Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 In the pre-dawn hours of February 29, 1704, a force of about 300 French and Native allies launched a daring raid on the English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, situated in the Pocumtuck homeland. 112 Deerfield men, women, and children were captured and taken on a 300-mile forced march to Canada in harsh winter conditions. Some of the captives were later redeemed and returned to Deerfield, but one-third chose to remain among their French and Native captors. Was this dramatic pre-dawn assault in contested lands an unprovoked, brutal attack on an innocent village of English settlers? Was it a justified military action against a stockaded settlement in a Native homeland? Or was it something else? Explore this website and hear all sides of the storythen you decide. http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/ TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT IN SEARCH OF YOUR SOLDIER ANCESTORS .. United Kingdom The records giving details of regular soldiers' careers during the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries until the First World War are held at the Public Record Office, Kew. Note particularly that there are no original documents held there post-1913, those are still with the Army (but see below for World War I records ) . The records are fully described in PRO Leaflet - "British Military Records as sources for Biography and Genealogy." The principal records are the Discharge Documents classified under WO 97 for those soldiers discharged with a pension. Most of the papers for those discharged without a pension were destroyed by fire many years ago. So, to find the papers for your ancestor, you must search in the period of his discharge. The records are grouped by date: 1760-1854 &1855-1872 arranged alphabetically by regiment. 1873-1882 arranged alphabetically within arm of service, i.e. Cavalry, Infantry, Artillery and Corps. 1883-1900 & 1900-1913 arranged alphabetically for the whole of the army. For the period before 1882, therefore, you need to know whether your soldier served in the Cavalry, Infantry, Artillery, Engineers etc. and, in the case of the first two, his regiment because the records are divided into these sections as explained above. As well as the Guards Regiments and Household Cavalry, there were over 100 Infantry Regiments of the Line and 28 Cavalry Regiments so it would be a mammoth task to search them all. http://www.ffhs.org.uk/General/Help/Soldier.htm TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT The Paper Trail - Finding Ancestors in Old Documents This little corner of Olive Tree Genealogy, http://olivetreegenealogy.com, is for miscellaneous old papers and documents. That's why its called The Paper Trail. It's fascinating to find an old document that describes how many pairs of shoes an ancestor bought for his children, or a receipt from a funeral home for grave-digging and a hearse and pall. We all search for census records, birth certificates, marriage records, and death certificates. Finding these documents I have here is tricky - where on earth do you start to look for them?? That's always been a problem, and that's why The Paper Trail hopes to build a massive collection of such documents. The documents being collected for researchers are varied - land grants, Civil War enlistment papers, military pay lists, receipts for items bought and sold, funeral expenses, court and legal documents, slave records, tax bills, receipts, indentures, etc www.rootsweb.com/~ote/usa_genealogy/paper/ TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT