I stumbled on these pics and this forum while trying to understand information on my 5x great grandfather, Christopher McCannon. He applied for his pension after injuries at the battle of Guilford Courthouse, but was denied. Application was made on behalf of his family after he died but appears to have been denied on the basis that there was no proof that he was there; however, I found his name on pp 111 of a document Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris. Revised 5 April 2021. Titled: A SIZE ROLL OF NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND PRIVATES OF VIRGINIA. The top page of the pages says the men on that page were at C O C House. Elsewhere in the document it explains, that is
Cumberland Old Courthouse.
The following paragraph is a direct quote explaining the purpose of the roll, places the counts were done and who was counted:
"Size rolls are lists of soldiers recording their heights and appearances, and often occupations and
places of birth and residence. The original purpose of aiding in the capture of deserters has long since expired,
but size rolls are of enduring value to genealogists and students of military and social history. The size rolls
transcribed here are of noncommissioned officers and privates who were processed into the Continental Line
of Virginia at Chesterfield Court House, Powhatan Court House, Carter's Ferry, Albemarle Old Court House,
Cumberland Old Court House, and Winchester Barracks. Most of these soldiers entered service in September
or October 1780 following the capture of virtually the entire Virginia Continental Line at Charleston SC on
12 May 1780, and in March and April of 1781 after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse NC on 15 Mar 1781.
Some were already Continental soldiers who had served in the North, but most were draftees or substitutes
for draftees under a Virginia law enacted in May 1780, which required each county whose militia was not
already engaged to recruit or draft one militiaman out of each 15 over age 18 to serve in the Continental army
Those enlisted under the May 1780 act were commonly referred to as "18-months men," and they can be
identified in this size roll by their term of enlistment being shown as "18" or "1..6." A few denoted by "M
delinq't" or similarly were apparently sentenced to six or eight months service in the Continental line for
being delinquent in their militia duties. Others were serving as the result of a court martial.
In the spring of 1781 the Virginia Continental Line underwent extensive reorganization, so it is
difficult to determine which regiments many of these soldiers belonged to. Pension applications show that
some were recruited into Col. Anthony Walton White's 1st Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons. Most,
however, appear to have been attached to the regiment commanded by Col. Thomas Gaskins and then by Col.
Christian Febiger. After a period at Point of Fork at the junction of James and Rivanna Rivers, Gen. Baron von
Steuben on 6 June 1781 marched them southwestward with the intention of joining the southern army
commanded by Gen. Nathanael Greene. After getting as far as Staunton River, however, they were ordered
back to help defend Virginia against the invasion by the army of Cornwallis."
Within the transcribed document, six men are identified as having been court-martialed. My 5x great-grandfather was not one of them.
We don't know anything about our distant relative other than he was a new immigrant, from Ireland, and that his wife supposedly came to the battleground to tend to his wounds.
From the newly transcribed size roll, I learned he [Christopher McCannon] was 29 years old 5' 7 ¾" gray eyes, fair complexion, had been draughted and his original occupation was as a Joiner (type of carpenter).
I am new to this research; thread mentions of Cumberland and Court-martial and new immigrants make me curious if the men in the pictures you posted and discussed are some of those documented in the newly transcribed size roll.
I hope this is enough new information to bump the post and reopen the discussion about the pictures, I look forward to input from those who know much more than I do on this subject!
Links to the pension applications I mentioned and the transcription were found at:
b81 (revwarapps.org)
Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Applications & Rosters (revwarapps.org)