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Show -3- to unfold. The 40th Regiment, placed on alert after the battle at Lexington, continued to drill regularly but was not required to fight. The war raged in the surrounding colonies, but hadn't yet touched Connecticut. Then, on July 15, 1777, Col. Tobias Greene received the written order directly from the Connecticut legislature, who had received it by dispatch rider from General Washington's headquarters, that the 40th was to be mustered into the continental army, along with other militia regiments on September 1, 1777, at the small town of Spring Glen, in Eastern Pennsylvania. The order mentioned the "gravest urgency" of the Connecticut regiment arriving on time. "Loss of many battles by continental troops makes it a dire necessity that 100 militia regiments be mustered at this time to support continental troops trying unsuccessfully to hold the line against British regulars in Pennsylvania." The tough, seasoned soldiers of the King, backed by 17,000 highly trained mercenaries from Germany as well as American loyalists now forming regiments made the enemy seem invincible. One further instruction from the American commanding general cautioned against any contact or skirmishes with enemy forces while the 40th was enroute to Spring Glen. Major Avery devoted an entire page to the departure of the regiment from Millfax on August 11, 1777. Wives and children gathered about their husbands and fathers in the square for a last kiss or handshake. Sgt. Johann Swenson's plump, matronly wife fussed about her man making certain every last minute detail was taken care of. She opened a cloth sack to show the Sgt. the pieces of chicken she'd cooked the |