From its earliest days, the Marine Corps has played a vital role in securing and defending the freedom of our nation. While the role played by the Marines in the Revolutionary War is often overlooked, it should not be underestimated. As the great American author James Fenimore Cooper once wrote:
“At no period of the naval history of the world, is it probable that Marines were more important than during the War of the Revolution…the history of the Navy, even at that early day, as well as in these later times, abounds with instances of the gallantry and self-devotion of this body of soldiers.”
During this, the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America, we pause to remember several Kentuckians, who made significant contributions to securing our freedom from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War ( 1775-1783):
James Dishman (1751–1820)
James Dishman, the third son of Peter and Sarah (née Reynolds) Dishman, was born in 1751 in Essex County, Virginia. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he and three of his brothers enlisted in a company attached to the 1st Virginia Regiment under the command of Captain Alexander Dick. The brothers assembled at Fredericksburg and boarded the brig Mosquito, departing for the West Indies on February 27, 1777.
During the voyage, they successfully captured a British transport and delivered it to Point Peter, Guadeloupe, a French colonial port. However, a smallpox outbreak aboard the Mosquito necessitated a temporary quarantine back in Guadeloupe. Resuming their journey, the vessel was captured on June 4, 1777, and the entire crew was imprisoned in Bridgetown, Barbados, where they remained until January 1778.
Following the arrival of a British merchant convoy, the prisoners were dispersed among ships. Dishman was sent to Jamaica, where he was released. He remained there until securing passage to the American mainland aboard a merchant vessel captained by a man named Smith. The ship landed just south of Wilmington, Delaware. Lacking knowledge of his regiment’s whereabouts, Dishman traveled to Virginia and reported directly to Governor Patrick Henry. The governor directed him to Williamsburg to serve under Captain George Waller, who was married to Henry’s cousin.
At the conclusion of his term of enlistment, Dishman received a certificate of service from Lieutenant George Catlett and presented it to Colonel Samuel Bates for his discharge. Though he and a brother initially intended to migrate to Kentucky, they remained in Botetourt County, Virginia. When a draft was instituted, Dishman chose to reenlist rather than be conscripted. He served under Captain William Barrett in Colonel William Washington’s command, fulfilling both infantry and light horse duties through the end of the war.
In July 1788, Dishman married Jane Gunn, thirteen years his junior. The couple moved first to Tennessee and eventually settled in Warren County, Kentucky—an area that became Simpson County upon its creation in 1819. James Dishman died the following year, aged 69. His final resting place is unknown.
William Samuel Dishman (1754–1833)
Born in 1754 in Essex County, Virginia, William Samuel Dishman was three years younger than his brother James and served alongside him throughout the Revolutionary War. Together they joined the 1st Virginia Regiment under Captain Alexander Dick, participated in the ill-fated voyage aboard the Mosquito, endured imprisonment in Barbados, and were later separated before returning to Virginia. After their service concluded, both were discharged by Colonel Samuel Bates.
Following the war, William married Sarah Salmon on February 2, 1784. Sometime between the birth of their daughters Sarah (1795) and Elizabeth (1804), the family migrated west across the Appalachian Mountains and settled in Barren County, Kentucky. William Dishman died in 1833. Though his burial took place in Barren County, the exact location of his grave remains unknown.
Henry Wayne Rains (1767–1835)
Henry Wayne Rains was born in 1767 in Johnston County, North Carolina, to John and Mary Elizabeth (née Ingram) Rains. By 1776, the family had relocated to Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Despite his youth—he would have been just nine or ten years old in 1776—records indicate that Rains enlisted in Captain Alexander Dick’s company within Colonel William Woodford’s regiment. He served in a marine capacity and was honorably discharged after one year.
Approximately two months later, Rains reenlisted under Captain Dick for a three-year term. He was assigned to the Mosquito, the same vessel that carried the Dishman brothers. When the ship was captured and its crew imprisoned in Barbados, Rains was separated from the others and placed into servitude aboard a British merchant vessel. At the conclusion of the war, he was released in London and managed to secure passage back to the United States.
By 1790, Rains was residing in Hawkins County, North Carolina (later part of Tennessee), where he married Martha Lane. The following year, the couple moved to what would become Knox County, Kentucky. Together they raised eleven children to adulthood. Henry Rains passed away in 1835 and is buried in Knox County, though the specific location of his grave is not known.
John Shirley (1760–1840)
John Shirley was born on April 1, 1760, in Berkeley Parish, Spotsylvania County, Virginia, the son of John and Mary Elizabeth (née Thomas) Shirley. In 1776, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted as a Marine under Captain Gabriel Jones in Culpeper County. He was stationed at Hobbs Hole in Essex County, Virginia, where he boarded the Venture, a coastal patrol vessel that monitored British naval activity.
After completing his one-year enlistment, Shirley received an honorable discharge from Captain Jones at Hobbs Hole. He then reenlisted under Captain John Kemp for another year. During the initial months, while the company was being formed, he remained in Culpeper County and visited his family in Spotsylvania. At his father’s urging, Shirley consented to allow a substitute—James Kemp—to serve in his place.
Shirley was later drafted for a three-month term of service and, following discharge, was called up once more in 1781. During this final stint, under Captain William Sanders, he was present at the pivotal Siege of Yorktown and witnessed the surrender of General Cornwallis.
In 1782, Shirley married Frances Yates. The couple remained in Virginia until 1807, when they relocated to Adair County, Kentucky. John Shirley died in 1840. His final resting place, like many of his fellow veterans, is unknown.