USA > Virginia > Tazewell County > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 > Part 33
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"That the inhabitants of the English Colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the English Con- stitution and the several charters of compaets, have the following Rights."
A number of rights were claimed for the American colonies and set forth in the resolutions that followed the preamble. Among the most important of these were: the entitlement of life, liberty and property ; the enjoyment of the rights, liberties and immunities of free and natural born subjects within the realms of England; the right of representation in British Parliament, or to be free from taxation by the British Government; the right of Provincial Legis- latures alone to legislate in all cases of taxes and internal policy ; the right of trial by a jury of their peers ; and the right to peacably assemble and consider their grievances. These and other rights were claimed, demanded and insisted upon as their indubitable rights and liberties, of which they could not be deprived "without their own consent, by their representatives in their several Provineial Legislatures."
After passing these mildly defiant resolutions, the Congress, on the 20th day of October, 1774, adopted eertain artieles of associa- tion, fourteen in number, looking to the future trade relations of the colonies with Great Britain and her dependencies. The first article provided :
"That from and after the first day of December next, we will not import into British America from Great Britain and Ireland, any goods, wares, or merehandize whatsoever, or from any other place, any such goods, wares, or merchandize as shall have been exported from Great Britain or Ireland, nor will we, after that day import any East India tea from any part of the world; nor any molasses, syrups, paneles, eoffee, or pimento, from British plantations, or from Dominica; nor wines from Madeira, or the Western Islands; nor foreign indigo."
The second article was one of seeming little importance at the time of its adoption; but if it had been followed strictly after the colonies gained their independence it would have averted the Civil War of 1861-65. That article is as follows :
"That we will neither import, nor purchase any slave after the first day of December next; after which time we will wholly diseon-
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tinue the slave trade, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or manufac- tures to those who are concerned in it."
All the other articles were directed to the successful enforcement of the embargo against Great Britain. The fourth article emphat- ically declared that if the obnoxious Acts and parts of Acts passed by the British Parliament were not repealed by the 10th of Septem- ber, 1775: "We will not, directly or indirectly, export any merchan- dise or commodity whatsoever, to Great Britain, Ireland or the West Indies, except via Europe," meaning the neutral countries of Europe. One of the articles provided for the appointment by the people of the counties, cities and towns of committees to see that persons within the limits of their appointments did not violate the pro- visions of the articles; and if violaters were found they were to be published as "foes to British America" and "the enemies of American liberty." These committees were to be known as safety committees. There was also an article directed against profiteering, which said: "That all manufactures of this country be sold at reasonable prices, so that no undue advantages be taken of a future scarcity of goods."
Previous to adjourning, the Congress prepared a petition to the king, addresses to all the several American colonies, and a memorial to the people of England, acquainting them with the work that had been done and the great purposes of the American people. After accomplishing so much for the future good of their country, the memorable body of patriots and statesmen adjourned to meet again in Philadelphia on the 10th of May, 1775.
In January, 1775, at the instance of Lord Dartmouth, secretary of state for the colonies, the troubles between the colonies and the home government were made the subject for a heated discussion in Parliament. It was upon this occasion that William Pitt, the Great Commoner, became the fearless champion of the rights of the colon- ists, and unerringly predicted the results that would flow from an adherence to the wicked policy inaugurated by the British ministry. The stern demands of the colonies, and their notice that all com- mercial intercourse with Great Britain and her dependencies would be broken off, unless the demands were granted, so enraged the vicious ministers of George III. that Parliament was constrained to
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stand by the Crown. And the Government's policy of outrage and oppression was ordained to be continued and mercilessly enforced.
Already the thought of independence had been lodged and was steadily growing in the minds of the colonists; and nowhere had the democratic spirit taken deeper root than with the brave and hardy pioneers of the Virginia mountain regions. Among the first to act upon the address the Continental Congress had sent to the Virginians were the men of Fincastle County. A meeting of the freeholders of that county was held at the Lead Mines, the county seat, in January, 1775, to consider the resolutions and articles of association adopted by the Congress. The first step taken by the meeting was the selection of a committee of safety ; and the recordcd proceedings, as given by Summers, were as follows:
"In obedience to the resolves of the Continental Congress, a meeting of the Freeholders of Fincastle County, in Virginia, was held on the 20th day of January, 1775, who after approving of the Association framed by that august body in behalf of the Colonies, and subscribing thereto, proceeded to the election of a Committee, to see the same carried punctually into execution, when the follow- ing gentlemen were nominated: the Reverend Charles Cummings, Colonel William Preston, Colonel William Christian, Captain Stephen Trigg, Major Arthur Campbell, Major William Inglis, Captain Walter Crockett, Captain John Montgomery, Captain James Mc.Gavock, Captain William Campbell, Captain Thomas Madison, Captain Daniel Smith, Captain William Russell, Captain Evan Shelby, and Lieutenant William Edmondson. After the election the committee made choice of Colonel William Christian for their chair- man, and appointed Mr. David Campbell to be clerk."
It was also ordered by the meeting, that an address expressing the thanks and congratulations of the people of Fincastle County be prepared and sent to the citizens who had represented Virginia at the recent session of the Continental Congress. The address was promptly written and forwarded, addressed as follows:
"To the Honorable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Junior, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, Esquires, the Dele- gates from this Colony, who attended the Continental Congress held at Philadelphia :
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"Gentlemen,-Had it not been for our remote situation and the Indian War which we were lately engaged in to chastise those cruel and savage people for the many murders and depredations they have committed amongst us, now happily terminated under the auspices of our present worthy Governor, His Excellency the Right Honor- able the Earl of Dunmore, we should before this time have made known to you our thankfulness for the very important services you have rendered to your country, in conjunction with the worthy Dele- gates from the other Provinces. Your noble efforts for reconciling the mother country and the Colonies, on rational and constitutional principles, and your pacifick, steady and uniform conduct in that arduous work entitle you to the esteem of all British America, and will immortalize you in the annals of your country. We heartily concur in your resolutions, and shall, in every instance, strictly and invariably adhere thereto.
"We assure you, gentlemen, and all our countrymen, that we are a people whose hearts overflow with love and duty to our lawful Sovereign, George the Third, whose illustrious House for several successive reigns have been the guardians of the civil and religious rights and liberties of British subjects, as settled at the glorious Revolution; that we are willing to risk our lives in the service of his Majesty for the support of the Protestant religion and the rights and liberties of his subjects, as they have been established by com- pact, law and ancient charters. We are heartily grieved at the dif- ferences which now subsist between the parent state and the Colo- nies, and most ardently wish to see harmony restored on an equitable basis and by the most lenient measures that can be devised by the heart of man. Many of us and our forefathers left our native land, considering it as a kingdom subjected to inordinate power and greatly abridged of its liberties; we crossed the Atlantic and ex- plored this then uncultivated wilderness bordering on many nations of savages and surrounded by mountains almost inaccessible to any but those very savages, who have incessantly been committing bar- barities and depredations on us since our first seating the country. These fatigues and dangers we patiently encountered, supported by the pleasing hope of enjoying those rights and liberties which had been granted to Virginians, and were denied in our native country, and of transmitting them inviolate to our posterity ; but even to these remote regions the hand of unlimited and unconstitutional power hath pursued us, to strip us of that liberty and property with which
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God, nature and the rights of humanity have vested us. We are ready and willing to contribute all in our power for the support of his Majesty's government, if applied to constitutionally, and when the grants are made by our own Representatives, but cannot think of submitting our liberty or property to the power of a venal British Parliament, or to the will of a corrupt Ministry. We by no means desire to shake off our duty or allegiance to our lawful sovereign, but, on the contrary, shall ever glory in being the loyal subjects of a Protestant prince, descended from such illustrious progenitors, so long as we can enjoy the free exercise of our religion as Protestants, and our liberties and properties as British Subjects.
"But if no pacifick measures shall be proposed or adopted by Great Britain, and our enemies will attempt to dragoon us out of those inestimable privileges, which we are entitled to as subjects, and to reduce us to a state of slavery, we declare that we are deliber- ately and resolutely determined never to surrender them to any power upon earth but at the expense of our lives.
"These are our real, though unpolished, sentiments of liberty and loyalty, and in them we are resolved to live or die.
"We arc, gentlemen, with the most perfect esteem and regard, your most obedient servants."
There is nothing obtainable from contemporaneous records to show the number of men that attended the meeting. But there must have been a large gathering, with every section of Fincastle County represented, the Clinch Valley included, as two members of the committee, Captains Smith and Russell, were from that valley. His- torians, who have published and commented upon the address, have generally abscribed its authorship to Reverend Charles Cummings. They appear to have reached this conclusion from tradition. The phraseology of the paper shows beyond dispute that it was written by a preacher, and not by a soldier or politician. Reverend Cum- mings was a preacher, the only one on the Committee, and was its most highly educated member. The professions of love and duty for George III. and his "illustrious House" indicate that the man who drafted the address was an extreme Protestant in religion, and found one redeeming virtue in the otherwise repulsive character of King George-the adherence of the House of Hanover to the cause of Protestantism in its terrible struggle with Roman Catholicism. The love and duty which overflowed the hearts of the men of Fincas-
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tle and of "the fighting parson," for George III. were made a secondary consideration when they realized that their civil and religious rights were being violated by the English King. Hence their stern intention to defend those rights at any cost, as written in a closing paragraph: "We declare that we are deliberately and resolutely determined never to surrender them to any power upon earth but at the expense of our lives."
The Tazewell pioneers, no doubt, to a man, were in accord with this expressed determination of their fellow-countrymen to resist to the utmost any attempt to abridge their rights as American citizens. They had been made genuinely and religiously responsive to the charm of the freedom they were enjoying in this grand mountain country-a freedom that was then unknown in any European mon- archy, and which exists in none of them now. Though the worship of Kingship had not been discarded by all the settlers west of New River, it soon disappeared when there came a clash of arms between the patriot colonists and the armies of England.
Immediately after the news was received in England that the Continental Congress had recommended to the colonies a suspension of all commercial intercourse with Great Britain and her depend- encies, Parliament retaliated by ordering that the colonies be forced into acceptance of the obnoxious shipping laws and the tax on tea. General Gage, who had recently been made governor of Massachusetts, was ordered to begin a campaign of subjugation; and a fleet and an army of ten thousand men were sent him from England to aid in the campaign. As soon as his plans were settled upon, Gage seized and fortified Boston Neck. had the military stores in the arsenals at Cambridge and Charlestown removed to Boston. and issued peremptory orders to the Massachusetts General Assem- bly to dissolve and disperse. Instead of cringingly obeying the com- mands of the governor, the members resolved themselves into a Pro- vincial Congress to devise plans and furnish means for meeting force with force. They appropriated money for the organization and equipping of an army of twelve thousand men for the defence of the colony. It was a daring and dangerous course of action for a feeble colony to follow, to thus defy the greatest naval and military power of the world. But the patriots of Massachusetts had received assurances from Virginia and her other sister colonies that they would stand faithfully by them in the mighty struggle to preserve inviolate their rights as American freemen.
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BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND BUNKER HILL.
When Gage began to reveal his purpose to use an armed force to suppress the spirit of revolt, the people of Boston decided to take their supplies of arms and ammunition to Concord, sixteen miles dis- tant. This was effected by concealing the ammunition in cart loads of rubbish and hauling the supplies to the desired destination. In some way Gage was informed of the movement of the Boston people; and he secretly sent Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn with a regi- ment of eight hundred soldiers, on the night of the 18th of April, for the two-fold purpose of destroying the stores of ammunition and capturing John Hancock and Samuel Adams. These two men were the main leaders of the revolt in Massachusetts. The detach- ment of soldiers started for Concord about midnight. and the move- ment was quickly discovered by some of the alert citizens. They gave an alarm to the people of Boston, Cambridge and Charlestown by ringing bells and firing cannon. The fearless patriot, Joseph Warren started Paul Revere on his memorable midnight ride through Charlestown to Concord and Lexington to warn the people of the hostile approach of the British soldiers under Smith and Pitcairn. This ride has ever since been famous in song and story. Revcre eluded the enemy pickets and succeeded in arousing the people; and when the British column reached Lexington a company of militia, commanded by Captain John Parker, was formed on the town com- mon to meet the coming foe. Pitcairn was in charge of the advance troops, and when he saw the patriots were prepared to resist his progress, he halted his men, ordered them to load their guns and advanced at the double-quick upon Parker and his men. Riding at the front, Major Pitcairn cried out: "Disperse, ye villains! Throw down your arms, ye rebels and disperse;" but the Americans reso- lutely held their ground. Major Pitcairn, seeing their purpose not to yield, fired his pistol at them and then ordered his men to fire. The order was obeyed, and the first dicharge of the British musk- ets killed four and wounded nine of the Massachusetts men. This was the first volley that was fired in the Revolutionary War.
Being greatly outnumbered the Americans began to disperse, and four more of their number were killed while retreating. A scatter- ing fire from Captain Parker's men wounded three of the British soldiers and Major Pitcairn's horse. The militia having dispersed, the British column marched on to effect the main object of the
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expedition; and arrived at Concord at 7:30 o'clock in the morning. They found but little ammunition there, as the inhabitants had . moved the larger part of their stores to other places for concealment. Two cannons were spiked and their carriages destroyed, and a small quantity of ammunition was thrown into a nearby mill pond. While the British were engaged in their work of devastation, the surround- ing country having been thoroughly aroused, minute-men began to assemble from all directions. The Americans determined to enter the village and drive the British away; and, in carrying out this design, found a company of the enemy guarding the North Bridge that spanned Concord River. On discovery of the British, the American officers for the first time ordered their men to fire, and two of the enemy were killed by this first volley of the Americans. From that moment the colonists became the aggressors in the run- ning battle that has since been called the "Battle of Lexington." The bridge was captured by the provincials, the enemy retired into the town, and then began to retreat along the road to Lexington. Between Concord and Lexington many of the patriots had concealed themselves on the sides of the road; and for six miles along the high- way the terrified British soldiers were treated to a galling fire by the men who were hidden behind rocks, trees, fences and barns. Lord Percy met the fugitives a short distance from Lexington with reinforcements, and saved Colonel Smith's forces from a complete rout. The fight was continued, however, until the precincts of Charlestown were reached. As the conflict continued the untrained Americans gained courage and confidence, and would probably have demanded the surrender of Smith's and Pitcairn's forces if they had not feared that the British fleet would bombard and burn Boston. The losses of the Americans in the first battle of the war were forty- nine killed, thirty-four wounded and five missing, while the British losses in killed and wounded numbered two hundred and seventy- three.
The news of the battle of Lexington spread through all the colonies with remarkable rapidity, though the means the provinces had for communicating with each other were very limited. It filled the masses of the people, who had determined to separate them- selves from the monarchy of England, with enthusiasm. The victory proved that America had the men, and, if adequate means could be obtained for maintaining her armies, success was assured for the Revolution.
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New England was fired with zeal for the American cause, and within a few days after the battle was fought an army of twenty thousand patriots had gathered about Boston. Nearly all the leaders and many of the men of this provincial host were veterans of the French and Indian War. A line of entrenchments was thrown up which surrounded the city from Roxbury to Chelsea, and it was the common purpose of the Colonials to drive Gage with his army from the city. The Colonial forces were constantly increasing in numbers. John Stark arrived with the New Hampshire militia; grand old Israel Putman was plowing when tidings of the battle of Lexington reached him; he left his plow in the field, turned his oxen loose. mounted a horse and rode to Cambridge in one day, a distance of sixty-eight miles. He procured a commission of brigadier general from the provincial legislature, spurned a commission of major gen- eral offered him in the royal army, organized a regiment of men, and afterwards joined his compatriots at Boston. Nathaniel Green came with Rhode Island's quota, and Benedict Arnold arrived with the provincials from New Haven.
Events of great interest to the colonies occurred in rapid suc- cession. Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain boys on the 9th of May captured Ticonderoga. With a mere handful of men, eighty- three in number, Allen crossed Lake Champlain and made a surprise attack at daybreak upon the fort. The sentinel at the gate was driven from his post, and Allen's men faced the barracks ready to fire upon the garrison if resistance was shown. Allen, with Benedict Arnold, who had gone along as a private, rushed to the quarters of Delaplace. the commandant, roused him from his slumbers, and called for a surrender of the fort. When Delaplace asked: "By what authority?" Allen flourished his sword and shouted: "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." The English officer, with his garrison of forty-eight men surrendered a fort which had cost Great Britain eight million pounds sterling. Two days afterwards the Americans took Skenesborough and Crown Point ; and all the northern region was wrested from the English.
Generals Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne arrived at Boston on the 25th of May, bringing with them heavy reinforcements from Eng- land and Ireland. increasing the British army to more than ten thousand men. The British generals lost no time in preparing plans to bring the Americans into submission. General Gage issued a proclamation in which he pronounced the revolting colonists rebels
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and traitors, but offered pardon to all, except John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who would lay down their arms and renew their allegiance to England. This arrogant proposition was scornfully rejected by the patriotic men of New England.
The Americans in some way obtained information that the British were getting ready to make sallies from Boston, to drive away the provincial forces and devastate the surrounding country. Influenced by this information, on the night of June 16th a thousand men under the command of Colonel Prescott, grandfather of the great historian of that name, equipped with pieks and spades, slip- ped away from the American camp and threw up entrenchments on Bunker Hill. A redoubt eight rods square was planned by the engineers, and by daybreak was nearly completed. The British ships were so near that the Americans while at work could hear the sentinels on the vessels calling out, on the hours, "All is well." At day-dawn the fortifications were revealed to the British, and it was seen that Prescott's cannon would command the city. General Gage and his officers decided that the safety of the British army demanded expulsion of the Americans from the fortifications on the hill. The guns of the fleet, and the British batteries on Copp's Hill, were turned loose on the American position, but did little damage. About noon a British force of three thousand veterans, commanded by Generals Howe and Pigot, landed at Morton's Point and made an assault upon the Americans. Prescott had at this time fifteen hun- dred men, who were weary and hungry, but they bravely stood to their guns and awaited the approach of the enemy. Generals Put- nam and Warren entered the trenches and fought throughout the battle as privates. The British column was ordered to advance at three o'clock and at the same time, by prearrangement, every gun of the fleet and the shore batteries of the British was opened upon the Americans. Prescott directed his men not to fire until an order was given them. When the enemy got within fifty yards of the trenches the order to fire was given, and every gun in the redoubt was quickly discharged. The front line of the British was swept away by the deadly aim of the Americans; and the enemy recoiled and retreated beyond small gun range.
As quickly as possible the British lines werc reformed and another advance was made upon the Americans, with the same result as the first. A third assault was made and the Americans had but three or four rounds of ammunition per man left, and as soon as this
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