By Ed Holt,
Botetourt Preservation Partnership
United States of America
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress finally voted on the Lee Resolution, which had been introduced in June, declaring that the United Colonies had separated from Great Britain and were free and independent states. The committee tasked with writing the Declaration of Independence presented its draft, which was debated and approved on July 4 by 12 of the 13 colonies. The New York delegation forwarded the document to its Provincial Congress, which ratified the Declaration on July 9. On July 19, Congress ordered the Declaration to be formally engrossed on parchment for signing. Thus, the United Colonies became the United States of America.
In New York, General Howe landed on Staten Island on July 2 with 9,000 professional troops. Continental soldiers fired a few shots before retreating. Many members of the Staten Island militia switched their allegiance to the British, as the island had a large Loyalist population. By the end of the month, more than 150 British ships were anchored off Staten Island, and Howe’s army had grown to approximately 32,000 British and Hessian troops.
On July 9, to boost morale among his troops, General George Washington had the Declaration of Independence read aloud to the Continental Army. That night, a mob tore down the equestrian statue of King George III at Bowling Green in New York City, where it was later melted down to make musket balls. Washington continued to fortify New York in preparation for the coming British attack, but his troops were vastly outnumbered.
On July 12, the British warships Phoenix and Rose sailed up the Hudson River through a furious American artillery barrage and severed one of Washington’s critical supply lines.
In Virginia
On July 5, the Fifth Virginia Convention adjourned, unaware that Congress had already voted for independence. On July 6, Patrick Henry was sworn in as the first governor of the independent Commonwealth of Virginia.
Royal Governor Dunmore clung to a toehold in Virginia on Gwynn’s Island with a fleet of ships in the Chesapeake Bay. On July 9, Virginia troops under the command of General Andrew Lewis of Botetourt opened an artillery barrage on Dunmore’s position. General Lewis is said to have aimed the first cannon shot at Dunmore’s flagship and personally lit the fuse, scoring a direct hit.
Virginia troops, including a rifle company from Botetourt under the command of Captain Thomas Posey, crossed the inlet between the mainland and the island and drove off or captured what remained of the British troops, Loyalists, and escaped slaves. Smallpox had spread rapidly among the British and Loyalists, greatly diminishing their strength and numbers. The escaped slaves were particularly hard hit by the disease. Most of those who remained with Dunmore’s party sailed away from Virginia, never to return.
Botetourt County
In July 1776, Botetourt County was a vast and strategically important area stretching from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the east to the Ohio River in the west. A company of Botetourt soldiers was stationed at Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant on the Ohio River in western Botetourt County to defend the colony’s western frontier. As mentioned earlier, Botetourt had also supplied troops to eastern Virginia to defend Williamsburg and drive off Lord Dunmore.
During July, the British, operating from the colony of British West Florida, incited and supplied the Cherokee, who launched attacks along the western frontier from Georgia to far southwestern Virginia. A company of Botetourt militia under Captain Gilmer fought the Cherokee on the Holston River frontier under the command of Colonel William Christian, who had moved from the Stone House in Cloverdale to Dunkard’s Bottom several years earlier. Christian’s home, Mahanaim, located in what was then Fincastle (now Pulaski) County, now lies beneath the waters of Claytor Lake.
Back in Botetourt County, Colonel George Skillern continued gathering supplies, wagons, and men for the various armies, with Fincastle and his plantation adjacent to Cherry Tree Bottom.
