Orders from George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Elisha Sheldon

16 December 1776

Sir

The Congress having thought fit to appoint you Lieutt Colo. Commandant of a Regiment of Horse to be raised and to empower me to appoint the officers under you,reposing especial trust & confidence in you & knowing how much your honor & reputation depends upon the proper choice, I am willing you should have the Nomination of all the Officers (reserving to myself a negative of any One and all such as I shall think unfit for that service, and doubt not you will be particularly carefull in fixing upon none but Gentlemen of true spirits and of good Characters—observing at the same time that Gentlemen of Fortune and reputable Families generally make the most usefull Officers.

You are immediately to repair to the State of Connecticut and as soon as possible nominate your Officers, and send them out on the recruiting service; they are to be particularly attentive to take none into the Corps, but young light active men.

The Privates are to receive Twenty Dollars bounty, and a Suit of Cloaths on entering the Service and pay as per Schedule annexed. They are to be raised to serve during the war unless sooner discharged by Congress.

Each Non commissioned Officer and private is to be furnished with a good Horse, Saddle, Bridle & other Accoutrements belonging to the Horse service at the expence of the Continent—and I will recommend to Congress that the Commanding Officer be also furnished at the public expence with the same, but cannot absolutely engage it as I beleive it is not customary.
In procuring the Horses, you are to have no Stallions, Mares, White or Grey Horses, but likely serviceable Trotters of sufficient size, It is expected you will purchase them at the most reasonable rate & not upon an average to exceed One hundred Dollars per Head, carefully describing and keeping an exact account of the Cost of each Horse.

Saddles, Bridles, Carbines, Broadswords, Pistols and every other accoutrement necessary (agreable to a Pattern herewith given you, you will procure as cheap as possible.

Your Regiment is to consist of One Major, an Adjutant, Surgeon & Mate and Six Troop, to each Troop, One Captain, One Lieutenant, One Cornet (commissioned Officers) One Qr Master, Two Serjeants, Two Corporals, One Trumpeter, One Farrier & thirty four privates.

In order to enable you to defray the Expence of raising and equipping this Regiment, you are herewith furnished with a Warrant upon the Paymaster for the sum of 14,000 Dollars and a Letter to Governor Trumbull to advance you such further Sums as may be necessary on Continental account. In case of the latter failing you are to advise me of it, & if no public money is to be had in that Department from a Paymaster to be appointed, send a carefull Officer for such Sum or Sums as may be wanted.

1776 Connecticut

December 12, 1776- Sheldon's Horse, the Second Continental Light Dragoons, commissioned by Congress under the command of Colonel Elisha Sheldon at the direct recommendation of General George Washington. Washington indicated that he expected Sheldon to appoint only gentlemen of "true spirits and good character" and observed that gentlemen of fortune and of reputable families generally made the most useful officers.

The unit had volunteered for service early in 1776 but was rejected because of insufficient forage for the horses and men. The dragoons entered active service after the defeat of the Continental Army at White Plains, New York, in October 1776.

The name dragoon is derived from the carbine (the dragon) carried by Frederick the Great's medium cavalry. Lighter and shorter than a regular musket; the carbine's size made it ideal for light cavalry use. It was attached to the shoulder with a musket sling. Pistol holsters on the saddle contained two French cavalry pistols for use in close quarters, and dragoons also carried
a wooden canteen, bedroll, feed bag and picket rope.

Most of their fighting was done on foot with the horses being used primarily as transport. Dragoon mounts were generally smaller than those used by heavy cavalry. Horses had to be bay, black, chestnut or gray in color. The typical load carried by a horse could be 250 pounds, including equipment and rider.

Members of Sheldon's Horse served as personal bodyguards to General George Washington.

Sheldon's Flag

The regiment flag of Sheldon's Dragoons, taken at the 1779 battle at Pound Ridge, New York, fetched $12.36 million at auction in 2006. It is the earliest surviving example of an American flag with thirteen red and white stripes. In the flag’s middle is a canton, at the center of which is a particularly striking design of a black thundercloud with wings on each side, from which gold and orange thunderbolts emanate.

Sheldon's Dragoons

1781 New York

1781- Sheldon's Horse became the first American unit to conduct a combined combat operation with our French Allies in Tarrytown, New York. Rochambeau's staff considered Sheldon's Horse, Second Continental Light Dragoons as " . . . incontestably the best on the continent. . . ."

1781 Connecticut

October, 1781- John Wasson marries Amea Turner in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut.
John was one of George Washington's troops in the War of Revolution, he served as a private in Colonel Elisha Sheldon's Dragoons.