The Southwestern corner of Pennsylvania was perhaps the most isolated in the state. It was also a region claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania. Far removed from assistance from the eastern centers of population, they had to rely on their own resolve for defense.

These settlers experienced unrelenting violence during the Revolution. Ironically, the fighting here escalated as the main war was winding down to the east. The years of 1780, 81, and 82 saw many Indian raids on the area. In taking the war to these settlers, the Indian groups were trying to stop encroachment on their lands in what become, to them, a never ending fight. A series of historic markers note the sites of forts and raids in the region.

I am a frequent visitor to Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia’s East End. The Cemetery, founded in 1854 with its first burials in 1856, is the resting place for about 17,000 Confederate soldiers. I recently made a startling discovery that connects this 19th Century landmark to the Revolution.

Buried in a family plot, not far from the massive Confederate section, is Richard Eubank. His stone reads, “Richard Eubank, 1758-1855, Coxswain of Boat That Took George Washington Across the Delaware – 1776, Rev War.” I was stunned to make such a discovery.

It cried out for more research for several reasons. First, Eubank died in 1855, but the cemetery wasn’t even in use until the next year, so there’s a story there. Secondly, how did this soldier, the man who guided Washington across the Delaware, come to be buried here, in Oakwood, one of the city’s lesser known cemeteries? Most Revolutionary ‘celebrities’ are found in either St John’s or Shockoe Cemeteries in Richmond.   What could I find out about Eubank? The more I investigated, the stranger the story got.

Continue reading “George Washington’s Coxswain” →

Previously I wrote about the fighting in the Mississippi Valley and Gulf coast during the Revolution.  Below is a brief overview of the modern states in the Mississippi Valley and a summary of their colonial origins and events there during the Revolution:

Alabama

The French colonized the area that is now Alabama in the early 1700s.   They constructed a fort at what is now Mobile, and this was the capital of La Louisiane- not New Orleans.  The French presence was never very strong or deep, and they had few settlements in the region.

The French established trade network with Native Americans in the interior.  The English were also interested in the region, and trades and explorers penetrated the northern area of modern-day Alabama.

The 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years’ War after France’s defeat by Britain, resulted in France ceding its territories east of the Mississippi to Britain.  Great Britain came into undisputed control of the region between the Chattahoochee and the Mississippi rivers. The portion of Alabama below the 31st parallel became a part of British West Florida.  Today this is the long section of the Alabama-Florida state line.

The portion north of this line became a part of the “Illinois Country,” established by the British Crown for use by Indians.  At the conclusion of the Revolution, The British ceded West Florida to Spain, and the land to the north to the United States.  Yet there was disagreement about where the division between Spanish and American territory was, laying the foundation for a long boundary dispute between the two nations.

Continue reading “War in the Mississippi Valley: Part II” →

While the majority of Revolutionary War action occurred on the Atlantic coast, important events occurred farther west as well.  This article takes a look at this lesser known part of the conflict.

It is well known that France was an eager ally of the fledgling United States, secretly making loans and selling supplies to the Revolutionaries.  When the French felt the Americans had proved themselves at Saratoga, France officially entered the war, and became the first foreign nation to recognize the United States.  On February 6, 1778 both nations signed the Treaty of Alliance, in which France declared war on Great Britain and recognized American Independence.

Spain was also on the sidelines, watching events closely.  Unlike France, when Spain declared war on Great Britain, they did not recognize American independence.  By the Treaty of Aranjuez on April 12, 1779, Spain entered the war as an ally of France, and agreed to attack British forts in the Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast.   Spain’s King Charles III would assist his first cousin, Louis XV of France in the conflict with the British.  The Spanish hoped to recover territory lost from the British, and take advantage of Britain’s preoccupation with the rebellious colonies.

The British were already realigning their military for a worldwide conflict: facing France, Spain, and the Netherlands in India, Gibraltar, Europe, and the high seas.  The Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi Valley was yet another front, one that was poorly defended by the British.

In the first action of this vast theater, American marines raided Fort Bute, a British fort located at Bayou Manchac, about 115 miles from New Orleans.  The attack on the far western border of British West Florida took place in February, 1778. Continue reading “War in the Mississippi Valley: Part I” →