Germanna Foundation

Preserving the historic heritage of the original settlers of the Fort Germanna Colonies in Virginia

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You are here: Home / History / John Back – Revolutionary War Soldier

John Back – Revolutionary War Soldier

September 11, 2013 By Germanna Foundation Leave a Comment

John Back: Revolutionary War Soldier from the Little Fork

The Revolutionary War pension application of John Back for his service contains information about his birth, places he lived and how long he lived in each place in addition to his military service.

Back was a descendant of Harman Back who arrived in 1738 from Siegen and was living in the Little Fork as early as 1741.

John Back was born in June 1760 in Culpeper County, Virginia, where he lived for twelve years. He moved with his father to Washington County, Virginia where he lived until he was about thirty-four years old.

While John Back was living in Washington County, he enlisted in the “army of the United States” in March, 1778 for twelve months as a private.

He served in the regiment commanded by Captain Thomas Quirk, Colonel John Montgomery and General George Rogers Clark.

His service began with a march lasting three months to Long Island of the Holston River [present day Kingston, Tennessee] where they traveled by water down to the French Broad River then on to the Chickimogee towns on the Tennessee River.

The soldiers burned the towns and drove the Indians away.

The regiment marched on to the mouth of the Tennessee River, down the Ohio River to the mouth and up the Mississippi River to Caskaski [Kaskaskia, Illinois] where they remained on garrison duty for some time.

John Back’s regiment marched to the Outpost and remained there for three months before returning to Caskaski for two months. Leaving Caskaski, they marched upriver to Coho where they remained until the British and Indians attacked.

John Back stated in his pension application that “they had considerable skirmishes with them.”

After returning to Caskaski, John Back was discharged in writing with a credit of fifteen months having served his enlistment.

He enlisted again as a volunteer private and went with the army four hundred miles up the Mississippi River and then one hundred miles by land to an Indian town.

The British and Indians fled the area as soon as the army arrived. The soldiers burned the town and destroyed the corn.

After destroying the town, the soldiers returned to Caskaski, having been gone for two months on the expedition. John Back was discharged a second time with a credit of two more months of service.

John Back tells the story of his return home.

“I was now very unwell and almost naked. And resolved to come home as soon as I was able, I started down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, thence to the mouth of the Tennessee, thence to where is now Nashville, thence to the Crab orchard in Kentucky, thence home to my father’s in Washington County, Virginia. Being absent two years and three months.”

At the age of thirty-four years, John Back moved to lands in Floyd County, Kentucky, where he remained for ten years.

He then moved on to Wayne County, Kentucky, where he lived for twenty-four years before moving to Monroe County, Indiana.

He remained in Monroe County, Indiana for six years before returning to Wayne County, Kentucky.

On May 26, 1835, in Wayne County, Kentucky, John Back applied for a pension based on his service in the army.

His application was approved and certificate #29963 was issued June 15, 1835.

He received $46 per year beginning March 4, 1831 based on the Act of June 7, 1832.

Source: S32103 pension application of John Back, Virginia, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, M804, NARA, Washington, DC.

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Germanna Foundation’s Mission and Stewardship

The Germanna Foundation tells America’s story of liberty through the frontier experience of her settlers and descendants using archaeological, historical, and genealogical research and interpretation. We are stewards over these important properties and initiatives:

  • Fort Germanna Visitor Center campus which includes a Museum, Genealogy Library, the Hitt Archaeology Center, and the Germanna Memorial Garden
  • Siegen Forest – 170-acre Hiking and Nature Trails along the Rapidan river
  • 1714/1717 Fort Germanna Archaeology Site
  • Virginia Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood’s home “Enchanted Castle” Archaeology Site
  • 1757 Georgian-style Salubria Manor
  • 1800 Peter Hitt Farm
  • Publishing “The Germanna Record” genealogy/ history books
  • Maintaining a genealogy database with over 130,000 records of descendants of the Germanna colonists

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MAILING: P.O. Box 279
LOCATION: 2062 Germanna Highway
Locust Grove, VA 22508-0279
Phone: 540-423-1700
Fax: 540-423-1747
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Fort Germanna Visitor Center, Museum & Library

2062 Germanna Highway (Route 3)
Locust Grove, VA 22508
(Next to the Germanna Community College campus)

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Saturdays, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
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Out of town visitors are urged to call us at 540-423-1700 to confirm or to make special arrangements for groups.

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Behind the Fort Germanna Visitor Center is our 170-acre Siegen Forest nature and hiking trails along the Rapidan river. Trails are OPEN 7 days a week, during daylight hours. When visiting the trails, please practice “Leave no Trace” ethos. If you enjoy the trails, consider donating to the Germanna Foundation to help support their upkeep.

 

About

The Germanna Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the Colonial Virginia frontier via the historic 1714 Fort Germanna and its German colonists and their descendants.

It conducts archaeological exploration and conservation, genealogical research and publishing, and historic preservation and interpretation.

The Foundation owns and maintains several historic sites and properties, such as Salubria Manor, that were part of or closely connected to the Germanna colonies, the town of Germanna, and the other early colonial Virginia settlements and towns in the Piedmont area of Virginia.

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