1775-1777
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).
Abstract
This collection consists of three orderly books kept by Col. Moses Little during the American Revolution, 1775-1777.
Biographical Sketch
Col. Moses Little was an officer in the Massachusetts Militia, serving as captain during the French and Indian War and colonel during the American Revolution. He was born on 8 May 1724 in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Moses and Sarah Jacques Little. As a young man, he worked as a surveyor and purchased land throughout New England.
Little served in the militia during the French and Indian War and led the Newbury troops in the 1758 Siege of Louisbourg. At the start of the American Revolution, on hearing of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, he gathered a company of men and marched to the American headquarters in Cambridge, where he was put in command of a regiment. He led three companies at the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775. After the Siege of Boston, Col. Little served in New York, commanding at Fort Greene, taking part in the Battles of Long Island on 27 August 1776 and Harlem Heights on 16 September 1776, and overseeing an encampment at Peekskill. In 1777, he was forced to end his military service due to poor health.
Moses Little also served as a representative for Newbury in the Massachusetts General Court both before and after the Revolution. He married Abigail Bailey in 1743 and built an estate called Turkey Hill in Newbury. The couple had 11 children.
Little died on 27 May 1798.
Sources
Johnson, Rossiter, ed. The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. VI. Boston: American Biographical Society, 1906.
Little, George Thomas. The Descendants of George Little, Who Came to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1640. Auburn, Maine: Published by the author, 1882. pp. 40-43.
Little, George Thomas, ed. Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine. Vol. I. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1909. pp. 453-455.
Collection Description
This collection consists of three orderly books kept by Col. Moses Little during the American Revolution, 1775-1777, at Prospect Hill, Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the Siege of Boston, and in New York City, New York. Included are division orders from Gen. Israel Putnam and Charles Lee, brigade orders from Gen. Nathaniel Greene, regimental orders from Col. Little, and general orders from George Washington's headquarters in White Plains, New York. Orders pertain to troop health, care of the wounded, deployment, supplies, health and hygiene, discipline, recruiting, picketing, and guard and fatigue duties. Also included are muster rolls, furloughs, discharges, desertions, accounts, and receipts for clothing, guns, and pay.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Robert Cassie Waterston, September 1919, and Edward B. Alford, 1936.
Restrictions on Access
Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).
Other Formats
This collection is available as color digital facsimiles.
This collection is also available on the Revolutionary War orderly books microfilm at the MHS, P-394, reel II.2. Click here for the guide to the microfilm.
Black and white digital images of this collection--produced from the microfilm edition--are available as part of History Vault: Revolutionary War and Early America, a digital resource from ProQuest. This resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS also provides access onsite to the Society's contributions to this resource; see a reference librarian for more information.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Orderly book, 26 June-20 October 1775
Orderly book, 20 October 1775-30 May 1776
This volume contains a sequence of 16 blank pages which was excluded during imaging. The blank pages span from displayed image 239-240.
Orderly book and accounts, 7 November 1775-23 April 1777
This volume is made up of three separate books that were combined into one volume. Section 1 has no page 20. Section 2 contains a sequence of 6 blank pages (Section 2, pages 55-60) that was excluded during imaging. While not visible in this display, these blank pages exist in the original volume between displayed image 60 and displayed image 61. Section 3 has no page 18 and the two pages between page 27 and page 28 are unnumbered.
Preferred Citation
Col. Moses Little orderly books, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.