Hi Folks,

The next American Revolution Round Table – Richmond meeting will be on Wednesday, March 20.  Ruma Chopra will speak on “Unnatural Rebellion: Loyalists in New York City During the Revolution,” based on her book of the same title.  We meet at the University of Richmond.  The regular meeting reminded will follow in March.  Please join us.  http://arrt-richmond.blogspot.com/p/2013-meeting-schedule.html

Here are other interesting items sent along by our friends.

1.  American’s History’s Second Annual Conference on the American Revolution in Williamsburg is fast approaching.  Please support our corporate sponsor on March 22 – 24.  Details are at http://americashistoryllc.com/2013/01/2nd-annual-conference-on-the-american-revolution-march-22-24-2013/  Last year’s conference was outstanding – one of the best such that I ever attended.

2. Check the Friends of Valley Forge Park site for some neat animated battle maps of the British Campaign to Capture Philadelphia in 1777.  http://www.friendsofvalleyforge.org/battle-index.shtml?utm_source=jhb+-+enews+2013-02-13&utm_campaign=Sept+26+2012&utm_medium=email  There’s also a campaign overview.

3. Speaking of the Philadelphia Campaign, here’s an article and video about a fantastic Delaware River find, thanks to John Maass.  http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2013/02/09/bristol_pilot/news/doc5111d45392dbd437191151.txt  Every now and then, such an artifact is discovered in the Delaware.  Thanks, John.

4.  At our last meeting, Todd Andrik’s Reporting the Revolution was the raffle book.  For all of those who coveted the book but didn’t win, Art Ritter reports that it has now appeared in local Barnes and Noble stores at a 50% discount.  There were signed copies in the Williamsburg B&N.  Now’s your chance to pick up this excellent new tome.  Santa was kind enough to bring me a copy.

5.  Debbie Padgett from the Jamestown – Yorktown Foundation shared this - 

‘JAMESTOWN’S LEGACY TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION’ LINKS
17TH-CENTURY VIRGINIA CAPITAL TO REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., February 11, 2013 – More than 60 objects destined for exhibit at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will be on display in “Jamestown’s Legacy to the American Revolution,” opening March 1 at Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia. The special exhibition, which continues through January 20, 2014, examines the lives of Revolutionary War-era descendants of people associated with 17th-century Jamestown, the first capital of colonial Virginia.
Work is under way on the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, which will replace the Yorktown Victory Center by late 2016. The artifacts featured in “Jamestown’s Legacy to the American Revolution” – a sampling of those to be exhibited in the new museum – include furnishings, weapons, nautical items, documents and commemorative objects. Among them are an American-made saber engraved with the owner’s name and the year 1776, a trunk owned by a Continental Navy shipbuilder, and examples of 18th-century Virginia currency. 
The exhibition opens with “King George III’s Virginia,” illustrated with an eight-foot-tall portrait of the king in coronation robes, one of several done by the studio of Allan Ramsay between 1762 and 1784. From the time he ascended to the British throne in 1760, George III worked to strengthen British administration in the American colonies, with his American subjects ultimately rising in opposition.
In pre-Revolutionary Virginia, agriculture and trade drove the economy. A section titled “Merchants, Planters and Farmers” profiles Mary Cary Ambler, widow of Edward Ambler, a wealthy Yorktown merchant and planter, and John Ambler II, their son, and Azel Benthall, a small planter and church vestry clerk on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The Ambler family suffered serious financial reverses during the Revolution, while farmers like Benthall were better able to cope with wartime shortages. 
Colonel Richard Taylor, who served with the First Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army, and Captain Edward Travis IV, who served in the Virginia navy, are featured in “Soldiers and Sailors.” Most Virginians who fought in the war were either militiamen or soldiers of the Continental Line. Virginia’s small naval force operated chiefly to keep the state’s rivers and the Chesapeake Bay safe from the British navy and to assist in the transport of supplies for the Continental Army.
“Statesmen and Diplomats” highlights individuals who supported the Patriot cause and the new nation as public officials. Arthur Lee served on diplomatic missions to Europe during the Revolution and later as a member of Congress. Richard Bland II was actively involved in events leading up to the Revolution, as a member of the Virginia committees of Correspondence and Public Safety and the Continental Congress. During and following the Revolution, General Joseph Martin served as Virginia’s agent for Indian Affairs, acting as a diplomat between the Cherokee and settlers who encroached on Indian lands.
The exhibition concludes with an overview of the career of George Washington, whose ancestor John Washington arrived in Virginia in 1656 and later sat in the House of Burgesses at Jamestown. Less than a decade after leading the United States to victory as commander of the Continental Army, George Washington reluctantly accepted the office of the first president of the United States. A life-size statue, made in the 19th century by William James Hubard after an 18th-century work by Jean-Antoine Houdon, portrays Washington as a modern Cincinnatus, the Roman farmer who left his land to fight for his country and, after victory as a general, returned to his farm as a man of simplicity and peace. 
“Jamestown’s Legacy to the American Revolution” is supported with grants from James City County, Altria Group and Dominion Resources. 
Jamestown Settlement, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, is located southwest of Williamsburg on Route 31 at the Colonial Parkway, next to Historic Jamestowne, site of America’s first permanent English colony, founded in 1607. Jamestown Settlement general admission of $16.00 for adults and $7.50 for children ages 6 through 12 includes admission to the special exhibition. A combination ticket is available with the Yorktown Victory Center. The two state-operated living-history museums tell the story of America’s beginnings through gallery exhibits and in outdoor re-created settings – Powhatan Indian village, three English ships and 1610-14 colonial fort at Jamestown Settlement, and Revolutionary War encampment and 1780s farm at the Yorktown Victory Center.
For more information, call (888) 593-4682 toll-free or (757) 253-4838 or visit www.historyisfun.org.

6.  Bruce Venter asked that I pass this along to our members.  While not very familiar with Linked in, I have joined the Revolution War Historians Discussion Group, moderated by Sean Heuvel, who will be our September speaker.  Details are at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4555167&trk=anet_ug_hm&goback=%2Egde_4555167_member_209964177%2Egmp_4555167.

7. Mark your calendar for the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution symposium “Wedded to My Sword: The Life and Times of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee on April 26 – 28 in Greensboro, NC.

The importance of the Cavalry and light troops in the Southern war led Gen. Nathanael Greene to put Lee’s Legion “upon as good a footing as possible.” Now you can walk the grounds where Lee rode, fought and sealed his reputation on the battlefield. Hear and interact with presentations by prominent scholars and authors to include Lee’s controversial life and contributions to American Liberty as a soldier, politician and early Southern Campaigns historian, and his roles in family and business. For updated information on the presenters, schedule, and optional bus tour on Friday to more Harry Lee battle sites, and registration: http://www.southerncampaign.org/symposium or call (803) 549-6710 

Be sure to also the rest of their very complete calendar of Revolutionary War events.


8.  Finally, this courtesy of Durf McJoynt of the DC ARRT.  This seems appropriate for today.  

Why Today is Not “Presidents’ Day” *

By James C. Rees, Executive Director, Historic Mount Vernon



Every February, thousands of shopping malls and car dealerships should be accused of false advertising during their massive “Presidents’ Day” sales.  This annual holiday is not “Presidents’ Day.”  Officially, it is the national tribute to only one president – George Washington.

            Declared a legal holiday by the federal government in 1885, George Washington’s Birthday has culturally morphed into “Presidents’ Day.”  Even the so-called authority on American holidays, The American Book of Days, has it wrong.  In 1968, the “Monday Holiday Law” was enacted by the United States Congress to provide for uniform annual observances of public holidays.  George Washington’s Birthday was slated to be recognized on the third Monday in February.  The law was enacted in 1971, yet popular culture has perpetuated the myth that the holiday was designated to honor presidential officeholders in general.  Officially, however, the holiday has never changed.  Nor should it.

            To lump Washington together with the 42 other men who have been elected president in this country does not assign him the significance he deserves.  The only president to be elected unanimously – and it happened to him twice – Washington essentially shaped the office of the president.  With tremendous foresight, he knew that his actions would set important precedents, and he conscientiously labored over many of his decisions.  Unlike modern presidents, Washington did not conduct polls to determine what steps to take.  Instead, he asked the same question, over and over again:  “What is the best course for America?”  His instincts were seldom wrong, and his patriotism never faltered.  Washington once said, “I can never resist the call of my country,” and he responded to his country’s needs time and time again.  

            Washington’s critical role as commander in chief during the Revolutionary War, his refusal to become king when others called for it, his chairmanship of the Constitutional Convention, his ability to hold the nation together and remain neutral during European conflicts, and his wise and steady influence during the nascent development of the new republic – these are just some of the reasons why Washington, The Father of His Country, should be given singular attention.

            George Washington was said to be “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”  Unfortunately, that oft-repeated quote, originally proclaimed by Henry Lee at one of the hundreds of memorial services to George Washington, is not as ubiquitous as it once was.  Schools no longer feature portraits of Washington in their classrooms, and children grow up with the vague notion that Washington was a great man, but they are unable to articulate why.

Many Americans may take seriously their love of country, yet evidence suggests we are caring less and less about the people and events that played key roles in the history of the United States.  As author and historian David McCullough so eloquently said, “Indifference to history isn’t just ignorant; it’s a form of ingratitude.”

            We have a long road to travel to reverse this disturbing trend.  A good place to start is by returning “Presidents’ Day” to its rightful name and purpose.  On this day that is set aside to honor George Washington, Americans should re-discover why he was so crucial to the founding of this nation.  They should talk to their children about his renowned character and virtues.  Families should plan trips to Mount Vernon and other historic places where Washington lived and worked.  And most of all, Americans should shed their indifference and be grateful for the man who led this remarkable nation to freedom.  

            And wouldn’t it be refreshing if families postponed their trips to the mall to gather around the dinner table to talk about George Washington and the other Founding Fathers.  That linen sale will still be there tomorrow, so don’t be bashful – have that second slice of cherry pie.



* This article was downloaded from the current webpage at http://www.washingtonbirthday.net/ . The article was written in February 2007 by Jim Reese, as the then Executive Director/CEO and President of Mount Vernon Estates. [He retired from that position, which he held for 18 years, in June 2012.] Some of our older members might recall that, at the time this article was written, our ARRT had a number of members who wanted to ‘man the barricades’ on this issue in defense of maintaining the 22nd of February as ‘The Day’. However, in a telecon with Jim, he maintained his continued sympathy with the views expressed in this article, but he also had to recognize that the political and business interests were too entrenched, and any overt contest/challenge would only be disruptive. So even Mount Vernon – most reluctantly – went along with the ‘Presidents’ Day’ as a practical compromise to associate with a political-commercial ‘holiday’ weekend. Today, Mount Vernon’s calendar has 22 February as Washington’s birthday (based upon the ‘new style 1732' calendar). The 18th of February is described as “Washington’s Birthday (observed).”




Thanks to all who pass along these interesting items.  Please continue to do so.  And thanks to you for reading them.  See you on March 20.

Bill Welsch


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