Tampa Chapter
Sons of the American Revolution
March 2014
Contents
Meeting announcement
Revolution History note
Program Schedule
Misc. reminders and information
The
March meeting of the Tampa Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution will be on Saturday,
March 15 at the Piccadilly Cafeteria,
located at 11810 Dale Mabry
Highway North, Tampa, Florida (813-963-1660). The meeting starts at noon but many members arrive early for a time
of conversation and fellowship. The
topic for this month is the USO in Tampa.
American Revolution Notes
On March 7, 1778, Henry Clinton replaced Sir
William Howe as commander in chief of all British forces in America. Why is this of importance to us? Let’s jump ahead three and half years to
October, 1781. British General
Cornwallis was cornered at Yorktown,
Virginia and, on the advice of
the French and his own subordinates, Washington decided to move his army and
the French army south to complete the defeat of Cornwallis. For many years historians were faced with the
vexing problem of trying to understand why Clinton was unaware of the movements of Washington’s army. In
one of those instances of serendipity the answer to the question was found, in,
of all places, a dusty attic at Michigan
State. A newly arrived history professor, looking
for something to work on stumbled across the papers of Henry Clinton in an
attic at Michigan State. How Henry
Clinton’s war time papers ended up at Michigan State
is unknown. While going through Clinton’s papers, he
discovered the answer to the question.
During the time when Washington was moving his army, The Prince of Wales
was visiting Clinton and his time was filled with parties and wining and dining
the future King. Clinton also had acquired a mistress upon his
arrival in North America. Between time spent with his mistress and time
spent with the Prince of Wales, Clinton
was oblivious to what was talking place militarily. While he was receiving some reports from the
front line commanders expressing concerns that something was afoot, Clinton
spent little or no time during this crucial period dealing with military
matters.
So, why is the appointment of
Clinton of
importance to us? Quite simply it is that perhaps a different British commander
may have been more aware of what was happening in October of 1781 and Washington might not
have been able to close the trap on Cornwallis.
It is sometimes little, mundane things in history that have the most
interesting ramifications.
From
a chapter in: The Historian as Detective;
Robin Winks ed.
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PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Below is the tentative program schedule for spring 2014.
As always send along any suggestions for
speakers.
March USO
of Tampa
April ROTC
Recognition
May Victory
Ship and Museum
Park and Museum
Misc. Reminders and notes
National Society Annual Congress (Greenville, SC)
July
18-24;
www.sar.org
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
Chapter officers and
committee chairman are encouraged to send to the editor any pertinent
information they wish included in the newsletter.