Tampa Chapter
Sons of the American Revolution
October 2014
Contents
Meeting announcement
Sept. agenda items
Revolution education note
Program Schedule
Misc. reminders and information
The October meeting of the
Tampa Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, will be on Oct. 18 at the
Piccadilly Cafeteria, located at 11810
Dale Mabry Highway North, Tampa, Florida (813-963-1660).
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Revolution Note:
Battle of Point
Pleasant October
10, 1774
In 1768, the Iroquois natives and the British
signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. In this agreement, the Iroquois gave all of
their lands east and south of the Ohio River
to the British. While the Iroquois agreed to give up this land, most Ohio
Native Americans did not, including the Delaware
natives, the Seneca-Cayuga natives, and the Shawnee natives. Following the treaty many Americans moved
into the area (basically modern West
Virginia) and also into areas north of the Ohio River and south west into Kentucky.
Those Native Americans who had not agreed to the treaty retaliated by
attacking these settlers. Pennsylvania militia
from Ft. Pitt set out to attack the natives and
burned several villages. Lord Dunmore,
Governor of Virginia immediately ordered Va. Militia into the area. He did not want Pennsylvanians encroaching on
Virginia
territory and therefore decided to plant Virginia
militia in the area to both protect the settlers and to solidify Virginia’s claim to the
area. Meanwhile the Shawnee continued to
raid the area. The Shawnee chief
Conrstalk was originally in favor of reconciliation but due to the raiding by
both sides and the burning of villages, cabins and the associated killing and
kidnapping of non-combatants, decided to attack the 1000 man Virginia militia
force as it approached the Ohio River.
He assembled a force of 1000 warriors and on Oct. 10, attacked the
Virginians, commanded by Col. Andrew Lewis.
Lewis’s men were camped on a bluff overlooking the Ohio
River. It seems apparent
that the goal of the Shawnee
was to trap the Virginians on the bluff.
The battle lasted most of the day and by the end of the battle the
fighting was hand to hand. During the
last part of the battle Col. Lewis sent Capt. George Matthews with a force to
get on to the flank of the Shawnee. Matthews was successful and this maneuver
took pressure off the main force. By the
end of day, the Shawnee,
faced with a force on their flank as well as the unbreakable line of the
Virginians, retreated across the Ohio River. A few days later Lord Dunmore showed up with
a force of British regulars. A new treaty was signed and what became known as
Lord Dunmore’s war was over. By the time the Virginia militia returned home the
skirmishes at Lexington and Concord had taken place. Lord Dunmore led the British effort in Virginia early in the
war and actively sought the assistance of the same Native Americans his troops
had fought at Point Pleasant.
It has been argued by some that the Battle of
Point Pleasant should be looked at as the opening battle of the American War
for Independence. The reasoning behind this is as follows. Some Virginians came to believe that Lord
Dunmore was secretly in touch with the Shawnee and that he had intentionally
placed the militia on the bluff over the Ohio hoping they would be defeated (or
at least isolated for a time) and thus be unable to participate in the
rebellion that was afoot. It is my opinion this gives Lord Dunmore way too much
credit for being able to see into the future and too much credit for long range
planning (the man was not a genius to put it mildly). Plus, his concern about both Shawnee and Pennsylvanian encroachment into Virginia territory makes
perfect sense. Also, it should be noted that in the debates in the Virginia
House of Burgesses, once hostilities between the Americans and British had
begun, members from the northwestern areas of Virginia steadfastly defended Lord Dunmore
for his actions in defending them from the Shawnee raids.
(ed. Note. If memory
serves there was a good article about Point Pleasant in the National magazine a
year or so back that made the argument it was the first battle of the War for
Independence and, again, if memory serves, the SAR does accept an ancestor who
fought at Point Pleasant as having served in the American Army during the war
and acceptable for membership.)
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PROGRAM
SCHEDULE
Below is the tentative program schedule for the remainder
of 2014.
2014
October – Panama
Canal
November - CAR
Joint Meeting plus Law Enforcement and Fire Fighter recognition
December - Officer Installation
Tentative 2015
Feb., April and May are reasonably
nailed down but Jan. and March are still open.
Feel free to send along any suggestions
to VP Charles Krug
Misc. Reminders and notes:
Chapter Website— Remember you
can find information about the chapter and programs on the chapter
website. http://www.patriot-web.com/
One of the duties of the
Chapter Chaplain is to send cards to our members that are sick. If you know of
anyone that I need to send a card to, please mention it at our next meeting.
Another duty is to send a sympathy card to the family of a member who has
passed away.
Jack C. Bolen
Chaplain