SIMMONS: William, the eldest of John and Catherine [Dally] Simmons' children, would parlay his duty with the commander-in-chief's guard during the Revolutionary War into government service under three presidents.
William's military service may well have been in part with the 11th Pennsylvania Continentals. A William Simmons with that regiment transferred to the Commander-in-chief's guard on 1 March 1777. In this latter capacity, Wiliam would have had contact with Washington and other generals. Simmons was reported sick at Morristown, NJ.
On the muster roll for the guards, a William Simmons was listed as a member from 20 March 1780 to 8 April 1781 with the rank of private.
From 1 April to 1 August 1780 William was at headquarters in Orangetown, NY [adjacent to Clarkstown, where his younger brother John enlisted] as a member of the Guard under Col. Caleb Gibbs. He also on duty from August through December and reported as being in the hospital as of 15 January 1781. [M881 - Rev. War Service Records]
On 21 November 1781, a William Simmons, clerk in the Comptroller's office took the Oath of Allegiance to the US. William may have left the Guard in April and gone into government service before the war ended. References to William were also made in the papers of Robert Morris [1781-1784] establishing his service as a clerk of accounts with the Treasury Department in late 1783 and as clerk to the Commissioner to the Quartermaster Department in 1784..
William recieved an appointment from President Washington as an accountant to the Treasury Department on 17 April 1795. He served with the War Department under Adams, and Madison. His civil service career took place in all three capitals - New York, Philadelphia and Washington.
William's government employment came to an end on 6 July 1814, when he was dismissed by President Madison for [alleged] "bitter hostility to the government" and "rudeness to his superiors." Simmons counter charged that Secretary of War John Armstrong had engineered the firing after a clash over accounting procedures.
Armstrong was a complacent, arrogant, and stubborn individual who refused to listen to subordinates. He had been fueding with Accountant Simmons and fired him. President Madison evidently backed Armstrong. Historians assign much of the blame for the Bladensburg defeat and the buring of Washington to Armstrong.
Despite his resentment of the government officials, William Simmons became an "unsung hero." He volunteered to follow British troop movement on the Bladensburg side of the Patuxent River and Eastern Branch. Once he determined that the British were going to march on Bladensburg, Simmons rode to inform the nearest US field commanders. As he crossed the Bladensburg Bridge, the deposed accountant ran into the Presidential party and prevented Madison from being captured by the enemy.
Simmons then acted as a forward artillery observer and realized that US cannon fire was ineffective. He informed US commander Brigadier General William H. Winder of the situation and was dismissed since he was not a professional soldier. [Winder would also be saddled with blame for his ineptitude in handling the command.]
Next, Simmons rode into Washington to warn remaining citizens and officials of the impending invasion. He reported to the President's House and noticed two fully operational, wheel-mounted cannon setting on the lawn. He ordered the sole remaining Presidential servant to serve Madison's brandy to the soldiers still in the capital. Then he convinced some of the soldiers to wheel at least one of the two field pieces out of the city. William Simmons then rode to Georgetown.
Family lore holds that Madison offered Simmons any job he desired within his area of expertise and that he resigned in 1815. It has yet to be learned if William was reinstated after the War of 1812.
For his service, William received a grant of 4297 acres at the headwaters of the Muskingham River in Coshocton Co., Ohio granted him by President John Adams in 1800. After leaving government service, William packed up family and belongings and headed west after the final disposition of his father's will in 1820.
William fathered two children with his first wife, Elizabeth. William and his second wife, Josephine Lapoint had three children. Wiliam died at Simmons Mill near Warsaw in Cosochton Co., Ohio.
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