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SERGEANT GEORGE BELCHER
CONTINENTAL ARMY
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION


George Belcher was born about 1760 in Amelia County, Virginia. The son of Isham Belcher and Elisabeth Clay. Not much is known about his life outside of public and military records. He was said to have been a great tracker of man or game. George Belcher was one of the first Justice-of-the-Peace in Floyd County, Kentucky. It is believed that he may have been a man of small stature, as his son Bartley was a little man. Also, several of his grandchildren bear that characteristic. He was a veteran of the American Revolution. On 20 January 1777, George enlisted in Captain James Foster’s Company of the 15th Virginia Regiment (Continental Line), commanded by Lt. Colonel James Innes. Other regiments he served in were the 5th and 11th Regiments (Continental Line); and the 2nd Virginia Brigade. Places of note where his companywas located include: Reading, Valley Forge, White Plains, Newark, Pompton, Middlebrook,Ramapaugh, Smith’s Cove and Morristown.

George Belcher spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. It was at these winter quarters that 11,000 men under General George Washington suffered through a bitter cold winter. It was here that the future of the United States never look more bleak.These poorly clothed and starving men,with little shelter from the elements, symbolized the indomitable and determinedspirit of the fledgling American army at that time. As many as 2,500 men died during that brutal winter. George Belcher was even listed sick during roll call, while there. The military today is well equipt and fed. Not so in the latter part of the 1700's. Funding for the American army was hard to come buy, as were food and other necessities. Where roads very poor and transportation slow .

1780-1783 George was in the Henry County Militia
It is believed by this writer that George Belcher participated in the battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, on 17 January 1781. He supposedly suffered a broken arm. It was at Cowpens that Brig. General Daniel Morgan and a force of 1,100 men, most of whom were backwoodsmen, met a British force of about 1,100 men under Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Using cunning tactics and the deadly fire of his riflemen, Morgan routed the British army. George Belcher was present at the Battle of Guilfords Courthouse shortly thereafter. Another intertesting note is that Major Alexander Stuart, also fought at Guilfords Courthouse. He was the grandfather of Confederate Major-General Jeb Stewart.


After the end of the American Revolution, George married Sally Powell,
Consent Form To marry

daughter of George Powell, on 14 August 1782, in Amelia County, Virginia. The only child born of this union was John Belcher. John was probably born in Washington County (now Russell County), Virginia. There is a George Belcher (Belsher) living in Amelia County in 1782. (1790-1870 Virginia Early Census Index. Ancestry.Com). George Belcher, along with John Fugate, acquired 380 acres of land on a Commissioners Certificate on both sides of the upper north fork on the Clinch River, in what is now Russell County, Virginia. This John Fugate may have been a brother of George Belcher’s second wife Mary Fugate. George married Mary shortly after the death of his first wife Sally.
"Pike County Kentucky Deeds list Mary as his wife in 1795
(Kentucky had became a state by then)
Va Deed Book, Page 357, Grantors, George and Mary his wife, Feb 25, 1795."

The children of George and Mary were: George, Jr., Mary Ann, Margaret, Bartley, John William, James, Ali, and Sally.
George Belcher is listed on the Petition to form Russell County from Washington County, in December 1785. Josiah Fugate (Mary's father) is also on this list.
According to the 1787 Russell County Personal Property Tax List, George owned 2 horses and 6 heads of cattle. George bought 70 acres more on the Clinch river in February 1795, and acquired 100 acres more on the south side of the Clinch River on 7 December 1800 (Russell County Land Grants No. 46, page 527. Rootsweb.com). Other Belchers living in Russell County were Jesse, John, and Robert Belcher. Jesse and John were probably brothers of George, and Robert may have been a brother, also. Sometime later, George Belcher moved his family across into Floyd County, Kentucky. George Shows up in the 1820 Floyd County Census with 12 in the household.
Pike County was made from Floyd in 1822 and he doesn't show up in the 1830 Census, but his older sons do.
By this, we Assume George Died after 1820.
Mary, age 87, Shows up in the 1850 Russell County Census living with son, William.

Researched by: Gayl Ramey Wells and Gregory Clyde Belcher
Written by: Gregory Clyde Belcher, June 2001
(both Descendents of George)

Sources: 1790-1870 Census Index. Ancestry.Com database. Washington County Surveyors Record 1781-1797 by Rhonda Robertson. "Jeb Stuart" by John W. Thomason, Jr. Published by Charles Shribner's Sons. 1958. Pike County Land Records. Amelia County Court House records. Kentucky and Virginia Census.


Company 11 Roster:



George Belchers War Record



Valley Forge




Copyright 2000 by Greg Belcher and Gayl Wells, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: