Washington was born on February 11, 1731…under the Julian Calendar. This was the old calendar established under Julius Caesar. Pope Gregory moved the Catholic world to a more accurate calendar in 1582, but Protestant England, under Queen Elizabeth, wasn’t bound by the change. Leap year differences put Britain and the America colonies eleven days behind the rest of the western world. Moreover, New Year’s Day was March 25 under the old calendar, not January 1. Consequently, when the British Empire finally changed to the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, Washington’s birthday changed from February 11, 1731 to February 22, 1732. Both dates are correct, but the proper way to note the Julian date is “February 11, 1731 (O.S.).” The abbreviation stand for “old style.” Washington’s Birthday was declared a holiday by Congress in 1879. Many people don’t realize that Congress has no authority to declare holidays (days off) for anyone other than federal employees and residents of the District of Columbia. States, however, followed the federal government’s lead and Washington’s Birthday was celebrated for decades on February 22. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was never a federal holiday, but was celebrated by many states on February 12—just ten days before Washington’s birthday. In the 1950s, there was an effort to establish a third holiday, President’s Day, to honor “the office of the presidency” on March 4 – the original day of quadrennial inaugurations. Though some states adopted the new holiday, Congress declined to in the belief that three holidays in rapid succession were too many.
Under our present Constitution, the United States has had forty-five presidents. Some have been great and some have not. Reputations have waxed and waned as attitudes change and new biographies are written. Celebrating “President’s Day” seems to make no more sense that celebrating “Congress Day” or “Supreme Court Day.” In the fact, the notion of a “President’s Day” has vaguely monarchist overtones. Surely, we can all think of several presidents who don’t deserve the honor. Washington, however, stands high above the rest. He is rightly known as the father of the country. He effectuated a great break with the past, establishing durable and free government in part by repeatedly declining to cling to power. Only one other president rivals his claim to greatness. Holidays have always been the subject of civic activism. Veterans Day was moved back to November 11 in 1975 to align with the World War I armistice. Columbus Day has been replaced by “Indigenous People’s Day” in Florida, Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Maine. If you live in a place (such as, believe it or not, Washington State) that celebrates “President’s Day,” you might want to call your state legislator and point out that Chester Arthur doesn’t belong on the same holiday stage as George Washington. More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
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 “In a place like Salisbury,” writes Andrew Waters of the North Carolina town that witnessed the 1781 Race to the Dan, “you can live among its ghosts and still not know it’s there.” Enthusiasts know that this is true of many Revolutionary War sites, including some of real importance. Mr. Waters complains in his book To the End of the World: Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan of the simplified understanding most Americans have of the Revolutionary War. “For most of us, the story of the American Revolution is of George Washington and the minutemen, Valley Forge and Yorktown.” In our Cliffs Notes version of history, many places, heroes, and even whole campaigns are left out. Like most of the war in the south, the Race to the Dan is overshadowed by Yorktown. The mere fact that George Washington was not a participant relegates the story to a second-tier status. The Race, however, holds unique challenges for the historian and the storyteller. It occurred over more than two hundred miles, depending on how you count it, rather than at one identifiable spot. Nathanael Greene’s genius is to be found in his mastery of logistics and strategy, which are subjects that make many people’s eyes glaze over. Though heroic and difficult, it was still a retreat and retreats don’t lend themselves to celebration. Its significance is not so much in what it achieved but rather in what it made possible, which requires detailed explanation. Consequently, the Race to the Dan has been given short shrift for more than two centuries. It is mentioned in the war’s histories, but almost never in detail. In writing this book, Mr. Waters was determined to correct that and he has succeeded. One can’t resist noting the appropriateness his name: the waterways of the Carolinas play a central role in the story. He makes plain from the beginning that the story is personal to him. He is a conservationist and doctoral candidate in South Carolina who has made a career of conserving the Palmetto State’s watersheds. “Rivers are my business,” he says at the very beginning of the book. He also plainly declares, “We all need heroes, and . . . Greene has become one of mine.” ...Continue to The Journal of the American Revolution. More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
Death came often for the soldiers of the 8th Virginia. Some died in battle, but most often it came in the form of diseases that were still poorly understood and for which there were no cures. Malaria was the number-one killer. All told, 119 8th Virginia soldiers are known to have died while in service--a number almost equal to two entire companies. The real number is higher than that.  The cemetery in Sunbury, Georgia. The 8th Virginia was overwhelmed by malaria in the summer of 1776 and a great many of them died here. There are no markers or monuments for them. (Author) There is no roster of Capt. John Stephenson's company, so we have no way of knowing who most of those men were or what happened to them. Fifteen men were left behind in the Carolinas, too sick to return home. Another seventy were discharged early or dropped from the rolls, usually for unspecified reasons. What percentage of these men died is unknowable, though we know the most senior of them was Maj. Peter Helphenstine. Three men were listed as missing. Thirty men were captured by the enemy, mostly at Germantown. Though some survived and some even escaped, we know that others died in miserable British prisons. At least one man died of smallpox, possibly induced by inoculation. The 8th Virginia saw hard service. It is hard to imagine that the mostly young men who first signed up in the winter of 1775-1776 had any idea what was really in store for them. All of the numbers above add up to about 240 men. Another 90 deserted--many of them when the still technically Provincial regiment was taken out of the province by Maj. Gen. Charles Lee in May of 1776. When the terms of the regiment's original two-year men neared their ends as the snow melted at Valley Forge there were only about fifty of them left. Heroes to be sure. Like all war survivors, though, they would no doubt have ascribed greater heroism to their fallen comrades. Listed below are the names of the 119 men known to have died while in service. Capt. Thomas Berry's Company: 1st Lieut. John Jolliffe, April 6, 1777 Ens. William Mead, Nov. 20, 1776 Sgt. Reese Bowen, Sept. 6, 1776 Pvt. William Buckley, Sept. 16, 1776 Pvt. Hugh Burns, Oct. 21, 1776 Pvt. James Burns, June 10, 1776 Pvt. Jesse Chamblin, Oct. 31, 1776 Pvt. Peter Fletcher, Nov. 10, 1776 Pvt. Thomas Hankins, Nov. 29, 1776 Pvt. Joseph Hickman, May 18, 1777 Pvt. Luke Hines, Nov. 10, 1776 Pvt. Dennis Kingore, Sept. 8, 1776 Pvt. Neil McDade, Nov. 25, 1776 Pvt. Thomas McVay, Oct. 1, 1776 Pvt. Louis Routt, Nov. 10, 1776 Pvt. Garett Trotter, Oct. 19, 1776 Pvt. Peter Vandevourt, Dec. 31, 1776 Capt. Richard Campbell's Company: Lt. Col. Richard Campbell, Sept. 8, 1781 (Eutaw Springs) Sgt. John Bowman, Aug. 19, 1779 Pvt. William Davis, Sept. or Oct., 1777 (Brandywine or Germantown) Pvt. Frederick Long, Sept. or Oct., 1777 (Brandywine or Germantown) Capt. Jonathan Clark's Company Sgt. Maj. John Hoy, Dec. 3, 1776 Sgt. George Parrott, Nov. 6, 1776 Sgt. Humphrey Price, Nov. 24, 1776 Cpl. William Brown, March 30, 1777 Cpl. Mathew Toomey, Dec. 20, 1776 Pvt. Nicholas Bowder, June 13, 1776 Pvt. Nathan Brittain, Oct 17, 1776 Pvt. Thomas Brittain, Sept. 29, 1776 Pvt. Isaac Dent, Nov. 3, 1776 Pvt. Mathias Funk, Dec. 20, 1776 Pvt. Martin Honey, Sept. 20, 1776 Pvt. John Maxwell, Dec. 25, 1776 Pvt. Henry Moore, Sept. or Oct., 1777 (Brandywine or Germantown) Pvt. Isaac Pemberton, Jan. 12, 1778 Pvt. Meredith Price, Jan. 3, 1777 Pvt. Simon Siron, unknown date (left in Georgia) Pvt. Michael Wall, unknown date (before June 13, 1777) Pt. Walter Warner, Oct. 4, 1776 Capt. William Croghan's Company Sgt. John McDoran, Jan. 30, 1777 Cpl. Michael Kelly, Sept. 11, 1777 (Brandywine) Cpl. William Penny, before May 18, 1777 Cpl. James Tucker, Dec. 27, 1776 Drummer Francis Prush, before May 18, 1777 Fifer Gabriel Christy, before April 1777 Pvt. John Brock, March 18 or 25, 1776 Pvt. John Brown, before April 1777 Pvt. William Cochran, before April 1777 Pvt. Robert Cochran, Sept. 1776 Pvt. Philip Cole, Jan. 30, 1777 Pvt. John Donnally, April 14, 1777 Pvt. Nicholas Doran, April 13, 1777 Pvt. William Gaddis March 15, 1777 Pvt. Patrick Garry, Nov. 11, 1776 Pvt. Joseph Gonsley, Feb. 1777 Pvt. William Goodman, before April 1777 Pvt. James Gorwin, Feb. 8, 1777 Pvt. Patrick Hall, ca. Jan. 1, 1777 Pvt. David Hanson, before April 1777 Pvt. Lewis Henry, Nov. 1776 Pvt. John Hinds, Aug. 14, 1776 Pvt. Nathaniel Hosier, before April 1777 Pvt. John James, ca. March 1, 1777 Pvt. Jesse Job, before April 1777 Pvt. Able Levesque, March 17, 1777 Pvt. George Martin, Feb. 1777 Pvt. Michael Martin, Feb. 1777 Pvt. Moses Martin, Feb. 1777 Pvt. Thomas Owens, Sept. 11, 1777 (Brandywine) Pvt. Thomas Ryan, before May 18, 1777 Pvt. Henry Saltsman, Oct. 4, 1777 (Germantown) Pvt. James Smyth, Oct. 19, 1776 Pvt. John Tuck, before April 1777 Pvt. Daniel Viers, March 3, 1777 Capt. William Darke's Company Pvt. Daniel Cameron, Jan. 15, 1777 Pvt. Jonathan Herrin, Dec. 1776 Pvt. Jeremiah Humphreys, Oct. 27, 1776 Pvt. George Ketcher, Oct. 24, 1776 Pvt. William Pingle, Dec. 1, 1776 Pvt. John Polson, Oct. 26, 1776 Pvt. George Pritty, Dec. 1, 1776 Pvt. George Smith, Oct. 11, 1776 Pvt. Samuel Watson, Dec. 8, 1776 Captain Robert Higgins' Company Pvt. Zachariah DeLong, Feb. 1778 (POW) Capt. James Knox's Company Pvt. James Carr, Nov. 20, 1776 Pvt. Charles Carter, Dec. 24, 1776 Pvt. John Vance, Sept. 16, 1776 Pvt. Henry Wallis, Dec. 1776 Pvt. John Wilson, Nov. 8, 1776 Capt. George Slaughter's Company Lt. Philip Huffman, March 15, 1781 (Guilford Courthouse) Sgt. James Newman, in Georgia, 1776 Cpl. Barnett McGinnis, Nov. 25, 1776 Cpl. Cornelius Mershon, Aug 4, 1776 Fifer Henry Clatterbuck, July or Aug. 1776 Pvt. Thomas Abbett, before Feb. 3, 1777 Pvt. William Abbett, before Feb. 3, 1777 Pvt. Edward Abbott, Oct. 19, 1776 Pvt. John Abbott, Oct. 29, 1776 Pvt. William Cabbage, Nov. 24, 1776 Pvt. William Corbin, Dec. 10, 1776 Pvt. Abraham Field, Aug. 6, 1776 Pvt. Bozel Freeman, Nov. 15, 1776 Pvt. Reuben Hollaway, Aug. 3, 1776 Pvt. Utey Jackson, Aug. 20, 1776 Pvt. John Jinkins, Jan. 13 or 15, 1777 Pvt. Joseph Jones, May 6, 1777 Pvt. Edward Kennedy, Dec. 3, 1776 Pvt. Thomas Newman, in Georgia, 1776 Captain David Stephenson No fatalities recorded. Captain John Stephenson No data available. Capt. Abel Westfall's Company Fifer Patrick Callihan, Sept. 25, 1776 Pvt. Joseph Edwards, June 13, 1776 Pvt. James Galloway, Jan. 1777 Pvt. John Haggen, March 15, 1778 Pvt. John Huff, Sept. 15, 1776 Pvt. Moses Johns, May 20, 1778 Pvt. William Kynets, Sept. 26, 1776 Pvt. Hugh Lewis, Oct. 16, 1776 Pvt. William McCormick, Dec. 28, 1776 Pvt. Zachariah Pigman, Feb. 1778 (POW) Pvt. Philip Sanders, March 9, 1777 More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
Several histories have appeared in this century that have broken significant new ground in this regard. In The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution, Lengel pulls together a Dream Team of these writers to provide a fresh, top-level overview of the war. Each of the ten authors takes a chapter, providing an authoritative and readable account of a campaign. For those already steeped in the subject matter, the book offers an opportunity to step back from the trees and look again at the forest. For those who are new to the military history of the founding era, it is an excellent primer. Best of all, it is a book filled with good stories. Who doesn’t love the drama of the Ten Crucial Days and King’s Mountain? Admittedly, there is something odd about writers who know so much about their subjects writing so briefly on them. How on Earth, one must ask, did Michael Harris manage to tell the story of Brandywine and Germantown in a mere eighteen pages? Yet, each of them does it quite well: providing very readable narratives that feature new or recent insights and well-colored characters. Some of the contributors ask and answer difficult questions. Washington and Lafayette, two of the war’s great heroes, are brought down a peg. History has been kinder to Benedict Arnold for some time. Now Charles Lee and Philip Schuyler are also given more sympathetic treatments. Continue to ...The Journal of the American Revolution More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
The Old Dominion’s most influential colonial governor, William Berkeley (1642-1652 and 1660-1677) was “bitterly hostile” to religious nonconformists, especially Puritans and Quakers. A law was enacted under his leadership to “preserve the Established Church’s Unity and purity of doctrine” by punishing any dissenting minister who attempted to preach in Virginia. During the reign of William and Mary, the Toleration Act of 1688 allowed non-Catholic ministers to preach under certain conditions, a change that applied to Virginia. When the Revolution broke out nearly a century later, however, religious dissenters in the colony still hadn’t gained much beyond being tolerated.
The selection of Peter Muhlenberg as colonel of the 8th Virginia was clearly an effort to gain the support of the valley’s Germans for the cause. So too was the selection of Abraham Bowman for lieutenant colonel: he was the grandson of Jost Hite, who had led the first group of German settlers to Virginia from Pennsylvania. Major Peter Helphenstine, the oldest but most junior of the three field officers, had immigrated to the valley from Germany as an adult. As residents of Woodstock, Strasburg, and Winchester, respectively, the three men also covered the geography of the heavily German lower (northern) Shenandoah Valley. Settlers in the upper (southern) Shenandoah Valley; the New and Holston river valleys of southwest Virginia; and the region around Fort Pitt in what is now southwestern Pennsylvania were also recruited for the regiment. Scotch-Irish Presbyterians predominated in these areas and were, at least by reputation, already willing to fight.
On August 16, 1775, several months before the 8th Virginia was authorized, the Third Virginia Convention adopted a resolution offered by Patrick Henry to grant the Baptists’ request to have their own military chaplains and excuse Baptist soldiers from attending Anglican services. The following summer, while the 8th was serving in the Carolinas, the Fifth Virginia Convention adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights. This precursor to both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights proclaimed that “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity toward each other.”
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson and enacted into law in 1786, formally disestablishing the Church of England (known thereafter as the Episcopal Church). Massachusetts was the last state to disestablish its state church, a predecessor of today’s United Church of Christ, in 1833. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom [Drafted 1777, Enacted 1786] Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free; That all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and therefore are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, who being Lord, both of body and mind yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, That the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as such endeavouring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world and through all time; That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions, which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical; That even the forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor, whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing from the Ministry those temporary rewards, which, proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the instruction of mankind; That our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions any more than our opinions in physics or geometry, That therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence, by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages, to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right, That it tends only to corrupt the principles of that very Religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments those who will externally profess and conform to it; That though indeed, these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way; That to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; That it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government, for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order; And finally, that Truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself, that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them: Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities. And though we well know that this Assembly elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of Legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare that the rights hereby asserted, are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right. More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
He is best-known as the rector of a Shenandoah Valley (Anglican) parish and colonel of the 8th Virginia Regiment, which was raised on the frontier and initially intended to be a “German” regiment. The famous but poorly-documented farewell sermon he delivered in Woodstock, Virginia, in the spring of 1776 has been the subject of epic poetry and modern political debate. After a tour of the southern theater under Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, he was made a brigadier general. His brigade of Virginians was in Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s division at Brandywine and Germantown. He was at Monmouth and remained in the army to the end of the war. He played an important role in the Virginia campaign leading up to Yorktown. ...continue to The Journal of the American Revolution. More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
Mosquitos are nothing new to South Carolina. In 1774 a resident called them “devils in miniature.” In 1776, Col. Peter Muhlenberg's soldiers had to contend with them and didn't have the option of going indoors. In May of that year, the regiment rushed south from Virginia to help defend Charleston. They were part of a small army led by the strict and sardonic Maj. Gen. Charles Lee. On their arrival, Capt. Jonathan Clark spent much of the first week staying at the home of Christopher Gadsden. Gadsden was a prominent South Carolina Patriot and an early champion of Independence. Clark initially camped in Gadsden’s garden, but recorded that upon the “arr[ival] of [the] Moschetto” he got up and moved “in the House.” Enlisted men didn't have the option.
Though they fended off the British, many of them lost their battle with the mosquitos. Unlike the mosquitos bothering Tony Melton in 2015, the mosquitos of 1776 were active malaria vectors. By the start of August, nearly one hundred and fifty 8th Virginia men were too sick to continue south with General Lee into Georgia for a planned attack on West Florida. Most of the men who did continue were soon also sick. The army stopped its march in Sunbury, Georgia. South Carolina's Col. William Moultrie recorded that several men were buried there each day. The mosquitos paid no attention to rank. Colonel Muhlenberg got it and would never fully recover. Major Peter Helphinstine got it and was so sick he was forced to resign his commission and died a slow death at home in Virginia. The regiment was ordered back to Virginia in the fall, significantly depleted.
Malaria was endemic to South Carolina and neighboring states until the 1950s. Its eradication is something of a mystery but may be connected to the invention of air conditioning, which prompted people to spend more time inside during the summer. Still, it continues to kill millions every year in Africa and other developing parts of the world. (Based on an earlier post.) More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
Philadelphia's recently defaced Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is not a memorial for George Washington (though it is located in Washington Square). It is a memorial for the two or maybe three thousand penniless soldiers who are buried there in mass graves. Each was fighting for freedom at a time when a better understanding of freedom and equality was only just dawning on humanity. The evident majority who died of smallpox suffered more than most modern people can comprehend. They died for the principle that "all men are created equal" (the Declaration of Independence, written in 1776) and so that we might have the right "peaceably to assemble" and to "petition the Government for redress of grievances" (the 1st Amendment, written in 1791). "Black lives matter" has essentially the same meaning as "all men are created equal." Both are true statements. The newer slogan, however, is also a Declaration that the "arc of history" has farther to bend until it achieves justice. That is also true. Ask any member of "Mother Emanuel" AME Church in Charleston or the families of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. We have a better understanding of freedom and equality today than America's founding generation had. But you have to walk before you can run, and the men buried in Washington Square were among the very first common people on Earth to walk upright and proudly in defense of human and civil rights. Today, most of the world is still trying to catch up. We can't let up now, however. We have farther to go. Read More: "The Tragedy of Henry Laurens" (August 1, 2019) More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
William Croghan has never been famous, but his life illustrates the aspirations and achievements of America’s early frontiersmen. He fought for national expansion and then played an important role in that expansion by moving to Kentucky and running the office that parceled out bounty land to veterans. This was a lucrative position. Croghan prospered and built a stately home, which he called Locust Grove. ...continue to The Journal of the American Revolution. More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
Dutch spends his free time studying local history and conducting archeology. He has made some important finds, including a string of frontier forts along what was once the “far” side of the Oconee. He’s pretty sure that Drury’s burial in that spot is an important clue to his life in the years following the Revolutionary War. From there, however, things get complicated. ...continue to Emerging Revolutionary War Era. More from The 8th Virginia Regiment
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Gabe Nevilleis researching the history of the Revolutionary War's 8th Virginia Regiment. Its ten companies formed on the frontier, from the Cumberland Gap to Pittsburgh. Categories
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