He had such excellent co-ordination that he could well have been noted for his athletic prowess. The combination of rhythm and manual dexterity indicated a person who was skilful in creating or fixing things with his hands — a skill that doubtless stood him in good stead in handling the firearms of the day.
The fact that his signatures are so very much like the body of the letters indicates a harmony between the official and the private person. He was very much as he appeared to be and all the indications are that he was a genuine and straight-forward person.
All in all, Justus Sherwood was a man of talent and ability. One can well imagine him being highly respected by his men and trusted by his superiors.
Mary I. Duncan.
Master Certified Graphoanalyst.
Bibliographical Essay
Most of the material for this work was drawn from the papers preserved by Governor Frederick Haldimand following his tour of duty in Canada, from 1778 until 1784. The originals are in the British Museum. Handwritten transcripts known as Series B are in the Public Archives of Canada, and identified in my footnotes as PAC. I have referred in these notes to both the originals and the transcripts. Midway through my research, the Public Archives of Canada put Series B in storage, and purchased copies of the British Museum collection on microfilm, which have different page numberings. An attempt to have all my footnotes conform to the British Museum numbering involved too much eye strain to be worth the effort.
An invaluable source, also drawn from the Haldimand Papers, is the many published works of the late Brigadier E.A. Cruikshank, who spent years transcribing documents. The work of two earlier biographers of Sherwood was most helpful. One is I.C.R. Pemberton's doctoral thesis for the University of Western Ontario, dated 1972. It is scholarly, but the author did not make use of War Office records, and he was misled on certain aspects of Sherwood's military experience. Pemberton saw Sherwood as non-violent, and temperamentally unsuited to intrigue. I see him as capable of using his fists, and probably the best man Haldimand had available for the secret service. The other biography, by Colonel H.M. Jackson, is short, and his reporting on the years prior to 1778 is not very accurate. He left room for a more comprehensive treatment of the subject.
Other useful sources were the Audit Office records, in the Public Record Office in London. These are the memorials of all the loyalists who filed claims for compensation, and is the second most valuable source on loyalists. The War Office records contain muster rolls, lists of officers, and some information on the activities of the regiments and individuals, and copies are in the Public Archives of Canada. Other sources in the Public Archives of Canada are the Upper Canada State Papers, Land Petitions, the Land and State Book, survey records, Lower Canada Land Records, the Quebec Land Book, Quebec Executive Council Minutes, Military Series C and Q, and Public Accounts. The Vermont Public Record Office in Montpelier provided some information on Sherwood's lands and on his in-laws, the Bothums.
In the Ontario Archives in Toronto are the Jessup Papers, Sherwood's Original Notebook, and a card catalogue with information on births, marriages and deaths of many early families. Some American repositories yielded useful detail. The papers of Sir Henry Clinton are in the William L Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Some of John Peters' papers are in the New York State Library, Albany. The Vermont State Library has manuscripts relating to Ethan Allen. The letter books of Richard Cartwright are in the Douglas Library, Queen's University in Kingston. An account book kept by Sherwood is in the Metropolitan Toronto Library.
Some Vermont sources, and others drawn from New England and New York, were marginally useful for the more obscure phases of Sherwood's early life. But the Vermonters wrote him out of their history, or molded him to their own ends. The post-1784 years are also illusive. Had Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe given Sherwood any public appointments, some of his letters might have been preserved in the former's correspondence. Rounding out the early years, and the later ones, required considerable detective work. Such would have been nearly impossible had I not in advance re-created the life of another loyalist whose story has even more gaps, that of John Walden Meyers.
By the time I began Sherwood's biography, I had more than a nodding acquaintance with many of his associates. In fact, I did not like Sherwood until I understood the Connecticut upbringing that had shaped him. At first, the lack of private letters worried me until Mary I. Duncan, a certified graphoanalyst, undertook a study of Sherwood's handwriting. Her observation that his signature indicated ‘a harmony between the official and the private person’ gave me confidence. She convinced me that private letters would have shed no more light on the man than his public writings.
Where the documentation was weak, I made use of occasions when Sherwood's viewpoint was evident. If he felt one way in a situation, he reacted in the same manner under similar circumstances where sources are missing. This technique was necessary, or there could have been no biography of Sherwood, nor of many other loyalists beyond the few such as William Smith, who left diaries and private letters. Smith was a civilian whose story is quite different from the men who fought the war, whereas Sherwood was a soldier.
Notes
Prologue: From a Fate Worse Than Death
1. Jackson, H.M. Justus Sherwood: Soldier, Loyalist and Negotiator. Published privately 1958. p. 2. Other sources show Sarah's surname as Bottum. Justus spelled it Bothum.
2. Public Record Office, London. Audit Office AO 13-22, pp. 351-359. Memorial of Justus Sherwood.
3. Lapp, Eula C. To Their Heirs Forever. Picton, 1970. Parts I-IV, pp. 2-114, on the families in the Camden Valley.
4. Leavitt, Thad. W.H. History of Leeds and Grenville. Brockville, 1879. p. 18. Memoir of Adiel Sherwood, shows that Caesar Congo was very young in 1776.
5. P.R.O. Memorial of Justus Sherwood.
6. Thompson, Judge D.P. The Green Mountain Boys - A Historical Tale of the Early Settlement of Vermont. New York, 1839. Foreword; p. 328.
7. Koier, Louise B. A November Journey. Vermont's Debt to Captain Justus Sherwood. Vermont Historical Society, Montpelier, Vt. News and Notes VI. Nov. 13, 1954.
8. Pemberton, I.C.R. Justus Sherwood, Vermont Loyalist. Doctoral Thesis, University of Western Ontario, 1972. Pemberton discovered that there were two Justus Sherwoods; the other one's dates of birth and death are 1752-1836.
9. PAC Haldimand Papers B 177 pt. 1, p. 36. Sherwood to Mathews, Feb. 14, 1782.
10. Duncan, Mary I. Graphoanalyst. Report on Sherwood's handwriting.
Chapter 1: Outlaw, Rebel, Loyalist
1. Pope, C.H. Pioneers of Massachusetts. Baltimore, 1965. p. 413. The family reached Massachusetts Bay April 30, aboard the Francis of Ipswich.
2. Stratford Historical Society; from Orcutt's History of Stratford.
3. Newton, Connecticut. Register of Deeds, vols 9, 10. Quoted in Pemberton. p. 8.
4. Bushman, Richard L. From Puritan to Yankee: Character and Social Order in Connecticut. Cambridge, Mass. 1967.
5. Ibid. p. 45.
6. O'Callahan, E.B. ed. Documentary History of the State of New York. Albany, 1851. pp. 776-777.
7. Coolidge, A.J. and Mansfield, J.B. History and Description of New England, General and Social. Boston, 1859, vol. 1. p. 110.
8. Mathews, Hazel C. Frontier Spies. Fort Myers, Fla., 1970, p. 8.
9. Stuart, E. Rae. Jessup's Rangers as a Factor in Loyalist Settlement. Toronto, 1961. p. 5.
10. P.R.O. AO 13-22. p. 355. Testimony of Roger Stevens.
11. Three accounts describe the Green Mountain Boys. Van De Water, F.F. The Reluctant Republic; New York, 1974; Pell, John. Ethan Allen. Boston, 1929; Allen, Ira. The National and Political History of Vermont. London, 1798. Pemberton suggested that Sherwood was only a business associate of the Aliens. Proof that he was committed to the struggle with New York is found in his purchase of 1,000 acres in the Susquehanna Valley, where Connecticut settlers were battling Pennsylvanians and their royal governor.
12. Allen, Ira. History of Vermont, p. 15
13. Pell, p. 72.
14. Justus could have been in the first assault, but nothing in the record supports this. No list of Green Mountain Boys exists prior to 1776.
15. Pell, pp. 112-113.
16. Mathews, p. 42.
17. Smith, H.P. History of Addison County. Syracuse, N. Y., 1886. p. 526.
18. Several secondary sources claim that Sherwood sent a message to Tryon, but he never admitted this, nor spying for Carleton. An approach to Tryon was the usual way of becoming involved, and Carleton had prior knowledge of Sherwood before he reached Crown Point in October, 1776.
19. Hemenway, Abby Maria. The Vermont Historical Gazeteer. vol. 1. Burlington, Vt., 1867. p. 130.
Chapter 2: Secret Mission
1. Hadden, Lieutenant James N., Royal Artillery. Journal and Orderly Books. Albany, N.Y., 1884. p. 69.
2. Ibid.
3. Haldimand Papers, British Museum. Add. Mss. 21841. Sherwood's report is folios 50-51. PAC Haldimand papers, B 181, p. 62. Report dated April 7, 1777.
4. Haldimand Papers, British Museum Add. Mss. 21841. Folios 50-51. Sherwood's report.
5. The stockade is shown on a map of Albany made for Lord Jeffrey Amherst. Albany Society for History and Art.
6. P.R.O. AO 13-22. Memorial of Justus Sherwood, to which is appended a list of his lost property.
7. Stuart. Jessup's Corps, p. 27.
8. Thompson, Zadock. History of Vermont. Natural, Civil and Statistical. Burlington, Vt., 1842. Pt. Ill, p. 92.
9. Toronto Globe, July 16, 1877. Narrative of John Peters, June 5, 1786, written in Pimlico, England.
10. Stuart, Jessup's Corps, pp. 25 and 27. PAC Haldimand Papers, B 167, p. 11. Subsistence Account for the Loyal Volunteers, October 24, 1777, after Pfister's death.
11. P.R.O. AO 13-14. Memorial of John Wilson.
12. Smith, Paul H. Loyalists and Redcoats: A Study of British Revolutionary Policy. Chapel Hill, N.C. 1964, pp. 63-65.
13. Lewis, Paul. The Man who Lost America. A Biography of'Gentleman Johnny' Burgoyne. New York, 1973; p. 25.
14. Stuart, Jessup's Corps, p. 24.
15. O'Callahan, E.B., ed. Orderly Book of Lieut.-Gen. John Burgoyne. Albany, N.Y., 1860. Map of Burgoyne's line of battle in the appendix.
Chapter 3: Rattlesnake Hill
1. Burt, A.L. Guy Carleton, Lord Dorchester, 1724-1808. Revised version. The Canadian Historical Association. Historical Booklet No. 5. p. 11. Some secondary accounts state that Howe was to bring an army north to effect a junction with Burgoyne. Burt points out that this is incorrect. Howe notified Carleton that he would be in Pennsylvania. Burgoyne knew, when he left Canada that he was on his own, although he later asked Clinton for reinforcements.
2. The credit for placing the guns has been given to Twiss in every source, and nothing beyond the fact that Sherwood reconnoitred the forts was ever said about his part. The task Twiss faced was enormous. If he had had to explore on his own and select the place to make his path, he would have needed more time. Years later Twiss asked for Sherwood to guide him along Lake Champlain, which suggests that he already knew him.
3. Hemenway. Gazetteer, vol. I, p. 749.
4. Ibid. vol. I, p. 719.
5. Ibid. vol. I, p. 749.
6. Mathews. Frontier Spies, p. 17. Here was proof that in 1775 Sherwood's interests lay with the rebels. Skene represented New York, and would have tried to control the Green Mountain Boys.
7. Later Burgoyne blamed his failure on the lack of loyalist support. Yet more loyalists came forward than other writers usually admit in secondary sources. A conservative estimate is that 1,000 loyalists joined Burgoyne.
8. Toronto Globe. Narrative of John Peters. War Office 28, vol. 4, p. 271. Appointment of Officers within Mentioned, from PAC collection.
9. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 161 p. 10. Return of the Corps of Royalists Commanded by Colonel Ebenezer Jessup.
10. Ibid. B 167, p. 374. Payroll of the Queen's Loyal Rangers.
11. P.R.O. AO 13-15. p. 415. Memorial of Patrick Smyth.
Chapter 4: Bennington Bloodbath
1. Almon, J. ed. The Remembrancer, or Impartial Repository of Political Events. 17 vols, by year, 1775-1784. London, 1777, pp. 392-394. General Burgoyne's instructions to Colonel Baum. Parke, Joseph W.R. The Battle of Bennington. Bennington Museum, 1976. Map on back cover.
2. Peters Papers. New York State Library. Albany, N. Y.
3. Several sources refer to a Tory officer only, but Sherwood was the man scouting near Bennington, and Burgoyne referred to him.
4. War Office 28, vol. 4. p. 271. Wright's appointment was made on August 6, 1777.
5. Stevens, B.F. Facsimilies of Manuscripts in European Archives Relating to America 1773-1783. London, 1889-1895. No. 1665. Philip Skene to Lord Dartmouth, Aug. 30, 1777.
6. In secondary sources only three positions are given for Baum's force, with all the Tories at Pfister's redoubt. A map on the back cover of Parke's booklet shows two positions for provincials. It was prepared by Lieutenant Durnford, Royal Engineers for Burgoyne.
7. New York State Library. MSS 3591. Return of the 3rd Company, Queen's Loyal Rangers after the Battle of Bennington.
8. O'Callaghan, Orderly Book of Lieut.-Gen. John Burgoyne. pp. 153-154.
Chapter 5: Saratoga
1. PAC War Office 28, vol. 9. p. 95. Memorial of Justus Sherwood to Sir Guy Carleton. Mar. 9, 1778.
2. Hadden. Journal and Orderly Books, p. 113, footnote.
3. PAC War Office 28, vol. 4. p. 103. Report of Colonel John Peters. Oct. 1, 1777.
4. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 167, p. 37. General Order at Battenkill. Aug. 25, 1777.
5. Riedesel, Mme. de. Letters and Memoirs. New York, 1827. The letters are useful sources for the events that followed her arrival at Fort Edward.
6. Pemberton. p. 57.
7. Stone, William L. Life of Joseph Brant. Cooperstown, N.Y. 1845. vol. 2. p. 211.
8. That Sherwood was wounded is not found in any primary source. The information was passed on by his sons.
9. PAC War Office 28. vol. 4. p. 103.
10. Lunt, James. John Burgoyne of Saratoga. New York, 1975. p. 335. Article 8 of the Saratoga Convention.
11. PAC War Office 28, vol. 4. p. 266. Present State of Several Detachments of Royalists who Returned from Lieutenant Genl Burgoyne's Army to Canada after the Convention. May 1, 1778.
Chapter 6: Under Convention
1. Walton, E.P. ed. Records of the Council of Safety, State of Vermont. Montpelier, Vt. 1873. vol. 1. p. 192.
2. No information on where Sarah was dropped along Lake Champlain has survived, but leaving refugees some miles off to make their own way was typical.
3. Hadden. Journal and Orderly Books, p. 72. footnote.
4. Sherwood's second son's name is given as Livius in some secondary sources. Sherwood's handwriting is responsible. His great great grandson was named Livius after his mother misread the name in the family Bible.
5. The description is based on a photograph of Levius. The Reverend Henry Scadding described him as slender and spare; John Morgan Gray, in his biography of Lord Selkirk, referred to Levius as Samuel Sherwood's ‘lean, sharp faced younger brother’.
6. PAC War Office 28, vol. 9, p. 95. Memorial of Justus Sherwood to Governor Carleton. Mar. 9, 1778.
7. Confiscations, Albany County. New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.
8. Nye, M.G. State Papers of Vermont, no date. vol. 4. p. 17.
9. Ontario Archives. Jessup Papers. Edward Jessup's Receipt Book.
10. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 83, p. 97. June 1, 1778.
11. Ibid. B 181, p. 106. Sherwood to Carleton, July 10, 1778. Evidence that he went on the mission is found in the report he wrote on his return to Fort St. Johns.
12. Pell. p. 161. Ethan did confiscate Levi's property later.
13. Van De Water. Reluctant Republic. This is a colourful account of the birth pains of Vermont, which omits British ma
chinations.
14. Katcher, Philip. The American Provincial Corps, 1775-1784. Osprey Men-at-Arms Series, Reading, England, 1973. p. 11. Katcher identifies the loyalists as Jessup's; they were Peters' corps.
Chapter 7: A Pimpernel Emerges
1. Leavitt, Thad. History of Leeds and Grenville. Brockville, 1879. p. 20. Memoir of Adiel Sherwood. The family moved to Canada in the summer of 1779.
2. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 181. pp. 106-110. Sherwood to Carleton, July 10, 1778.
3. The evidence that Sherwood had been negotiating with the rebels is not found until he was conducting the exchange of prisoners in the spring of 1779. Clinton Papers, University of Michigan, No. 2019. Deposition of Andrew Stephenson, one of the prisoners.
4. Enys, Lieutenant John. The American Journals of Lt. John Enys. Elizabeth Cometti, ed. Syracuse, N.Y. 1976. p. 24; Bredenberg, Oscar. Military Activities in the Champlain Valley after 1777. Champlain, N.Y. 1962. pp. 14-20.
5. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 83, p. 112; Mcllwraith, J.N. Sir Frederick Haldimand. Toronto, 1929. p. 132.
6. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 54 pp. 266-269. Haldimand to Germain. Nov. 1, 1779; Fryer, M.B. Kings Men. Toronto, 1980. Chapters 4 and 5, the histories of the two regiments.
7. Cruikshank, E.A. The Kings Royal Regiment of New York. Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records, vol. 27 (1931) p. 391.
8. McIllwraith. p. 89.
9. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 54 p. 30. Haldimand to Germain, Oct. 15, 1778.
10. Mathews' name first appears on The Army Lists in 1778.
11. From the letters that passed between Mathews and Sherwood, most of the rest of the biography has been pieced together and the documentation is stronger. No document indicates that Sherwood met Haldimand at this time, but Haldimand would not have returned Sherwood to Fort St. Johns unless he had had the opportunity to form an opinion about him.
12. PAC Haldimand Papers. B 214, pp. 69-70. Memorial of Captain Sherwood to Governor Haldimand. Nov. 16, 1778.
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