As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Botetourt Preservation Partnership, Inc. — composed of representatives from various historic, civic, and governmental organizations and designated by the Board of Supervisors as the Botetourt VA250 Committee — will present a monthly look at the events unfolding 250 years ago, leading up to American Independence.
A Point of No Return: August 1775
By August 1775, American colonial moderates who wanted to stay loyal to King George while securing equal rights with British subjects in England were disappointed when the King and Parliament rejected the Olive Branch Petition and declared the colonies “in open and avowed rebellion.” The King went on to order the entire British government “to use their utmost endeavours [sic] to withstand and suppress such rebellion.” This proclamation shifted the dispute from governance issues to outright rebellion, making reconciliation unlikely.
George Washington, who reached the Continental Army in Boston and took command in July, was trying to strengthen the discipline and training of the troops, as well as the American lines around the British Army, whose main body and headquarters were located in Boston.
Before Washington arrived, the Continental Army began unsuccessfully besieging the main British force in Boston. The mighty British Navy kept the city supplied with troops and provisions by sea.
To strengthen the siege, in August Washington began to convert merchant ships into armed vessels to disrupt supplies entering Boston. Lacking congressional support for a Navy, he classified the crews as “soldiers” instead of “sailors.” And failed to report his actions to Congress. Congress did not officially authorize a Navy until October.
On August 27, privateers from Machias, Massachusetts (now Maine), after earlier repelling a British supply party, raided Saint John, New Brunswick, to disrupt Loyalist supplies to Boston. This first attack on the Canadian Maritime Provinces led the Canadian colony to mobilize its militia.
Benedict Arnold approached Washington about a potential two-pronged invasion of Quebec in hope that the formerly French province would join the American cause as the 14th colony. After Washington’s approval of the plan, General Montgomery left Fort Ticonderoga with the first prong of the attack, in late August.
Virginia: Continued Measures for Self-Rule
The third Virginia Convention, which had been meeting since July, continued to meet. Thsee conventions had become the de facto government in Virginia at this point.
In August measures were passed to create paper currency. Also taken up by the convention were measures to pay the soldiers from Dunmore’s War, the main engagement of which was the Battle of Point Pleasant, which occurred in then Botetourt County in October 1774. Many soldiers were paid with land grants on the frontier.
Virginia was primarily responsible for defending the western colonial frontier, which stretched nearly 500 miles from Chartiers Valley near present-day Pittsburgh to Carter’s Valley beyond present-day Kingsport, Tennessee.
In August, the convention also set up the first of five planned provincial companies, each with 100 men, assigning command to John Neville, a former Frederick County (Winchester) sheriff who had settled in Chartiers Valley. Neville was ordered to occupy nearby Fort Pitt.
Other items passed by the convention were resolutions directing the taking of a census, raising of a company of militia in each county, and setting up courts in Staunton and Pittsburgh charged with keeping of the peace and good behavior, as well as criminal matters.
Back in Botetourt:
On August 8, the Botetourt County Court met with Justices James Trimble, William Fleming, Benjamin Estill, Richard May, William McClenachan and Andrew Donnely presiding.
Dawson Wade was appointed the surveyor for a new road from Stephen May’s lodging to the county line. Samuel Brown, Joseph Anderson, Patrick Lewis and High Miller were appointed to “view the way from Sweet Springs Road to Camp Union” (current Lewisburg, West Virginia) and report back to the court.
William Preston certified 5,500 pounds of hemp (presumably grown at Greenfield Plantation). A recommendation was made to His Excellency the Royal Governor for persons fit to serve as County Sheriff in favor of James Trimble, William Fleming and George Skillern.
Several deeds of land transactions were recorded in August 1775. Among them were purchases by Bryan McDonald, William Preston, John McAlister, Robert Moor, John Gray, John Madison, Priscilla Davis, William Anderson, and Israel Christian.
~ Submitted by Ed Holt, Historical Research Chair
