Perry Countians in the Revolutionary War

Perry Countians in the Revolutionary War. Perry County Bicentennial.

1775: Revolutionary War began. , 1776: Independence declared. , 1781: Battle of Yorktown ended the fighting. , 1783: Treaty of Paris recognized US independence.

, Many Perry Countians served in the eight-year long Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in numerous battles, often hundreds of miles from home, under various captains and commanders. , ,br> A prominent early settler, Colonel Frederick Watts, commanded several battalions of Perry Countians in battle. About ninety men, mostly riflemen, volunteered for Watts' Flying Camp Battalion in 1776. They marched to New York City from where they witnessed the Battle of Long Island. One local later said, "We could see the smoke of the guns where they were firing on each other." , ,br> Later, in November 1776, Colonel Watts was among the 3,000 Americans in Fort Washington in northern Manhattan who held off the British attack for a time. Unfortunately, the British forced the Americans to surrender. It is said that Colonel Watts was a prisoner before being exchanged., In 1778, Perry Countians fought with Watts' regiment at the Battle of Crooked Billet, about twenty miles above Philadelphia. When the British attacked, the surprised militia retreated quickly, leaving everything in the camp. Approximately one hundred militia were killed, wounded or taken prisoner and ten wagons destroyed in a complete British victory., In addition to commanding militia, Frederick Watts also served in the Pennsylvania government, being elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1779. After the war, in 1787, he was named to the Executive Council where he served for three years. He lived on a farm near the mouth of the Juniata, dying in 1795. Formed in 1849, Watts Township was named for his son David Watts, a prominent lawyer., [Sidebar:] , John Pickens of Shermans Valley had color times of the service under several different commanders. In 1777, worried about his younger brother who had been drafted and was "unaccustomed to hardship or to being from home," John joined the same militia group to look after the young man. Later while on guard at an unknown location, John stopped General George Washington from proceeding along a potentially dangerous road. The next day, he was praised in front of the militia for his quick thinking., [Captions:] , Tombstone of Daniel Peifer, a soldier of the American Revolution. He died May 13, 1814 at the age of 92. He was buried in his army uniform with brass buttons in a lone grave along Kistler Road in Little Germany.