The New Hampshire Regiments

This week sees the completion of the three New Hampshire infantry regiments for the American Revolution that I mentioned in my last post.

Organised in May and June 1775 the 1st formed at Medford, Massachusetts, from Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties, the 2nd formed at Exeter drawn from Strafford and Rockingham counties and the 3rd formed at Fitzwilliam with men from Cheshire, Hillsborough, and Cumberland Counties. Each regiment consisted of ten companies and all three regiments were immediately adopted into the Continental Army and assigned to the Main Army. 

All three regiments were brigaded together they fought in the Siege of Boston, the Defense of Canada, Lake Champlain, Trenton-Princeton, Saratoga and Philadelphia-Monmouth. Reduced to eight companies in 1777 they were raised to nine companies a few months later and were engaged against the Iroquois in 1779. They were assigned to the Highlands Department and then to the Northern Department 1781.

The 3rd was disbanded January 1781, while the 1st and 2nd were reorganised and consolidated in March 1783 to form the New Hampshire Battalion. The Battalion was disbanded in January 1784.

The uniform in the 1778-79 period (and probably latter for some men) was a green coat and waistcoat with green or straw pants, and it fits in well with my intention to do a number of units away from the blue coats that is so common in the collections of others in our group.

Standards for the regiments were difficult to determine. The only known standard was the buff flag carried by the 2nd Regiment and I paired it with a Stars and Stripes. Another flag attributed to the 2nd Regiment, but no evidence seems to exist that it was carried by it, was the blue version of the buff flag and decided that since the 1st and 2nd Regiments were so closely associated I have given to the 1st and I have paired it with a Bunker hill flag. The flags of the 3rd Regiment are pure conjecture and the yellow flag was taken from a blog that I would credit if I could recall its name and it too was paired with a Liberty Tree flag.

 Below, three shots of the 1st Regiment.

Below, three shots of the 2nd Regiment.

Below, four shots of the 3rd Regiment.