Pinketham Eaton

Pinketham "Pink" Eaton, of North Carolina; Captain, 3rd North Carolina Regiment, Continental Line, April 16, 1776; Major, 8th North Carolina, November 22, 1777; retired June 1, 1778; Colonel North Carolina Militia; wounded at Briar Creek, March 3, 1779; was killed at Fort Grierson on May 24, 1781.[1] He "began his military career as a captain in the Third North Carolina Continental Regiment. His commission as captain was dated 16 April 1776, and on the 22d of November, 1777, he was promoted to be major. He had been General Jethro Sumner's most active assistant in raising the new levies, and was the first officer assigned to active service in the campaign of 1781. His early promotion, and the admiration which General Sumner had for him, is sufficient evidence of his skill and courage as a soldier; and Lee testifies to his great amiability of temper, which had endeared him to his comrades."[2] In the May 24, 1781 American assault on Fort Grierson, Georgia that resulted in its capture,[3] "the American loss was small, only a few killed and wounded, but among the former was a life valuable to the American cause. This was Major Pinketham Eaton of North Carolina. He had only been a few weeks with the light corps and fell gallantly at the head of his battalion in the moment of victory." [4]

Note: Thomas Eaton and Pinketham (or "Pinkertham") Eaton are often confused with each other and their names combined as Thomas Pinketham Eaton. From a contemporary personal account of a soldier who served under them, it appears that Thomas Eaton was the General at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and at Ninety-Six. Pinketham Eaton was Captain then Major in the Bute County Militia, was present at Guilford Courthouse, and was killed at the capture of Fort Grierson.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Francis B. Heitman: Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, rev. ed., Washington, D.C.: The Rare Book Shop Pub. Co., Inc., 1914, p. 210.
  2. ↑ Edward McCrady: The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1902, pp. 268-269, citing Schenck's North Carolina in 1780-81, p. 418.
  3. ↑ The Battle of Fort Grierson (Second), May 23, 1781 at Fort Grierson, Richmond County, Georgia, (aka Battle of Augusta), http://www.revolutionarywar101.com/battles/810523-fort-grierson/
  4. ↑ Dr. John Belton O'Neall Landrum: Colonial and Revolutionary History of Upper South Carolina, Shannon & Co., Printers and Binders, Greenville, S.C., 1897, pp. 322-323.
  5. ↑ C. Leon Harris (transcrib. and annot.): "Pension Application of John Walker: S7796", p. 2, in Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements, http://www.southerncampaign.org/pen/s7796.pdf, retrieved 1 Jul 2009.
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