It was possibly a militia title. We know it was used as a social title from a passage in William Byrd's diaries. He mentions meeting a "
Colonel Randolph" on the road to
Williamsburg. This was William
Randolph the Immigrant, who never fought in a war, so it was a militia title.
James
Acton is said to have opposed the Revolution at first, then changed his mind. There's a problem with the logistics of service. He would have been 30 in 1776, so a fit age to be an officer. My grandmother's DAR ancestor was about that age and showed up at Valley
Forge. He was referred to as a Captain, so he may have had that rank at the time. But toward the end of the Revolution, the legislature stopped paying officers and the army disbanded. John Marshall was 18 and showed up as a Lieutenant at Valley
Forge, but yy the end of the Revolution he was studying law in
Williamsburg. So there was a narrow time frame for James to have obtained a commission and served.
There were officers rolls and pension records. But I haven't seen any documentation for his service.
