YESTERDAY'S DRAGOONS

     Sheldon's Horse, The Second Continental Light Dragoons was commissioned by Congress under the command of Colonel Elisha Sheldon on  December 12 of 1776 at the direct recommendation of General George Washington. Sheldon first came to the attention of the Commander in Chief earlier that year when Sheldon lead a group of mounted Connecticut militia to Washington's New York headquarters to volunteer for army service. The offer was refused due to lack of sufficient forage for men and horses. However, after the October 1776 defeat at White Plains, NY, Washington came to recognize the value of a regular mounted establishment and the Second Continental Light Dragoons was born with Elisha Sheldon commissioned as Colonel-Commandant.

   From March 1777 until January 1781 the regiment  consisted of six troops drawn mostly from Connecticut, but with men  from Massachusetts , New Jersey, and New York.  In January 1781 following the reorganization as a legion, there were 4 troops of mounted, 2 troops of dismounted and 2 companies of   Light Infantry. The unit never served as a whole. The first action occurred when Capt. Epaphras Bull and Lt. Thomas Young Seymour led a portion of the Second Dragoons at the battles at Trenton and Princeton, NJ. Elements of the regiment later saw combat at:

  • Woodbridge;
  • Brandywine;
  • Germantown;
  • Kingston;
  • The Battles of Saratoga, where a portion of the regiment under Lt. Seymour not only fought as the sole Continental cavalry, but was assigned to escort Burgoyne to Boston after the British surrender;
  • Schoharie, at The Battle of The Flockey where Sheldon's Horse performed the first cavalry charge on American soil;
  • Paoli;
  • Whitemarsh, where two troopers are buried. The barn which was utilized as the field hospital still stands;
  • Morrisania;
  • Yorktown, twenty Sheldon's Horse were detailed to accompany Washington and Rochambeau to the York peninsula. A Sheldon's trooper is depicted in the painting of Cornwallis' surrender.

     From formation through its reversion to State troop status, Sheldon's patrolled and skirmished its way through Connecticut, Westchester and Rockland Counties as well as northern New Jersey. The dangers inherent to these seemingly mundane duties is reflected in many of the Pension claims of Sheldon's veterans:

  • "Pvt. Allen Gilbert; Wounded at Pound Ridge on July 2, 1779"
  • "Trooper Henry Crawford; Wounded by a musket ball in the thigh at Mile Square, December, 1777"
  • "Lt. James Dole; Wounded in hip by gunshot at King Street, August 17, 1780".

     Numerous whaleboat raids against British and Loyalist installations on Long Island were conducted by Sheldon's troopers. It was acts of bravery on one such raid that earned Sgt. Elijah Churchill the Badge of Military Merit (the Purple Heart), precursor to the Congressional Medal of Honor and one of only three awarded for Revolutionary War service.

     The regiment performed as the first "pony express" relaying messages along a string of express stations between Washington's headquarters and the northern colonies.

     Sheldon's served as advance scouts for the American army and earned the sobriquet "Washington's Eyes". Under Major Benjamin Tallmadge, Sheldon's also became Washington's ears as Tallmadge operated his "Culper" spy ring on Long Island and in New York City.

     Elements of the unit comprised Washington's personal bodyguard and men of the Second Light Dragoons guarded John Andre during his incarceration, trial and subsequent execution in Nyack, New York.

     In 1781, Sheldon's Horse became the first American unit to conduct a combined combat operation with our French Allies in Tarrytown, New York. Rochambeau's staff considered Sheldon's Horse, Second Continental Light Dragoons as " . . . incontestably the best on the continent. . . ."

     Sheldon's Horse was never officially disbanded, making this regiment unique among all Continental cavalry units. The majority of its numbers were furloughed after the cessation of hostilities; the regiment released from federal service and returned to the authority of the state.

     After the conclusion of the War for Independence, some Sheldon's veterans participated in the westward expansion. Many went on to achieve positions of prominence in diplomacy and politics, civil service and commerce. Thomas Young Seymour led the Governor's Horse Guard and was the subject of a portrait by John Trumbull, while Joshua King sat for Gilbert Stuart.

     The final muster was taken in May 1866 with the death of the last surviving trooper, Lemuel Cook, at the age of 107.

    

  

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