Timeline (preliminary)

1735	Blandford first settled
1740	Oliver Watson (1718-1782) bought 2000 acre lot #2 in Leicester
1740	Becket first settled
1741	Town of Blandford incorporated
27 Jan 1754	John Gibbs purchased 60 acre Blandford home lot #34 from his father for £56 13s.
1750s	Chester first settled
1765	Towns of Chester and Becket incorporated
1768	John Watson (1747-1823) bought Blandford home lot #9 and established a tannery
1772	Oliver Snow Jr. moved to Becket
10 Jun 1773	23rd Foot arrived in New York Harbor from England
16 Dec 1773	Boston Tea Party
1773	Town of Otis incorporated (as Loudon)
1774	Oliver Snow Jr. married at Becket
20 May 1774	Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act (Intolerable Acts)
Spring 1774	23rd Foot ordered to Boston
16 Aug 1774	A mob closed the Berkshire county courthouse
6 Sep 1774	Militia seized the Worcester county courthouse
18 Sep 1774	Governor Gates ordered seizure of militia supplies at Concord
19 Apr 1775	Battles of Lexington and Concord (including 23rd Foot's flank companies)
13 May-19 Jul 1775	Oliver Watson attended provincial Congress at Watertown, MA
16 Jun 1775	Battle of Bunker Hill  (Grenadiers of 23rd Foot led 3 charges, Sylvanus Snow injured)
3 Mar 1776	Knyphausen Regiment left Ziegenhain (Konrad + Wigand Dirlam?)
17 Mar 1776	British evacuated Boston
17 Apr 1776	4 companies of Knyphausen Regiment left Bremerlehe
6 May 1776	British/Hessian troop convoy #1a, 85 ships left Portsmouth
14 May 1776	Some von Scheither recruits left Stade (John Dirlam?)
14 May 1776	Blakeney Company assigned to 1st Grenadier Battalion
18 May 1776	Minnegrode Company of Knyphausen Regiment left Bremerlehe (K+W Dirlam?)
26 May 1776	British/Hessian troop convoy #1b, 25 ships left Portsmouth (K+W Dirlam?)
9 Jun 1776	British/Hessian troop convoy #2 left Ritzebuttel (John Dirlam?)
28 Jun 1776	British/Hessian troop convoy #2 left Portsmouth (John Dirlam?)
7 July 1776	Second Continental Congress adopted Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia
12 July 1776	Fleet of 150 British ships arrived in New York Harbor
14-15 Aug 1776	British/Hessian troop convoy #1a and 1b disembark on Staten Island (K+W Dirlam?)
27 Aug 1776	Battle of Brooklyn Heights, NY (incl. 23rd Foot)
16 Sep 1776	Battle of Harlem Heights, NY (incl. 23rd Foot)
18 Oct 1776	British/Hessian troop convoy #2 arrived at NY harbor
18 Oct 1776	John Dirlam, 3 other Hessians joined 23rd Foot in NYC (Blakeney Company)
28 Oct 1776	Battle of White Plains, NY (incl. 23rd Foot + Knyphausen)
Nov 1776	Nathan Snow's Ashford militia guarded Providence, RI for 3 months
16 Nov 1776	British captured Fort Washington, NY (incl. 23rd Foot + Knyphausen)
17 Nov 1776	23rd Foot garrisoned in New York City
8 Dec 1776	British captured Newport, RI
26 Dec 1776	Battle of Trenton, NJ (Wigand Dirlam captured)
2 Jan 1777	Battle of Assunpink Creek, NJ
3 Jan 1777	Battle of Princeton, NJ
8 Jan 1777	John Dirlam mustered for Blakeney Company
13 Apr 1777	Battle of Bound Brook, NJ
26 Apr 1777	Asa Snow and Oliver Jr's** Becket militia marched to Saratoga, NY
26 Apr 1777	Burning of Danbury, CT (23rd Foot in rearguard)
27 Apr 1777	Battle of Ridgefield, CT
23 May 1777	Battle of Sag Harbor, NY
26 Jun 1777	Battle of Metuchen Meeting House, NJ
6 Jul 1777	Fort Ticonderoga, NY surrendered to the British
18 Jul 1777	Oliver Snow Jr**, Amos Kingsley* Becket militia called 5 days to Manchester, VT
14 Aug 1777	Jonathan Wadsworth**, Amos Kingley* Becket militia called 9 days to Bennington, VT
16 Aug 1777	Battle of Bennington, NY
1 Sep 1777	Nathan Snow** and Sylvanus Snow's Ashford militia marched to Stillwater, NY
11 Sep 1777	Battle of Brandywine, PA (incl. 23rd Foot)
19 Sep 1777	First Battle of Saratoga, NY
21 Sep 1777	Battle of Battle of Paoli Tavern at Malvern, PA
26 Sep 1777	Capture of Philadelphia, PA (incl. 23rd Foot)
26 Sep 1777	23rd Foot moved to Germantown, PA
3 Oct 1777	23rd Foot sent to guard Middle Ferry and Chester Road at Philadelphia
4 Oct 1777	Battle of Germantown, PA (not incl. 23rd Foot)
7 Oct 1777	Second Battle of Saratoga, NY
8 Oct 1777	Nathan Snow** and Sylvanus Snow's Ashford militia marched to Albany,NY
10 Oct 1777	Battery on Carpenter's Isl. (behind Redbank) surrendered 300+ men by British (mostly grenadiers, incl. of 23rd Foot)
15 Oct 1777	Fort Mifflin, PA (opposite Redbank) evacuated by Continentals
19-26 Oct 1777	Middletown, CT militia escorted prisoners from Ticonderoga and Bennington through Connecticut and delivered them to the sheriff in Hartford, CT
22 Oct 1777	Battle of Redbank, NJ for Fort Mercer (incl. 23rd Foot)
Nov 1777	Burgoyne's Convention Army marched to stockade in Cambridge, MA
12 Nov 1777	Sylvanus Snow's youngest child born in Ashford, CT
11-12 Dec '77	British forage in force from Philadelphia to Radnor, PA (incl. 23rd Foot) 15 mi
Jan 1778	Timothy Levi and Nathan Snow Ashford militia guarded Providence, RI for 2 months
16 Feb 1778	The Treaty of Alliance with France signed in Paris
18 Feb 1778	Loyalist raid on Jenk's Fulling Mill, Newton, PA (25 mi to Philadelphia)
20 Feb 1778	Raid near Frankford, PA (8 mi to Philadelphia)
24-25 Feb '78	Raid near Skippack, PA ( 65 mi to Philadelphia)
24 Feb 1778	John O Dirlam reported 'captured by rebels' (by 23rd Foot)
Apr 1778	Levi Snow's* Ashford militia served at Greenwich, Hartford and New Haven, CT
1 May 1778	Silas Snow's** Ashford militia in West Point, NY and New London, CT for 1 year
18 Jun 1778	British evacuated Philadelphia, PA (incl. 23rd Foot)
28 Jun 1778	Battle of Monmouth, NJ (incl. 23rd Foot: grenadier company lost 1/3 of it's men)
Jun-Sep 1778	Wigand Dirlam freed/returned to Knyphausen regiment in Philadelphia or NYC
Jul 1778	Levi Snow's* Ashford militia served at White Plains and West Point, NY
5 Jul 1778	Blakeney Company returned to 23rd Foot from 1st Grenadier Battalion
1 Aug 1778	John Gibbs purchased 18 acres of Blandford lot #14 from sheriff for 17s. 3p.
Sep 1778	Nathan** and Bilarcah*** Snow's Ashford guarded New London, built Ft. Trumbull
Nov 1778	Levi Snow's* Ashford militia served at New London, CT
Feb 1779	Nathan Snow** moved from Ashford to Becket
May 1779	British captured the King's Ferry Forts (incl. 23rd Foot)
Jun 1779	Silas Snow's** Ashford militia served 3 months, guarded Groton, CT lighthouse
30 Jun 1779	British raided Fairport, New Haven and Norwalk, CT (incl. 23rd Foot)
Jul 1779	Nathan Snow's** Becket militia guarded New Haven, CT
5 Jul 1779	British raided New Haven, CT
9 Jul 1779	British burned Fairfield and Green Farms, CT
11 Jul 1779	British burned Norwalk, CT
8 Sep 1779	Knyphausen Regiment sailed for Quebec (3 ships inc. Wigand Dirlam captured)
7 Mar 1780	John Gibbs bought 405 acres on Blandford lots 4 and 14 from sheriff for £190 5s.
7 Mar 1780	John Gibbs and John Durlam bought 456 acres on lot 34 from sheriff for £107 s3 d6
Jul 1780	Silas Snow's** Ashford militia served 3 months at West Point, NY
21 Jul 1780	Asa Snow** enlisted for 6 months in Continental Army unit from Becket
16 Oct 1780	British raided Royalton, VT (Asa Snow present?)
25 Oct 1780	Asa Snow** mustered at Camp Totoway, NJ
15 Mar 1781	Battle of Guilford Courthouse, NC (incl. 23rd Foot, except grenadiers at NYC)
Jul 1781	Silas Snow's** Ashford militia served 3 months at Mohegan, CT
18 Sep 1781	John Dirlam married Sarah Snow at Becket
16 Oct 1779	Captured soldiers rejoin Knyphausen Regiment in NYC (inc. Wigand Dirlam)
19 Oct 1781	British surrender at Yorktown, VA
29 Oct 1781	Royal Welch Fusiliers marched to stockade in Winchester, VA
12 Jan 1782	Royal Welch Fusiliers marched to stockade in Lancaster, PA
5 Mar 1783	Oldest Dirlam son born
May 1783	Royal Welch Fusiliers marched to Staten Island, NY to rejoin the Army
24 Jun 1783	Royal Welch Fusiliers at Herricks, NY recorded John Dirlam as 'deserted'
Jan 1784	Royal Welch Fusiliers embarked for England
24 Sep 1788	John Dirlam land purchase in Becket recorded
10 Oct 1788	Sylvanus Snow land purchase in Becket recorded
20 Aug 1800	John Gibbs relinquished claim to 484 acres, farm lot 34

* Sylvanus Snow's sons, Levi, Timothy and son-in-law, Amos Kingsle
** Oliver Snow's sons Asa, Nathan, Silas, Oliver Jr. and son-in-law Jonathan Wadsworth
*** Samuel Snow's son, Bilarchy

Updated from November 2010 version.

Documents List Re: Hessians

These are War Office documents I believe pertain to the von Scheither Hessians, held at the National Archives in Kew:

First, there is the Correspondence of the Secretary-at-War.

1. WO 4/96, pp. 257, 389, 462 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, January to April, 1776) **
2. WO 4/98, p. 439-440 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, July 1776 to January 1777)
3. WO 4/99, page 198 (Secretary-at-War, general letters, January to May 1777)**
4. WO 43/405, (Colonel G.H.A. de Scheither of Hanover recruits 4,000 Germans for British army service. Details of transport of soldiers and their families to Dover and other ports. Letters from Lord North, Viscount Barrington, Deputy Adjutant General, Colonel W. Faucitt.)

William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington, served as Secretary at War, so this is his correspondence. Much of it with Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, the Prime Minister; George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, Secretary of State for the Colonies;  and General William Howe, later 5th Viscount Howe, who commanded the British Armies in North America until 1781. My sources are "Forty German Recruits" by Don Hagist on REVWAR75 (http://www.revwar75.com/library/hagist/FORTYGERMANRECRUITS.htm#10) and page 16 of what seems to be an unpublished book on Oxford University Press (http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/13/9780198206590.pdf).

Then there are Muster Rolls for the 23rd Foot at WO 12/3960 for the period 1774-1785.

1. New York, 8 Jan 1777 
2. Philadelphia, 24 Feb 1778 
3. Camp at New York Island 23 July 1778 
4. New York, 20 Dec 1778 
5. Staten Island, 16 Sept 1779 
6. Herricks, Long Island, 13 Mar 1783 
7. Herricks, Long Island, 3 July 1783

In the Public Records Office there are also the Headquarters Papers of Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, who served as Commander-in-Chief after the surrender and thus collected the documents of earlier royal officials. PRO 30/55 p. 200 is an "Embarkation Return of 402 German Recruits". It may include a duplicate of a list contained in WO 43/405 mentioned above.

The Carleton Papers are available in a 58 volume work, Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain. Volume 1, Correspondence between Sir Wm. Howe, Lord Barrington, Sir Geo. Osborne and Capt. Mackenzie, American War, 1775 to 1777 contains:

Lord Barrington to General Howe 1776, May 28. War Office - A body of German recruits being directed to embark for North America to be incorporated into the regiments, he sends copy of distribution of the same. Sergeants and corporals are to continue to do duty and receive pay and clothing as sergeants and corporals according to the rank in which they have been sent over. And the difference of pay and clothing between non-commissioned officers and privates is to be made a charge in the contingent bill of the regiment to which they belong. Duplicate signed letter. Vol. 1. No. 33. 3 folios.

Enclosure: - Distribution of the German recruits for the forces with General Howe. Shewing forty or forty one recruits each for the 4th, 5th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 35th and 38th Regiments. Vol. 1. No. 33. 1 page.

And Volume 2, Correspondence between Sir Wm. Howe and the Treasury Office, 1775 to 1777 contains:

German Recruits. 1776, June 1. Portsmouth - Embarkation return of 402 recruits for the regiments of foot in America. Vol. 2.  Number 74. 1 Page. Enclosed by Lord Germain to Gen. Howe, 21 June.

I reviewed references to the regiment by folio number in the index, the following are not relevant to our search: 23rd Foot, 42, 161, 163, 169, 217, 231, 439; Welsh Fusiliers [23rd regiment], 97. I also reviewed references to Major Blakeney without success. I might be able to locate potential lists by a careful review of this index. (http://www.archive.org/stream/reportonamerican12greauoft)

There are negative photocopies of these 30,000 manuscript pages in 44 boxes at the New York City Public Library, with a 4 volume index, called British Headquarters Papers, 1775-1783. The index volumes cover these dates:

1. 1747-July 1779
2. Aug. 1779-June 1782
3. July 1782-Mar. 1783
4. Apr.-Dec. 1783

There is a Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Museum in The Queen's Tower at The Castle of Caernarfon, Wales. Its old records have been transferred to the National Archives. What does that mean? How old? It's between curators so I can't inquire whether there are relevant records of service, diaries, or orders.

I reviewed microfilm of individual soldier's records through the local Family History Center. The records, part of WO 97/427, are described as Soldiers documents: service documents of soldiers, containing particulars of age, birthplace and trade or occupation on enlistment, a record of service, including any decorations and the reason for discharge to pension, 1760-1872. But the roll I reviewed, v. 427 23rd Rgmnt. of Foot: Cherry-Fellow 1760-1854, didn't include anything from the eighteenth century.

And what's in the Frederick MacKenzie Papers, at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan?  There are a number of seven bound volumes of which Volume B contains approximately 95 pages of regulations and orders concerning the Royal Welch Fusiliers for the years 1755-1764. It conveys policies concerning military rank, provisions, prices of commissions, the compiling of returns, and other administrative matters. Also included are marching orders for the 23rd Regiment, information on their summer cantonment for the year 1768, and lists of necessary camp supplies.

Clements Library also holds German Auxiliaries Muster Rolls, 1776-1786 including for Knyphausen Regiment 1780 and 1781, in Box 1, folders 36 and 37.

And another possible source is the David Library of the American Revolution in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. They hold microfilm called "Recruitments by Lieutenant Colonel von Scheither and others for the English Crown; permission of places for recruitment as only residence in the electorate of Hannover and transportation of the foreign recruits: Hann. 41 V Nr. 4 [microform]."And they may have another copy of the British Headerquarters Papers, 1775-1783.