Revolution

The move to Virginia coincided with a shift in the political winds in the American colonies. With the conclusion of the French and Indian Wars (1763, known as the Seven Years War or the Great War for Empire in Europe), Britain began a series of maneuvers to get the colonies to help with its war debts. Gradually, the resistance to these efforts evolved into the American independence movement, and the Allens appear to have been very involved in it. The main evidence for this is that at least four of his five sons enlisted in the Continental Army and three of them died during the fighting: William, John, and Thomas. We have no reference to David joining the army, and while this is not conclusive evidence that he did not, we also have his marriage in 1779 to suggest he wasn't directly involved--at least not for long.

As a bit of background, George Washington had been commissioned during the summer of 1775 by the Continental Congress to build a force that, on paper anyway, represented all the colonies. Previously, colonial militias had been under the control of each colonial authority. New England, having been in the forefront of the independence movement, had provided most of the troops until early 1776 when recruitment efforts were made farther south. Regiments were being assembled in Virginia as early as March 1776 and these were apparently involved in the siege of Charleston, South Carolina a few months later. Members of the early Virginia regiments also joined Washington in New York City in September 1776, just in time to be caught up in the rout of the American army by the British. Washington's hasty retreat from the colonies' largest city, the dash across New Jersey, and the counter-offensive against Prussian and British troops at Trenton and Princeton in the last week of the year are well described in David McCullough's book, 1776 .

In addition, some Virginia riflemen were at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777/78. In 1778 General George Rogers Clark (older brother of William Clark, of "Lewis & Clark" fame) had a contingent of Virginia riflemen with him on his campaign in the Ohio Valley.

William Jr., John, David, and Thomas would have been thirty-four, thirty-three, thirty-one, and twenty-six, respectively, at the beginning of the war. We know nothing for sure about the circumstances of their service, but there is some evidence to suggest possibilities:

• A fragment of a will for William Allen of Loudoun County, Virginia, which was recorded on 14 March 1776 states, in part: "Soldier being joined in the Army: TO brother my clothing when Joseph is 21; Sister Else, my Horse and Saddle; Sisters Ann and Elizabeth, All remainder of my estate to be divided equally." The will was probated April 10, 1780. The list of siblings is too accurate to be happenstance.
• Payroll records for a Private/later Sergeant John Allen, of the 1st Virginia regiment document that he returned to service in May 1777 after being absent since the previous October. According to the records, he was killed October 4, 1777, which happens to be the date of the Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania--in which the 1st Virginia Regiment participated and took heavy casualties.

David Allen's discharge from the Virginia Army: "This to Certify that David Allen a Corporal in the First Virginia Regiment has served the term of his enlistment in the army of the United States which commenced on 22d July 1776 and ended on the 22nd day of July 1779, being three years service. [illegible] my hand this 27. day of July 1779." P. Muhlenberg, Brig. Gen.

• A Certificate of Service for a David Allen, serving under Peter Muhlenberg who commanded the 8th Virginia Regiment of the Virginia Line (state army rather than U.S. army) starting in January 1776. This David served from July 22, 1776 to July 22, 1779, at which time he was discharged for having completed the terms of his enlistment. Serving in this unit may well have put him at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777/78. The date of discharge coincides nicely with our David's marriage to Ivea Fox in 1779. (See below.)

There are records for other Virginia Allens with these given names, but these are more plausible than most. We can't say for certain that the above records are for William's sons (though the will for William, Jr. is pretty convincing), and we have no evidence for Thomas yet, but it's a start at putting together a picture of what the family's war experience might have been.

Son Joseph was too young at the beginning of the conflict to join up (twelve in 1776), but the story has come down through the years that he enlisted before the end of the war and, at age 17, was in the assembled masses when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. The colonial army at that event included both regular Virginia "Continental Line" soldiers and members of the Virginia militia. Which one Joseph might have joined is an open question.

The loss of three sons had to have been a hard blow for William (not to mention the rest of the family). Allowing young Joseph to join up, even toward the end of hostilities, must have been an extremely difficult thing to do . One wonders if they considered it a fair bargain to have paid such a price for independence from Britain.

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