CHAPTER LXXXII.

1775.

Mecklenburg Declaration.

That there was a Declaration of Independence made at Charlotte, by citizens of the County of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, on the 20th of May, 1775, is the commonly received opinion in that State, and has been often stated in print.[615:A] The closer scrutiny to which this declaration has been of late years subjected[615:B] appears to invalidate its authenticity. The patriotism, intelligence, and courage of the Scotch-Irish inhabitants of Mecklenburg—the Alexanders, Brevard, Polk, Balch, and others, are universally acknowledged; and that they "acted" independence as early as May, 1775, is admitted. But that they then made an absolute declaration of independence, (supposing them competent to do so,) does not appear to be substantiated by sufficient evidence. The original manuscript, it is alleged, was preserved by the secretary of the convention till the year 1800, when it was destroyed, with his dwelling-house, by fire.[615:C] It is said, however, that he had previously taken care to give copies of it to two or three persons; and mention is made of one of these transcripts as early as 1793. But they do not appear to have been any further multiplied. That a declaration of independence, made more than a year before that of July, 1776, should have been preserved by the secretary so long, and yet have remained unpublished and so little known, is extraordinary. It is remarkable, too, that such a paper should appear without date of time on the face of it. The meeting reported to have been held at Charlotte, on the twentieth of May, is styled "the convention;" but that of the thirty-first of the same kind, was simply a meeting of the committee of the county, and was so called at the time. It is asserted that the immediate exciting cause of the resolutions, or alleged declaration of the twentieth, was, that on that day a messenger arrived in hot haste with intelligence of the battle of Lexington. But it appears[616:A] that this intelligence reached Savannah, in Georgia, on the tenth; and it would appear hardly probable that it should have reached Charlotte ten days later.

Upon comparing one of the manuscript copies with the one published in Martin's History of North Carolina, there appears to be a remarkable difference between them. To explain this, it has, indeed, been conjectured, that Martin's copy contains the resolutions as at first draughted by Dr. Brevard, the author of them, and that the other contains them in their amended form. But the Martin copy, instead of being a rough draught, appears to be more formal and complete than the other. The Martin copy expresses the resolution in the present tense; the other in the imperfect, bearing upon its face the appearance of having been made up at a subsequent time by an effort of recollection.

The document styled a declaration, whatever may have been its origin, or terms, remained long in obscurity, public attention having been first drawn to it, in 1819, by the Raleigh Register, at the instance of Colonel Thomas Polk. But a declaration, to effect its object, must be published far and wide.

The Mecklenburg committee met at Charlotte on the thirtieth of May, and passed a series of resolutions, (making no reference whatever to a previous declaration of independence;) suspending the former civil constitution, and organizing a provisional republican government. The eighteenth resolution is in these words: "That these resolves be in full force and virtue, until instructions from the provincial congress regulating the jurisprudence of the province shall provide otherwise, or the legislative body of Great Britain resign its unjust and arbitrary pretentions with respect to America:" thus explicitly recognizing the right of eminent domain as belonging to Great Britain. It is not to be credited that the Mecklenburg patriots made an absolute declaration of independence on the twentieth, and in ten days thereafter acknowledged the sovereignty of Great Britain. These admirable resolutions of the thirtieth were published in the Mercury, a North Carolina newspaper, (and others,) and a copy of it was transmitted by Governor Tryon to the British minister, and denounced as the boldest of all, "most traitorously declaring the entire dissolution of the laws and constitution, and setting up a system of rule and regulation subversive of his majesty's government." The alleged declaration of the twentieth, brief and absolute, was published in no newspaper, and was not denounced by the governor; while the resolutions of the thirty-first, recognizing the sovereignty of Great Britain, were so published and denounced. Mecklenburg, in North Carolina, was, nevertheless, then unquestionably in a condition of actual self-government and virtual independence; and the names of Brevard, the master-spirit of the Charlotte Convention, (afterwards a patriot-martyr,) and of his compatriots, stand on the page of history in characters of recorded honor which need no adventitious lustre.[617:A]

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER LXXXIII.

1775.

The second congress assembled on the 10th day of May, 1775, in the State House, Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Peyton Randolph was again elected president, but finding it necessary to return to Virginia to perform the duties of speaker, was succeeded by the well-tried patriot, John Hancock. Many of the leading members, including Washington, still hoped for reconciliation with the mother country, and few as yet avowed themselves in favor of independence. But while the congress were pacific in theory, they were revolutionary in action. A second petition to the king was adopted; but, at the same time, a federal union was organized, and the executive power vested in a council of twelve. Measures were taken for enlisting troops, erecting forts, providing military stores, and issuing a paper currency. Massachusetts was advised to form an internal government for herself. Washington was chairman of the military committees, and the regulations of the army and defensive measures were mostly devised by him.

Shortly after the affair of the gunpowder, the public agitations were again quieted upon the reception of Lord North's conciliatory proposition, commonly called the "Olive Branch;" and Dunmore convened the burgesses, and Lady Dunmore and her family returned (to the great satisfaction of the people) from the Fowey, where they had taken refuge during these disturbances, to the palace. The assembly meeting on the first day of June, the governor presented Lord North's proposition. The council's answer was satisfactory; but before the burgesses could reply, a new explosion occurred. Upon Henry's recent approach toward Williamsburg some of the inhabitants, to the great offence of the graver citizens, had taken possession of a few of the guns remaining in the magazine. On the night of June the fifth a number of persons having assembled there to furnish themselves with arms, some of them were wounded by spring-guns placed there by order of the governor. Besides this, some barrels of powder were found buried in the magazine, to be used, it was suspected, as a mine when occasion should offer. Early on the next morning Lord Dunmore, with his family, escaped from Williamsburg to return no more, and took shelter on board of the Fowey, leaving behind him a message to the house, ascribing his departure to apprehensions of personal danger, and declaring his willingness to co-operate with the assembly in the public business. That body, by a deputation, requested him to return to the palace, assuring him that they would unite in whatever measures might be necessary for the protection of him and his family. Dunmore in reply complained of the inimical spirit of the burgesses toward him, of the countenance which they had given to the disorderly proceedings of the people, of his majesty's magazine having been broken open and rifled in the presence of members of the house; he further said that while some endeavors had been made by the committee of the house to prevail upon the people to restore the arms, no steps had been taken to bring the offenders to justice; that a body of men had assembled at Williamsburg for the purpose of attacking the king's troops, and that guards had been mounted under false pretences. He exhorted them to return to their constitutional duty; to open the courts of justice; to disband the independent companies; and to put an end to the persecutions of his majesty's loyal subjects.

The governor at the same time communicated papers containing terms upon which a reconciliation might take place—placing his return upon the condition of their acceptance of the "Olive Branch." The assembly in their reply, composed by Mr. Jefferson, declared that next to the preservation of liberty, a reconciliation would be the greatest of all human blessings; but that they could not consent to the proposed terms. Leaving the determination of these disputes to the wisdom of congress, for themselves they avowed that they had exhausted every means for obtaining redress; they had remonstrated to parliament, and parliament had only added new oppressions to the old; they had wearied the king with petitions which he had not deigned to answer; they had appealed to the native honor and justice of the British nation, but their efforts in favor of the colonies had as yet proved ineffectual. Nothing remained but to commit their cause to the even-handed justice of Him who doeth no wrong, "earnestly beseeching him to illuminate the counsels and prosper the endeavors of those to whom America hath confided her hopes, that through their wise direction we may again see re-united the blessings of liberty and property, and the most permanent harmony with Great Britain."

The courts of justice upon Dunmore's flight had been closed, the general court refusing to transact business, under the pretext that the fees of officers could not be legally taxed without an act of assembly—the real ground being, it is said, the desire of bringing about an independent meeting of that body, and of protecting debtors against suits, principally foreign.

In another correspondence with the governor, the assembly requested him to give an order for the return of the arms; but this he refused to do, alleging that they belonged to the king. They also complained of being compelled to communicate with his excellency on board of one of his majesty's armed ships, and at the distance of twelve miles from their usual place of meeting. His lordship laid the whole responsibility of these inconveniences upon the disorders that had driven him from the seat of government, and required the house to attend him on board the Fowey for the purpose of obtaining his signature to bills. Some of the burgesses were disposed to acquiesce in the proposed arrangement; but it was rejected upon a member's relating Æsop's fable of the sick lion and the fox. The assembly declared the governor's message a high breach of the rights and privileges of the house; they advised the people of Virginia to prepare for the preservation of their property, their rights, and their liberties. It was also resolved unanimously that "we do and will bear faith and true allegiance to our most gracious sovereign George the Third, our only lawful and rightful king; and that we will at all times, to the utmost of our power, and at the risk of our lives and property, maintain and defend his government in this colony, as founded on the established laws and principles of the constitution." They furthermore unanimously declared their earnest desire to preserve and strengthen the bands of amity with their fellow-subjects of Great Britain.

On the fourteenth day of June, George Washington, upon the nomination of Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Maryland, was unanimously elected by the congress, commander-in-chief of the armies of the United Colonies. John Adams, of Massachusetts, the eloquent and indomitable advocate of independence, had, on a previous occasion, recommended him for the post, as "a gentleman, whose skill and experience as an officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal character, would command the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial exertions of all the colonies better than any other person in the union." Mr. Adams had discovered that the preference of the Southern members for Washington was very strong. The pay of the commander-in-chief of the continental army was fixed at the sum of five hundred dollars a month. Washington, impressed with a profound sense of the arduous responsibility of the trust, while he gratefully accepted it, declared at the same time that he did not think himself equal to it. He declined all compensation for his services, and made known his intention to keep an account of his expenses, which he should rely on congress to discharge. A fac-simile copy of his account, published in recent times, attests the fidelity with which he performed this engagement. It is remarkable that while the Southern members in general preferred him, among those, who at the first suggestion of his name by Mr. Adams, were opposed to his appointment, were several of the Virginia delegates, and Mr. Pendleton, in particular, was absolutely against it; but upon further conference and reflection all objection was withdrawn. Four major-generals were appointed, Ward of Massachusetts, Charles Lee, an Englishman, Schuyler, of New York, and Putnam, of Connecticut. In compliance with General Washington's request, his old comrade, Major Horatio Gates, then on his estate in Virginia, was appointed adjutant-general. Washington was likewise warmly in favor of the appointment of General Charles Lee; yet not without misgivings as to his violent temper.

The Shawnee hostages had disappeared at the time with the governor; and George Washington, Thomas Walker, James Wood, Andrew Lewis, John Walker, and Adam Stephen were appointed commissioners to ratify a treaty with that tribe. It was determined that Lord Dunmore had voluntarily abdicated the post of governor, and that the president of the council should discharge the duties. The abdication was, no doubt, as "voluntary" as that of James the Second. The burgesses adjourned to the twelfth of October, and were summoned to meet in convention on the seventeenth of July.[622:A] It was on this occasion that Richard Henry Lee, standing on the 17th of June, 1775, with two other burgesses, in the portico of the capitol, inscribed with his pencil, on a pillar, these lines,—

On the twenty-fourth the arms were removed from the palace, and lodged in the magazine of which Dr. Bland had the charge. Among those engaged in removing them were Theodorick Bland, Jr., Richard Kidder Meade, Benjamin Harrison, of Berkley, George Nicholas, Harrison Randolph, and James Monroe.

On the twenty-sixth of June Mr. Jefferson was added to a committee of congress appointed to draw up a declaration of the grounds of taking up arms. He prepared one, but it proving too strong for Mr. Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, he was indulged in preparing a far tamer statement, which was accepted by congress. Yet disgust at its humility was general, and Mr. Dickinson's delight at its passage was the only circumstance which reconciled them to it. The vote being passed, although farther observation on it was out of order, Dickinson could not refrain from rising and expressing his satisfaction, and concluded by saying: "There is but one word, Mr. President, in the paper which I disapprove, and that is the word congress." On which Benjamin Harrison rose and said: "There is but one word, Mr. President, of which I approve, and that is the word congress."

The commander-in-chief received his commission from the president of congress on the twentieth of June, and on the following day set out for Boston on horseback, accompanied by General Lee, General Schuyler, and an escort of Philadelphia cavalry. They had proceeded about twenty miles, when they were met by an express bringing intelligence of the battle of Bunker's Hill. Amid cheers and the thunder of cannon he reached the headquarters of the army at Cambridge, on the second of July, and on the third assumed the command. The future was full of difficulty and of danger; but he confided in that Divine Providence which wisely orders human affairs.

Late in June the Magdalen sailed from York with Lady Dunmore, and the rest of the governor's family, bound for England. The Magdalen was convoyed down the York and across the bay, by the Fowey. This oft-mentioned old twenty-gun man-of-war was shortly afterwards relieved by the Mercury, and sailed with Captain Foy on board for Boston.

Dunmore issued a proclamation commanding all subjects on their allegiance, to repair to his standard.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER LXXXIV.

1775.

Dunmore's domestics now abandoned the palace and removed to Porto Bello, his country-seat, about six miles below Williamsburg. The fugitive governor took up his station at Portsmouth.

On Monday, July the 17th, 1775, the convention met at Richmond. Measures were taken for raising two regiments of regular troops for one year, and two companies for the protection of the western frontier, and to divide the colony into sixteen districts, and to exercise the militia as minute-men, so as to be ready for service at a moment's warning. At the instance of Richard Bland an inquiry was made into certain charges reflecting on his patriotism; and his innocence was triumphantly vindicated. Although he had resisted extreme measures, yet when the crisis came, and the rupture took place, he was behind none in patriotic ardor and devotion to the common cause. A minister was implicated in propagating the charges against him.

A committee of safety was organized to take charge of the executive duties of the colony; it consisted of eleven gentlemen: Edmund Pendleton, George Mason, John Page, Richard Bland, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, William Cabell, Carter Braxton, James Mercer, and John Tabb.

Paul Carrington, the ancestor of those bearing that name in Virginia, and his wife, of the Heningham family, emigrated from Ireland to Barbadoes. He died early in the eighteenth century, and left a widow and numerous children. The youngest, George, about the year 1727, came to Virginia with the family of Joseph Mayo, a Barbadoes merchant, who settled at Powhatan, the former seat of the chief of that name, and young Carrington lived with him in the capacity of storekeeper. About 1732 he married Anne, daughter of William Mayo, of Goochland, brother of Joseph, and went to reside on Willis's Creek, in what is now Cumberland County. Paul Carrington, eldest child of this marriage, married, in 1755, Margaret, daughter of Colonel Clement Read, of Bushy Forest, clerk of the court of Lunenburg, now Charlotte. Young Carrington, having attained a practical knowledge of the law in the clerk's office, soon acquired an extensive practice. He was a burgess from Charlotte in 1765, and appears to have voted against Henry's resolutions. He continued to be a member of the house down to the time of the Revolution; was a member of the association of 1670, and in 1774 of the first convention; and also of those of 1775 and 1776. In the latter he voted for the resolution instructing the delegates in congress to propose independence, and was a member of the committee which reported the bill of rights and the constitution. He was subsequently a judge of the general court and of the court of appeals, and a member of the convention of 1788. Three of his sons served in the army of Revolution: George, lieutenant in Lee's legion; Paul, who was at the battles of Guilford and Greenspring; and Clement, who was wounded in the battle of Eutaw Springs. Paul Carrington, member of the committee of safety, was upwards of six feet in stature, his features prominent, with bright blue eyes, and sandy hair. His seat was Mulberry Hill, on the banks of the Staunton.[625:A] He died at the age of eighty-five, having survived all the early Virginia patriots of the revolutionary era.

Edward Carrington, his younger brother, was a valued officer during the revolutionary war, and quartermaster-general for the Southern army under Greene.

Colonel Clement Read, father of Mrs. Paul Carrington, was born in Virginia, (1707,) his ancestors having, as is supposed, come over shortly after the Restoration, being probably of the Cromwellian party. Early bereft of his father, he was educated at William and Mary under the guardianship of John Robinson, of Spotsylvania, president of the council. In 1730 Mr. Read was married to Mary, only daughter of William Hill, an officer in the British navy, second son of the Marquis of Lansdowne. This William Hill had married the only daughter of Governor Jennings, and resided in what was then Isle of Wight County, now Brunswick.

Colonel Isaac Read, eldest son of Clement Read, was a member of the conventions of 1774 and 1775, co-operating with Henry and Jefferson. He received in June, 1776, a commission as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Virginia Regiment, but died not long after at Philadelphia, owing to exposure in the public service. Thomas Read, younger brother of Isaac, was a supporter of the views of Henry and Jefferson, and a member of the convention of 1776.[626:A] An accomplished gentleman, he retained the costume and manners of a former day.

Dr. William Cabell, head of the family of that name in Virginia, emigrated from Wiltshire, England, about 1720, and settled in what is now Nelson County. He had been a surgeon in the English navy; was a man of letters and science; in his profession well-skilled and successful; sagacious in business; of a humorous fancy; and fond of wild sports. He died in 1774 at an advanced age, leaving one daughter and four sons; of these, Joseph Cabell was a burgess in 1769 and 1770, and member of the convention in 1775. John Cabell was a member of the same, and of the convention of 1776. Nicholas Cabell served under La Fayette, and was also in political life. William Cabell, the eldest brother, was wise in council, energetic and fearless in action, and widely influential in his own region. He was fond of rural sports, and an expert horseman. His face was of the Roman cast. Tall, of a fine person, and commanding presence, he exhibited the dignified simplicity of the Virginia gentleman of the old school. He was a tobacco-planter, and his extensive and well-ordered plantations, besides the labors of agriculture, presented a scene of industry, where the various handicrafts were carried on by his own blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, and shoemakers. Colonel Cabell was systematic in business, and of generous hospitality. He was a member of the assembly in 1769, and a signer of the association. He voted, in 1775, against Henry's resolutions, preferring the scheme of a regular army presented by Colonel Nicholas.[627:A] Colonel Samuel J. Cabell, who was at the commencement of the Revolution a student of college, left it, and joined the first armed corps raised in Virginia, and soon attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the continental army. He was made a prisoner at the surrender of Charleston in 1780, and so remained till the close of the war. He was afterwards a member of congress, and died at his seat in Nelson County, in 1818, aged 61.

Patrick Henry was elected, in August, colonel of the first regiment and commander of all the forces raised and to be raised for the defence of the colony. William Woodford, of Caroline County, who had served meritoriously in the French and Indian war, was appointed to the command of the second regiment. A strong effort was made to elect Colonel Hugh Mercer, of Fredericksburg, to the command of the first regiment, and on the first ballot he received a plurality of one vote; but the question being narrowed down between him and Mr. Henry, the latter was elected.

The expense of the late Indian war was estimated at £150,000; Virginia's quota of the charge of the continental army £150,000; the charge of the two new regiments, and the minute-men, and other items of public expenditure, made a sum of upwards of £500,000. George Wythe was elected member of congress in the place of Washington, appointed commander-in-chief. When the delegates were chosen for the ensuing congress, Mr. Mason would have been elected but that he declared that he could not possibly attend. Upon the resignation of the aged Colonel Richard Bland, a day or two thereafter, a party headed by Colonel Henry, Mr. Jefferson, and Colonel Paul Carrington, appeared determined to elect Colonel Mason at all events. In consequence of this, just before the ballot was taken, he found himself constrained to make known the grounds of his refusal; "in doing which," he says, "I felt myself more distressed than ever I was in my life, especially when I saw tears run down the president's (Randolph's) cheeks." The cause of Mr. Mason's declining to serve was the recent death of his wife, leaving a large family of children. Mr. Mason nominated Colonel Francis Lightfoot Lee, who was elected. Mr. Mason was, nevertheless, as has been seen, made a member of the committee of safety, which service was even more inconvenient to him than that of delegate to congress. But upon his begging permission to resign, he was answered by a unanimous "no." The staff officers of the First Regiment, under Colonel Henry, were Lieutenant-Colonel Christian and Major Eppes; and in the Second Regiment, under Colonel Woodford, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Scott and Major Alexander Spotswood. The convention passed ordinances for raising money and imposing taxes, for furnishing arms and the procuring of saltpetre, lead, and sulphur, and for encouraging the manufacture of gunpowder; for regulating the elections of delegates; and for establishing a general test of fidelity to the country. The Maryland Convention not concurring in the resolution prohibiting the export of provisions, it was rescinded, and the ports were consequently kept open till the tenth of September. The merchants, natives of Great Britain, mostly Scotch, resident in Virginia, petitioned the convention to prescribe some rule of conduct in their business during the present crisis of affairs, and were allowed to remain neutral. The committee of safety met for the first time toward the end of August. At the beginning of the session of the convention, resolutions were passed by way of recommendations for the people; but afterwards ordinances were enacted on all matters of importance with the formalities of a bill, passing through three readings.

In September Colonel Henry selected an encampment in the rear of the College of William and Mary. The recruits, regular and minute-men, poured rapidly into Williamsburg. In October Matthew Phripp, a Virginian, in whom important trusts had been confided, proving a traitor, went on board of one of Dunmore's vessels. Phripp's son likewise deserted. Virginia contrived to import some powder at this juncture. The people became dissatisfied at the scarcity of salt, the importation of which was prohibited by the articles of association; but it would hardly have been possible to import it then, even if allowed by law, Virginia not having one armed vessel to protect her trade. Some persons began to manufacture it by evaporating sea-water in pans. The non-importation afforded a new incentive to industry and invention, threw the people upon their own resources, and taught them self-denial, and how to live within themselves. They made less tobacco, and applied themselves more to domestic manufactures.

On the 22d of this month, 1775, died suddenly of an apoplexy, at Philadelphia, the able and virtuous Peyton Randolph, president of congress, aged fifty-two years, descended from a family long noted in Virginia for its wealth, talents, and influence; he was the second son of Sir John Randolph, and Susan Beverley, his wife. Peyton Randolph, being bred to the law, was, in 1748, appointed king's attorney for the colony, being then but twenty-four years of age. He succeeded Speaker Robinson in the chair of the house of burgesses in 1766, and continued to preside over that body until it was superseded by the conventions. He was made, in 1773, a member of the committee of correspondence, and was at its head. In March, 1774, he was unanimously chosen president of the first convention of Virginia. In August he was appointed by the convention one of the delegates to the congress which assembled at Philadelphia in September, and was unanimously elected president of it. In person he was tall and stately; in manner grave and of senatorial dignity; at home generous and hospitable. As a lawyer sound and accurate; in public life of excellent judgment, large experience, and incorruptible integrity.[629:A] He lies buried in the chapel of William and Mary.

The progenitor of the Randolphs was William of Warwickshire, or as some say, of Yorkshire, England, who came over to Virginia probably between 1665 and 1675, poor, it is said. He accumulated a large estate, and became a member of the house of burgesses and of the council. He appears to have been intimate with the first Colonel William Byrd, and well acquainted with Lady Berkley. He settled at Turkey Island on the James River. He married Mary Isham, of Bermuda Hundred, who was descended from an ancient family in Northamptonshire. Several of their sons were men of distinction: William was member of the council, and treasurer; Isham a member of the house of burgesses from Goochland, (1740,) and adjutant-general; Richard was burgess for Henrico, and succeeded his brother as treasurer. Sir John, sixth son of the first William, was clerk, speaker, treasurer, and attorney-general. He died in March, 1737, aged forty-four, and lies buried in the chapel of William and Mary.[630:A] Peter, son of the second William Randolph, was clerk, and attorney-general. Peyton, son of Sir John, was attorney-general, speaker of the house of burgesses, and president of the first congress. John, brother of Peyton, was attorney-general, a votary of pleasure; of brilliant talents; he sided with Dunmore, withdrew from Virginia with him, and died in London, in January, 1784, aged fifty-six. He lies buried in the chapel of William and Mary. Thomas Mann Randolph, great grandson of the first William, was member of the Virginia convention of 1775, from Goochland. Beverley Randolph was member of assembly from Cumberland during the Revolution, and Governor of the State of Virginia. Edmund Randolph, (son of John, the attorney-general,) said to have been disinherited by his father for refusing to adhere to the royal cause, was aid-de-camp to General Washington, member of the convention of 1776, judge of the admiralty court, member of the congress of the confederation, and of the general convention that framed the constitution of the United States, and of the Virginia convention that ratified it, Governor of Virginia, Attorney-General of the United States, and Secretary of State. Robert Randolph, son of Peter, Richard Randolph, grandson of Peter, and David Meade Randolph, sons of the second Richard, were cavalry officers in the war of the Revolution. David Meade Randolph was United States Marshal for Virginia. John Randolph, of Roanoke, the orator, was grandson of the first Richard. Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., was member of the legislature of Virginia, and of congress, and Governor of Virginia. Richard Bland, of the old congress, Thomas Jefferson, Theodorick Bland, Jr., Richard Henry Lee, Arthur Lee, and Francis Lightfoot Lee, William Stith, the historian, and Thomas Marshall, father of the chief justice, were all descended from William Randolph, of Turkey Island.

Jane Bolling, great granddaughter of Pocahontas, married Richard Randolph, of Curles. John Randolph, Sr., the seventh child of that marriage, married Frances Bland, and John Randolph, of Roanoke, the orator, was one of the children of this union.

The members of the numerous family of the Randolphs in several instances adopted the names of their seats for the purpose of distinction, as Thomas of Tuckahoe, Isham of Dungeness, Richard of Curles, John of Roanoke. The following were seats of the Randolphs on the James River: Tuckahoe, Chatsworth, Wilton, Varina, Curles, Bremo, and Turkey Island.

FOOTNOTES:

CHAPTER LXXXV.

1775.

Dunmore in the meanwhile had rallied a band of tories, runaway negroes, and British soldiers, and collected a naval force, and was carrying on a petty warfare. Captain Squires, of his majesty's sloop Otter, during the summer cruised in the James and York, plundering the inhabitants and carrying off slaves. Early in September a tender laden with stores, being driven ashore near Hampton, Squires (who happened to be in her) and most of the crew escaped. The sloop was burnt by the inhabitants. Squires in retaliation threatening Hampton, Major Innes, with a hundred men, was sent down from Williamsburg to defend it. Squires in the latter part of October appeared near Hampton with several vessels, and threatened to land and burn the town. It was defended by a company of regulars under Captain George Nicholas, a company of minute-men, and some militia. Upon Squires attempting to land a skirmish ensued, and the enemy was driven off with some loss. Squires' party returning on the next day, burnt down a house belonging to a Mr. Cooper. Intelligence of this affair having reached Williamsburg, a company of riflemen was sent to Hampton, and Colonel Woodford was despatched to take command there. Upon their arrival on the next morning, Squires began to fire upon the town, but was again compelled to retire. These petty hostilities were the subject of humorous remark in the Virginia Gazette.[632:A]

Dunmore, on the 7th of November, 1775, proclaimed martial-law, summoned all persons capable of bearing arms to his standard, on penalty of being proclaimed traitors, and offered freedom to all servants and slaves who should join him. He had now the ascendency in the country around Norfolk, which abounded in tories. The committee of safety despatched Woodford with his regiment and two hundred minute-men, amounting in all to eight hundred men, with orders to cross the James River at Sandy Point and go in pursuit of Dunmore. Colonel Henry had been desirous to be employed in this service, and, it was said, solicited it, but the committee of safety refused, and amid such exciting events he found himself, eager as he was for action, and ardent and impetuous as was his nature, still compelled to sit down inactive in Williamsburg, where he had been quartered since September. At length after the lapse of nearly another month of tedious inaction, during which he received no regular communications from Colonel Woodford, Colonel Henry wrote to him thus: "Not hearing of any despatch from you for a long time, I can no longer forbear sending to know your situation and what has occurred?" Woodford on the next day replied from the Great Bridge, near Norfolk, and said: "When joined I shall always esteem myself immediately under your command, and will obey accordingly, but when sent to command a separate and distinct corps, under the immediate instructions of the committee of safety, whenever that body, or the honorable convention is sitting, I look upon it as my indispensable duty to address my intelligence to them as the supreme power in this colony." Thus Colonel Henry's chagrin at not being permitted to march himself against Dunmore was aggravated by Colonel Woodford's declining, while detached, to acknowledge his superiority in command. Woodford, upon approaching Dunmore, found that he had entrenched himself on the north side of the Elizabeth River, at the Great Bridge, about twenty miles from Norfolk. Judge Marshall says that it was necessary for the Provincials to cross it in order to reach Norfolk, but Thomas Ludwell Lee, writing at the time, says that there were other ways by which to pass to Norfolk. "Our army has been for some time arrested in its march to Norfolk by a redoubt, or stockade, or hog-pen, as they call it here, by way of derision, at the end of this bridge. Though, by the way, this hog-pen seems filled with a parcel of wild boars, which we appear not overfond to meddle with." Some of the more eager patriots were apprehensive that Woodford would be amused at that post until Dunmore should finish his fortifications at Norfolk, where he was now entrenching and mounting cannon, some hundreds of negroes being employed in the work. Added to this the advanced season of the year and the hourly expectation of the enemy's receiving a re-enforcement from St. Augustine, as was known by intercepted intelligence, made a bold movement necessary, "while we walk too cautiously in the road of prudence."

Dunmore's power on land was confined to the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne; his recent course had united the colony with few exceptions against him, and if the ministry had ransacked the whole world for the person of all others the best fitted to ruin their cause, they could not have found a fitter agent than Lord Dunmore. He had just now proclaimed liberty to the slaves, and declared martial-law.

It was believed that one frigate could capture the whole of his fleet, and other vessels laden with the floating property of tories, of enormous value. John Page wished earnestly for a few armed vessels to keep possession of the rivers, the arteries of commerce, at the least the upper parts of them. While five thousand men could not defend so exposed a coast against the depredations of Dunmore's fleet, yet five hundred in armed vessels could easily take the fleet. But a majority of the committee of safety and of the convention, held it in vain for Virginia then to attempt any thing by water.[634:A]

Dunmore had erected a small fort on an oasis surrounded by a morass, not far from the Dismal Swamp, accessible on either side only by a long causeway. Woodford encamped within cannon-shot of this post, in mud and mire, in a village at the southern end of the causeway, across which he threw up a breast-work, but being destitute of artillery he did not attack the fort. After a few days Dunmore, hearing by a servant lad, who had deserted from Woodford's camp, that his force did not exceed three hundred men, mustered his whole strength and despatched them in the night to the fort, with orders to force the breast-works early next morning, or die in the attempt. On the 9th of December, 1775, a little before sunrise, Captain Fordyce, at the head of sixty grenadiers, who six abreast led the column, advanced along the causeway. Colonel Bullet first discovered the enemy, and the alarm being given in Woodford's camp, a small guard at the breast-works began the fire, others hastened from their tents, and regardless of order, kept up a fire on the head of the column. Fordyce, though received so warmly in front, and flanked by a party posted on a rising ground to his right, rallied his men, and marched up within twenty yards of the breast-work, when he fell pierced with bullets. His followers now retreated, and at this juncture Colonel Woodford arrived, and directed a pursuit of the enemy, who were galled by a handful of riflemen under Colonel Stephen, but found protection under cover of the guns of the fort. Woodford declined attempting to storm the works, although strongly urged to it by the bold and ardent Bullet and the enthusiastic wishes of the troops.

In the battle of the Great Bridge every grenadier was killed, and the enemy's killed and wounded amounted to about one hundred. Four officers were killed, one wounded and made prisoner. The affair has been styled "a Bunker Hill in miniature:" but there the loss was very heavy on both sides; whereas here Woodford's troops suffered no loss.

John Marshall, afterwards chief justice, was in this expedition.[635:A] Richard Kidder Meade, father of Bishop Meade, was also present at the affair of the Great Bridge. This was the first scene of revolutionary bloodshed in Virginia. On the night following this action the royalists evacuated the fort, and Dunmore took refuge on board of his fleet. Colonel Howe, with five or six hundred North Carolina troops, now joined Woodford, and assumed command at the Great Bridge, with the consent of Woodford, who yielded to the seniority of his commission. Colonel Henry now saw the colonel of the second Virginia regiment, who had refused to acknowledge his command, submitting himself to an officer of no higher rank, and of another colony. He found himself, although invested with the title of commander-in-chief, yet virtually superseded and reduced to the mere shadow of a name. To nullify his superiority of command the committee had only to detach his subordinate officers.

On the thirteenth of December a member of the convention wrote to Colonel Woodford: "I have talked with Colonel Henry about this matter; he thinks he has been ill-treated, and insists the officers under his command shall submit to his orders:" and again, "A commander or general, I suppose, will be sent us by the congress, as it is expected our troops will be upon continental pay." Mr. Pendleton, chairman of the committee, in a letter dated December the twenty-fourth, and addressed to Colonel Woodford, said: "The field-officers to each regiment will be named here and recommended to congress; in case our army is taken into continental pay, they will send commissions. A general officer will be chosen there, I doubt not, and sent us; with that matter I hope we shall not intermeddle, lest it should be thought propriety requires our calling, or rather recommending, our present officer to that station." It appears that Colonel Henry had not owed his military appointment to those members of the committee of safety who conducted the correspondence.[636:A] Mr. Pendleton looked upon the appointment of Henry as an "unlucky step." Pendleton and Woodford were both of the County of Caroline.

Late in December, Colonel Henry insisting upon a determination of the question thus raised between him and Colonel Woodford, the committee passed the following resolution:—