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- He apparently died at Valley Forge, though I have yet to see firm documentation about this. He would have pre-deceased his father, and if he had no children he would not have been named in his father's will (as the other two of his apparent siblings who died early were). According to Phillips researcher Nancy Kiser, "knows for certain that the John Phillips who died in 1777 as a result of his Revolutionary War service was the son of John and Sarah Phillips; however, it appears from Amherst Co. records that this John had an older brother named William who inherited John's estate due to an old, arcane English law that says the estate of a man who dies unmarried with no children will be inherited by the deceased man's oldest brother if the deceased man did not leave a will [i.e., primogeniture]."
According to the Valley Forge muster rolls, there were three John Phillips present. One, a corporal in the 2nd VA brigade under William Taylor, is "fit for duty" at all musters through June of 1778, so this can't be the same person. Two others are privates, and either, it seems, could be this John:
VA25772: Phillips, John; VA; PRIVATE; 12 VA. He is first present on the rolls in Apr. 1778, and sick in the hospital in May of 1778. Not present in June of 1778. He is listed in the 4th VA brigade, Capt. Benjamin Casey's Co., in the 12th VA regiment, 3rd Division.
VA09985: Phillips, John; VA; PRIVATE; 1 VA. He is listed in Dec. 1777 as "Sick, absent," and is present on no other musters. Additional remarks are that "DEC. 1777 SICK AT PRINCETON. JAN. 1778 SICK AT HOSPITAL. ROLL FOR FEB. 1778 SHOWS THAT HE ENLISTED AUGUST 1, 1777, AND BEARS THE MARK DISCHARGED. DATE NOT KNOWN." He is a private in the 1st VA Brigade, under Capt. Callohill Mennis' (?Callehill Memmis), in the 1st VA Regiment, 5th Division. [1]
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