WFL said that he enlisted in the Continental Army when 16 years old, that he served seven years, and was killed when General Arthur St. Clair was defeated by the Indians in Ohio.
6The following records seem to refer to him:
Langworthy, Joseph. Certificate dated Aug 29, 1781, signed by Ezra Hoyt, Muster Master for Berkshire Co., certifying that he had mustered said Langworthy to serve in the Contintental Army for the term of three years to the credit of the town of Hancock.
Langworthey, Joseph. Receipt dated Jan 22, 1782, for bounty paid said Langworthy by Capt. William Douglas to serve in the Continental Army for the term of 3 years to the credit of the Town of Hancock, agreeable to resolve of Dec 2, 1780.
Both records are from “Massachusetts Soldiers & Sailors of the Revolutionary War”, Boston, 1902, Volume 9, p.496.
St. Clair’s defeat, on Nov 4, 1791, now called the Battle of the Wabash, is considered one of the greatest disasters in US military history. A large force of Native Americans surprised St. Clair’s army at dawn and, of the 920 American soldiers engaged, 632 were killed and 264 wounded. The number killed is about three times those killed at the Little Big Horn, and represented about one-fourth of the standing army of the United States.