In his grandson’s biography, a few sentences describe the role of Asa Lake in the Revolutionary War.
The maternal grandfather was taken prisoner at the Battle of Long Island , when seventeen years of age, and was given to the Indians by the English, and carried to the Western Reserve, in Western Ohio. He was liked and adopted by the chief, and was sent out hunting, and escaped after about a year’s captivity, footing it back. In 1820, forty years later, he took a claim where the Indian wigwam was, and the spring out of which he formally drank was on this claim. He died on it in 1843.
In a previous post, I recount the land purchases Asa Lake made after the war in northwest Ohio on the Lanape land; the Lanape, or Delaware Indians, had been removed by the US Government to Kansas and Oklahoma.
This post explores his account of his status as a prisoner of war.
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island took place a month after the Declaration of Independence in August of 1776. New York was an important harbor which the British could use to divide the colonies, isolation the New England colonies. George Washington commanded 10,000 Continentals to 20,000 British troops. As a result of strategic errors, Washington lost the battle and over a 1,000 men were captured.
If the birth year of Asa Lake is 1764, as stated in family histories and published in SAR Membership Applications, then Asa would have been 12 during the Battle of Long Island, making it unlikely that he participated in that particular battle.
Revolutionary War Service Records
Chloe Lake’s pension application and the Revolutionary War Service records list his earliest participation in the war as 1779 when he joined militias associated with the Green Mountain Boys. The Green Mountain Boys had begun a decade earlier, prior to the Revolutionary War, . Claims for Vermont were disputed, with New Yorkers and others claiming the land. The Green Mountain Boys fought New Yorkers prior to fighting the British in the Revolution.
In 1779, he served 109 days in Capt Parmelee Allen’s Company serving in the position of Fife. According to a page published by the US Army on the Fife, Drum and Bugle During the Revolutionary War, “most of the musicians would have been boys that were too young to fight in the war but were following their fathers who were fighting.” This is consistent with what we see of Asa Lake’s service mirroring that of his father’s (Gershom Lake) service in the War.
In later service records, he is no longer listed as a fifer and in 1782, he is no longer serving with his father. None of the records indicate that he was taken prisoner by the British.
Summary of Service
| Date Range | Service | Role | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May 1779 to 3 Dec 1779 8 days | Capt. Ephraim BueIl’s Company | Scouting Ensign | Gershom Lake |
| 1 May 1779 to 3 Dec 1779 5 days | Capt. Ephraim BueIl’s Company | Scouting | Asa Lake |
| 1 Aug 1779 to 11 Nov 1779 109 days | Capt. Parmelee Allen’s Company of Rangers | Fifer | Asa Lake |
| 21 Mar 1780 to 27 Mar 1780 7 days | Capt. Ephraim Buell’s Company | Scouting Ensign | Gershom Lake |
| 24 Mar 1780 to 27 Mar 1780 4 days | Capt. Ephraim Buell’s Company | Scouting | Asa Lake |
| 29 May 1780 to 5 Jun 1780 8 days | Capt. Ephraim Buell’s Company | Ensign | Gershom Lake* |
| October 1780 26 days | Capt. Isaac Clark’s Company (Included Ephraim Buel) | Gershom Lake ?sa Lake | |
| 21 Oct 1781 to 30 Oct 1781 10 days | Capt. Nathaniel Blanchard’s Company of Militia in Col. Thomas Lee’s Regiment | Gershom Lake Asa Lake | |
| October 1781 10 Days | Detachment of Men from Blanchard’s Company under Capt. Israel Hurlburt | Asa Lake | |
| 1782 No month given 5 days | Capt Israel Hurlburt’s Company on an expedition to Northward | Asa Lake |
Indian Raids during the Revolutionary War
In 1777, the British army began to recruit and arm Indigenous peoples so as to perform raids on colonial settlements on the western frontier. The British operated out of Detroit and Quebec for these raids. The raids escalated in 1780. In Vermont, the committee elected to build forts at Pittsford and Castleton. Both Gershom and Asa Lake were stationed at Castleton in Oct 1781. These raids were described in article entitled “Indian and Tory raids of Otter Creek 1777-1782”. It is possible Asa Lake was captured during one of these raids while stationed at Castleton. This date is consistent with Asa Lake’s dates of services, his age, and explains the gap between the 1781 service and the 1782 service.
So where did the Battle of Long Island come into the story?
There are at least two possible theories for this.
The first theory is that Asa Lake was taken prisoner during the war, during his stint at Castleton. Some British prisoners of war were taken to Quebec, others were taken to New York. He could have been taken to New York prior to being traded and from there taken West. This seems improbable as many of the stories relate the prisoners and raiders going west and north rather than south and east.
The second theory is that Crookham, the grandson, confused the stories of his grandparents. Returning to the biography, here is a larger excerpt:
The father of George L and the grandfather of the Judge [James Crookham] was at the time of the Revolutionary War taken prisoner and held for about eight months on the Western Reserve in Ohio, and forty years later, when the Indian lands were put on the market, he returned to that county, bought the land, and located on the same spot where he had been held prisoner, and died there. He was a blacksmith and made arms for Gen. Washington during the Revolutionary war.
The material grandfather was taken prisoner at the Battle of Long Island , when seventeen years of age, and was given to the Indians by the English, and carried to the Western Reserve, in Western Ohio. He was liked and adopted by the chief, and was sent out hunting, and escaped after about a year’s captivity, footing it back. In 1820, forty years later, he took a claim where the Indian wigwam was, and the spring out of which he formally drank was on this claim. He died on it in 1843.
Note the similarities of the tales: both grandfathers were taken prisoner, both returned forty years after their release and both died where they had been held captive. James Crookham was a blacksmith and a matross ( a soldier who assists artillery gunners in loading, firing, sponging and moving the guns) who served in western Pennsylvania, near Carlisle. Service records indicated he deserted in 1781. It is possible that he was taken prisoner without his regiment knowing. By 1782, he had returned to Bedford, Pennsylvania which is consistent with the year’s worth of captivity. By 1810, he had moved to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, along the border of Ohio.
A John Crookham served in the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment who fought at the Battle of Long Island. He and his regiment was encamped near King’s Bridge. Another John Crookham served in Capt. John Clark’s Company near Fort Island in 1777, as part of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment. Due to the way names were abbreviated in records, it is probably that Jas. and John Crookham are the same person. They both hale from Bedford and Huntingdon County. James Crookham’s records were misfiled in under Joshua Crookham, for example. This would account for the family tale that a grandfather fought in the Battle of Long Island and was at some point taken prisoner and given to the Indians.
Sources
Fife, Drum, and Bugle During the Revolutionary War
Wilbur, L. F. (2002). Early history of Vermont. Salem, Mass: Higginson Book Co.
Goodrich, J. E. (1904). The state of Vermont: Rolls of the soldiers in the Revolutionary war, 1775 to 1783. Rutland, Vt: Tuttle Co. | ancestry.com
Finding the Yellow Bricks 