Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 12570, Elisha Comstock, Conn.

SERVICE
born.
Constock, Elisha
NUMBER _____
S. 12570
CONTENTS
carded

Perkins
12570
INVALID.
File No. 12,570
Elisha Comstock
Rev War
Act: June 7 th 1832
Index:—Vol. A , Page 78
[Arrangement of 1870.]

2870 New York
Elisha Comstock
of Calhoun in the State of New York who was a Private in the Comp y commanded by Captain Ely — " — of the Regt. commanded by Col. Heights — " — in the Connecticut — line for 4 Years —
inscribed on the Roll of New York at the rate of 80 Dollars — £ per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 6 th day of Decr. 1832 — " — and see to No. 1 Wilkins
Arrears to 4th of Sept r 1832 $ 120 Semi-ann l . allowance ending 4 Mar ch 33 40 $160
{ Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by Geo. C. Stiles Clerk, Book D. Vol. 5. Page 76

In the matter of 16 E. Longstock who applies for Pension
10.4/71
Wilkin & Barton
attys
37 1/2 Brief'd
Letter Nov 2.

In the matter of the application of Elisha Comstock for a Pension under the act of Congress of the 7 th to June 1832 State of New York Orange County ss.
Erastus Maves and Amos Harding both of the town of Calhoun in the county and State aforesaid being duly sworn do depose and say that they are respectively well acquainted with the said Elisha Comstock - have lived in his neighbourhood upwards of thirty years that he is reputed to be a man of in- tegrity and truth - and these deponents further say that it is generally believed in his neighbourhood, in which opinion they concur, that said Comstock was a soldier in the service of the U. States in the revolutionary war and that they have now heard it doubted and they believe him to be of the age he represents
Sworn & subscribed the third day of Sept r 1832
Amos Harding
before the undersigned who further certifies that it appears to him Amos Harding who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman resident of Calhoun in the county of Orange & that Erastus Maves who has also signed the same is a resident of the same place & is a credible person & that their statement is entitled to implicit credit H. W. Elliott Judge of Orange Comm. Pleas living a court of records aforesaid

Elisha. Comstock
State of New York - § County of Orange §
On this twentyfifth day of August 1832 personally appeared before me one of the Judges of the court of common Pleas of said county Elisha Comstock unresident of Calhoun in the county aforesaid aged about seventy three years who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7. 1832
1 st Interrogatory 2 d 3 d in part 4 th 5 th
That he was born in the town of Saybrook in the county of Middlesex state of Connecticut about the year 1759 according to the best of his knowledge & recollection there being no record of his age that he knows of. That he was residing in the place of his nativity when he enlisted in the spring of the year 1776 into a company of eight months men belonging to a corps of men called the Leather caps (a part of whose uniform was Leather caps or helmets) commanded by Col. Meigs. The officers under whom he enlisted were Capt Elisha Ely, first Lieut Asa Pary, second Lieut not remembered, the Ensign's name was Munson. one of the sergeants was named Sergeant. That he thinks he marched with the company the last of April or beginning of May of the same year from Saybrook to Peekskill in New York where he joined the Regiment under Col. Meigs & was there encamped for six or seven weeks when orders for marching were received. They then crossed the North or Hudson river at Kings ferry & marched through New Jersey to New Brunswick where he thinks they staid not much more than a week & then returned to Peekskill

They were marched about in the county of Westchester & before the battle of the White Plains were there encamped. That he was in that battle. That the tents of his regiment were standing (a little north of the court house) when the enemy came in sight. They had a couple of cannon nine or twelve pounders placed across or in the main street and he thinks a breast work thrown up from whence the cannon were discharged at the enemy's light horse with some effect for he saw several fall from their horses. The light horse then fell back up on the enemy's main army & then commenced firing pretty briskly with field pieces & kept it up until dark when the firing ceased. The battle commenced early in the morning & continued through the day. When the firing ceased he was on the left wing of the army. The next morning the enemy were gone & they marched on to the ground occupied by them the day before & continued in pursuit to Kings bridge & halted supposing they went directly into New York. The troops were then marched back again to White Plains. The battle he thinks was fought in September 1776. He staid out the time for which he enlisted was discharged & returned to Scarsdale the last of December.
8 1/2 6 1/2 5 in part He thinks it was the next Spring that he went to New London in Connecticut & there enlisted in the state service for one year under Capt. Shepley, first Lieut. Chapman, second Lieut. Jabez Stow, corn ensign by the name of Bill, Sergeants Jeremiah Harding & John Prantice.

Elihu Sester, Drummer Charles Jefferys, Piper Daniel Shapley. The men were employed in building forts. He cannot say what year this was nor whether it was the year immediately succeeding his first enlistment for eight months. He however served out the year & re-enlisted for another year & served out that time. He did duty as a steward two years in succession as near as he can recollect. He was engaged in the service nearly four years including three months one winter season in which he was at Providence in Rhode Island.
He belonged to the fort the year that trai- tor Arnold came there with his army. He un- derstood that Arnold's army amounted to about eighteen hundred men the greater part of which he marched across the East side of the river attacked Fort Griswold & put pretty much all to the sword. About two weeks be- fore Arnold came he had leave of Capt Shapley to go home for two weeks. He agreed with another sergeant to do his duty in his absence. His time had nearly expired when he heard the firing of cannon at New London or Gro- ton & started off the same night & got into New London the next day about 12 o'clock a distance of about twenty miles & found a considerable part of the place reduced to ash- es & the greater part of the company killed only five or six to be found. Capt Shapley was wounded by a ball in the hip. The sergeant who took his place escaped with a slight wound. Two privates were wound- ed one jumped over the heads of the enemy as they were crawling up the intrenchments into the fort & escaped the other was taken

prisoner & paroled These circumstances he had from their own mouths afterward He thinks the burnings & plundering by Arnold was in September 1781
He knows of no witness living by whom he could prove his service nor has he any doc- umentary evidence that he can adduce.
He was employed & belonged to Fort Trumbull on the west side of the river but he always understood that both forts were under the command of Col Sedgwick in part Thirty six years since he left his na- tive place & removed to the state of New York For the last thirty six years he has resided in the neighborhood where he now lives formerly the town of Deerpark county of Ulster now Calhoun in Orange County He fur- ther states that he is acquainted with Amos Har- ding a clergyman Ezechias Phelps James Finch Esq James Wetmore
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and de- clares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state. That he is laboring un- der a Diabetes & is unable to attend the court which sits over twenty five miles from his res- idence
Sworn to & subscribed the 21 August 1852 before
Elisha Constock
me J. K. W. Elliott Judge of Orange County N.Y.
The undersigned a Judge of the court of common pleas of Orange County being a court of record doth hereby de- clare his opinion after the investigation of the mat- ter & after seeing the interrogatories presented by the War Department embodied in his deduction that the

that Elisha Comstock was a revolutionary soldier & served as he states And that from the oath of the said applicant and otherwise he is of the opinion that he is unable from bodily infirmity to attend the next session of the court of Common Pleas for said county
H. W. Elliott
State of New York Orange County 3 rd ss I Asa Dunning Clerk of the County of Orange and Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the said County of Orange do hereby certify that Horace W Elliott before whom preceding affidavit of Elisha Comstock was sworn and also before whom the foregoing affidavit of Ebenezer Mahon & Amos Hendine was sworn and whose name is subscribed to the preceding certificates was at the time a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in and for the said County of Orange which is a Court of record & that the name of H W Elliott subscribed to the said affidavits & the said certificates is his genuine signature — In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this Twelfth day of September 1832 Asa Dunning