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Items Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown

Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown

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Thomas Addis Emmet collection

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Miscellaneous Manuscripts

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Title
Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown
Additional title: Henry Dearborn journal
Names
Dearborn, Henry, 1751-1829 (Creator)
Wakefield, Jeremiah (Contributor)
Collection

Thomas Addis Emmet collection

Miscellaneous Manuscripts

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1779-10-28 - 1781-12-10
Library locations
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Shelf locator: MssCol 927
Shelf locator: MssCol 755
Topics
United States. Continental Army -- Officers
Pittston (Me. : Town)
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Campaigns
Yorktown (Va.) -- History -- Siege, 1781
Soldiers
Genres
Diaries
Personal narratives
Notes
Funding: Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
Publications: Journal entries from 1779 0ctober 28 to 1781 December 10 were published in The Revolutionary War journals of Henry Dearborn, 1775-1783, edited from the original manuscripts by Lloyd A. Brown and Howard H. Peckham; with a biographical essay by Hermon Dunlap Smith (Chicago: The Caxton Club, 1939).
Biographical/historical: Henry Dearborn (1751-1829) of New Hampshire was an an American army officer and statesman. He fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, attaining the rank of senior Major General in the U.S. Army. Dearborn was U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts, 1793-1797; U.S. Secretary of War, 1801-1809; and U.S. minister to Portugal, 1822-1824. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Henry Dearborn was a practicing physician and captain of a New Hampshire militia company. He fought with the First and Third New Hampshire Regiments of the Continental Army, rising from captain to lieutenant colonel. In July 1781 he was appointed Deputy Quartermaster General and served on Washington’s staff in Virginia. Notable events in his military service included the battle of Bunker Hill with the First New Hampshire Regiment, 1775; the expedition to Quebec, 1775, resulting in his capture, imprisonment and exchange; the battles of Saratoga, 1777, and Monmouth, 1778; and Major General John Sullivan's campaign against the Six Nations, 1779. He was with the main army in New York and New Jersey in 1780 and participated in the Yorktown Campaign in 1781. Upon his exchange in 1777, Dearborn served as major and then lieutenant colonel in the Third New Hampshire Regiment, transferring to the First New Hampshire Regiment in early 1781. He commanded the regiment upon the death of Colonel Alexander Scammell at Yorktown in October. Dearborn served at the garrison at Saratoga in the summer and fall of 1782, and received his discharge in June 1783. In 1784 Dearborn moved to the District of Maine, then part of Massachusetts, settling in Pittston, now Gardiner, in Kennebec County. He became Major General of the Maine militia, was appointed U.S. Marshal for Maine in 1789, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from the District, 1793 to 1797. After serving as Secretary of War during the Jefferson administration, he held the federal appointment of Collector of Customs for the port of Boston from 1809 until he was appointed senior Major General of the U.S. Army in January 1812. Although Dearborn’s forces captured York (Toronto) and Fort George in the spring of 1813 during operations against Upper Canada, Dearborn’s weakness as a strategic commander and severe illness led to his recall by Secretary of War John Armstrong in July of that year. Dearborn was re-assigned to command the military district of New York City and was honorably discharged in 1815. In 1817 he ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic-Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts, and in 1818 his work An account of the battle of Bunker Hill was published. His final public office was U.S. minister to Portugal, 1822-1824. Henry Dearborn was married three times: to Mary Bartlett in 1771, to Dorcas Osgood Marble in 1780, and to Sarah Bowdoin in 1813. Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn (1783-1851) was his son by his second wife. Henry Dearborn died in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Content: The journal of Continental Army officer Henry Dearborn (1 volume), kept from 1779 0ctober 28 to 1781 December 10, concerns troop movements in New York and New Jersey; war news and rumors; trips to New Hampshire on leave; his appointment as Deputy Quartermaster General in 1781 July; movement of the American army from New York to Yorktown, Virginia; the siege of Yorktown and its surrender 1781 October 19; his illness; quartermaster duties; and arrival at winter quarters in New York in December. The last few leaves of the volume contain Dearborn’s miscellaneous memoranda and accounts dated 1781 and 1782 May, including two medicinal recipes recorded at Williamsburg, Virginia. The volume was also used by Jeremiah Wakefield of Pittston, Maine for accounts and writing exercises. Some are dated 1786 and 1789, the later text appearing after Dearborn’s 1781 December 10 entry. Beginning from the reverse end, with the volume turned around, are the bulk of Wakefield's writings dating from 1786 (these follow Dearborn’s memoranda and appear upside-down in the initial reading of the volume). Interspersed are a few accounts and notes in Dearborn’s hand which are unrelated to the war, dated 1785 and 1786 at Pittston.
Content: 98 pp. 12o
Acquisition: Donated by John S. Kennedy, 1896, as part of the Emmet collection.
Physical Description
Extent: .2 linear foot (1 volume)
Description
Henry Dearborn (1751-1829) of New Hampshire was an an American army officer and statesman. He fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, attaining the rank of senior Major General in the U.S. Army. Dearborn was U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts, 1793-1797; U.S. Secretary of War, 1801-1809; and U.S. minister to Portugal, 1822-1824. The journal of Continental Army officer Henry Dearborn (1 volume), kept from 1779 0ctober 28 to 1781 December 10, concerns troop movements in New York and New Jersey; war news and rumors; trips to New Hampshire on leave; his appointment as Deputy Quartermaster General in 1781 July; movement of the American army from New York to Yorktown, Virginia; the siege of Yorktown and its surrender 1781 October 19; his illness; quartermaster duties; and arrival at winter quarters in New York in December. There are additional memoranda by Henry Dearborn; the volume was also used by Jeremiah Wakefield of Pittston, Maine for accounts and writing exercises.
Type of Resource
Text
Languages
English
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11868616
MSS Unit ID: 927
Emmet number: EM. 20063
Archives EAD ID: 279972
RLIN/OCLC: NYPW91-A54
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b14421951
MSS Unit ID: 755
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): d62db690-6a3d-0139-7b6b-0242ac110002
Rights Statement
The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.

Item timeline of events

  • 1751: Creator Born
  • 1779: Created (Approximate)
  • 1829: Creator Died
  • 2025: Digitized
  • 2026: Found by you!
  • 2027

MLA Format

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1779 - 1781. https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c1332e23-1f80-d271-e040-e00a18063c4b

Chicago/Turabian Format

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed September 15, 2026. https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c1332e23-1f80-d271-e040-e00a18063c4b

APA Format

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. (1779 - 1781). Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown Retrieved from https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c1332e23-1f80-d271-e040-e00a18063c4b

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://old-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c1332e23-1f80-d271-e040-e00a18063c4b | title= (text) Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown, (1779 - 1781)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=September 15, 2026 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Diary of Col. Dearborn from Oct. 28, 1779 to Dec. 10, 1781; movements of the army about New York; siege of Yorktown