Tampa Chapter

Sons of the American Revolution

April 2015

 

Contents

          Meeting announcement

          Revolution History note

          Announcements from the President

          Program Schedule

          Misc. reminders and information

 

The April meeting of the Tampa Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution will be on Saturday, April 18 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 April meeting will be our annual luncheon for the JROTC cadets that received our award this year as well as their instructors and families.  Due to the expected turn out, we will set up the meeting room classroom style.  We will meet there at 12 for a brief business meeting then adjourn for lunch.  For lunch we will eat in the main dining room.  Then after lunch, return to our usual meeting room. There will not be a formal program this year. We will simply recognize our guests and present the awards.  We are again asking our members to sit with a cadet and/or instructor during lunch and, if you are able, to pay their lunch check. This only applies to the cadets and instructors, not their family members. If you end up with multiple checks, or are unable to handle the bill give it to our Treasurer and he can pay the restaurant.  Let’s be sure to make our guests feel welcome.

 

 

American Revolution Notes

 

April 25, 1781 Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill

 

We’ve been concentrating on the southern campaign over the past few months so we’ll conclude our foray into the southern theatre with a little known but important battle in South Carolina.  The month before, Nathaniel Greene had fought Lord Cornwallis to a stand still at Guilford Court House which resulted in Cornwallis having to pause and rest.  Greene moved his army (approx. 1500 men) into South Carolina with the goal of driving the British out of their inland outposts.  Cornwallis trusted Lord Rawdon, the British commander in South Carolina, to stop Greene.  Combined in both Ga. and S. Carolina, Rawdon commanded approx. 8000 men.  But many were loyalist’s regiments and companies that could not be considered overly reliable and his forces were scattered throughout the countryside.  His largest force (approx. 900 men), under his direct command was stationed at Camden.  As Greene neared Camden he realized he did not have enough men to besiege Camden, so he withdrew a few miles to what he considered a favorable defensive position on Hobkirk’s Hill in the hopes of drawing Rawdon out of his defenses and defeating him in open battle.  Rawdon accepted the challenge and moved to attack Greene.  Rawdon attacked on a very small front which gave him local numerical superiority.  As the forces drew together, the commander of the 1st Maryland on Greene’s right fell dead.  As a result of seeing him go down, his men wavered.  When Greene saw this he tried to reorient other units to meet the British but in the process their flanks were exposed to enemy fire and Greene’s left collapsed.  Seeing the left collapse, the American right began to retreat.  Seeing the battle was lost, Greene was able to make an orderly retreat away from the battlefield.  While this battle, like Guilford Court House was a defeat for the Americans, both “defeats” had positive results for the Americans.  As a result of his losses at Guilford Court House, Cornwallis began his movement to the sea for re-supply which would take him to Yorktown.  In South Carolina, Rawdon realized he could not hold the interior and ordered his outlying posts abandoned. He retreated to the sea as well, concentrating his forces in Savannah and Charlestown.  While an overlooked battle, and a defeat for the Americans, the results could not have been better.  Greene continued his operations in South Carolina retaking the back country and ultimately, his southern campaign was a success.

 

March Meeting

 

Compatriot John Stewart, from the St. Petersburg Chapter of the FSSAR, portrayed Thomas Jefferson in costume, language, and speaking style.  He discussed Jefferson’s role in shaping the United States from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to serving as the 3rd President.  He noted the parallels in his life to George Washington as well as his service as the Governor of Virginia and 1st Secretary of State and founder of the University of Virginia.  He also discussed his role in the establishment of the District of Columbia and opposition to Alexander Hamilton’s policies.

John Stewart has been deeply interested in the life of Thomas Jefferson ever since he was a student at the University of Virginia.  As a graduate, John has attended seminars on the Lawn, and lectured on Jefferson's life and influence in American History to schools, civic groups and business audiences around Florida for over 30 years.

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Color Guard Update

Your Color Guard Commander and Compatriot Dick Young formed part of the Florida Society - SAR Color Guard in presenting the colors at the commemoration of the Last Naval Battle on Merritt Island on March 7.

 

 

On March 21, Chapter President Dick Young represented the Chapter in the State Color Guard at the Dedication of the Battlefield Marker at the site of Battle of Thomas Creek in Jacksonville. 

 

 

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Announcements from the President:

SAR & DAR Presidents General meet the Queen

On April 1, Queen Elizabeth II greeted  Lindsey Cook Brock, President General of the SAR and Lynn Forney Young, President General of the DAR, while attending the launch of the George III Project at an event held in the Royal Library in Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. The project - a collaboration with the King's College London  -  will see more than 350,000 pages of documents digitized.  It is hoped that the work will transform the understanding of Georgian Britain and its monarchy.

 

SAR President General Lindsey Brock is a member of the Florida Society and lives in Jacksonville.

 

FLSSAR BOM & Annual Meeting

The Florida Society - SAR will be holding its Spring Board of Management meeting and Annual Meeting on May 1-2 at the The Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Orlando.  The awards for the many youth programs will be presented at the Youth Luncheon on Friday, other individual and chapter awards will be presented at the Friday evening banquet with the installation of FLSSAR officer for 2015-2016 and other awards taking place at the Saturday evening banquet.  A full agenda, registration form, hotel information and more information are on the Florida Society website at www.flssar.org.  All members are welcome to attend and all officers are encouraged to attend.

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Kevin Yarnell Update

Members of long standing in the chapter may be interested to know that Kevin Yarnell will be ordained as a transitional deacon in the Catholic Church on April 18th close to the time of our meeting. The April JROTC meeting is a particular favorite of Kevin’s and he coordinated our work with the local commanders and cadets for many years. We look forward to when he’ll complete his training for the priesthood and again be able to attend our meetings.   His ordination into the priesthood will be in May of 2016

 

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PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Below is the tentative program schedule for spring 2015.  As always send along any suggestions for speakers.

April 18       JROTC Recognition

May 16        Safety Harbor Museum presentation

 Park and Museum

 

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 and sympathy notes to the family of a member who has passed away. If you know of anyone for whom a card should be sent, please mention it at our next meeting.

    

Chapter officers and committee chairman are encouraged to send to the editor any pertinent information they wish included in the newsletter.