Peters' Corps has been invited by the National Park Service (NPS) to participate in their 3^rd annual weekend of Crown Forces, May 31 & June 1, 1997.

The camp will be at Tour Road Stop 8, Bourgoyne's Headquarters. The Park will provide wood, water, straw and cartridges. All cartridges will be kept in an NPS controlled magazine.

Registration will begin a noon Friday at Stop 8. The tour road gate closes at 5:00pm, but not to worry - the gate will be dummy locked so that we may pass through. Just make sure shut the gate behind you if you are late in arriving. This road is also "one-way." We'll discuss travel plans in advance to the event.

The camp will be open 10:00am - 4:00pn each day. This will be a living history event with no opposing forces. The schedule of events will consist of periodic musket firings, posting of guards, drill and camp life demonstrations. The NPS staff is also looking for ideas that we might have for special programs, so put on your thinking caps.

This looks to be a spectacular event on "hallowed ground" at an very comfortable time of the year. I'm looking forward to this event with great eagerness.

Your humble, obedient servant,

Daniel Moraski, Adjutant

As the 1997 season approaches we must make sure we will pass muster. The following check list will, your sergeant hopes, aid in getting you all focused on the really important issues:

1. Make sure you have a fresh field sign in your hat band or cord.
2. Check clothing for missing buttons and buckles, for rips, tears and open seams. See to it your clothing starts the season clean. Pressing is not an issue. When Peters' Corps left St. John's they were in pretty good condition and we should start the season in the same way.
3. Shoes need special care and feeding. Do you need hobnails and heel irons?
4. Each man should have two shirts. One to be drying whilst the other is being worn.
5. If you have a water bottle it might be well to clean it out with warm water and baking soda, as one would a modern thermos bottle.
6. Is your Stand-of-Arms clean and oiled?
7. Do you have an initial supply of at least 100 cartridges in waxed packages of 10 or twelve?
8. Have you at least three flints wrapped in lead?
9. Do you have all the essentials necessary for thoroughly cleaning your piece in the field?
10. Do you have a hammerstall, flashguard, picker, rag, priming tube, turnscrew, lock cover and tampion?
11. Suspensory gear: check all straps and general condition of each item.
12. Feed all leather gear.
13. Darn holes in blankets, stockings, mitts and knit caps. Yarn of matching colours is not necessary.
14. Look over all your gear with an eye to lightening your load. Avoid duplications. Choose items made of wood rather than ceramics or pewter.
15. New items to be thought about. White linen bags to help organize field rations in your haversack. Sleeve for yr. musket to protect it while traveling and a pouch to protect your waterbottle. Both can be made out of an old blanket.
16. Be thinking about overall garments to protect our coats from undue wear and to subdue our appearance in the woods. Smocks, waggoner's shirts, and hunter's mantels in unremarkable colours would be very useful.
17. All the above won't help a bit if you are out of shape. Eat lean and exercise regularly. Twenty minute walks each day help a great deal. If it is raining walk up and down stairs instead of going for a hike. Devise calisthenics using your musket to strengthen your upperbody musculature.

Finally, we need a likely lad to carry extra ammunition, extra water, the fascine knife and a first aid kit. This is an honourable and important assignment for an active young man of good character with ambitions of becoming a man-at-arms in due time. Applicants should approach the Sgt. for details.

God save the King

W. Wigham, Sgt.

SPALCO Factory Store

Prices range from $4.00 the yard. I have seen samples of the woolens and they are as good as Osgood's. They're located at:

21 Pearl Street, Webster, MA 01570

Telephone: (508) 949-0406 (ask for Silvia Allen)

Hours are:

T.W.T. 10-4

Fri. 10-5

Sat. 10-4

W.W.

The proposed event at Hartwell Tavern in Lincoln, MA on August 30-31 has been postponed. Mark Nichipor informed us that the work around Hartwell Tavern is going very slowly. The National Park Service is putting a hold on events such as the one we were planning until the work is complete. It may even be next year before we get there. Mark Nichipor might see us at Saratoga and will bring us up to date.

Your humble, obedient servant,

Daniel Moraski, Adjutant

Be advised, Peters' Corps, that yr. Sgt. has accepted an appointment to the post of Ass't Brigade Inspector for Loyalist and German troops. It is difficult to say how much time will be required for the discharge of my responsibilities in this new position. One trusts, however, that the Sergeant-in-training (or re-training) du Jour will have little trouble in attending to those unit concerns which it have been my pleasure to see to up til now. In case of emergencies which shall require my personal ministrations, I will no doubt be found sipping lemonade from a frosted glass in Lt. Col. Peter Schaaphok's Marquee (he, of course, being the new Brigade Inspector since Todd Braisted has returned to the ranks).

W.Wigham, Sgt.

In Vol. 6, No. 4 of the Loyalist Gazette, Bruce Wallace explored the existence of a company of Peters Corps ostensibly commanded by one Captain Drummond in his article, The Mysterious Case of the Elusive Capt. Drummond or Drummonds Along the Mohawk. This company was purportedly attached to the Queen's Loyal Rangers. (See "Is That an Echo I Hear?" The Loyal Gazette, Vol. 5 No. 4.) Yet, the muster roles and other documents relating to the Queen's Loyal Rangers quite clearly indicate that during the 1777 campaign, there was no mention of the mysterious Captain Drummond. We recently received an e-mail from Raymond Garrett (from Canada) who after reading the article posted to our web site, felt that Mr. Drummond may have belonged to McAlpin's Corps. We relayed this information to Todd Braisted of the NJV who has done extensive research into Loyalists. Todd has shed new light on the no longer elusive Mr. Drummond and his findings are as follows:

From Todd…….

Peter Drummond was appointed (not commissioned) a Lieutenant in Captain Edward Jessup's Company of the King's Loyal Americans on 4 November 1776. He took part in the Burgoyne Campaign, serving in Lieut. Colonel Ebenezer Jessup's Company of the KLA. On 22 August 1777 he was transferred to McAlpin's Corps, where he was promoted to Captain. For the muster of 1 November 1777 it says "Captain Peter Drummond taken Prisoner in the Field of Battle the 19th Sept. and is now confined in Irons at Albany." He apparently escaped or was exchanged late in 1780 and appears in command of a company of McAlpin's Corps at Verchere on 1 December 1780. In the muster of 14 July 1781 he is only listed as a Lieutenant though. Upon the merging of the Royalists, he was finally commissioned a real captain in the Loyal Rangers on 23 November 1781. In a "List of Officers" of the regiment, probably written in late 1781, it says this about him: "Captain Peter Drummond- Native of Scotland- Came to America in 1774 & Commenced farming. Joined the King's Army in 1776. Was made Prisoner on the 19th Septr. 1777 where he remained three years."

Sources: Great Britain, British Library, Additional Manuscripts, No. 21827, folios 5, 39, 43-44, 55-56 & 97-99. Great Britain, Public Record Office, War Office, Class 28, Volume 4, Page 279; ditto, Volume 6, Pages 146-147; ditto, Volume 10, Pages 12 & 85.

Todd W. Braisted,

4th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers

Our web site has been visited almost 400 times since I put a counter on it in February. We have received favorable comments from visitors, inquiries as to our unit schedule, and informative leads such as that received from Raymond Garrett and confirmed by our friend Todd Braisted. This has been an exciting time for our unit and the future holds great promise making our presence and love for history known far and wide. I would like to thank all of our friends, new and old for their efforts in this new medium. I also will mention for readers of this publication, that I am always looking for well-written, informative articles concerning 18^th century life. Feel free to contact me either electronically or by post with your efforts. We now have a world-wide audience…so don't be shy.

Dan Moraski, Adjutant/Editor

To view past editions of our unit newletter, The Loyal Gazette, click here.

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