1738 and died in 1804. John was born in Philadelphia and reared in Virginia. He served as a Corporal in Captain John Harrison's Militia Company at the age of 18 and he led a surveying expedition into the Ohio Country with three Virginia militiamen, four Dutch farmers, and four French Huguenots who became known as Dunlap's Guard and engaged the French and Shawnee Indians on several occasions. They scouted the route to the battle of Fort William Henry for Harrison's Company as a relief force and to the Battle of Fort Frontenac, they also served at the Battle of Fort Ligonier. He served under Colonel Alexander Spotswood's 2nd Virginia Regiment from 1777-1779 as a Captain and with a troop of twelve men serving as scouts they became known again as Dunlap's Guard. John later returned to the Ohio country in 1789 as a surveyor in the employ of John Cleves Symmes and was appointed a deputy registrar in Symmes' Miami Land Office on May 2nd 1789 and founded Dunlap's Station, which became the area of Colerain, Ohio. The site of Dunlap's Station is a National Historical Site with a monument at Colerain Townships Heritage Park.
Three new stations were established during the month of April
1789, at widely separated points in the lower portion of the
extensive county. The most remote of these isolated settlements was
established under the leadership of Dunlap, one of Symmes' numerous
surveyors, upon the eastern bank of the Great Miami, eighteen miles
northwest of Cincinnati, in a position almost encircled by a turn in
the river in an enormous horseshoe bend. The settlement sat on a
gravelly terrace deposited by the Wisconsin glacier, from the settlement approximately 200 paces north in the same great bend sat a prehistoric earthwork and Indian burial ground enclosing 95 acres.
The walls of the ancient enclosure still measured nine feet in height
in 1838 and were recorded on maps as late as 1848. Some 70 families
and a small militia went with Dunlap to this spot, and constructed a
stockade fort similar in plan to others of the area, but much more
carelessly and inefficiently finished. The area of the fort was one
acre square. Dunlap, who was an immigrant from Colerain, Ireland,
gave the name of his native town to the place; but the pioneers of the county, as was usual in the frontier districts of the West, knew the station by the name of its chief personage. The stockade was located, according to General Josiah Harmar, "five and forty miles up the great Miami, and seventeen miles from this post (Camp Washington)"
The present location is:
East Miami River Road, Colerain Township, Section 30, Township 2,
Range 1, Heritage Park 11405 East Miami River Road.
The names of some of Dunlap's settlers and Guard were: Gibson, Larrison, Shaumburg, Crum, Vavasseur, Hahn, Birket, Fielder, Thibodeau, Wiseman, and Peroché.
General Harmar described the fortification in low opinion and it was correct…
"The fort, or station, consisted of a few cabins lying in a square of
perhaps an acre or more. These had been built for convenience sake,
facing each other, and with the roofs, of course, sloping outward;
the very reverse of what they should have been for efficient defense.
The outer edges of these were so low, that it was not uncommon for
the dogs, which had been shut out, to spring from adjacent stumps on
to the roof, and thence sideways into the inclosure. At the corners
of the square, blockhouses had been constructed, and pickets, very
weak and insufficient for defense and against a resolute and active
enemy, filled up the intervening spaces inclosing the whole. The men who protect this fort and its inhabitants are known as Dunlap's Guards, an irregular militia of sorts."
The increase in the number of settlements gave the Shawnee
larger opportunities for theft and murder. Just after Gen. Harmar's
main forces had left the county on their unfortunate expedition to
the Indian towns of the Maumee, Jacob Wetzel, of Cincinnati, was
attacked on the bank of the Great Miami while caring for a flatboat
or skiff a mile from the station by a savage, whom he managed to slay
in a thrilling fight of hand-to-hand combat, just in time to escape a
band of his adversary's comrades, who were scouting near by. The
bloody defeat of Harmar by the Shawnee encouraged the northern
warriors to make a descent upon Hamilton County in full force. The
obvious weakness of Dunlap's Station is surprising considering the
exposed situation of the settlement. At the time it was built it was
the northernmost station in the area and farthest from any assistance by militia or federal troops. The station eventually endured the most severe attack by Indians in the Hamilton County area.
On December 6th 1790 a party of Indians was seen scouting in the area of Colerain, a force of 58 federal troops was sent to protect the settlement, but the Indians appeared to have fled the area.
Lieutenant Jacob Kingsbury and a dozen soldiers were left at the station as a guard, with orders to "repair and somewhat amend" the fortification. The troops set to work in clearing the trees immediately adjacent to the fort so they would not afford cover to the Indians. This work was not completed before the fort was surrounded and attacked.
On January 7th, 1791 the body of a young man named Cecil Fielder was found at the river bank where he had been killed in the brush by the Shawnee, he was alone and hunting muscleshell on the river, knife marks to his stomach and a crushing blow to his head were found as the cause of death.
On January 8th, 1791 a surveying party which included Abner
Hunt, John Wallace, and two men named Sloan and Cunningham were
ambushed by Indians. Cunningham was killed, Hunt was thrown from his
horse and captured, and Sloan, though wounded, managed to mount his
horse and escape to Dunlap's Station. Upon arriving he tried to
dismount but found he could not move, looking to his chest he found a
dark red stain and then fell from his horse, dead before he hit the
ground. The next day several soldiers were sent out to bury
Cunningham. The cattle were killed in the fields, and most of the
corn was burnt along with all buildings lying outside the stations
walls.
At dawn on Monday, January 10th, 1791, the settlers of Dunlap's
Station, the farthest outpost in the dreary wilderness, were startled
from their slumbers by the dreaded Indian alarm, and sprang up to
find the woods around their fort swarming with an army of Shawnee,
commanded by the Shawnee chieftain, Blue Jacket and Simon Girty. The
garrison consisted only of a detachment of thirteen soldiers from
Fort Washington, under Lieutenant Kingsbury, and ten able-bodied
settlers known as Dunlap's Guard, while the savages numbered two
hundred; but as the chiefs would give no satisfactory promise of
quarter, the besieged naturally refused to surrender. A continuous
fire was poured in upon the stockade wounding several men and women;
and firebrands shot upon the roofs of the cabins, till midnight of
the first day, when the besiegers retired a little distance from the
fort, and burned to death a prisoner named Abner Hunt, whom they had
captured a day or two before their appearance at, the station.
William Wiseman one of the defenders later recalled that during
the night of the attack, the Indians tied Abner Hunt between the fort
and the burial grounds nearby, and tortured him to death:
"And here they stripped him naked, pinioning his outstretched hands
and feet to the earth, kindling fire on his naked abdomen, and thus,
in lingering tortures they allowed him to die. His screams of agony
were ringing in the ears of everyone about the station during the
remainder of the night, becoming gradually weaker and weaker till
towards daylight, when they ceased."
The remaining fighting men not of Kingsbury soldiers, fifteen in
all, were called Dunlap's Guard and remained vigilant in protecting
the women and children living inside, they fought the Shawnee from
the fort and by heading into the surrounding forests, these brave men
took the fight to the Shawnee. All would be for naught as the Shawnee
renewed their attack even more viciously.
One of Dunlap's Guards noted on the third day of siege the
situation in the fort.
"…being harassed, & pent up by the savages, that we could take no
wild meat, and our corn so frosted, that it would not sprout, neither
would a hungry horse eat it… but what was still worse there was not
enough of it for everyone to have a little there were, perhaps, in
Dunlap's Station, near twenty persons not including the guard, of all
sexes & ages; & I believe not one pound of pork; or any other kind of
salted or any other meat; & but little milk, & no flour. In fact, our
subsistence was an insoficiency of such poor corn ground by hand, or
boiled whole; & the roots of bargrass, which was found on the rich
bottom lands, boiled, mashed up, & baked, sometimes with, & without a
mixture of our hand mill meal; but then it was good, I don't know how
it would eat now."
The next morning a young and brave pioneer, named Wellington
escaped from the station amid a shower of bullets, and carried the
news of the attack to Camp Washington. However some of the settlers
decided to abandon the station and move to the comparative safety of
North Bend, they signed a petition which read:
"We the inhabitants at the settlement called Dunlap's Station, have
duly considered under what great disadvantages we are to labor for
the great part of this year, after reduction of our livestock, graine
and all other necessarys for live, by an attack lately made upon us
by a party of savages, and therefore have concluded to lieve this
place as soon as we can possibly built craft to remove ourself down
the Miami river, Jan 16th 1791"
He returned upon the third day with a party of Harmar's regulars
and a company of mounted militia from Columbia; but the Shawnee had
sent a small party and drawn out the six remaining soldiers and
militia and then a larger band of 100 or more Shawnee stole into the
station killing everyone and burning the station to the ground, they
then retreated about two hours before the reinforcements arrived, and
were already beyond pursuit. Apparently the militia sent to work on
the defenses were also of little help, as General Harmar notified
General Henry Knox:
"I sent an officer, with some of the militia of Cincinnati and
Columbia to put the works of Dunlap's Station (Colerain) in a better
posture of defense. This he has but partially effected, as the
Militia were, as usual impatient to be done."
Ironically, there was no one to defend, since the station had
been burned and abandoned. John Dunlap, however would not give up the
idea of fostering a settlement at Colerain. In January 1792 he
reestablished the station even during a period of great apprehension
following General St. Clair's defeat by the combined tribes of the
Shawnee, Miami, Erie, Mascoutens, and Delaware Indians the previous
November. John Cleves Symmes wrote to his friend Jonathan Dayton on
January 17th 1792 that:
"…on my arrival in the purchase about the 20th of November I found
the settlers in the greatest consternation on account of the late
defeat. Several had fled into Kentucky and many others were preparing
to follow them, and it was with the greatest difficulty that I
prevailed with people to stand their ground. The timely arrival of
Mr. Dunlap and his guard greatly contributed to this sucess, as he
had the good fortune to prevail with his settlers, who had abandoned
Colerain, to return again with him and re-establish their station.
Colerain has never been considered to be the best barrier to all
settlements-& when that place became re-peopled the inhabitants of
the other stations became more reconciled to stay."
But the attack upon Dunlap's Station, sent a thrill of alarm
even through Kentucky; and the pioneers continued to suffer so
heavily from small raiding parties during the year, that the greater
part of the immigrants who ventured into the county stopped at
Cincinnati, under the protecting guns of Fort Washington; improvement
was held in restraint at the old stations, and no one dared open a
now settlement at all.
Lieutenant Kingsbury's account remains the best source on the
battle of Dunlap's Station to date:
"Dunlap's Station 12th January, 1791
Dear General,
Monday morning (about sunrise) at half past seven the Indians
(Shawnee) consisting of nearly two hundred after they had completely
surrounded us Mr. Hunt a prisoner (taken last Saturday within one
mile of this place) demanded this garrison by order of the Indians I
informed them that we were happy to see them that we had plenty of
Men, Arms, Ammunition and provisions and had been waiting impatiently
for them for several days they then began a very heavy fire but have
wounded but one man which is McVicar of Capt. Truemans Compy shot
through the arm they demanded the Garrison several times but to no
purpose we have killed and wounded not less than twelve or fifteen of
the savages and Dunlap's Guard I account remarkable shots the savages
have killed most part of the cattle belonging to the station and
burnt all buildings the outside of the garrison and have destroyed
most part of the corn belonging to the inhabitants the Indians
appeared to come prepared for a siege as they had a number of pack
horses with heavy loads on them and were loaded themselves with large
packs on their backs the savages raised their siege yesterday morning
about eight oClock after keeping up a heavy fire for nearly twenty
five hours they threatened to starve us out or storm our works and to
set fire to our garrison they attempted to set fire to our garrison
with arrows but could not bring any of their plans to bear they
informed me that Girty was there and called me by name and told me
they would wish to see me outside of the garrison Hunt the prisoner
they murdered within two hundred yards of the garrison I have the
pleasure of sending you two scalps hope before long to send you
several more but have them to take first. The inhabitants will some
of them leave this place others will remain. I had my men and the
inhabitants in the garrison in the attack thirty five men old and
young sick and well and several of Dunlap's Guard I shall now be
little weakened by the loss of some of the inhabitants who are about
to leave this place-Captain Sloan the bearer Recd a wound in his side
but was of very great service to me in the attack-I yesterday morning
sent off an express to you but they met the militia and returned-
I am dear General,
With the utmost Respect-
Your most obdt, Humbl Servt-
Jacob Kingsbury Lieut.
Comdg Dunlaps Station-
NB Capt. Sloan killed the Indian with the large scalp
and will be glad to keep it after you have seen it, the other
belongs to one of Dunlap's Guardsmen."
Source: Stockades in the Wilderness- By Richard Scamyhorn
Heritage Pursuit - The History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Ohio
The Smithsonian Institution- History of Ohio and Cincinnati
Dunlap's Guard Today
We are a 1750s to 1800s militia & colonial living history group
based in Ohio. We draw members from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Dunlap's Guard was formed in 2008 in preparation of the 250th
Anniversary of fort Ticonderoga in. Most members are veteran French &
Indian and Revolutionary War living historians, but had hung up their
flintlocks in favor of the frontiersman and colonial pioneer.
However, we never lost our affinity for the 18th Century and we
didn't want to see our flintlocks collect any more dust hanging on
the wall. By early 2008, the long rumored Fort Ti event looked like
it would finally become a reality and we were not going to miss it
for the world. We welcomed the opportunity to become involved in an
earlier time period and to make the trip to beautiful New York State
(due to unforeseen circumstances we still did not make the event).
In his research, our founder, a historian and fellow re-enactor,
discovered a group on men who took part in the Ohio expedition from
Virginia. These men were lead by John Dunlap and the company
consisted of veteran soldiers and colonial frontiersmen. These
citizen soldiers trekked and patrolled the Virginia frontier through
Kentucky and into Ohio and protected many settlers along the way from
the almost constant fighting and incursions by the Shawnee and other
Native American Nations. You can learn more about these men in our
Historical Background Section. The skills and style of fighting
employed by the Guard was that of their Indian enemies. They had to
be ready to fight at a moment's notice and in all types of weather
and conditions.
The Guard often conducted raids and scouts deep into the Ohio
interior. Virginians, under the leadership of men like John Dunlap,
Joseph Hahn, and Joseph René Peroché had learned to adopt Indian
fighting skills after the hard lessons as England and France battled
for control over the new world in a series of 18th century wars.
During these wars John Dunlap went from Private to Sergeant and his
company of Guard was employed.
The Guards Dog Watches: Being a unit known as Guards we take a
measure of pride in guarding the frontier, as such we hold diligence
in protecting forts when out at gatherings and the Dog Watch is the
two half watches of two hours each into which the period from 2 a.m.
to 6 a.m. is divided. The purpose of dividing this watch into two is
to produce an uneven number of watches in the 24 hours, seven instead
of six, thereby ensuring that Guardsmen, whether organized in two or
three watches, do not keep the same watches every day. These two
watches are known as the First Dog and Last Dog. How they came by
these names is not known; they were certainly in use at Dunlap's
Station. One suggestion that they were called dog watches because
they were curtailed, though ingenious, does not appear to have any
foundation in fact, another says it comes from the sailors that
became settlers and guards at Dunlap's Station, this version sounds a
bit believable or it may even be a combination of the two.
In our recreated unit we strive to portray these men as
accurately as possible. This includes the attitude, material culture
and knowledge of 18th Century frontier life. To us, the recreated
unit is a journey, we constantly look to improve our impressions, and
research the life of the Guardsmen. If you are interested in our
unit, we would like to meet you, we have included our event schedule
on this web-site. Stop by and visit us.
While, we are not a unit that actively recruits new members, on
occasion we have met folks along the way who have shown an interest
in joining our group.
Our Mission Statement…
Primarily our unit is made up of close friends and people who
have come together to enjoy each other's company, camaraderie and
areas of expertise, be they 18th C. warfare & tactics, 18th C. life,
Fashion, Firearms or woods skills. Specifically:
1. Wherever possible and appropriate we will portray colonial
frontiersmen in the field for an extended period, in other words,
when out for a three week scout instead of an afternoon frolic on the
village green. That means outer clothes and full equipment.
2. We strive to be the best we can be at woods tactics, or la
petite guerre.
3. We are progressive, in that we will constantly attempt to
improve our appearance, improve our gear, search for the right
material for our clothing, and use the tools and equipment, and
techniques of the period we are portraying. We will not force, cajole
or belittle members in this, but rather encourage and urge them along
this path.
4. We do not do first person interpretation as a rule.
5. We do allow facial hair. While we recognize that the 18th
century was a particularly beardless time in the history of western
culture and civilization, such hairlessness was not absolute. Many of
us also re-enact other time periods in which facial is most
appropriate. But more significantly, we have our feet firmly planted
in the 21st century, and do not believe our hobby should totally rule
our lives. We will change everything that we can change for a weekend
event, but those things that cannot be changed easily for a weekend
we will not change.
While we do not actively recruit members, we have met
individuals who have shown an interest in becoming a part of our
unit. Some may and have fit well within our group dynamic, some have
not, the bottom line is we have to be comfortable with who you are,
and vise versa. We encourage you to meet us at an event, see who we
are, and we can meet you. We may not like you and you may not like
us. Our unit does not strive to be all things to all living
historians. We all love history, reenacting, trekking, and hunting
and this hobby that has become for many a lifestyle. If you have the
same spirit, the same goals, and we all feel we can get along, then
we will welcome you with open arms as a true comrade.
We will respect others in their approach to this hobby, and we
hope they will respect ours. If you have a problem with how we
conduct ourselves, and with our rules and criteria, the problem is
yours, not ours. All members have their own worries/conflict/politics
in their real lives and we don't want this in our free recreational
time or in this unit. Folks looking to find another approach to this
hobby, or believing they can influence this unit to change, or
seeking the imagined rewards of rank and control, best find another
Garrison house for shelter.
Laws of Dunlap's Guard…
All Guardsmen and Scouts are to be subject to the rules and
articles of war; to appear at roll-call every evening, on their own
parade, equipped, each with a Flintlock, sixty rounds of powder and
ball, and a knife and hatchet, at which time an lieutenant from each
company is to inspect the same, to see they are in order, so as to be
ready on any emergency to march at a minute's warning; and before
they are dismissed, the necessary guards are to be draughted, and
scouts for the next day appointed.
If the enemy is so superior that we are in danger of being
surrounded by them, let the whole body disperse, and every one take a
different road to the station or place of rendezvous appointed for
that evening.
If our rear is attacked, the main body and flankers must face
about to the right or left, as occasion shall require, and form
themselves to oppose the enemy, as before directed; and the same
method must be observed, if attacked in either of our flanks, by
which means you will always make a rear of one of your flank-guards.
If we determine to rally after a retreat, in order to make a
fresh stand against the enemy, by all means we will endeavor to do it
on the most rising ground we come at, which will give us greatly the
advantage in point of situation, and enable us to repulse superior
numbers.
In general, when pushed upon by the enemy, reserve your fire
till they approach very near, which will then put them into the
greatest surprise and consternation, and give us an opportunity of
rushing upon them with our hatchets and knives to the better
advantage.
Before we leave Dunlap's Station or an encampment, we will send
out the scouts round it, to see if there is any appearance or track
of an enemy that might have been near us during the night.
With the return of scouts, when they come near our station, they
are to avoid the usual roads and avenues thereto, lest the enemy
should have headed them, and lay in ambush to receive them, when
almost exhausted with fatigues.
When we pursue any party that has been near our station or
encampment, we will follow not directly in their tracks, lest we
should be discovered by their rear guards, who, at such a time, would
be most alert; but endeavor, by a different route, to head and meet
them in some narrow pass, or lay in ambush to receive them when and
where they least expect it.
If we find the enemy encamped near the banks of the river, which
we imagine they will attempt to cross for their security upon being
attacked, we will leave a detachment of our party (scouts) on the
opposite shore to receive them, while, with the remainder, we will
surprise them, having them between us and river.
If we cannot satisfy ourselves as to the enemy's number and
strength, from their fire, &c. conceal yourselves at some distance,
and ascertain their number by sending out the scouts, when they
embark, or march, in the morning, marking the course they steer, &c.
when we may pursue, ambush, and attack them, or let them pass, as
prudence shall direct us. In general, however, that we may not be
discovered by the enemy upon the rivers at a great distance, it is
safest to lay by, with our men concealed all day, without noise or
show; and to pursue our intended route by night; and whether we go by
land or water, give out parole and countersigns, in order to know one
another in the dark, and likewise appoint a station every man to
repair to, in case of any accident that may separate us.
In any paramilitary unit the must, of necessity, be found a set of
rules by which to govern the order. Dunlaps Guard were no exception
to this concept and in 1758, Jonathan Dayton assisted in drawing up
the Guardsmen's Rule.
Upon being charged with a violation, the Captain would call the
guardsman to hear the charges against an offender. When the accused
Guardsmen confessed his fault he was then asked to leave the room. At
this time the Captain would seek the advice of the Adjutant as to
what penance to apply. If his infraction was small or if he was found
to be innocent, no penance would be given. However, if he were in
violation of a major infraction of the rule then the Captain would
later conduct a trial.
Expulsion from the Guard: This was the highest punishment a Guardsman
could face. Upon expulsion from the order, he was dismissed form
service and his properties forfeited.
Some acts of expulsion or punishment included but were not limited to
the following:
1. Murder
2. Committing acts of sodomy
3. Conspiring or making false charges against a another Gaurdsman
4. Cowardly Acts
5. Fought with another Guardsman
6. Killed a pack animal or lost their horse due to their own
neglect
7. Told untruths about themselves
Ranks of the Guard
Many soldiers of the regular army believed Dunlap's Guard
consisted of low-quality men who came from the dregs of society. Most
were sure the Guardsmen would make little difference in the outcome
of a war or battle. In reality, the soldiers of Dunlap's Guard came
from all walks of life, endured many hardships, and contributed
greatly to the settlement effort. All of this was done according to
strict terms set by the Captain.
The ranks of Dunlap's Guard were usually filled by average
settlers. They came from all walks of life and different ethnic
groups. Many of them were native-born colonists, British immigrants,
as well as free blacks. However, a majority of the men were Irish,
German, and French. The average soldier of the Guard served alongside
Rangers, Highlanders, Iroquois Indians, and British regulars during
the French & Indian War.
Much of the British regular army was recruited from the lowest
social classes. The enlisted were often petty criminals, beggars,
common laborers or subsistence farmers. Because the British officer's
own troops often consisted of these types, they were more than
willing to believe the same about the Guardsmen. British officers
showed contempt for both the colonial enlisted soldiers and colonial
officers alike. While it was true that many of the militia came from
the lower social classes, more than a few were from middle income
families. A soldier's social status and civilian occupation depended
greatly upon where he was recruited. Many of the Guardsmen came from
landed families. These were not men who saw the army as a steady
source of income. In fact, they certainly did not need a military
income to survive, they hacked it out of the wilderness with own two
hands.
Why was Dunlap's Guard a sought after position? The answer to this question may lie in the inheritance practices of colonial Virginia. Many eastern towns had an average population density of sixty to one hundred people per square mile. Since a workable farm could be no less than forty or fifty acres, many fathers resisted the urge to divide their farms into equal portions among their sons. The most reasonable thing to do was keep the land intact, and give it to one heir upon the father's death. The other sons received their inheritance in different ways which ranged from cash to securing an apprenticeship. This practice kept the farm intact and ensured his sons an opportunity for a better life. But many sons wanted their own land, with Dunlap's reputation as a surveyor, and his treks into the Ohio country his Guard was looked to as source of land procurement.
Guardsmen served under different conditions than the men who served in the British regular army and the American regular army. A term of enlistment for colonial servicemen and Guardsmen was usually measured in months, not years. Early in the wars (both the French & Indian and Revolutionary Wars) colonials often served terms of six months or less. The most common term of enlistment throughout the wars for the colonial soldier was eight months, however Dunlap's Guard served a twelve month contract. Enlistment was viewed by the colonial soldier as a contract, or covenant, between himself and the officer he enlisted under. The colonials had a deep devotion to covenants which could be seen in the marriage between a man and woman, church covenants between congregation members, and most importantly the salvation covenant between man and God. The British officers did not understand this contract mentality, and found they could do nothing to discourage it. While many of the American colonists readily joined the colonial militia, relations between the military and civilians were often strained at best. This occurred for a variety of reasons.
First, the attempts to house British and provincial soldiers in private quarters. Second, the impressments of private wagons for military use. Third, the recruitment of indentured servants and slaves.
Dunlap's Guardsmen saw the contract of enlistment as a binding agreement between himself and the officer he served. This contract involved a specific term of service for which the Guardsmen received specific compensation, most notably land in the Miami purchase. If either party made an attempt to alter the terms of the contract, then the agreement became void. If this occurred, the Guardsmen saw themselves as no longer bound by their contract, and therefore free to leave.
The men who became members of Dunlap's Guard came from many different walks of life and joined the Guard for different reasons. Some enlisted because they were living on the edge of society as unskilled laborers and saw the Guard as an opportunity to gain a steady income. Others were searching for a way to gain independence and make a life of their own without having to wait for their inheritance. No matter what their reasons for joining the Guard, these men fought bravely, endured many hardships and played a key role in the war between the French and the British, and the American's and British on the American continent..."
