History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia Part 53

FOOTNOTES:

[622:A] Williamsburg invited the a.s.sistance of an additional volunteer force to guard the town.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIV.

1775.

Dunmore at Portsmouth--Convention--Committee of Safety-- Carrington, Read, Cabell--Henry, Colonel and Commander-in-chief --George Mason--Miscellaneous Affairs--Death of Peyton Randolph --The Randolphs of Virginia.

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 c.u.mberland 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 a.s.sociation 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 const.i.tution. 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 a.s.sembly in 1769, and a signer of the a.s.sociation. 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 pa.s.sed 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, pet.i.tioned 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 pa.s.sed by way of recommendations for the people; but afterwards ordinances were enacted on all matters of importance with the formalities of a bill, pa.s.sing 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 a.s.sociation; 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 a.s.sembled 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 acc.u.mulated 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 a.s.sembly from c.u.mberland 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 const.i.tution 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 St.i.th, 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:

[625:A] Foote's Sketches of Va., second series, 575; Grigsby's Convention of '76.

[626:A] Foote's Sketches, second series, 573; Grigsby's Convention of '76.

[627:A] Va. Hist. Reg., iii. 44 and 107; Grigsby's Convention of '76.

[629:A] Grigsby's Convention of Va. of '76.

[630:A] A small work on gardening, printed at Petersburg, in 1807, is attributed to him.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xV.

1775.

Dunmore's War--Captain Squires--Woodford sent against Dunmore-- Woodford and Henry--Affairs at Great Bridge--Battle of Great Bridge--Howe a.s.sumes Command--Indignity offered Henry-- Committee of Safety--Pendleton--Howe occupies Norfolk.

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 ash.o.r.e 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 pa.s.s 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 mora.s.s, 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 dest.i.tute 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 a.s.sumed 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 t.i.tle 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 pa.s.sed the following resolution:--

"_Resolved_, Unanimously, that Colonel Woodford, although acting upon a separate and detached command, ought to correspond with Colonel Henry, and make returns to him at proper times of the state and condition of the forces under his command, and also that he is subject to his orders when the convention or the committee of safety is not sitting; but that while either of these bodies is sitting he is to receive his orders from one of them."