University of Virginia Library

(1) The Officers.

To have contributed Washington to the cause of independence
was almost glory enough for one state, but besides the
commander-in-chief of the American army, three of the major-generals
appointed by Congress claimed Virginia as their
residence, though only one of the three can be considered in
any way identified with the state. Charles Lee and Horatio
Gates, formerly British army officers, lived in Berkeley County,
Virginia, in that part now Jefferson County, West Virginia,
and Adam Stephen, the third major-general, lived in the same
neighborhood. All three fell into discredit. Lee was dismissed
for his conduct at Monmouth; Gates was suspended
after his defeat at Camden; and Stephen, the only native, a
brave officer, was cashiered for drunkenness at the battle of
Germantown. The fault was a venial one, and General
Stephen, who had served gallantly, retained the respect of his
countrymen, who made him a member of the Convention of
1788, and conferred upon him other trusted positions.

The honor roll of the state is found not in its major-generals
but in its brigadier generals and colonels. Of the former
were Daniel Morgan, who lead the first body of Southern
troops to join Washington before Boston, fought his way into
Quebec to be captured through the failure of the supporting

column, twice turned the tide at Saratoga, and finally after a
tardy promotion to the grade of brigadier, routed the dread
Tarleton at Cowpens in one of the most brilliant engagements
of the war; Peter Muhlenberg, who lead a German regiment
from the valley of Virginia to the relief of Charleston,
in 1776, commanded a brigade at Brandywine, Germantown,
Monmouth, Stony Point, and Yorktown; Hugh Mercer, whose
brigade formed the attacking column at Trenton and at Princeton,
and who died of his wounds a few days later, lamented
by the entire army; George Weedon, who commanded a brigade
at Brandywine and Germantown; William Woodford,
who commanded the Virginia militia at the Great Bridge,
where he scored a remarkable success and led a Virginia brigade
at Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth; Charles
Scott, who commanded a Virginia regiment at Trenton and
Stony Point, and was the last to leave the field at Monmouth,
when Charles Lee retreated; Edward Stevens, whose regiment
checked the British advance at Brandywine, who served
with distinction at Germantown, and commanded the Virginia
militia at Guildford Court House, where he contested the battle
with the British regulars; Robert Lawson, who shared with
Stevens the glory of the obstinate fight of the Virginia militia
at Guilford Court House and afterwards distinguished himself
in opposing Cornwallis in Virginia; William Campbell,
who commanded a corps of 400 Virginians at King's Mountain,
was chosen by the other officers as chief, and led in that attack
on Colonel Ferguson and his Tory army; George Rogers
Clark, whose conquest of the Northwest and ability as an Indian
fighter secured to him the reputation of being one of the
most remarkable men of the Revolution; and Governor
Thomas Nelson, Jr., who commanded a part of the Virginia
militia during most of the Revolution and all of it in arms in
the Yorktown campaign, when he was governor. Besides
serving as brigadier generals in the Virginia line, Stevens
and Lawson served as colonels in the continental line, and
later received commissions from Virginia as brigadiers of
militia.[38]

In like distinction, though of lower rank, were Colonel
Henry Lee, otherwise "Light Horse Harry," whose "legion"
rendered brilliant services North and South, and to whom
General Greene wrote: "No man in the progress of the campaign
had equal merit with yourself nor is there one so represented."[39] Next to Henry Lee in the effectiveness of his service
was Col. William Washington, who had a hand to hand fight
with Col. Tarleton and was finally taken prisoner at Eutaw
Springs. Then mention should be made of Theodoric Bland
and George Baylor, who served as colonels of cavalry, and
of Colonel Charles Harrison, who was commander of the first
continental artillery. No other state could present such a
galaxy of brilliant officers.

Besides these officers in the army, Virginia led in giving
to the Union the most brilliant and successful admiral of
the navy, John Paul Jones, who though born in Scotland,
claimed Virginia as his home and received from the Governor a
land grant as a citizen; and Richard Dale, first lieutenant of
the Bon Homme Richard, and afterwards a commodore.
Among the officers of the Virginia navy who distinguished
themselves were James Barron, Richard Barron, his brother,
Captain Joseph Meredith, who commanded the privateer
LaFayette, and William Cunningham, first lieutenant of the
brig Liberty, which Paulin says "saw more service than any
other State or Continental vessel of the Revolution, being in
the employ of Virginia from 1775 to 1787."[40] James Barron
performed a signal service in April, 1776, when he captured
a boat with dispatches from Lord Dartmouth, which discovered
the whole plan of British operations under Sir Henry Clinton
and Sir Peter Parker against Charleston.

John Paul Jones