Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 4324, Eli Griffith, Conn. New York
Page 2

State of New York County of Monroe
On this fourth day of October in the year
1832 personally appeared in open court before Peter Price,
Samuel Castle and James Smith, Judges of the Court of Common
pleas in and for the County of Monroe, State of New York,
the same being a court of record, now sitting Eli Griffith
a resident of the town of Gates in the County of Monroe
and State of New York, aged eighty three years, and upon
who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath
make the following declaration in order to obtain the bene
fit of the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the
following named officers, and served as herein stated, viz
In 1775, the first year of the war when the American
troops came from Canada to Ticonderoga and a body of
Connecticut militia were sent over to their aid, he was
living at Granville in the State of New York. and when the militia came through Granville he volunteered there and in July entered as a private in the company of said militia commanded
by Captain Harding (who lived in Farmington, Connecticut)
the Lieutenant was David Starr, the Ensign David
Beach. The regiment was under the actual command of
Lieutenant Colonel Mott-- his father Colonel Mott, of Preston
held the command and had marched with the regiment
as far as to Albany where he was taken sick and stopped
while his son marched on with the regiment.-' the Majors
name was Summer. He, said Eli Griffith engaged for three
and a half months, when the Connecticut militia expected
to be discharged. He marched on to Whitehall, (the
next town to Granville), and then proceeded by boat to
Mount Independence, opposite to and near the Fort at a
Ticonderoga. He continued there until the three and a half
months of his enlistment was completed, and was then discharged there about the last of October, by a written discharge
signed by General Gates who held the chief command at
Ticonderoga. This discharge is now lost-- he held it until
within fifteen or twenty years. He claims pension for three &
a half months for this service - In April 1776 he volunteered at said Granville as a minute man, to march when called for, and was 
enrolled as a private in the company of Captain Isaiah Bennett the Lieutenant Samuel Utter, there was no ensign as recollected
In less than a week after this he marched with said Company
Page 3


from Granville to Whitehall, and then by water to Mount
Independence, where he stayed on duty a little more than one month - the exact time is not recollected and was dismissed to go home, without a written discharge. The company of Captain Bennett was in the regiment of Colonel Seth Warner (of Bennington), there was no major -
Pension is asked for just one month for this service
He returned to Granville and in about a fortnight
was ordered back again to Mount Independence, to which
place he then marched as before-- stayed there on duty
two weeks and was dismissed without written discharge
- pension is asked for just two weeks for this service
Having been thus called to leave his work, twice since he
enrolled as a minute man and being so liable to call that
he could not plan work to advantage, he thought he might
better give up his time to the army and
About the first of July 1776 he volunteered and
enlisted for four months at said Granville in a corps of
troops sent on from Connecticut. He entered the company of
Captain Moses Robinson (of Preston, Conn.) as a substitute
for a private disabled by sickness - the Lieutenant's name
is forgotten - the Ensign was Gafford by name - the company belonged to a regiment commanded by Colonel Mott (so far as recollected) the Major was Jackson,- Marched on to Whitehall, and by boats to Mount Independence-- he stayed there four months and
was discharged without written discharge, the exact day is not remembered - does not know the name of the disabled soldier for whom he was substituted.
About the first of April 1777 he was drafted at said Granville in the New York Militia - he marched to Whitehall in Captain David Galusha's Company-- the Lieutenant was Galusha, a brother of the Captain-- Ensign's name not recollected, if there was one in Colonel Seth Warners regimen -the Major was Ira Allen-- the whole was commanded by General Gates. From Whitehall he went by water to Ticonderoga where General F Clair commanded. he stayed in the fort until it was taken by General Burgoyne about July 5th - then marched across the bridge to Mount Independence-- and then very soon returned home with Captain Galusha's Company, no effectual measures being then taken to stop Genal Burgoyne.- from home on this expedition three
months and a few days. He asks pension for just three months for this service
Page 4


The country being filled with alarm and the British
troops under General Burgoyne being daily expected through
Granville, - said D Griffith took his family and hastily fled
to Great White Creek (a place so called) about twenty five
miles southeasterly from Granville, leaving most of his property
behind for which he intended to return but never did and
it was destroyed. For in attempting to return he found that the
Americans would not let him pass a line they had formed
to stop Burgoyne. He then about the middle of July
1777 volunteered and entered the ranks at White Creek and
continued there in service over three weeks in Captain
Mattison's company of Vermont militia-- Wood was the Lieutenant so far as recollected - in Colonel Williams regiment
his Major was Armstrong. He asks pension for three weeks for this
service
He had friends residing in Shaftsbury, Vermont, and
preferring that station he asked and obtained permission of
Colonel Williams to leave Captain Mattison's Company to join the
Vermont Militia at Shaftsbury. About the first of August 1777
he entered the company of Captain George Galusha at Shaftsbury
as a volunteer - the Lieutenant was John Blakester - there was no Ensign - the company was in Colonel Moses Robinson's regiment of Vermont militia-- Josiah Brush was the Lieutenant Colonel-- all was under General Stark. In about three weeks, General Stark concluded to attach the British under General Redrill he thinks or nearly that name at Maloscot (about four miles Northwest of Bennington) where they lay encamped on a high ground along the stream, - and marched over the militia (among whom was said Eli Griffith) from Shaftsbury to that place about one and a half mile - General Stark planned his attack for friday but rain prevented - On saturday about two o'clock in the afternoon the
action commenced. - Stack in person led on the attack in
front intending to cross the stream, march up the hill and
drive the British back-- he had sent Colonel Allen with one
division of the American troops north, and Lieutenant Colonel Brush west, to march around and hem in the British
as they retreated. He hastened the attack because the British
expected reinforcement. The British retreated, but Colonel
Brush missed his track-- Starks place failed, the British
were not intercepted yet marched about two miles where they
their reinforcements [illegible] - when the British retreated Stark,
expecting no more fighting had returned to Bennington - the
British when reinforced returned driving back the American troops
Stark was sent for and coming up then, the Americans made
a stand and a smart engagement succeeded. The firing was
Page 5


kept up on both sides until dark when the British retreated and went off to their main army. This is called the Bennington Battle. It may have been the British General Baum killed; but it seems as if []illegible] Redsell
General Stark then appointed Colonel Seth Warner to
command a body of men called Rangers to range up and down Lake Champlain in Vermont to protect the frontiers -- their headquarters were at Bennington. He, said Eli Griffith, did not quit the army but directly volunteered as a ranger in Captain Samuel
Robinson's Company. the Lieutenant was Josiah Brush in Colonel Warner's regiment. He was marched out up along the Lake as many as six times or more within a few weeks, and out a few days each time-- once he was marched up fifty or sixty miles to a place called Ira, (from its proprietor Ira Allen) Once Colonel Warner went out with these rangers; at the other times they were commanded by a Captain or subaltern officer, marching
out in bands of from fifty to one hundred men at a time and then returning to Bennington. Late in December 1777 he was discharged at Bennington, Vermont, by a written discharge signed by General Park. having been in service five months this last tour -This discharge was kept a number of years and was lost or destroyed, no one knows where or how years ago - he has not seen it for last thirty years or more. - he was in active service this year at least nine months from the first of April to the last of December as he understands
Besides the above terms of service he was on several
other short terms which are omitted because they cannot be specified.
And the said Eli Griffith further states that he
cannot now give dates and times more particularly
than in the preceding declaration, that he had no entry
of these services and relies wholly on his memory-
That he has no documentary evidence and knows of no
person whose testimony he can procure who can testify particularly to his service all his fellow soldiers being either dead or if living unknown.
and to the following seven Interrogatories now 
propounded by said Court-- to wit
1 where in what year were you born?
2 Have you any record of your age; and if so where is it?
3 where were you living when called into service; where
have you lived since the revolutionary war and where do
you now live?
4 How were you called into service; were you drafted, did you