page_title: Charles Harrison (general)
section_title: Harrison's regiment
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Harrison (general) / Harrison's regiment
caption_attribution_description: English: Berkeley Plantation, home of the Harrison family (two Presidents), initial construction of Georgian mansion in 1726. In Charles City County, Virginia. Building/structure dates: 1726 initial construction National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 71001040 Significance: Berkeley began as a settlement known as Berkeley-Hundred, patented in 1618. The property was purchased in 1722 by Benjamin Harrison IV, for whom the present house is believed to have been completed in 1726. His son, Benjamin Harrison V, born at Berkeley, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Virginia for 3 terms. Also born there was the signer's younger son, William Henry Harrison, 9th President. In 1862, Berkeley served as a camp and supply base for Union troops...
context_page_description: Charles Harrison was born into the noted Harrison family of Virginia. His brother was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and his nephew William Henry Harrison later became president. At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War he became lieutenant in a company of artillery from Virginia. When the state expanded its small artillery battalion into a regiment in November 1776, Harrison was appointed commander with the rank of colonel. Initially named Harrison's Continental Artillery Regiment, the unit was renamed the 1st Continental Artillery Regiment in August 1779. He joined George Washington's main army in time to fight at Monmouth. In 1780 he led his gunners at Camden and the following year he commanded Nathanael Greene's artillery at Hobkirk's Hill.
context_section_description: Charles Harrison was born about 1740 in Charles City, Virginia of parents Benjamin Harrison IV and Anne Carter. On 1 December 1775, the Virginia Convention authorized a state artillery company, including a captain, three lieutenants, one sergeant, four corporals, four bombardiers, eight gunners, and 48 matrosses. A committee appointed James Innis captain while Harrison, Edward Carrington, and Samuel Denney became lieutenants on 13 February 1776. The company was accepted by the Second Continental Congress on 19 March. A second company was formed and the French volunteer Dohickey Arundel appointed to lead it. The Frenchman was killed while test-firing a mortar and Innis transferred to the infantry. The Virginia Continental Artillery Company coexisted with the second unit, the Virginia State Artillery Company, which was authorized on 11 January 1776.
  On 26 November 1776, Congress authorized Harrison's Continental Artillery Regiment to be made up of 10 companies, including the two existing units. Assigned to the Southern Department, the regiment assembled at Williamsburg, Virginia in the spring and summer of 1777. Harrison was named the regiment's colonel and Edward Carrington was appointed lieutenant colonel. On 13 March 1778 the regiment was ordered to join the main army which was at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
  At the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778, Harrison and his regiment were part of Henry Knox's artillery brigade in the American order of battle. After British commander Sir Henry Clinton threw back Charles Lee's 5,000-man advance guard, he was finally stopped in front of Washington's main line of battle. Clinton tried to break Lord Stirling's left flank, but the effort failed in the face of heavy musketry and effective fire delivered by a battalion of artillery under the tactical direction of Carrington. In fall 1778, Captain James Pendleton kept the regiment's orderly book. He recorded only 27 men remaining on the unit roster.
  On 10 August 1779, Harrison's regiment was renamed the 1st Continental Artillery Regiment. After two boards of generals reviewed the seniority of the officers, it was decided that the regiments of John Lamb and John Crane could not claim lineage to Knox's original Continental Artillery Regiment. Therefore, Harrison's regiment became the 1st, Lamb's the 2nd Continental Artillery Regiment, Crane's the 3rd Continental Artillery Regiment, and Thomas Proctor's the 4th Continental Artillery Regiment. Meanwhile, three Maryland artillery companies joined Harrison's regiment in 1778 on a provisional basis. They officially merged with the 1st Artillery on 9 May 1780. The 1st Maryland Company became the 11th Company while the 2nd and 3rd Maryland consolidated as the 12th Company.
caption: This photo shows the home of Benjamin Harrison IV where Harrison grew up.
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