Guards of Camp Security 7: Henry Baumgardner
The pension act of June 7, 1832 extended benefits to some Revolutionary War veterans that had not qualified under the 1828 act. The war had been over for 49 years, so most applicants were at least seventy years old, with many in their eighties.
From the introduction to Revolutionary War Pension Records at the National Archives: “The act provided that every officer or enlisted man who had served at least two years in the Continental Line or State troops, volunteers or militia, was eligible for a pension of full pay for life. Naval and marine officers and enlisted men were also included. Veterans who had served less than two years but not less than six months, were eligible for pensions of less than full pay. Neither the act of 1832 nor the one of 1828 required applicants to demonstrate need.”
Since the tour of duty as militia guards at Camp Security was two months, and some men served as little as one tour, the old soldiers had to cobble together several different drafts/enlistments to qualify. Henry Baumgardner is an example. In his affidavit before Judge Walter Franklin of York County, he states:
“That he was born in Frederick County, Maryland in seventeen hundred and fifty eight… . That he lived with Geo. Kitzmiller in that part of York County now Adams County, Penna. in seventeen hundred and seventy six, when the said George Kitzmiller was drafted as a Militia Man in the company of Capt. Thomas Fisher near Littlestown in said county, which said company…marched thro. Lancaster, Phila., Trenton & to Amboy, where it remained until the end of two months. …That at the end of the two months he enlisted in the company of Capt. Nicholas Bittinger in the Flying Camp and served six months… . That Capt. Bittinger was taken prisoner at Fort Washington. That he with others escaped to Fort Lee. That he marched with this detachment of the Army from Fort Lee through New Jersey to Trenton, crossed the Delaware, and at the end of his term of six months was discharged… . That the following year he served a tour of duty of two months in guarding the prisoners taken with Burgoyne, but does not remember the name of the officer under whom he served.”
The lists of militia guards at Camp Security show Baumgardner on Captain Henry Moore’s pay roll, August 20th to September 20th, 1781.
In my next post, I’ll share why Baumgardner, who was living in Frederick County, Maryland in 1832, went to court in York instead to give his statement, and what other proof he had to submit.
