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The electronic version of the thesis will be protected against duplication. Selecting this option allows no reproductions to be made for researchers. The electronic version of the thesis will be protected against duplication. This option does not dis-allow researchers from reading/viewing the work in either hardcopy or digital form. Signed (student author) Signa1:ure Relllc>ved Signed (faculty advisor) Signa1:ure Relllc>ved Thesis title fo(' ~~:~'-- WE:.. S~r~\J~·. \\.....e.. f\·J~~\1~~ L'j\t ~\p~s.lI. o-.~ l a A'#\.e..\~ CJ:>....V\..... 1-b.~~ \~t..~ Date 5,(,0-1{Zl U Accepted for the Libraries S i 9 n a 1: u re R e III C>V e d Date accepted _---'-<_·,.:::;.cJ_--"'G'-..-.L('-..)-,t;'-..,: _ FOR THESE WE STRIVE: THE PHILADELPHIA LIGHT HORSE AND AMERICAN IDENTITY by THOMAS BUCK MARSHALL James Wood, Advisor A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in History WILLIAMS COLLEGE Williamstown, Massachusetts MAY 25, 2009 Acknowledgments The idea for this work came during a lunch with Professor Michael Lewis, a friend and a mentor. We were talking about Frank Furness, an architect of iron and stone. The art critic Lewis Mumford described him as "a horsy, flashy, tweedy sort of man." Furness had won the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Civil War, where he fought alongside some members of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, a volunteer cavalry troop and social organization founded in 1774 as the Philadelphia Light Horse. Our discussion eventually turned into this paper. I thank my advisor, Professor James Wood, for his patience and support as I found my way through this process. I thank John Tulp, whose teaching and friendship has meant more to me than he could know. I thank Joseph Seymour and Dennis Boylan, two members of the First City Troop who opened the group's private archives to my study and answered every question I had. Towards the end, I received some critical help from Dr. John Van Home, for which I am indebted. Finally, I thank my mom and dad, and my two grandfathers, who gave me an interest in history beyond watching the neon Liberty Bell swing over the bleachers of Veterans Stadium when a Phillies ballplayer hit a home­ run. lowe all of them a few bottles of Madeira-just the way the Troop would have thanked them. T. Buck Marshall Contents Abbreviations iv Illustrations v Introduction 1 1. "Gentlemen ofFortune": The Founding ofthe Philadelphia Troop ofLight Horse 11 II. Amateurs to Anns: The Philadelphia Light Horse in the American Revolution 34 III. "The Horse! The Horse!": The Troop's Unconventional Roles During the American Revolution 49 N. A Seed in the Watermelon Anny: The First City Troop in the Early Republic 74 Conclusion 95 Bibliography 99 iii Abbreviations APS American Philosophical Society Armory Armory Collection ofArchival Material at the Armory. First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry Donnaldson Donnaldson Narrative, Armory HSP Historical Society ofPennsylvania LCP Library Company ofPhiladelphia WMQ William and Mary Quarterly iv Illustrations FIGURE 1. Markoe Standard, 1775, Armory. The first Captain ofthe Philadelphia Light Horse, Abraham Markoe, commissioned this standard for the Troop in 1775. The Philadelphia Light Horse carried it into battle and on parade. It survives today in the Armory ofthe First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. v FIGURE 2. Scull and Heap, An East Prospect ofthe City ofPhiladelphia, engraving, 1756, LCP. -1 ,-'­....... =< ';, ,,' ~ ~~ VI ~:: .' /o~~ . f'O • - ..., , s, c. '. - ------- ----- ---~-------_. - - -----;.--:.. I, . ::1-, , , ---\" " .. " ----- ; , , "~. 1 -T-­ 1----1 --~ ----- - ! This engraved view ofPhiladelphia depicts merchant activity on the busy Delaware River, the Battery and the State House. vi FIGURE 3. The Paxton Expedition, Inscribed to the Author ofthe Farce, 1764, LCP. This scene shows Philadelphia citizens turning out under Benjamin Franklin's organization to defend their city from the Paxton Boys, a group offrontiersmen who were angry at the Quaker-dominated government's lack ofmilitary support for the frontier against American Indian attacks. vii FIGURE 4. William Faden, A Plan ofthe City and Environs ofPhiladelphia, 1777, reprinted by Thomas Fisher, 1847, LCP. This survey by Scull and Heap, and engraved by William Fadden in 1777, also gives an elevation ofthe State House. viii FIGURE 5. A Representation ofthe Figures Exhibited and Paraded Through the Streets ofPhiladelphia, on Saturday, the 30th ofSeptember, 1780, engraving, printed in Anthony Sharp's The Continental Almanac, for 1781, 1780, HSP. This scene is ofa procession through Philadelphia to denounce Benedict Arnold-the fonner Continental General who switched sides to the British in the middle ofthe American Revolution. According to the diarist Samuel Rowland Fisher, the procession was "escorted by abt. 20 ofthose called Militia & three ofthose call'd City Light Horse viz: James Budden, John Dunlap & Thomas Leiper." ix FIGURE 6. Banner ofPhiladelphia Tobacconists for Federal Procession, 1788, LCP. Thomas Leiper, one ofthe twenty-eight founding members ofthe Philadelphia Light Horse, carried this banner to represent the Tobacconists in the July 4, 1788 Federal Procession. The Troop also paraded as a unit in this celebration ofAmerican Independence and the new Constitution, which had been ratified by ten states including Pennsylvania.