Hi Folks,

The Waxhaws Massacre – truth or fiction?  Jim Piecuch will explore the question at the next meeting of the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond on Wednesday, May 25, at the University of Richmond.  The meeting will follow dinner from 5:30 until 6:30 in the Heilman Dining Center.  Details, maps, and directions are at http://arrt-richmond.org/3.html.  Jim will have copies of his book The Blood Be Upon Your Head: Tarleton and the Myth of Buford’s Massacre available for purchase.  Does the title give a hint?

Quite a few of you have been kind enough to pass along other items of interest.  Thanks to all of you that did so.  But that makes for the long note that follows.    

1. We finally were able to conduct our Richmond Patriots Cemetery Tour this past Sunday, with no rain.  Debbie Phillips did a fantastic job – the only pregnant female Patrick Henry that you’ll ever see!  Lee Ball provided the following information and pictures.  
On Sunday, the Richmond Chapter of the American Revolution Round Table sponsored a tour of the cemeteries at St. John's Church and Shockoe Hill.  Here's a link to a few photos I took at Shockoe.  We also went across the street to the Confederate Section of the Hebrew Cemetery, and I took a couple of photos while there.  Take a look at the elaborate iron fence that encloses the Confederate Section.

https://picasaweb.google.com/ltbva01/ShockoeHillAndHebrewCemeteries?authkey=Gv1sRgCPOI84zjzNCOggE&feat=directlink

While at St. John's, our guide mentioned the strange circumstances of the murder of George Wythe and the trial that followed.  Here's a link to Brian Lamb's C-Span interview of Bruce Chadwick, who wrote a book about Wythe's murder:
http://qanda.org/Program/?ProgramID=1243

Here's a brief summary of the trial:
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/12/12/the-curious-death-of-george-wythe-i-am-murdered/


2.  Paulette Scharting from the Virginia Historical Society passed along this information.

Rare Revolutionary War-Era Map
Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:51:24 -0500

David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group, has given the Library of Congress stewardship of the first map printed in North America, depicting the boundaries of the new American nation and showing the "Stars and Stripes" for the first time.


3.  This from Len Riedel:

Colonel Jim Johnson Ph.D. at Marist College (former head of the History Department at West Point) and Director of the Hudson Valley Heritage Area is conducting a full military staff ride of the Saratoga Campaign for the Blue and Gray Education Society from Albany, NY from July 27-30, 2011.

This interactive program teaches participants about the decisive campaign of the American Revolution by visiting key locations, studying the personalities involved in the event and allowing participants to gain greater insight by assuming in selected instances the persona of the campaign.  This is a tried a true method used by the Training and Doctrine Command of the US Army to educate their senior leaders and non commissioned officers in critical thinking skills and past military heritage as a basis for future decision making.

Those of you who know Jim are aware of his work in the Hudson Valley and on the Knox Cannon Trail.  He is rarely available for such a program and it is hardly ever open to civilians.  Jim is one of the Army's best trainers and his skills in managing the staff ride to maximize the effort are exceptional.  As Revolutionary War buffs you and members of your round table will be immersed in the subject.

I would like to invite you to register for the program by visiting our web site at www.blueandgrayeducation.org .  If three or more members of your roundtable elect to participate I will extend a special discount for that group--call me at 434-250-9921.

This is a special opportunity--Jim is not and doesn't intend to go on the regular circuit--this is a special offering no likely to be repeated in the near future.  Please share the word and I hope to hear from you soon. 


4.  This comes from Charles Baxley of SCAR.  Sorry for the last minute notice.

May 21, 2011 - Charlotte, NC – Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, Corps of Discovery - “Lord Cornwallis’s March to and Retreat from Charlotte, 1780 – Into the Hornet’s Nest” – meet us at Providence Presbyterian Church, 10140 Providence Church Lane at 9:00 am for a brief introduction and a carpooled driving tour of the route of Cornwallis’ army march into Charlotte on 24–26 September 1780, including the Battle of Charlotte, and the British Army’s retreat on 12–13 October 1780. At the beginning of these events, the British Army appeared invincible.  Just 16 days later, it was in serious distress.  You will learn newly discovered information about the locations of individual commanders and their troops.  You will hear human interest stories about Lord Charles Cornwallis; Lt. Col. Banastre "Bloody Ban" Tarleton and his second-in-command, Maj. George Hanger; Col. Thomas Polk; Gen. William Davidson; Col. William Richardson Davie; Capt. Joseph Graham; Maj. Joseph Dickson; Gen. Daniel Morgan, and Lt. Col. William Washington.  You will drive the route taken by Cornwallis’s army.  There will be personal appearances of Gen. William Davidson and Col. Thomas Polk.  Fife and drum music is expected. The tour will include riding the Lynx light-rail train into uptown Charlotte and having lunch at the EpiCentre.  The event is a free, public invited, carpooled tour.  You buy your own train ticket and lunch.  You can read more on the Agenda and Driving Tour Itinerary.  Since this Agenda has essential driving instructions, you need to print out your own copy and bring it with you to the event.  Tour is sponsored by the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution.  The organizer is SCAR Fellow Bill Anderson ([log in to unmask]).  Rain or shine, easy walking.




5.  This from Bruce Venter, with a hope that they remember Johnny Tremain.

Boston breaking ground on new Tea Party museum

Eds: APNewsNow.

BOSTON (AP) - Boston is breaking ground on a new museum to honor the original Boston Tea Party.  That's the one in December 1773 when Massachusetts colonists dumped tea into the harbor to protest a British tax over which they didn't have a vote.  City and state officials, including Mayor Thomas Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick are expected at the ceremony Tuesday at Fort Point Channel.  An earlier museum there burned in 2001 after it was struck by lightning.  Griffin's Wharf, the original site of the tea party, was nearby on land that was later filled in for development.  The mayor's office says the city and state have approved a $3 million grant for the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and the state convention center authority has pledged an $18 million investment.


6.  Kris McMorland, a New Jersey friend, laments that there’s nothing like this new General Greene Library of the Southern Campaigns near him.  http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/167699/327/General-Nathanael-


7.  This came from Jim Glanville of Blacksburg about his recent article "Fort Gower: Forgotten Shrine of Virginia History" at http://www.holstonia.net/files/FortGower2011.pdf.

After forcing a treaty on Indian people in central Ohio, an army of 
Virginians arrived back in early November 1774 at the point of land at 
the confluence of the Ohio and Hocking Rivers and to the makeshift base 
camp they had established several weeks earlier and named Fort Gower. 
There, on 5 November, responding to news of the actions of the First 
Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the officers of the army made an 
assertion of rights and remonstrance to George III in the form of the 
Fort Gower Resolves. Many Virginians who would go on to become famous 
during the Revolution were present. They sent their Resolves to 
Williamsburg, where they were soon published and became widely known. 
The article discusses the significance of the Resolves and the location 
of the fort and tells what archeology reveals and what happened when I 
went looking for Fort Gower. The text of the Resolves is included in an 
appendix.


8.  Frankie Liles sent this information from the always interesting Footnote.


        "Gen'l Howe with his Army abandoned the Town of Boston without destroying it, an Event of much Importance, & which must be heard with great Satisfaction, & that we are now in full Possession—Their Embarkation & Retreat were hurried & precipitate, & they have left behind them stores of one thing & another to pretty considerable Account." —View original letter here

      This report by General George Washington, dated March 19, 1776, is one of many letters he wrote to the Continental Congress and others as he related the progress of colonial troops during the American Revolution. The event he refers to, 235 years ago, was the end of the British occupation of Boston. It was a great victory for the colonial forces and most likely the point when the British acknowledged that perhaps they were dealing with more than a rabble of untrained soldiers.

      Several remarkable events contributed to the end of the siege, which began many months earlier after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In November 1775, Washington sent Henry Knox to Fort Ticonderoga, New York, to retrieve and bring to Boston 43 cannon and other pieces of artillery. It was a 300-mile journey fraught with hardship but with an entirely successful outcome. Later, on the night of March 4, the captured cannon were secretly and quietly hauled to the top of Dorchester Heights in Boston. The following morning, British officers awoke to the unwelcome surprise of a new and formidable fortification facing them. Significant winter storms over the following days prevented the British from carrying out their planned attacks and, by March 17, they were forced to evacuate.

       
      The Papers of the Continental Congress at Footnote include Washington's first-hand accounts, as well as the correspondence of other founding fathers. Though some are copies, some bear one of the most recognized signatures in American history.

      Explore the Revolutionary War Documents on Footnote
        a.. A report of British troop strength prior to the evacuation 
        b.. Inventory of British stores abandoned in Boston 
     


9.  The First Congress of American Revolution Round Tables took place at the University of Richmond this past weekend.  Twenty five representatives from 11 ARRT’s and the American Revolution Association met to discuss issues of mutual concern and strengthen communications and assistance among the groups.  Apparently we were successful, as the group has decided to meet again next year.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, and we all ate too much at Grandpa Eddie’s and the Tanglewood Ordinary.


You’ve made it to the end of a long note.  Thanks for reading this.  Please keep the news coming.  We do hope to see you at the next meeting.

Bill Welsch

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html