REVOLUTION
When the American Colonies joined issue with Great Britain in the
controversy which was to result in American independence, Loudoun's
population, beginning with a thin trickle of adventurers, had been
growing for over fifty years, during which time, save for the short
period before and after Braddock's defeat, her sure but steady
development and increase of people had received no serious reversal. The
exact number of her inhabitants in 1775 is unknown; but fifteen years
later she was credited with 14,747 whites and 4,030 slaves or a total of
18,777 individuals. One writer goes so far as to assert that the county
was one of the most densely populated in the Colony at that period.[99]
Toward the close of the conflict, in 1780 and 1781, her militia numbered
no less than 1746 men, which is claimed by Head to have been "far in
excess of that reported by any other Virginia County." When it is
remembered that her present population does not greatly exceed 20,000
inhabitants and that, in the years which have intervened, the towns have
substantially increased in number and size, it is probable that the
country districts were quite as populous in 1775 as they are today.
[99] Goodheart's _Loudoun Rangers_, 6.
With her early diversity of population, it might well be expected that
the county's inhabitants would be divided in their attitude as to the
wisdom of war with England. There seems, however, to have been
practically a solid front, save for the Quakers who, because of their
oppugnance to all war, opposed the Revolution in Loudoun as elsewhere
and suffered bitterly in consequence as later will be related.
As it was, Loudoun lost no time in placing herself on record, as the
following amply demonstrates:
"At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of the County of
Loudoun, in the Colony of Virginia, held at the Courthouse in Leesburg,
the 14th June 1774--F. Peyton, Esq., in the chair--to consider the most
effective method to preserve the rights and liberties of N. America,
and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under the most oppressive
and tyranical Act of the British Parliament, made in the 14th year of
his present Majesty's reign, whereby their Harber is blocked up, their
commerce totally obstructed, their property rendered useless
"_Resolved_, That we will always cheerfully submit to such prerogatives
as his Majesty has a right, by law, to exercise, as Sovereign of the
British Dominions, and to no others.
"_Resolved_, That it is beneath the dignity of freemen to submit to any
tax not imposed on them in the usual manner, by representatives of their
own choosing.
"_Resolved_, That the Act of the British Parliament above mentioned, is
utterly repugnant to the fundamental laws of justice, in punishing
persons without even the form of a trial; but a despotic exertion of
unconstitutional power designedly calculated to enslave a free and loyal
people.
"_Resolved_, That the enforcing the execution of the said Act of
Parliament by a military power, must have a necessary tendency to raise
a civil war, and that we will, with our lives and fortunes, assist our
suffering brethren of Boston, and every part of North America that may
fall under the immediate hand of oppression, until a release of all our
grievances shall be procurred; and our common liberties established on a
permanent foundation.
"_Resolved_, That the East India Company, by exporting their tea from
England to America, whilst subject to a tax imposed thereon by the
British Parliament, have evidently designed to fix on the Americans
those chains forged for them by a venal ministry, and have thereby
rendered themselves odious and detestable throughout all America. It is,
therefore, the unanimous opinion of this meeting not to purchase any tea
or other East India commodity whatever, imported after the first of this
Month.
"_Resolved_, That we will have no Commercial intercourse with Great
Britain until the above mentioned Act of Parliament shall be totally
repealed, and the right of regulating the internal policy of N. America
by a British Parliament shall be absolutely and positively given up.
_"Resolved,_ That Thompson Mason and Francis Peyton, Esqs., be appointed
to represent the County at a general meeting to be held at Williamsburg
on the 1st day of August next, to take the sense of this Colony on the
subject of the preceeding resolves, and that they, together with Leven
Powell, William Ellzey, John Thornton, George Johnston and Samuel Levi,
or any three of them, be a committee to correspond with the several
Committees appointed for this purpose
"Signed by
John Morton Thomas Williams
Thomas Ray James Noland
Thomas Drake Samuel Peugh
William Booram William Nornail
Benj. Isaac Humphrey Thomas Luttrell
Samuel Mills James Brair
Joshua Singleton Poins Awsley
Jonathan Drake John Kendrick
Matthew Rust Edward O'Neal
Barney Sims Francil Triplitt
John Sims Joseph Combs
Samuel Butler John Peyton Harrison
Thomas Chinn Robert Combs
Appollos Cooper Stephen Combs
Lina Hancock Samuel Henderson
John McVicker Benjamin Overfield
Simon Triplett Adam Sangster
Thomas Awsley Bazzell Roads
Isaac Sanders John Wildey
Thomas Williams James Graydey
Henry Awsley Joseph Bayley
Wm. Finnekin John Reardon
Richard Hanson Edward Miller
John Dinker Richard Hirst
Jasper Grant James Davis"[100]
[100] Copy found among papers of Colonel Leven Powell. See 12 William
and Mary Quarterly (1) 231.
The names of the following men, composing the Committee for Loudoun, are
taken from the record of its meeting on the 26th May, 1775:
Francis Peyton, Esq. James Lane
Josias Clapham Jacob Reed
Thomas Lewis Leven Powell
Anthony Russell William Smith
John Thomas Robert Johnson
George Johnson Hardage Lane
Thomas Shore John Lewis
with one of the members, George Johnson, acting as clerk.
When war began, the gentlemen justices of the county's court recommended
certain of her men to the governor from time to time as worthy of
commissions in the military forces being raised by the Colony. Many an
old and familiar Loudoun name appears on the list and for the interest
of their descendants and relatives it is here appended as abstracted
from the county records by James W. Head in his very useful _History of
Loudoun_:[101]
[101] Loudoun "Orders" G 517-522. Head, 134.
"March 1778: James Whaley Jr., second lieutenant; William Carnan,
ensign; Daniel Lewis, second lieutenant; Josiah Miles and Thomas King,
lieutenants; Hugh Douglass, ensign; Isaac Vandevanter, lieutenant; John
Dodd, ensign.
"May 1778. George Summers and Charles G. Eskridge, colonels; William
McClellan, Robert McClain and John Henry, captains; Samuel Cox, Major;
Frans Russell, James Beavers, Scarlet Burkley, Moses Thomas, Henry
Farnsworth, John Russell, Gustavus Elgin, John Miller, Samuel Butcher,
Joshua Botts, John Williams, George Tyler, Nathaniel Adams and George
Mason, lieutenants; Isaac Grant, John Thatcher, William Elliott, Richard
Shore, and Peter Benham, ensigns.
"August, 1778 Thomas Marks, William Robison, Joseph Butler and John
Linton, lieutenants; Joseph Wildman and George Asbury, ensigns.
"September 1778 Francis Russell, lieutenant, and George Shrieve, ensign.
"May 1779 Joseph Wildman, lieutenant, and Francis Elgin Jr., ensign.
"June 14, 1779 George Kilgour, lieutenant and Jacob Caton, ensign.
"July 12, 1779 John Debell, lieutenant and William Huchison, ensign.
"October 11, 1779 Francis Russell, captain.
"November 8, 1779 James Cleveland, captain; Thomas Millan, ensign.
"February 14, 1780 Thomas Williams, ensign.
"March, 1780 John Benham, ensign.
"June, 1780 Wethers Smith and William Debell, second lieutenants,
Francis Adams and Joel White, ensigns.
"August, 1780 Robert Russell, ensign.
"October, 1780. John Spitzfathem, first lieutenant; Thomas Thomas and
Matthew Rust, second lieutenants; Nicholas Minor Jr., David Hopkins,
William McGeath and Samuel Oliphant ensigns; Charles Bennett, captain.
"November, 1780. James Coleman, Esq., Colonel, George West,
lieutenant-colonel; James McLlaney, Major.
"February, 1781. Simon Triplett, Colonel; John Alexander,
lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Reed, Major; John Linton, captain; William
Debell and Joel White, lieutenants; Thomas Minor, ensign; Thomas Shores,
captain; John Tayler and Thomas Beatty, lieutenants; John McClain,
ensign.
"March 1781. John McGeath, captain; Ignatius Burns, captain; Hugh
Douglass, first lieutenant; John Cornelison, second lieutenant; Joseph
Butler and Conn Oneale, lieutenants; John Jones, Jr., ensign; William
Tayler, Major first battalion; James Coleman, Colonel; George West,
lieutenant-colonel; Josiah Maffett, captain; John Binns, first
lieutenant; Charles Binns, Jr., second lieutenant and Joseph Hough,
ensign.
"April 1781. Samson Trammell, captain; Spence Wigginton and Smith King,
lieutenants.
"May 1781. Thomas Respass, Esq., Major; Hugh Douglass, Gent. captain;
Thomas King, lieutenant; William T. Mason, ensign; Samuel Noland,
captain; Abraham Dehaven and Enock Thomas, lieutenants; Isaac Dehaven
and Thomas Vince, ensigns; James McLlaney, captain; Thomas Kennan,
captain; John Bagley, first lieutenant.
"June 1781. Enoch Furr and George Rust, lieutenants; Withers Berry and
William Hutchison (son of Benjamin), ensign.
"September 1781. Gustavus Elgin, captain; John Littleton, ensign.
"January 1782. William McClellan, captain.
"February 1782. William George, Timothy Hixon and Joseph Butler,
captains.
"March 1782. James McLlaney, captain; George West, colonel, Thomas
Respass, lieutenant-colonel.
"July 1782. Samuel Noland, Major; James Lewin Gibbs, second lieutenant
and Giles Turley, ensign.
"August 1782. Enoch Thomas, captain; Samuel Smith, lieutenant; Matthias
Smitley, first lieutenant; Charles Tyler and David Beaty, ensigns.
"December 1782. Thomas King, captain; William Mason, first lieutenant
and Silas Gilbert, ensign."
By a stroke of good fortune, there has been brought to light and
published in recent years a journal kept by one Nicholas Cresswell, a
young Englishman of gentle birth who, in 1774, at the age of 24 years
obeyed a keen impulse to emigrate to Virginia with the expectation of
buying a plantation and becoming a Virginia farmer.[102] His home in
England was the estate of his father, known as Crowden-le-Booth, in the
parish of Edale in the Peak of Derbyshire. The father seems to have
been a somewhat stern disciplinarian, against the rigidity of whose rule
and unhappy home conditions young Cresswell fretted; and that and an
ambition to make his own way in the world, coupled with an appetite for
adventure common to his age and race, induced Nicholas to his course.
After many difficulties, he sailed from England in the ship _Molly_ on
the 9th of April, 1774, and thus began a series of adventures, his
excellent record of which has been characterized as "a valuable addition
to Revolutionary Americana" and, it may be added, is nothing less than
treasure trove to the student of Loudoun's past. In the course of his
ensuing experiences he met, among a multitude of others, Jefferson, Lord
Howe, Patrick Henry, Francis Lightfoot Lee; was upon occasion
Washington's guest at Mount Vernon and paints and proves Thomson Mason
to have been one of the kindliest and most hospitable of men. His
wanderings took him through many parts of Virginia and particularly
Leesburg and its neighborhood, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York; on a
voyage to Barbados to recoup his health and on an expedition as a viewer
and surveyor of new lands, down the Ohio River into Indiana country, in
an unsuccessful effort to recoup his fortune. An educated young
Englishman, loyal to his King and country, arriving in the Colonies as
the storm of the Revolution was about to break, he soon was suspected of
being an English spy, was bullied and persecuted by some, befriended by
others and, withal, records his experiences in a narrative of such
fascination that one reads it from end to end with unabated interest. Of
the Leesburg and Loudoun of the period he gives the best contemporary,
if not always complimentary, account known to the present writer.
Through the courtesy of the Dial Press, the publishers of his Journal in
the United States, the following abstract of Loudoun material is
permitted:
[Illustration: NICHOLAS CRESSWELL, the Journalist. (From a portrait now
owned by Samuel Thorneley, Esquire.)]
Cresswell first passed through Loudoun in November, 1774, in the course
of a journey to the Valley. He arrived in Leesburg on Sunday the 27th
and records:
"The land begins to grow better. A Gravelly soil and produces good
Wheat, but the roads are very bad, cut to pieces with the wagons,
number of them we met today. Their method of mending the roads is with
poles about 10 foot long laid across the road close together; they stick
fast in the mud and make an excellent causeway. Very thinly peopled
along the road, almost all Woods. Only one public House between this
place and Alexandria."
[102] _The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell_, The Dial Press, New York.
On the next day he inspected Leesburg. "Viewing the town. It is
regularly laid off in squares, but very indifferently built and few
inhabitants and little trade, tho' very advantageously situated, for it
is at the conjunction of the great Roads from the North part of the
Continent to the South and the East and the West. Lodged at Mr.
Moffit's, Mr. Kirk's partner in a store which he has here."
On the following Sunday, "Went to a Methodist meeting. This Sect is
scattered in every place and have got considerable footing here, owing
to the great negligence of the Church Parsons."
The next day he continued his journey to the West, returning to Leesburg
on the 14th December, 1774. On the following day, being Sunday, he
simply notes "but no prayers." On Monday, "Court day. A great number of
litigious suits. The people seem to be fond of Law. Nothing uncommon for
them to bring suit against a person for a Book debt and trade with him
on an open account at the same time. To be arrested for debt is no
scandal here." And on the next day he "Saw the Independence Company
exercise. A ragged crew." In January he amuses himself "with shooting
wild Geese and Ducks. Here is incredible numbers in the River likewise
Swans. It is said they come from the Lakes."
Again on his way to the West, this time to the Indian country, he
arrived in Leesburg on Sunday the 26th March, 1775. On the following
Wednesday he "went to look at a silver mine. Saw some appearance of
metal but don't know what it is." On the 31st: "At Leesburg waiting for
my gun and goods coming from Alexandria. The Peach Orchards are in full
blossom and make a beautiful appearance." On the following Sunday, the
2nd April, he notes "But no Parson. It is a shame to suffer these people
to neglect their duty in the manner they do."
After his journey in the "Illinois Country" we find him again in
Leesburg in the employment of one Kirk, a merchant of Alexandria who,
son of a blacksmith in Cresswell's home parish, had gone to Virginia and
prospered there. On Sunday, the 19th November, 1775, Nicholas records
that he "went to Church or Courthouse which you please in the forenoon"
thus further confirming that the established church services were, at
that time, held in the courthouse at Leesburg. Cresswell meets and is
much in the company of George Johnston, Captain McCabe, George Ancram,
and Captain Douglas. As a sidelight on Leesburg's evening diversions of
the period, he writes under date of the 28th November that he "dined at
Captn. McCabe's in Company with Captn. Douglas and Cavan. Spent the
evening at the store in company with Captn. McCabe and Captn. Speake and
all of us got drunk."
On the 4th December he made a short visit to "Frederick Town in
Maryland," and, both going and some days later on his return, dined at
Noland's Ferry, suggesting some accommodation for travellers there. On
Sunday the 10th December, he "went to Church, spent the evening at Mr.
Johnson's with the Rev. Mr. David Griffiths and several gentlemen."
He was a guest at "Garalland, seat of Captn. William Douglas. A great
deal of agreeable Company and very merry." On the next day there was
"Dancing and playing at Cards. In the evening several of the company
went in quest of a poor Englishman, who they supposed had made songs on
the Committee, but did not find him." This week was one of celebration;
on the following Friday, (5th January, 1776) "This being my birthday,
invited Captn. McCabe, H. Neilson, W. Johnston, Matthews, Booker and my
particular Friend P. Cavan to spend the evening with me. We have kept it
up all night and I am at this time very merry." On Saturday: "Spent the
evening at Mr. Johnston's with our last night's company. He is going to
camp. All of us got most feloniously drunk. Captn. McCabe, Hugh Neilson
and I kept it up all night." On Sunday: "went to bed about two o'clock
in the afternoon, stupidly drunk. Not been in bed or asleep for two
nights."
A party was a party in the Leesburg of 1776.
Virginia was heading toward independence, with war if need be. Popular
sentiment is shown by such entries as "Nothing but Independence will go
down. The Devil is in the people." "All in confusion. The Committee met
to choose Officers for the new Company that are to be raised. They are
21 in number, the first men in the County and had two bowls of toddy,"
(he carefully explains elsewhere that "toddy" means punch) "but could
not find cash to pay for it." On the 12th February, "Court day. Great
Confusion, no business done. The populace deters the Magistrates and
they in turn are courting the rebels' favour. Enlisting men for the
Rebel Army upon credit. Their paper money is not yet arrived from the
Mine." On the 22nd March he "went to see the general musters of the
Militia in town, about 700 men but few arms." On Sunday the 17th May he
says: "This day is appointed by the Great Sanhedrim to be kept an Holy
Fast throughout the continent, but we have no prayers in Leesburg. The
Parson (Rev. David Griffiths) is gone into the Army."
He has this to say about a Quaker meeting in February, probably at
Waterford, to which he went with his friends Cavan and Thomas Matthews.
"This is one of the most comfortable places of worship I was ever in,
they had two large fires and a Dutch stove. After a long silence and
many groans a Man got up and gave us a short Lecture with great
deliberation. Dined at Mr. Jos. Janney's one of the Friends."
It was not until the 24th April, 1776, that Thomson Mason, who was to
prove so consistently a friend to him, is introduced, when Cresswell
notes that he was a dinner guest at his home--presumably Raspberry
Plain. By that time Cresswell had made a host of acquaintances and
friends. He enjoyed popularity with his new companions, frequently was
entertained or was a host himself. To add to his scanty resources, he
made lye, nitre and saltpetre on shares and his process and progress he
records in detail. His work was interrupted by frequent illness, due
doubtless to the heavy drinking indulged in by him and his associates.
On the 9th July, 1776, he learns, to his dismay, of the _Declaration of
Independence_.
From time to time he dined with Thomson Mason who on the 26th July
"proffers to give me a letter of recommendation to the Governor Henry
for liberty to go on board the Fleet in the Bay. I have no other choice
to go home but this;" and on the next day, "a general muster of the
Militia. Great confusion among them. Recruiting parties offer 10 Dollars
advance and 40 S per month."
But Cresswell realized the increasing danger to him, loyal Briton that
he was, of a continued stay in America. In August he determined to go to
New York for he was convinced that he "must either escape that way or go
to jail for Toryism." He did not tell Mr. Mason of his design to leave
the county, but only that he contemplated a northern journey; and from
him obtained a "letter to Messrs. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thos. Stone,
Thos. Jefferson and John Rogers Esq., all members of the Congress." On
the 23rd August "in company with Mr. Alexander Cooper, a Storekeeper in
town" he left Leesburg for the north.
He duly arrived in Philadelphia which greatly pleased him in its size
and cleanliness.
He calls on Lee and Jefferson, presents his letters, is kindly received
and through the latter obtains "a pass written by Mr. John Hancock,
Pres. of the Congress." Thence to New York, where he sees the British
Army and ships in the distance but cannot reach them and begins to feel
that to do so would be a dishonourable return for Thomson Mason's
kindness. So back again to Leesburg he journeys, bewailing his situation
but to his credit determining "to rot in a Jail rather than take up Arms
against my native country."
On the 10th October, 1776, the 6th Regiment of Virginians, encamped at
Leesburg on their way to the North, are described as "a set of dirty,
ragged people, badly clothed, badly disciplined and badly armed." Salt
was selling there at "Forty shillings, Currency, per Bushel. This
article usually sold for four shillings. If no salt comes in there will
be an insurrection in the Colony." In Alexandria a few days later, he
learns that the committee "will not permit me to depart this Colony as
they look upon me to be a Spy and that I must be obliged to give
security or go to jail." Then to Leesburg again, which he seems to
regard as his American home and on the 28th October sees a "General
Muster of the County Militia in town, about 600 men appeared
under-armed, with Tobacco sticks in general much rioting and confusion.
Recruiting Officers for the _Sleber_ Army offer Twelve Pounds bounty and
200 acres of land when the War is over, but get very few men." In spite
of repeatedly admonishing himself in his journal to avoid political
arguments he was unable to do so, particularly when in his cups, and so
on the 28th November his criticism of the Revolution and its adherents
caused him to be waited upon by three members of the Committee of Safety
who obliged him to pledge himself not to leave the Colony for three
months.
At this time there was an ordinary at Leesburg known as the Crooked
Billet.[103] It was a favourite place for the heavy drinking parties in
which Cresswell and his friends indulged. He records, after a night of
debauchery, he had sent all his companions "to bed drunk and I am now
going to bed myself at 9 in the morning as drunk as an honest man could
wish." The next day the carouse continued. The Leesburg of the
eighteenth century was as little noted for sobriety as were other parts
of the English-speaking world.
[103] The name persists in England. In July, 1937, on leaving the Tower
of London, I found myself facing another "Crooked Billet," a public
house at 32 Minories.
After spending much of the winter of 1776-'7 in and around Leesburg and
recording the great encouragement the Americans obtained from
Washington's successes at Princeton and elsewhere, he, on the 1st March,
1777, "went with Captn. Douglas and Mr. Flemming Patterson to see Mr.
Josiah Clapham. He is an Assembly Man, Colonel of the county and Justice
of the Peace on the present establishment. He is an Englishman from
Wakefield in Yorkshire, much in debt at home, and in course a violent
Sleber here. Has made himself very popular by erecting a Manufactory of
Guns, but it is poorly carried on. His wife is the most notable woman in
the County for Housew'fery, but I should like her much better if she
would keep a cleaner house. He has got a very good plantation, takes
every mean art to render himself popular amongst a set of ignorant
Dutchmen that are settled in his neighbourhood. Dirty in person and
principle."
Though much embarrassed by his poverty Cresswell refuses a commission as
a captain of Engineers at $3 per day offered to him by Colonel Green and
Colonel Grayson. He told them he "could not bear the thoughts of taking
up arms against my native country" and they "were pleased to make me
some genteel compliment about my steadiness and resolution." His
despondency returns and Mason invites him to dinner and offers him "a
letter of introduction and recommendations to the Governor of Virginia
by his permission to go on board the man of war in the Bay." He resolves
to accept the letter and make an attempt to return to England in April.
The Rev. David Griffith returns to Leesburg and preaches "a political
discourse." He speaks of meeting Mr. Griffith and his wife at Mr.
Neilson's. Griffith, writes Cresswell "is a most violent Sleber. He is
Doctor and Chaplain to one of their Regmt." On the 22nd March, 1777, he
records "Great tumults and murmurings among the people caused by them
pressing the young men into the Army. The people now begin to feel the
effects of an Independent Government and groan under it, but cannot help
themselves, as they are almost in general disarmed."
On the 6th April, 1777, he left Leesburg and eventually succeeded in
getting to the British man-of-war _Phoenix_ off the mouth of the
Chesapeake. After another visit to New York he finally reached England
in safety. In spite of all his tribulations and the very real dangers he
incurred in his American sojourn, he records that "Virginia is the very
finest country I ever was in"--no small concession.[104]
[104] The book itself should be read. The above abstractions necessarily
omit much of fascinating interest.
The people of Loudoun's German Settlement may have been "a set of
ignorant Dutchmen" to the irritated Cresswell but they proved loyal and
effective fighters in the American cause. They seem to have been
whole-heartedly with their Tidewater and Scotch-Irish neighbors in the
controversy and are reputed to have largely joined Armand's Legion under
Charles Trefin Armand, Marquis de la Rouaire (1751-1793) who, after
service in the Garde de Corps in Paris, had volunteered in the American
Army on the 10th May, 1777, under the name of Charles Armand, had been
commissioned a colonel by the Congress, saw much service and was greatly
beloved by his men, few of whom were able to speak English.
Cresswell is confirmed in his statement regarding Clapham's gun factory
by the record of a session of the Committee of Safety of Virginia, held
on the 27th March, 1776, at Williamsburg:
"Ordered that a letter be written to Colonel Clapham in answer to his of
Feby 23rd and March 24th informing him that we have sent him L360 to pay
for the rifles mentioned by Chro. Perfect, that the Comm'ee agree to
take all the good musquets that shall be made by the 5 or 6 hands he
mentions by the 1st December next, and desire him to contract for the 12
large rifles also mentioned."[105]
[105] 8 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 139.
Two other men in Loudoun must again be cited for their activities in the
cause of independence--one as a statesman, the other as a soldier.
Thomson Mason, from his ownership of Raspberry Plain, was identified
closely with the county although not a continuous resident there. We
find him constantly devoting his time and abilities to the American
cause. Even as early as 1774 he wrote
"You must draw your swords in a just cause, and rely upon that God, who
assists the righteous, to support your endeavours to preserve the
liberty he gave, and the love of which he hath implanted in your hearts
as essential to your nature."
Less eloquent but more active was Leven Powell. He with Mason, in that
same year of 1774, was urging his neighbors to resistance. In 1775 he
received a commission as major in a battalion of Minute Men from
Loudoun, in 1777 was made by General Washington a lieutenant colonel of
the 16th Regiment of Virginia Continentals, spent the greater part of
that year in raising and equipping his command and saw much active
service until invalided home from the vigours of the following terrible
winter at Valley Forge. His impaired health forced him to resign his
commission in the autumn of 1778.
By way of sharp contrast to the other people of Loudoun, the Quakers
refused to aid or abet the Revolution in any way. Through their industry
and frugality they had, by that time, acquired some influence in the
County but when they refused to aid their fellow-Virginians in the great
struggle, all that was changed. Non-resistance was a cardinal principle
of their faith and come weal or woe they stuck to it. They refused to
serve in the army. They refused to pay muster-fines. "Not even the
scourge" writes Kercheval of the Quakers of the Valley, "would compel
them to submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore
abandoned and the legislature enacted a law to levy a tax upon their
property to hire substitutes to perform militia duty in their
stead."[106] Refusing to pay these taxes their property was sold and
many were reduced to great distress. Others, taking advantage of these
tax sales, bought up their properties and profited largely by their
shrewdness.
[106] _History of Shenandoah Valley of Virginia_, by Samuel Kercheval,
149.
As the war continued, Virginia faced difficulties in raising her quota
of Continental troops. We have read Cresswell's record of these troubles
in Loudoun as early as October, 1776. In 1778 the Assembly passed an act
recognizing as inadequate prior laws on the subject, calling for 2,216
men, rank and file, and offering for eighteen months enlistment $300;
while to those who enlisted for three years, or the duration of the war,
$400 was to be given "together with the continental bounty of land and
shall be entitled to receive the pay and rations which are allowed to
soldiers in the continental army from the day of their enlistment and
shall be furnished annually, at the public expense with the following
articles, a coat, waistcoat and breeches, two shirts, one hat, two pairs
of stockings, one pair of shoes and a blanket...."[107] In the same year
the Legislature was obliged to pass an act against "forestallers and
engrossers"--in other words what we today call war profiteers,
authorizing the governor to seize grain and flour for the army in the
hands of those gentry.[108]
[107] 9 Hening, 586.
[108] 9 Hening, 584.
The objection to enlistment seems to have been directed against the
longer term rather than to military service itself. Also there was
confusion and lack of that complete authority necessary in such a
crisis. We find Colonel Josias Clapham writing to the Council of
Virginia on the 11th September, 1778, asking to be permitted to send a
company of volunteers, which had been raised in Loudoun, to the
assistance of General McIntosh's Brigade, but his request was declined
on the ground that the "Executive power" had no right to send volunteers
to join any corps whatsoever.[109]
[109] 23 Virginia Magazine History and Biography, 261.
The lot of the Loyalist or "Tories" as they were popularly termed, was
not a happy one. There was one James White who indiscreetly "spoke many
disrespectful words of his Excellency G. Washington and that he was not
fit to be the son of a Stewart dog." White appears to have been indicted
in Loudoun as a Tory and thereupon to have fled the county. There is the
suggestion that he was a man of some property and that to avoid its
confiscation he later saw the error of his ways, returned to Loudoun,
apologized to the court for his behavior, took the oath of allegiance to
the new State of Virginia and so succeeded in having his indictment
dismissed.[110]
[110] 2 Balch Library Clippings, 18.
At the other end of the social scale were the white convicts of which,
as we have seen, Loudoun had long had her share or more. There has been
preserved an advertisement of 1777 by Sam Love, a justice of the peace:
"Ran away from the subscriber, in Loudoun County, two convict servants,
David Hinds, an Irishman, about 35 years of age, 5 feet, 6 or 8 inches
high, pitted with small pox, hath a wart or pear on his chin, hath
short, black, curled hair, had on when he went away a country cloth
jacket and breeches, yarn stockings, country linen shirt, old shoes and
felt hat almost new,--George Dorman, born in England, about 20 years of
age, 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches hight, had on when he went away nearly the
same clothing as Hinds, they both had iron collars on when they went
away, its expected they will change their clothing and have forged
passes. Whoever brings the said servants home shall have Two Dollars
reward for each if taken ten miles from home, and in proportion for a
greater or less distance, as far as 50 miles, including what the law
allows.
"Paid by Gm. Sam Love."
[Illustration: From the Loudoun-Fauquier Magazine
NOLAND MANSION. Built about 1775.]
But negroes and convicts were not the only class in Loudoun deprived of
liberty. Early in 1776 the unfortunate prisoners of war began to arrive.
Of a number of "Highland Prisoners taken by Captain James and Richard
Barren in the Ship Oxford," the following were sent to Loudoun by the
Committee of Safety at its session on the 24th June 1776:
Donald McLeod John Gunn
Donald Keith Murdock Morison
John McLeod Hugh McKay
William Kelly John Forbas
Alexander McIntosh William Robinson
John McLeod, Jr. John McKay[111]
Peter Robinson
[111] See Tyler's Quarterly V-61.
The next year a much larger contingent made its appearance. The Hessian
prisoners taken at the Battle of Saratoga were divided into parties
which were sent to different parts of the Colonies. A numerous band was
sent to Noland's Ferry where a camp for them was established and, it is
said, some of their number were employed in building the Noland mansion
there, thus fixing the long disputed date of its construction. Briscoe
Goodhart says that few of these prisoners were returned to Europe after
the war but that, for the most part, they settled in Loudoun and in
Frederick and Montgomery counties, Maryland, in all of which were many
of German descent and that the former Hessian prisoners became useful
and industrious citizens in their new homes.[112]
[112] Balch Library Clippings II, 48 and IV, 1.
As the war drew to its close in 1781, there appears to have been a large
accumulation of war supplies in Loudoun. Lafayette wrote to Washington
on the 1st July of that year:
"There must be a great quantity of accoutrements in the country. By a
letter from the Board of War, I find that 100 Saddles, 100 Swords, 100
pairs of pistols may be soon expected at Leesburg, supposing that the
same number be got in the country...."[113]
[113] 5 Virginia Magazine History and Biography, 377.
On the 26th of the same month Colonel William Davis, in covering the
situation in the Northern Neck, wrote
"At Noland's there are 920 muskets and 486 bayonets. Those added to the
275 at Fredericksburg are too many by 195...."[114]
[114] 2 Virginia Colonial State Papers, 258.
And on the 9th August in the same year, Captain A. Bohannan wrote from
Fauquier Court House to Colonel Wm. Davis:
"I have this moment returned from Leesburg--the stores that were there &
at Noland's Ferry are now on their way to this place; it was with the
greatest difficulty that I could procure waggons in the neighbourhood of
Leesburg for the Transportation of them; in short I cou'd not have done
it had I not promised to pay them when they arrived at this place &
discharge them. It is useless to pretend to impress waggons in this part
of the Country, as you will seldom see a waggon on any plantation but
what wants either a wheel or Geer. the Inhabitants say they are willing
to work for the public, provided that they cou'd get paid for their
services. They are willing to take what the Q. M. Genl: allows, tho' it
shu'd be less than they could get from private persons."
It was estimated that it would cost "Fifteen or Twenty Thousand Pounds"
(presumably tobacco) to move the stores, and the writer "desires some
pay for himself, being without a shilling and not having received any
money for eighteen months."[115]
[115] 2 Virginia Colonial State Papers, 308.
And now, a final glimpse of Loudoun and Leesburg in the Revolution,
afforded in the diary of Captain John Davis of the Pennsylvania line who
passed through the county with General Anthony Wayne's Brigade on its
way to Yorktown and victory; the entries to be quoted begin on the 31st
day of May, 1781, when the command was on its way from "York Town" in
Pennsylvania:
"Took up the line of march at sunrise, passed through Frederick Town,
Maryland and reached Powtomack, which, in crossing in Squows, one
unfortunately sunk, loaded with artillery & Q. M. stores and men in
which our Sergeant & three men were drowned; encamped on the S. W. side
of the river. Night being very wet, our baggage not crossed, Officers of
the Reg. took Quarters in Col. Clapham's Negro Quarter, where we
agreeably passed the night.
"June 1st. Continued on our ground till four o'clock in the afternoon,
when we mov'd five miles on the way to Leesburg.
"June 2d. Very wet day ... & continued till evening.
"3rd (Loudoun Co.) Took up the line of March at 10 o'clock, passed
through Leesburg--the appearance of which I was much disappointed in;
encamped at Goose Creek, 15 miles.
"4th. (Prince Wm. Co.) Marched from Goose Creek at six o'clock at which
place left our baggage & sick, and proceeded through the low country.
Roads bad in consequence of the rains; encamped at Red house 18 miles."
All writers of the period who describe the town agree that Leesburg,
after twenty years or more of existence, was still a shabby little
place, "of few and insignificant wooden houses" as one traveller records
his impressions. The day of permanent buildings in the town had not yet
arrived. Hardly an edifice standing in Leesburg today was then in
existence.