Our next meeting is to be a hybrid meeting on Tuesday, November 11. We will be meeting in person at the Mount Vernon Inn at 6 p.m. (social hour) and 6:40 p.m. (dinner). Please let Richard Rankin know by completing and mailing in the attached reservation sheet or by responding via email (brandywinecreek@aol.com). We need to give the Mount Vernon Inn the dinner count by Friday, November 7. You can also pay at the door. Either way please let us know if you would like at meatloaf or salmon dish for dinner. (Reminder of our new dinner rate of $40 per dinner.)
For those who want to attend remotely, the Zoom meeting will start at bit after 7 p.m. If you can only attend by Zoom, I will email you a Zoom link to the meeting the day of the meeting. Feel free to share this email with a friend who or family member whom you think may be interested.
If you have not yet paid your annual dues, we encourage you to write one check for $80 ($40 for the dinner and $40 for the annual membership fee) and bring it to the meeting.
Our next speaker will be our own Sheilah Vance who will be speaking on her new book, Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment. Between December 12–19, 1777, General George Washington and his Continental Army encamped in the towering hills of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, fifteen miles from Philadelphia. Known as the Threshold to Valley Forge, the Gulph Mills Encampment is often forgotten or minimized, falling between the more famous military engagements of the Philadelphia Campaign and the well-known experience of the army at Valley Forge. Yet, the Gulph Mills Encampment was a significant microcosm of the Revolutionary War and the issues that confronted the Continental Army, the Continental Congress, state governments, and the American citizens who suddenly found themselves on the front lines of the war. This encampment included military encounters with the British; little food, clothing, and shelter for the troops; the celebration of the new nation’s first Thanksgiving; and tough decisions by Washington, including the one to make Valley Forge the army’s winter quarters. This is the first book to focus on the Gulph Mills Encampment, which Sheilah will bring with her for sale to attendees.
Sheilah Vance grew up on Rebel Hill in Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania and resides in Washington, D.C. Vance has written and presented extensively about the Philadelphia Campaign of the Revolutionary War. She is the author of the article, “Valley Forge’s Threshold: The Encampment at Gulph Mills,” in the Journal of the American Revolution; the award-winning novel, Becoming Valley Forge; and the mini e-book, Six Days in December: General George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s Encampment on Rebel Hill and Gulph Mills, December 12–19, 1777. Vance is also the author of the novels Chasing the 400 and Land Mines and the inspirational book, Creativity for Christians, with Reverend Felica Howard. A practicing attorney and higher education administrator, Vance has a BA from Howard University School of Communications and a JD from Georgetown University.
If you would like to purchase the book ahead of time, you can order it from the Fort Plain Museum Bookstore for the great price of $21.95:
https://fortplainmuseum.square.site/product/threshold-to-valley-forge-the-six-days-of-the-gulph-mills-encampment/1300?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true
Rochambeau Reception to Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of Victory Towns; Iris de Rode to Speak Sunday, November 23, 2025, at Maryland Veterans Museum at Patriot Park
This event was brought to our attention by one of our members, Elaine Lawton. Please see the attachment to this email for more information. The location is southern Charles County near La Plata on US Route 301.
Ken Burns Documentary on American Revolution Starts Sunday, November 16
The long-awaited documentary will run on PBS for six nights in a row starting on November 16.
Meeting of the Congress of ARRTs Coming Soon:
Dear Congress Friends,
The 9th Congress of American Revolution Round Tables is assembling on November 14 & 15, 2025 in the historic Revolutionary town of Camden (1733), in the heart of the Southern Campaigns. We are already in the midst of the 250th fighting war anniversaries for our country's Liberty and Independence from England.
Round Table delegates will meet on Saturday from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. at the wonderful Revolutionary War Visitors Center, with a catered lunch. This is a marvelous opportunity to share and develop "best practices" and new ideas for expanding Round Tables. Different discussion sessions will be facilitated by various delegates on relevant topics. If you have an idea and/or want to lead a discussion, let us know soon. The Congress participatory cost is $40. Here's our venue. https://simplyrevolutionary.com/about/
A call for agenda suggestions and proposed discussion topics will follow in the fall. As will other details, including Saturday dinner details and Sunday touring.
On Friday, Nov. 14th, there will be an all-day tour of battlefields 50 miles up and 50 down the Catawba River, starting at 8 a.m. to include: Camden, Rugeley's, Beaver Creek, Hanging Rock 1 & 2, Waxhaws, Alexander's Old Field, Rocky Mount, Fishing Creek, Cary's Fort, Hobkirk Hill, etc. We will explore significant people, places, events, and principles of our founding fighting era, like 13-yr.-old patriot Andrew Jackson's birthplace. It is hoped that a grant will cover a bus; if not, we will carpool along in fun fellowship. Friday evening we will together eat, imbibe and argue armchair battles in a local eatery.
"I am of the opinion that it is doubtful whether we can keep the posts in the back parts of South Carolina; and I believe I have stated in former letters, the infinite difficulty of protecting the frontier of 300 miles against a persevering enemy, in a country where we have no water communication, and where few of the inhabitants are active or useful friends."
Lord Cornwallis to Gen. Clinton, May 26, 1781
Local and reasonably priced hotels include:
First four very near Congress venue (within 2 miles):
Hampton Inn 803-272-0600 122 Wall St. Camden SC 29020
Comfort Inn & Suites 803-425-1010 220 Wall St
Holiday Inn Express 803-424-5000 419 Sumter Hwy
SpringHill Suites 803-677-3406 140 Wall St
Colony Inn 800-356-9801 2020 W. DeKalb St Camden
Days Inn 803-438-1807 542 Hwy 601, Lugoff 29078
Please share this information with your members. Thank you.
David Paul Reuwer, your host
davidreuwer3@aol.com
P.O. Box 1776
Camden, SC 29021
803.420.1776
Christian McBurney
President
George Washington American Revolution Round Table of the District of Columbia
