Greetings. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 2, as usual, at the Mount Vernon Inn starting at 6 p.m. Our speaker will be Robert (Bert) Dunkerly, who will speak on the Battle of Eutaw Springs (Sept. 8, 1781, South Carolina).
Dunkerly
wrote Glenn recently, “Eutaw Springs is a forgotten battle. One of the
bloodiest of the war, it has been overshadowed by Yorktown. Several
myths have grown about the battle, including the Americans looting the
British camp and the battlefield being flooded by a lake in the 1940s.
This talk will discuss the battle in detail, and address each of these
myths.”
Please complete the attached attendance form and mail it to Richard Rankin. Or let Richard Brandywinecreek@aol.com, Glenn Williams or I know by email. Please also indicate on the attached form if you want salmon or meat as a main course.
Robert
(Bert) M. Dunkerly is a historian, award-winning author, and speaker
who is actively involved in historic preservation and research. He holds
a degree in History from St. Vincent College and a Masters in Historic
Preservation from Middle Tennessee State University. He has worked at
nine historic sites, written eleven books and over twenty articles. His
research includes archaeology, colonial life, military history, and
historic commemoration. Dunkerly is currently a Park Ranger at Richmond
National Battlefield Park. He has visited over 400 battlefields and over
700 historic sites worldwide.
Warm thanks to
Andrew Outten for his superb presentation on the Battle of Brandywine at
our last meeting. Undoubtedly all were impressed by his encyclopedic
knowledge, strong analysis and insights and splendid performance (which
stands in sharp contrast to that of General Washington at this
particular battle.) - Webmaster
Here are some upcoming local events of interest:
This month, on September 28, is the Symposium at Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria;
Robert Orrison, who regularly attends our meetings, is one of its main
organizers; see below and the webpage tab for more info.
September 12, 6:30 p.m.: Society of the Cincinnati, Anderson House: The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington
Historian
and professor Martha Saxton discusses and signs copies of her recently
published book The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington, the
first biography of George Washington’s mother based on archival sources.
Her son’s biographers have, for the most part, painted her as
self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her oldest child.
The records tell a very different story. Mary Ball, the daughter of a
wealthy planter and a formerly indentured servant, was orphaned young
and grew up working hard, practicing frugality and piety. Stepping into
Virginia’s upper class, she married an older man, the planter Augustine
Washington, with whom she had five children before his death eleven
years later. As a widow deprived of most of her late husband’s
properties, Mary struggled to raise her children, but managed to secure
them places among Virginia’s elite. In her later years, she and her son
George had a contentious relationship, but Mary’s demanding mothering
imbued him with many of the moral and religious principles by which he
lived and for which he is still remembered. The talk will last
approximately 45 minutes, followed by a book signing and refreshments.
Copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event.
September 26, 6:30 p.m.: Society of the Cincinnati, Anderson House: Quarters: The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution
When
Congress declared independence in 1776, it cited King George III “for
quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.” In Quarters, John
Gilbert McCurdy explores the social and political history behind this
charge, offering the first authoritative account of the housing of
British soldiers in America. Providing new interpretations and analysis
of the Quartering Act of 1765, McCurdy sheds light on a misunderstood
aspect of the American Revolution. Quarters also unearths the vivid
debate in eighteenth-century America over the meaning of place. It asks
why the previously uncontroversial act of accommodating soldiers in
one’s house became an unconstitutional act. In so doing, the book
reveals new dimensions of the origins of Americans’ right to privacy. It
also traces the transformation of military geography in the lead up to
independence, asking how barracks changed cities and how attempts to
reorder the empire and the borderland led the colonists to imagine a new
nation. The talk will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a book
signing and refreshments. Copies of the book will be available to
purchase at the event. (FYI, the author will also be presenting at
Mount Vernon on November 7.)
September 20-22, 2019: Sixteenth Annual Seminar on the American Revolution at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.
On
September 20-22, Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York will host its
sixteenth Annual Seminar on the American Revolution. The speakers are:
John Buchanan, “Nathanael Greene and the Road to Charleston”; Mark R.
Anderson, “Our Kahnawake Friends: America’s Essential Indian Allies in
the Canadian Campaign;” Phillip Hamilton, “Loyalty and Loyalism: Henry
Knox and the American Revolution as a Transatlantic Family Struggle”;
Patrick Lacroix, “Promises to Keep: French-Canadian Soldiers of the
Revolution, 1775-1783”; Bryan C. Rindfleisch, “’Twas a Duty Incumbent on
Me’: The Indigenous & Transatlantic Intimacies of George Galphin,
the American Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the South”; John
Ruddiman, “German Auxiliaries’ Reactions to American Slavery and
Relationships with Enslaved Americans”; Jessica J. Sheets, “‘I Hope…We
Shall Ever Be on Terms of Friendship’: The Politically Divided Tilghman
Family”; Alisa Wade, “‘To Live a Widow’: Personal Sacrifice and
Self-Sufficiency in the American Revolution”. To learn more or
register, click here: https://www.fortticonderoga.org/event/annual-seminar-on-the-american-revolution/2019-09-20/
September 28, 2019: The First Emerging Revolutionary War Symposium at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum in Alexandria, Virginia.
On
September 28, the first Emerging Revolutionary War Symposium will take
place at the Gadsby’s Tavern Museum in Alexandria, Virginia. This year’s
theme is “Before They Were Americans,” and the speakers will discuss
what led to the idea of breaking from Britain:
· Peter Henriques, “George Washington: From British Subject to American Rebel”
· Phillip Greenwalt, “I wish this cursed place was burned: Boston and the Road to Revolution”
· Katherine Gruber, “A Tailor-Made Revolution: Clothing William Carlin’s Alexandria”
·
William Griffith, “A proud, indolent, ignorant self sufficient
set: The Colonists’ Emergence as a Fighting Force in the French and
Indian War”
· Stephanie Seal Walters, “Smallpox to Revolution”
To register, please click here: https://shop.alexandriava.gov/EventPurchase.aspx
October 3 to October 5, 2019: 2019 International Conference on the American Revolution
The Museum of the American Revolution, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, and
the Richard C. von Hess Foundation are pleased to present the 2019
International Conference on the American Revolution on October 3-5,
2019. This event in Philadelphia will bring noted historians, writers,
and curators from Ireland, Scotland, England, and the United States
together to explore military, political, social, and artistic themes
from the Age of Revolutions. Program highlights include an opening
keynote lecture by historian Linda Colley, the celebrated author of
Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837, and a closing keynote by Martin
Mansergh, noted historian and former Irish diplomat and Fianna Fáil
politician who played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
On October 4, at the Conference Prof. Gregory Urwin will deliver a
lecture, “From Parade Ground to Battlefield: How the British Army
Adapted to War in North America, 1775-1783.” It will share the distilled
wisdom that Prof. Urwin has gained since 2004 while researching the
pictorial and written record of the British Army in the Revolutionary
War.
The conference will coincide with the opening of
Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier, the Museum’s
first international loan exhibition, which is on view from September
28, 2019 – March 17, 2020. With more than 100 works of art, historical
objects, manuscripts, and maps from lenders across the globe, Cost of
Revolution will explore the Age of Revolutions in America and Ireland
through the life of an Irish-born artist and officer in the British
Army, Richard St. George (ca.1752-1798). Additional programs inspired by
this exhibition, including special performances and lectures in
addition to the Museum's Read the Revolution Speaker Series, will be
listed on the Museum events calendar at www.AmRevMuseum.org/Events.
Registration
includes Museum admission, all sessions, and meals (excluding dinners)
at $275 ($250 for Museum Members). Limited spaces are still available
for an optional tour on Thursday, October 3 at 9:00am – 4:00pm to follow
the steps of Richard St. George on the Philadelphia Campaign, offered
at an additional charge to registration at $125 ($100 for Museum
Members). Please direct all questions about the Museum of the American
Revolution international conference, special exhibition, and related
programs to Hannah Boettcher, Manager of Special Programs, at conferences@amrevmuseum.org.
November 8-10, 2019: Sixth Congress of American Revolution Round Tables, Philadelphia.
The
Committee of Correspondence humbly invites you to attend the Sixth
Congress of American Revolution Round Tables in historic Philadelphia at
the Museum of the American Revolution on November 9, 2019. We will be
meeting as the guests of this magnificent museum. While Saturday will
be the work day, Friday evening will be devoted to informal gatherings
of early arriving members. Saturday evening will feature a group dinner
at the City Tavern, a favorite gathering place for many of the
Continental Congress delegates. Sunday will offer ample time to explore
the many important historical sites in and around Philadelphia. The
purpose of our Congressional gathering is to grow current ARRTs and
nurture new ones, exchange ideas and initiatives, and build fellowship.
This location was selected at our last Congress in Yorktown, Va. and
Philadelphia hosted the Continental Congress and the Confederation
Congress from 1774-1789.
Collegial coordination
modeled after the First Continental Congress continues to serve us well.
This is not a bureaucratic governing board for ARRTs. However, we are
on the cusp of the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary movement and
the war. Who knows what may transpire! Some ARRTs are already
committed to sending representatives. We need delegates from each and
every ARRT. So come one and come all! Please share this information
with your members, as well as other potential ARRT attendees. Delegate
your Revolutionary Spirit in this continental gathering! We’ll keep you
apprised of details as the Congress of ARRTs approaches, including
registration and housing arrangements. But please make your calendars
now! David Reuwer, Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Roundtable Davidreuwer3@aol.com ; Bill Welsch, ARRT – Richmond wmwelsch@comcast.net ; Mel Bernstein, ARRT at Minute Man NHP mbern9@gmail.com ; Randy Flood, Williamsburg Yorktown ARRT rgflood@cox.net ; Jeff Lambert, Williamsburg Yorktown ARRTjdlambert@yahoo.com .
[The
George Washington American Revolution Round Table of the District of
Columbia needs representatives at this conference! Glenn has a conflict.
Please let Glenn or I know if you plan to attend.]
McBurney Recommendation: New Development Regarding the Society of the Cincinnati
The
Society of the Cincinnati, which has done such a terrific job over the
years inviting in authors and other experts to speak on American
Revolution topics, has a new web presence. Its traditional website, www.societyofthecincinatti.org, is now to focus on its membership. Its outward-looking (general public) website will be at www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org This last website is where the events the Society holds will be publicized in the future.
The American Revolution Institute’s mission and goals are summarized as follows on its website:
The
American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati is an
advocacy organization dedicated solely to promoting understanding and
appreciation of the American Revolution and its legacy. We imagine a
future in which every American is inspired by the American Revolution,
the vast event that created our nation, and embraces our revolutionary
ideals of universal liberty and responsible citizenship.
The
Society of the Cincinnati, the nation’s oldest patriotic organization,
created the American Revolution Institute in 2012 to renew appreciation
of the history and ideals of our revolutionary generation. Like the
Continental Army officers who founded the Society of the Cincinnati, we
believe the American Revolution was, in the words of the Institution of
the Society of the Cincinnati, a “vast event” that set our nation, and
the world, on the path to universal liberty.
Our goals are to:
·
reform history education, ensuring that the story of our
Revolution, the constructive accomplishments of the revolutionaries, and
the legacy of the Revolution are widely recognized;
·
protect our Revolutionary heritage, including the books, manuscripts,
art and artifacts of the Revolution, as well as the remaining
battlefields of our War for Independence, encouraging the study,
exhibition, interpretation and enjoyment of these treasures as means to
inspire millions of Americans about our national origins; and
· advocate for the memory, ideals and legacy of the American Revolution.
The
history and ideals of the American Revolution are the foundation of our
national identity. If they are forgotten, we will have nothing to hold
us together. Future generations, unaware of the historic sacrifices that
secured our liberty, will fail to value that liberty and sacrifice to
preserve it. Our country, as it has been for more than two hundred
years, will be lost.
We won’t let that happen. We are
working to perpetuate the remarkable story of our Revolution and the
ideals we hold most dear. We invite you to join us in this work.
The
American Revolution Institute also has a new exhibition at the Anderson
House, “Revolutionary Reflections: French Memories of the War for
America.” The exhibition is also highlighted on the institute’s new
website, under “Exhibitions.”
Keep in mind our own website, maintained by Doug Bonforte, and populated by some articles by John Grady: https://arrt-dc.blogspot.com/
- Christian McBurney
