Samuel Shepherd and the War of 1812

Samuel Shepherd's Prisoner of War record. U.S. Vols Militia Rifleman, War of 1812. As you can see from the crossed out "Confederate," this record was created after the Civil War.

Next is the page 27 mentioned in the first record:

Account of Cloathing delivered the Volunteer Militia Riflemen in the ? in ? the United States, under Command of Col. Isaac Clarke near Lake Champlain, Prisoners of War in Canada. by Robt Gardner Agent &c.

Records of Men Enlisted in the U.S. Army. Shepherd Samuel [Shepard] Priv. Vt ?, Capt. W. Gates. Height 5 feet, 11 1/2 inches, Eyes Blue, Hair Lgt., Complexion Lgt., Age 21, Occupation Farmer., Guilford, Windham, Vermont. Enlistment Feb. 23/[18]10, Niagara, Capt N. Leonard, 5 yrs. D. R. Feb. 16/[18]15. present ? Ft. Independence Feb 28/[18]15. Discharged Feb. 23/[18]15.

Samuel's pension filed for his widow Sarah Whitney Crandall Shepherd. It shows service in Capt. Asel Scovil's Co., Vt. Mil.

Other records can undoubtedly be found and ordered from the National Archives. The family histories also preserve a few memories of his service.

As Samuel grew up he heard many heroic stories of the Revolutionary War. His father David fought in the war as did his grandfather The Reverend Wait Hopkins who was killed in battle in 1779. So it was no surprise when Samuel and his brother Henry enlisted to fight the British in the War of 1812. Records indicate that he fought in a Vermont Regiment under Colonel Martindale, Captain Ashael Scovell and Captain David Sanford. Samuel was taken prisoner of war in 1813 and held in a British prison in Canada for several months. Samuel told his grandchildren tales of the war including his imprisonment. His granddaughter Sarah Shepherd Maeser wrote,

I remember hearing him tell, jokingly, that the cell in which he was confined was so filthy and his clothes so full of “cooties” that he could put them [the clothes] at one side of the cell and go to the other side and whistle and his clothes would come crawling over to him.