Francis DeLong: Revolutionary Patriot and Southwest Michigan Pioneer
- Angela Widdis
- 32 minutes ago
- 6 min read
As America approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, communities across the nation are rediscovering the stories of ordinary patriots whose lives helped shape the young republic. In Van Buren County, Michigan, one such figure rests quietly beside Red Arrow Highway in Hartford Township. His name is Francis DeLong — a Revolutionary War veteran whose extraordinary life stretched from the battlefields of the American Revolution to the frontier settlements of Southwest Michigan.
DeLong’s story is one of endurance, sacrifice, and perseverance. Few Revolutionary War veterans experienced such a dramatic journey: service in the Continental Army, imprisonment by the British, years of forced captivity in the Caribbean, migration across the growing United States, and finally a long life that ended on the Michigan frontier more than eighty years after American independence was declared.
Today, Francis DeLong is remembered not only as Hartford Township’s only known Revolutionary War soldier, but also as one of the region’s most uniquely documented early pioneers.
Answering the call for Independence
Francis DeLong enlisted in the Continental Army on Sept. 13, 1777, in the Pasquotank River region of North Carolina. Historical records indicate he was approximately 17 or 18 years old at the time — a mere teenager when he joined the fight for American independence.
DeLong entered service under Captain Joseph Walker in the 7th North Carolina Regiment on the Continental Establishment. Like thousands of young men of his generation, he left behind the familiarity of home for the uncertainty of war.
Rather than carrying a musket, DeLong served as a fifer. In eighteenth-century warfare, fifers and drummers played a vital role in military operations. Before modern radios and electronic communications, musical signals directed troop movements, camp routines, and battlefield commands. Different tunes signaled when soldiers should march, attack, retreat, or assemble.
The shrill sound of the fife was often heard above the smoke and chaos of battle, making musicians like DeLong essential to the functioning of the Continental Army.
Valley Forge and the Northern Campaign
In the spring of 1778, DeLong joined General George Washington’s main army at the encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Valley Forge has become one of the defining symbols of the Revolutionary War — a place associated with suffering, endurance, and determination.
The winter of 1777–1778 was devastating for the Continental Army. Soldiers endured freezing temperatures, food shortages, disease, and inadequate shelter. Although DeLong likely arrived after the worst of the winter conditions, he entered an army still recovering from immense hardship.
While at Valley Forge, DeLong was reassigned to the 1st North Carolina Regiment under Captain John Summers. During this period, the Continental Army underwent significant training and reorganization under Baron Friedrich von Steuben, whose military drills transformed Washington’s troops into a more disciplined fighting force.
Military historians believe DeLong may have participated in several important northern campaigns following Valley Forge, including the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 and the assault on Stony Point in 1779. These engagements helped strengthen American morale and demonstrated the growing effectiveness of the Continental Army.
Captured at Charleston
DeLong’s military service took a tragic turn during the southern campaigns of the Revolution.
In 1780, British forces targeted Charleston, South Carolina, one of the most important American ports in the South. The city endured a lengthy siege before ultimately surrendering to British General Sir Henry Clinton in May of that year. The fall of Charleston became one of the worst American defeats of the Revolutionary War.
Among the thousands of Continental soldiers captured during the surrender was Francis DeLong.
For DeLong, the surrender marked the beginning of a long and painful ordeal. He was held as a prisoner of war for approximately five months before being forcibly transferred by the British to Jamaica in the Caribbean. There, he remained under British control for six years.
The experience was undoubtedly grueling. Conditions for prisoners of war during the Revolution were often harsh, with disease, inadequate supplies, and poor living conditions common in British prison camps and detention facilities. Jamaica’s tropical climate presented additional hardships for prisoners accustomed to North American conditions.
Eventually, DeLong was transferred again, this time to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Only after years of captivity was he finally able to secure his freedom and return to the United States through New York. By the time he returned home, the war for independence had ended and the United States had become a new nation.
Building a life in America
After surviving war and imprisonment, Francis DeLong focused on building a peaceful life. He married his wife, Mary, and settled in Beekmantown, Clinton County, New York. There, the couple raised a large family and spent many decades farming and participating in the growth of post-Revolutionary America.
Like many aging veterans of the Revolution, DeLong later sought financial assistance from the federal government. In 1818, he successfully applied for a Revolutionary War pension, receiving eight dollars per month in recognition of his military service.
His pension records, preserved today through the National Archives and Revolutionary War pension collections, provide historians and genealogists with valuable details about his military career and later life. These documents help confirm the remarkable arc of his experiences, from North Carolina soldier to Michigan pioneer.
Journey to the Michigan frontier
One of the most remarkable chapters of DeLong’s life occurred late in his old age.
In 1854, when he was approximately 94 years old, Francis DeLong and his wife made the difficult journey westward to Southwest Michigan. They traveled to Hartford Township in Van Buren County to live with their son, Allen DeLong, who had established a farm there.
At a time when travel remained physically demanding and frontier life required endurance and resilience, the move was extraordinary for a man nearing a century in age.
Southwest Michigan during the 1850s was still developing from frontier settlements into organized agricultural communities. Hartford Township was populated by pioneering families carving farms and towns from wooded land. DeLong, who had witnessed the birth of the United States, now found himself living in a rapidly expanding nation stretching toward the Great Lakes and beyond.
He spent the final years of his life surrounded by children and grandchildren in Van Buren County.
Francis DeLong died on February 7, 1862, at the remarkable age of 102, though his gravestone records his age as 103. His lifespan bridged nearly the entire history of the early republic. Born before the Revolution, he lived long enough to see the nation enter the Civil War.
Resting place in Hartford Township
DeLong was buried in Pioneer Cemetery, originally known as West Hartford Cemetery, located along present-day Red Arrow Highway in Hartford Township. His grave became an important local historic landmark.
Recognizing the significance of a Revolutionary War veteran buried in Van Buren County, the Algonquin Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) identified and honored his burial site in 1915 with an official patriot marker.
Today, visitors to the cemetery can still see both DeLong’s smaller military marker and the larger obelisk-style DeLong family monument nearby. The family monument marks the burial place of his son Allen and other descendants who helped shape the Hartford community.
For local historians, genealogists, and patriotic organizations, the site represents a direct connection between Southwest Michigan and the founding generation of the United States.
A living link to America’s founding
The story of Francis DeLong reminds modern Americans that the Revolutionary War was not fought solely by famous generals and political leaders. It was also fought by young men whose names are largely forgotten outside local history books and cemetery records.
DeLong endured military hardship, imprisonment, forced exile, and the uncertainties of frontier life. Yet he survived long enough to see the nation he helped create expand across the continent.
As communities commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, his life offers a powerful example of perseverance and patriotism. From Valley Forge to Jamaica, from New York farms to Michigan frontier settlements, Francis DeLong’s journey reflects both the sacrifices of the Revolutionary generation and the enduring spirit that shaped the United States.
More than two centuries after he first answered the call to serve, his story continues to connect Southwest Michigan to the earliest days of American independence.