Arlington National Cemetery's 150th-- Part 2: Eight Things You Might Not Have Known

3.  It hosted the first national Memorial Day (called Decoration Day back then) in 1868.

4.  It is the only national cemetery with servicemen buried there from every war the U.S. fought.  The first military burial wasn't until 1864, but in 1892 Revolutionary War dead were reinterred from a Georgetown cemetery.  War of 1812 veterans were also reburied there.

--Brock-Perry

McHenry County's Major Watson: Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Veteran

From the Village of Hebron, Illinois, site.

Continued from April 26, 2014.

In the War of 1812, Major Watson enlisted again and was captured at Ogdensburg, NY,  and held a prisoner in a prisoner ship off Chatham, England, until 1815.  He was discharged at Baltimore and was ill for eleven months before he returned home to St. Lawrence in New York.

According to the Sons of the American Revolution, many veterans came to Wisconsin because their $8 a month pension made them rich in the area as that was often the only money seen on the frontier.  Therefore, the old men were greatly welcomed by relatives.

Major Watson died March 16, 1840, aged 100 years, 3 months and 16 days.  The death took place at the home of a daughter, Clarissa, Mrs. Daniel Downs in southern Wisconsin.

The Hebron-Linn Cemetery is just south of the Wisconsin border in Illinois.

Who's have Thought a Revolutionary War Veteran Buried in McHenry County.  --Cooter

Major Watson, Revolutionary War Soldier, Buried in McHenry County-- Part 2

He was born November 18, 1737 in Sackets Harbor, New York. This town is on the state's far western border and played a significant role in the War of 1812. Definitely the colonial frontier at the time.

As a young man, he was captured by Indians and made to "Run the Gauntlet" where he had to run between two lines of Indians who tried to strike him down with war clubs and tomahawks. He later was befriended by a chief before making his escape with the help of a fur trader.

During the Revolutionary War, he served under generals Washington and Lafayette. At the Battle of Monmouth, he was in the First New York under the famed Colonel Goose Van Schalk.

He was later captured at Fort Stanwix by Indians and held prisoner for the duration of the war in Montreal.

I have never heard of Fort Stanwix so will have to do further research on the battle.

--Cooter

Major Watson, Revolutionary War Veteran, Buried in McHenry County-- Part 1

From the Village of Hebron, Illinois, website.

Major Watson is believed to be the only Revolutionary War veteran buried in McHenry County at Hebron's Linn-Hebron Cemetery. However, Watson lived most of his life in New York state and only came to the Midwest in the last three years of his life, and even then, living in southern Wisconsin.

The Linn-Hebron Cemetery is just over the Illinois-Wisconsin stateline from Wisconsin.

Major Watson was also one of the last survivors of the war for American Independence, dying in 1840 at the age of 100.

He is also a veteran of two wars, the War of 1812 as well, (so I will have to mention him in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog) and was captured in both, spending most of the time in prison. He was captured by Indians twice, once before the Revolution.

Quite An Interesting Life For the Major.  Cooter

Revolutionary War Veteran Honored in McHenry County-- Part 3

The plaque dedication was organized by the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and was also attended by the Daughters of the American Revolution and Major Watson Society of the Children of the American Revolution. //// The SAR estimates that in Illinois there are about 100 cemeteries with the remains of American Revolution veterans. Most individual graves have been marked, but the SAR wants to put these plaques at cemetery entrances to alert visitiors of the fact. //// The SAR is an international organization of men who are descendants of those who fought in the American Revolution. ////

Revolutionary War Veteran Honored in McHenry -- Part 1: Major Watson

From the April 7, 2014, Northwest Herald (McHenry County, Illinois, "Revolutionary Honor: Sons of the American Revolution honor vet buried at Hebron cemetery" by Joseph Bustos. //// The re-enactors stood in Revolutionary War uniforms and about 35 people were at the entrance to Linn-Hebron Cemetery. They were there to honor the only-known American Revolution veteran buried in McHenry County. //// Major Watson served under General George Washington and General Marquis de Lafayette. //// Members of the Illinois Society of Sons of the American Revolution paid to have the plaque placed there, noting the cemetery as the site of Watson's grave. //// Too Bad He Wasn't a Major in Rank. Then He Could Have Been Major Major Watson.

North Carolina Gunboats of the American Revolution

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

North Carolina gunboats fall into three categories:  Revolutionary War, the period of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison administrations and the Confederacy.  I will write about those from the Revolution here.  The War of 1812 and the Civil War will be covered in those blogs.

The Revolutionary War gunboats were armed merchantmen, intended to protect coastal towns.  Three of them, the Pennsylvania Farmer, King Tammany and General Washington were outfitted as guard ships.  They were not staisfactory, so the state went in with Virginia to build two rowing galleys to defend Ocracoke Inlet: the Caswell and the Washington.

The Caswell served at Ocracoke under Captain Willis Wilson from 1778-1779.   Neither galley saw action but did defend trade passing through the inlet. 

In 1790, the worm-riddled Caswell sank at its mooring in New Bern and its crew and weapons transferred to the Washington.

A Revolutionary Affair.  --Cooter

British Revolutionary War Ship Discovered

From the Aug. 19, 2010, Daily Press by Mark St. John Erickson.

Underwater archaeologists doing a survey in the Virginia's York River found a shipwreck that may have been scuttled by the British during the war.  It had been covered up with silt but the current shifted, revealing it.

It is believed to have been part of a fleet of 60 British vessels anchored off Yorktown during the October 1781 battle.  Cornwallis had many vessels scuttled to protect the rear of Yorktown from amphibious assault.  Most of these ships were salvaged after the British surrender, but many remained.  From 1975 to 1990, nine shipwrecks were found and one, the Betsy, was excavated.

Wonder What Happened to the Ship Since 2010?  --Cooter

The Search On for HMS Diana from the Revolutionary War

July 19, 2009, AP.

The search is on for the HMS Diana, whose wreckage is believed to be in Chelsea Creek which separates the city of Chelsea and the East Boston neighborhoods of Boston.

The ship was involved in the first naval engagement of the American Revolution. It was part of a two day battle, May 27-28, 1775. British forces were attempting to reach friendly farmers and the Diana sailed upriver to support the ground forces. It ran aground.

The State of Massachusetts has received a $48,300 grant for the Chelsea Creek Battlefield from the National Park Service to preserve it. This money is earmarked to fill in the gaps of this largely unknown battle (I'd never heard of it) and to find the Diana.

After running aground, the ship was attacked by Continental forces and the 120 ton schooner became the first British vessel to be captured or destroyed. It was built in 1774 in Massachusetts and was an unarmed private fishing boat before being purchased by the British Navy for 750 pounds.

They mounted four six-pounders and twelve swivel guns on it.

The Diana ran into unfavorable wind while engaging Colonial forces and ran aground. They refused an offer to surrender. The crew escaped and Americans boarded and removed its armament.

I Wonder If They Found It? --Cooter

The First Two USS New Yorks

From Wikipeia.

The first New York was a gondola, hurriedly-built on Lake Champlain, New York, in 1776 and participated in the Battle of Valcour Island on Oct. 11, 1776. The American fleet, under the command of Benedict Arnold was most captured or sunk, with the New York escaping. One of then, the USS Philadelphia, was sunk and raised in 1935 and is now in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

The second USS New York was a three-masted, wooden-hulled frigate commissioned in 1800. It was one of five frigates built by the states for the Federal government by subscription.

The New York was 145-feet long, had a 38-foot beam and complement of 340 officers and enlisted, mounting 26 X 18 pounder guns and 20 X 32-pdr. carronades.

The ship served in the Caribbean and along the Barbary Coast before returning to the Washington Navy Yard where it was put in ordinary from 1803 until burned by the British when they captured the city in 1814 during the War of 1812.

And, That's Just Two of Them. --Cooter

Back to the Revolution: The Hunt for the Bonhomme Richard-- Part 1: US Navy Underwater Archaeology Branch

Another Revolutionary War story with a famous quote, even though I had never heard the "Come and Get It" quote before I came across the McIntosh story.

From the Oct. 23, 2010, Seattle Times "Navy in hunt for John Paul Jones' famous sunken ship, the Bonhomme Richard" by Annys Shin.

The search for the famous ship, sunk September 25, 1779, off the coast of Yorkshire, England, has been going on for decades. Even in English waters, the wreck is legally the property of the United States Navy.

Bob Neyland, chief archaeologist of the Navy's Underwater Archaeology Branch based at the Washington Navy Yard, heads up a small unit responsible for identifying and preserving sunken and historically significant vessels from the colonial era to World War II fighter planes.

The branch was created in 1996 and once had eight members, but budgetary problems have reduced it to four members now. (This is a job I'd be willing to come out of retirement for.) Their annual federal budget is $37,000, but that is augmented by other Naval officers, non-profit groups as well as state and federal agency grants.

More to Come. --DaCoot

Fort Morris "Come and Get It"-- Part 1

I had never heard of Fort Morris before reading about Lt. Col. John McIntosh (see May 13th, so had to do some research in Wikipedia.

Fort Morris is a Georgia State Historical Site. In the past, it defended the southern approach to Savannah along the Medway River.

It was most famous for the November 25, 1778 battle between American forces led by Lt. Col. John McIntosh and a British force during the American Revolution. When the British demanded their surrender, McIntosh simply replied, "Come and Get It." The English eventually had to withdraw, but returned 45 days later, on January 9, 1779, with a larger force and did capture it, renaming it Fort George.

Today, the fort is one of the few remaining Revolutionary War-era earthwork fortifications.

However, a fort stood at the site back in 1741 and was attacked by Indians allied with Spain (Florida was a Spanish colony at the time). Also, there was activity at the site during the French and Indian War, War of 1812 and even the Civil War.

In 1812, it was named Fort Defiance.

More to Come. --Cooter

Colonel James S. McIntosh and Georgia's "Fighting McIntoshes"

The son of Lt.-Col. John McIntosh whose third funeral was discussed yesterday.

Col. James McIntosh was a hero of the War of 1812 and Mexican War.

Wounded by bayonets at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma in 1846. When an officer found him and asked if he could be of assistance. Col. McIntosh replied, "Yes, give me some water and show me my regiment."

He recovered and returned to combat where he was mortally wounded leading his brigade storming El Molina del Ray on September 8, 1848.

He was a member of the "Fighting McIntoshes."

His son, James McQueen McIntosh became a general in the Confederate Army and was killed iat the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas. Another son, John Baillie McIntosh, served in the Union Army where he lost a leg at the Third battle of Winchester, Virginia.

Lachlan McIntosh was Georgia's ranking continental officer in the Revolutionary War.

You Want Them on Your Side. --DaCoot

"Come and Take It" McIntosh's Third Funeral

Revolutionary War hero Lt. Col. John McIntosh was reburied October 23, 2010, at a service held at the Mallow Plantation Historic Site in Eulonia in McIntosh County, Georgia. His great, great grandson was at the reburial. This was the colonel's third burial.

On November 25, 1778, British Lt.-Col. Lewis Fuser demanded that McIntosh surrender Fort Morris at Sunbury. McIntosh's reply was simply, "Come and get it." The British withdrew.

In 2006, an 1850s style "Fisk" iron casket was found in a marsh adjacent to a bluff where 1800s records indicate the colonel's body was buried. The Sapelo River washed it out. Since then, it was kept at the Darien funeral home and was not opened.

Records also indicate that McIntosh was the only male buried at the site and a piece of male clothing was found sticking out of the casket.

However, iron caskets were not invented until 1848 and McIntosh died in 1826. However, during the 1850s, six major hurricanes hit the area and it is believed that the colonel's casket was washed out and then his body place in an iron casket.

"Come and Get It" Ranks Right Up There with "Nuts" As far As Surrender Replies Are concerned.

The Colonel's Home at Last. --Cooter

Redcoats on the River-- Part 2

British troops occupied Wilmington in January 1781. After that, Loyalists used the city as a base to strike the Patriots.

The British Royal Navy quickly blockaded the Cape Fear River and North Carolina coast. Enterprising Patriots like Cornelius Harnett, chartered small fast ships to continue trade with the West Indies, the first blockade-runners, preceding the better-known ones from the Civil War.

Salt became scarce and salt-works were erected at Topsail Inlet and other sites. The same happened in the Civil War as well.

Thomas Peters, a Wilmington slave, took up the British offer of emancipation and enlisted with the Loyalists. he fought throughout the war and later became a founder of the African country of Sierra Leone.

Herron's Bridge was a 403-foot draw-bridge that spanned the Northeast Cape Fear River about where I-40 does today.

Sounds Like an Interesting Book. Cooter

Redcoats on the River-- Part 1

Book Review in Dec. 4, 2008, Wilmington (NC) Star-News by Ben Steelman.

People in Wilmington know about Moore's Creek Battlefield and the Burgwin-Wright House "Cornwallis' House, but not many know that Wilmington lawyer William Hooper signed the Declaration of Independence for the state of North Carolina.

Not many Colonial and Revolutionary War and early Federal structures remain Wilmington because they were wood frame and fires claimed most. Civil War sites are much-better known.

Author Robert M. Dunkerly of the National Park Service has written a book "Redcoats on the River" to fill in the area's history during the Revolutionary War. Much of that conflict revolved around extremely brutal guerrilla war between Patriots and Tories/Loyalists (as the backers of England were called).

The Revolution pitted brother-against-brother, neighbor vs. neighbor. Two of Hooper's brothers remained loyal to the crown.

In Bladen and Duplin counties, the two sides burned each other's homes and scattered livestock.

More to Come. --DaCoot

Revolutionary War Beacons

I came across one article from Nov. 25, 2008, about how on the 225th anniversary of British troops leaving the United States, the Hudson River Valley National heritage Area and several other organizations symbolically lighted five beacon light sites used by the Continental Army.

This system of lights were vital to the war effort, warning of the approach of British ships in both New York and New Jersey.

Only, this time the beacons were a xenon light display.

Let There Be Light. --Cooter

The Search for the Bonhomme Richard-- Part 2

From Wikipedia

The Bonhomme Richard was built for France in 1765 and named the Duc de Duras and intended for the East Indies trade. The French king placed the ship at John Paul Jones' disposal and he renamed in Bonhomme Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin who had written Poor Richard's Almanac which was published in France as Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard.

The ship weighed 998 tons, was 152 feet long and had a 40 foot beam and a crew of 380. Its armament consisted of 28X12-pounder smoothbores, 6X18-pounder smoothbores and 8X9-pounder smoothbores.

Before the battle, it had been sailing off the British coast attacking merchant ships when it came across a big convoy protected by the HMS Serapis and another British ship.

The battle last four hours and at first appeared to be a victory for the British. About half of the crews of both ships were killed or wounded and eventually the fighting was between the two ships as they were tied together. When the French warship Alliance joined in and opened fire on both vessels, the Serapis was forced to surrender when it could not bring its guns to bear on it.

The Bonhomme Richard sank September 25, 1779, after Jones had transferred his command to the Serapis which later became a French privateer and sank.

I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight. --Cooter

The Search for the Bonhomme Richard-- Part 1

The September New Haven (Ct) Register reports that the Ocean Technology Foundation is getting ready to mount their fifth expedition to locate the wreck of John Paul Jones' ship, the Bonhomme Richard which sank after its battle with the British frigate HMS Serapis in what is called the Battle of Flamborough Head off the coast of Yorkshire, England, on September 23, 1779.

It was in this battle that Jones uttered the famous words, "I have not yet begun to fight."

The wreck of the Serapis was discovered in November 1999.

Many efforts have been made to find it, but the Bonhomme Richard has so far been elusive. It is believed to be in several pieces and there are many other shipwrecks in the area, further compounding the problem of locating it.

Here's Hoping They Find It. --DaCoot

North Carolina Trip: August--September 2010

I saw quite a bit of colonial/Revolutionary War/Indian places on the way, especially in Illinois and Indiana. At one point in Illinois, there was a history-on-a stick about a treaty signed by Chief Pontiac.

Then, Vincennes, Indiana, is a trip back in time all by itself. I already knew about the George Rodgers Clark Memorial at the former site of British Fort Sackville along the Wabash River, but I did not know about Vincennes being the former capital of Indiana Territory and the reconstructed buildings that give its story. Also, future president William Henry Harrison was territorial governor and his house, Grouseland has been preserved by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Also, there is the Brouillet French House built in 1806 and the home of a French fur trader. They say it is one of only six remaining upright log and mud houses in North America.

There was also a sign by Grouseland House saying it was the future site of Walnut Grove, not the Little House on the Prairie, where William Henry Harrison had two Indian meetings in 1810 and 1811.

Lots of History in Vincennes. --Cooter