Ed Holt’s Research 1775-1776

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September 1775 (written September 2025)

Organizing the Resistance: September 1775

During September 1775, the growing conflict between the United Colonies (they were not yet the United States) and Great Britain continued to escalate slowly.  Skirmishes between loyalist and patriot factions in NC, SC & VA became more frequent and began to escalate in intensity.  The South Carolina militia seized Fort Johnson which gave them control of Charleston Harbor. British Governor William Campbell fled to a British warship and the South Carolina Provincial Congress took control.

The siege of Boston by Colonial troops continued, mainly as a stalemate.  A discrepancy was found in the Colonial gunpowder inventory which rendered Washington’s Army around Boston virtually indefensible, had the British attacked.  At that time there were no active gunpowder mills in the Colonies and the supply of Saltpeter, needed to make gunpowder, was severely limited. 

Congress reconvened on September 13, with Georgia joining as the 13^th colony.  Among their actions was appointment of the “Secret Committee” to obtain supplies from offshore sources of scarce wartime necessities, including gunpowder.  Three shipments of powder were received from the West Indies, lessening the crisis.

The government of Great Britain, dissatisfied with how the war was proceeding, replaced General Gage with General Howe.  Luckily, neither General chose to attack the American position around Boston.

Colonel Benedict Arnold left Massachusetts with a force of 1,100 men to join General Richard Montgomery, who left Fort Ticonderoga in August for the invasion of Quebec.  Arnold sailed north to Maine and then marched cross country to meet up with Montgomery’s 2,000 man force in Quebec. On September 17, Montgomery began a siege of Fort St. John, prior to Arnold’s arrival. Among Arnold’s troops were Morgan’s Rifles from Frederick County, Virginia, who would go on to distinguish themselves. 

The hope was that the former French inhabitants of Canada would join with the colonists in fighting the British, perhaps as a 14^th colony.

Virginia: Continued Measures for Self-rule

In Virginia, the first four companies of the 2^nd Virginia Regiment for the Continental Army mustered for the first time.  The Committee of Safety, an 11-member group which functioned as the Executive branch of the Colonial Virginia Government from August 1775 until July 1776, authorized the first flag for the Virginia Continental troops.  It was a light blue background with the words “Virginia For Constitutional Liberty”.

Despite a severe hurricane that hit Southeastern Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina during September, Governor Dunmore escalated his raids on Patriot supply points and strongholds from British ships in the Chesapeake Bay.  On September 30, he attacked Colonial communication means for the first time by sending a detachment to raid Holt’s Print Shop in Norfolk, confiscating the type, ink and other supplies along with two workmen.

Back in Botetourt:

In Botetourt, the local Committee of Safety organized one of the five provincial companies authorized by the Virginia Convention in August.  This company was tasked with defending the frontier.  It was under the command of Captain Matthew Arbuckle, who is thought to be the first European to navigate the length of the Kanawha River and had been a guide for Andrew Lewis in 1774 during Dunmore’s War.  Lieutenants for the company were Andrew Wallace, Samuel Woods, John Galloway and James Thompson.  This company, named the Point Pleasant Company was comprised of 100 Botetourt riflemen.

The county court met briefly with Justices John Bowyer, James Trimble, William McKee, William McClenachan, Andrew Woods, Richard May and George Skillern presiding to hear the complaint of George Heldrick, an apprentice to William Fleming (a fellow Justice of the court), for not having instructed him in a trade as agreed.  The complaint was dismissed.

Submitted by Ed Holt, Historic Research Chair BPP

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August 1775 (written August 2025)

Looking Back 250 Years: August 1775

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Botetourt Preservation Partnership, INC —composed of representatives from various historic, civic, and governmental organizations and designated by the Board of Supervisors as the Botetourt VA250 Committee—will present a monthly look at the events unfolding 250 years ago, leading up to American independence.

A Point of No Return: August 1775

By August 1775, the moderates in the American colonies, who were seeking a middle ground of remaining loyal to King George and remaining a part of the Empire while assuring the Colonists the same rights as British subjects in the mother country,  were dealt a crushing blow when both King George and Parliament rejected the “Olive Branch Petition” passed by the Continental Congress in July and proclaimed the 13 British Colonies on the North American Coast to be in a state of open and avowed rebellion.  Essentially, the King’s Proclamation transformed the relationship between the King and the colonists, turning a dispute about rights and governance into a full-blown rebellion where reconciliation seemed increasingly improbable. 

George Washington, who reached the Continental Army and took command in July, was endeavoring to strengthen the discipline and training of the troops, as well as strengthening the American lines around the British Army, whose headquarters were in Boston. 

Prior to Washington’s arrival, the Continental Army was conducting a siege of the main body of the British Army in the colonies which was in Boston.  Due to the British naval strength, this siege was largely ineffective and supplies and additional troops were arriving in Boston nearly daily by sea. 

To make this siege effective, Washington began converting merchant vessels to armed ships to harass and slow the flow of men and material into Boston.  Since there was no appetite for creating a Navy in Congress, Washington did not inform them and was careful to make the crews “soldiers” rather than “sailors”.  Not until October will Congress authorize the first Navy.

On August 27, American privateers from Machias, Massachusetts, raided Saint John, New Brunswick, to disrupt the supply of goods to the Loyalists in Boston. This raid, the first hostile act against Nova Scotia, prompted the colony to mobilize its militia.

Benedict Arnold approached Washington about a potential two-pronged invasion of Quebec in hope that the formerly French province would join the American cause as the 14^th colony.  After Washington’s approval of the plan, General Montgomery departed Fort Ticonderoga with the first prong of the attack.

Virginia: Continued Measures for Self-rule

The third Virginia Convention, which had been convened in July, continued meeting.  The Conventions had become the de facto government in Virginia at this point. 

In August measures were passed to create paper currency.  Also taken up by the Convention were measures to pay the soldiers from Dunmore’s War, the main engagement of which was the Battle of Point Pleasant, which occurred in then Botetourt County in October, 1774.  Many soldiers were paid with land grants on the frontier.

The main burden of securing the western frontier of the colonies fell to Virginia.  At that time Virginians had settled from Chartiers Valley in the environments of present-day Pittsburgh all the way to Long Island and Carter’s Valley southwest of present-day Kingsport, TN, over 425 miles.  The Convention formed the first of what was to grow to five independent provincial companies of 100 men each to defend this frontier in August.  Command of this first company was given to John Neville, former sheriff of Frederick County (Winchester) who had settled in Chartiers Valley.  Neville was given orders to occupy nearby Fort Pitt.

The Convention also resolved to conduct a census, form a county militia, and set up courts in Staunton and Pittsburgh for peacekeeping and criminal cases.

Back in Botetourt:

On August 8, the Botetourt County Court met with Justices James Trimble, William Fleming, Benjamin Estill, Richard May, William McClenachan and Andrew Donnely presiding.  Among the items to come before the court were the appointment of Dawson Wade as Surveyor for a road from Stephen May’s lodging to the county line.  Other items included appointing Samuel Brown, Joseph Anderson, Patrick Lewis and Hugh Miller to “view the way from Sweet Springs Road to Camp Union” (current Lewisburg, WV) and report back to the court. William Preston proved a certificate for 5,500 lbs. of hemp (presumably grown on Greenfield Plantation). A recommendation was made to His Excellency the Royal Governor for persons fit to serve as County Sheriff in favor of James Trimble, William Fleming and George Skillern.

Several deeds of land transactions were recorded in August 1775.  Among them were purchases by Bryan McDonald, William Preston, John McAlister, Robert Moor, John Gray, John Madison, Priscilla Davis, William Anderson and Israel Christian.

Respectfully Submitted by Ed Holt, Historical Research Chair

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July 1775 (written July 2025)

As we approach the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Botetourt Preservation Partnership, composed of representatives from various historic, civic and governmental organizations and functioning as the Botetourt VA250 committee by resolution of the Board of Supervisors would like to present an account of what was going on each month 250 years ago leading up to the Declaration of Independence.

July 1775 was a time of transition and uncertainty in Britain’s North American Colonies.  The first shots of what was to become the American Revolution had been fired in Massachusetts in April 1775, but sentiments as whether to seek independence from Britain or not were closely divided and pitted neighbor vs neighbor.

In Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress, with delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies, convened in May.  They set about to form a consensus and working framework to govern the colonies amid disagreement and intense debate. 

In June they had agreed to form the Continental Army from the militia units fighting the British in New England and appointed George Washington the army’s commander.  Washington reached the Army and took command July 3, 1775 in Cambridge, MA, during the siege of Boston.

Shortly after this, Congress passed the “Olive Branch” Resolution on July 5, pledging their loyalty to King George and asking him to personally intervene in order to reach a peaceful resolution.

The next day, Congress passed the “Declaration of Causes & Necessity for Taking up Arms”, demonstrating their readiness to fight for their liberty, should the King not intervene and it would become necessary to do so in order achieve their goal of having the same rights as Englishmen in the home country enjoyed.

July 1775 also saw Congress establish a Postal Service and Georgia joined Congress as the 13^th and final member.

In Virginia, delegates to Conventions set about to govern the colony in the absence of the Royal Governor who had fled the capital of Williamsburg in June and to the ship Fawley, off of Yorktown.  From there, Lord Dunmore set up a base in the vicinity of Norfolk to combat the growing spirit of rebellion in Virginia.

The Third Virginia Convention convened July 17, 1775 at St. John’s Church in Richmond and established a Committee of Safety to take over the administrative functions of the Royal Governor and providing for the defense of the colony.  To this end, they established two regiments of regular troops and divided the colony into 16 military districts, each charged with providing a battalion of militia or minutemen.

Meanwhile, back in Botetourt, life proceeded much as it had.  On July 11, 1775, the court was convened with Justices Andrew Woods, George Skillern, Benjamin Estill and Richard May presiding.  They heard and adjudicated cases involving disturbance of the peace, debts of back taxes to the King, insulting magistrates in the execution of their duties, and an escaped indentured servant.

Respectfully Submitted by Ed Holt, Historical Research Chair.