The British officer is Banastre Tarleton and the hero of the story is Jack
Jouett. Jouett spotted the raiding party of Redcoats at Cuckoo’s Tavern
around midnight and rode 40 miles through the night to warn Jefferson,
arriving in the early morning The most detailed account is from Dumas
Malone, JEFFERSON THE VIRGINIAN, Little, Brown & Company (1948) pp. 355-357
who draws from a Scribner’s Magazine piece by Virginius Dabney. Malone
provides a number of other references, including Tarleton’s memoirs, but
says only that the delay of Tarleton’s breakfast at the Walker home Castle
Rock caused  him to miss Jefferson, not that the Walkers purposely delayed
Tarleton. The earlier account in James Parton, LIFE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Houghton, Mifflin & Company (1887) pp. 250-252 confirms that Tarleton
stopped for breakfast but only identifies the location as the home of one
of “Jefferson’s friends.” Castle Rock still stands and is identified with a
Virginia Historical Marker as the place of a breakfast delay that “aided
the patriots to escape.”. Online accounts are at
www.louisacounty.com/jouett.htm and www.americanrevolution.org/jouett.html
Various later versions have either Dr. Walker or Mrs. Walker keeping
Tarleton at breakfast in order to create a delay for Jefferson and the
members of the legislature to escape. There does not appear to be any
evidence that the Walkers knew that a delay of Tarleton would aid in the
escape, although they probably knew Jefferson and other members of the
legislature were at Monticello and Charlottesville and would have surmised
their capture was the purpose of  Tarleton’s raid.


Richard E. Dixon
Attorney at Law
4122 Leonard Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-691-0770
fax 703-691-0978


> [Original Message]
> From: Lonny J. Watro <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 3/31/2004 3:05:09 PM
> Subject: Dr. Thomas Walker
>
> I have heard the Revolutionary War story of Mrs. Thomas Walker (Mildred
> Thornton Meriwether) who kept a British officer occupied with breakfast
> while Thomas Jefferson was warned the British were on their way to
> Monticello to capture him. Can anyone give me more details?
>
> Thank you,
> Lonny J. Watro
>
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