18th century | Author Suzanne Adair

General Nathanael Greene: The Complete Package

Posted on July 3, 2014 by suzanneadairJuly 3, 2014

Welcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Relevant History welcomes Helena Finnegan, a native of Boston, the city where her love and appreciation for liberty, the sacrifices of those who fought for it, and the revolution began. The 1976 Bicentennial, complete with tall ships and fervent Patriots and British soldiers on historic grounds and waters solidified her commitment to promoting, preserving, and sharing this era. She’s written nationally and internationally and is an educator, researcher, and writer of 18th-century topics. Her work appeared in Patriots of the American Revolution and Journal of the Early Americas magazines and Allthingsliberty.com. She’s working on a historical fiction novel set in 1781. For more information, check her web site, and look for her on Twitter and Pinterest.

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He was what would be called today “the complete package.” Strong-willed, determined, respected, self-educated, loyal, and a gifted leader. He’s known as the unsung hero of the American Revolution who helped save the war, though few today recognize his name or deeds beyond monuments or places on the map.

Yet if it were scripted by Hollywood, New Englander General Nathanael Greene could be an 18th-century action figure. A handsome, flawed, but kind and dependable hero loyal to his Commander-in-Chief and the Glorious Cause. He rose above his disability and learned from his mistakes to become a trusted and sought-after commander capable of seeing the big picture, willing to take risks and do what was necessary to succeed. So it was no surprise when General Washington gave him the two most difficult assignments in the War for Independence: that of Quartermaster General during which he saved the ill-fed and under-equipped army with food, supplies, and forage for animals, and that of commander of the Southern Army where he rebuilt a decimated army and expelled the British from the south. However, his eight-year journey from 1775 to 1783 as Washington’s close friend and most trusted, longest-serving general and eventual hero wasn’t without great obstacles and sacrifices.

“We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”

In the winter of 1780, after assuming command of West Point, General Greene was exhausted, ill, and broke having used his health and money to train, equip, supply, and lead soldiers since 1775. Only his courage, faith, determination and unwavering belief kept him going. It was these qualities that General Washington had come to rely upon and turn to, giving him the second most important command of the war, that of commander of the Southern Army.

Six long years after the conflict had begun, Americans’ spirits plunged lower than the value of the Continental dollar. Military defeats, perennial supply struggles, and lack of currency and military pay added to a seemingly endless war.

Months after the crushing defeat of American forces at Camden, South Carolina, when General Horatio Gates fled north and left the remains of militia and army to reconstitute themselves, the army awaited its new, southern commander. It was against this backdrop that Greene took on what must have felt like an impossible task. After six years of various commands, success as Quartermaster General, lobbying Congress, losing battles, and taking backseats to other leaders, this appointment was monumental. Unwritten and unspoken were the words of his Excellency: save the southern theater and thus, the War for Independence. Washington knew that if there was anyone capable of such a feat, it was General Nathanael Greene.

No stranger to hardship and challenges, General Greene was well-prepared for what lay ahead of him in the southern colonies, where Britain was on the verge of winning the war. His famous quote, “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again,” displayed his ambition and unflagging commitment.

Self-taught, officer material

A self-taught military man, Washington’s “fighting Quaker” was a gifted strategist, advisor, and natural leader. He possessed brilliant organizational skills that he used to save lives as Quartermaster General during the iconic winter encampments at Valley Forge and Morristown.

Greene faced many hurdles to prove that a partially disabled Quaker and an inexperienced soldier could not only fight, but lead men in the coming conflict. Despite prejudice from his fellow Rhode Island Kentish Guards, who felt a lame soldier was not “officer material,” he was promoted to Brigadier General in the Rhode Island state army. General Washington then appointed Greene to the same rank in the Continental Army. In him, Washington must have seen something of himself: a well-read, self-educated, passionate man whose loyalty and ability to comprehend the long-term nature of the conflict made him dependable. Later, despite the terrible losses of Forts Washington and Lee, General Washington didn’t give up on Greene. While Greene sought to restore his reputation, Washington knew Greene would learn from the terrible decision to defend unsalvageable forts and lose men, just as he learned from his errors during the French and Indian War.

Following his two years as Quartermaster General, Greene resigned the post but kept his field command, returning to campaigns. Though some battles were lost or a draw, he inflicted damage to British forces, gained experience, and learned how to prepare his troops. His greatest challenge came in the southern theater, where all his experiences, military studies, training, and skills were brought together. Entering into the melee after the Americans’ success at the Battle of King’s Mountain, Greene developed a bold strategy. He united his forces with General Daniel Morgan and made the incredible decision to divide his small army in half to delay British engagement, employ guerilla tactics, and gather more soldiers. Working with Morgan, who led Cornwallis away from his supply lines and on a chase through North Carolina, allowed Greene time to re-build and re-equip his men. Understanding the critical need for supplies and preparation, he ordered all boats secured to transport his troops across the Dan River ahead of the British. In what became famous as “the Race to the Dan,” the Americans escaped capture by a few hours and lived to fight on, re-grouping in Virginia, while Cornwallis’s obsession with destroying Greene had exhausted his men and depleted his supplies. Greene later used the boats to slip his troops back across the Dan, chase the British, and engage them in future battles. The southern tide literally turned for the Americans, thanks to General Nathanael Greene, who successfully routed the British from the south, north to Yorktown, Virginia, where they were hemmed in and forced to surrender in October 1781.

In less than a year, Washington’s “fighting Quaker” had successfully pulled off a miracle. General Greene’s story is made all the more poignant because it is true. He was an underdog whose determination, confidence, vision, skills and abilities were recognized by someone who gave him the chance to succeed—and ultimately created the opportunity for America to begin.

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A big thanks to Helena Finnegan. She’ll give away a $5 Amazon gift certificate to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Friday 4 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 4 July deadline will also be entered in a drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

The Southern Theater of the American Revolution

Posted on July 2, 2014 by suzanneadairJuly 2, 2014

Relevant History welcomes Lars D. H. Hedbor, a novelist of the American Revolution, focusing on the everyday experiences of ordinary people during that extraordinary era of chaotic change. The novels of his Tales From a Revolution series—The Prize, The Light, The Smoke, and now, The Declaration—examine little-known aspects of the Revolution, and are each set in a different Colony or future state. Hedbor resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and five daughters and enjoys practicing fiddle, homebrewing and amateur astronomy when he’s not otherwise occupied. For more information, check his web site, and look for him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Most popular histories of the American Revolution focus on the events of the northern Colonies, where, indeed, many of the pivotal moments of the war and the philosophy of governance that animated the movement for independence were centered. However, the southern Colonies were also crucial to the eventual success of the war, both because it provided crucial logistical routes to move goods for both military and civilian needs despite the forced closure of ports at Boston and New York, but also because many of the leading figures of the Revolution originated in the South.

To be sure, there was greater support for the Crown in the South than in the North, in part because of the same deeply-held cultural resistance to change that characterizes the Deep South of the modern era, and in part because of the wildly different social structure of the plantations as compared to the North’s more typical smallholders. However, there was no shortage of Patriot hotheads south of the future Mason-Dixon line in the heady days leading to the outright break with England: men such as Button Gwinnett, William Polk, and Samuel Wear.

While no copy of it has been found (yet), the 20 May 1775 declaration by a gathering of delegates from militia companies around Mecklenburg County, North Carolina that they were a “free and independent people” would have anticipated the Continental Congress’ Declaration of Independence by over a full year. The existence of this earlier declaration has aroused no lack of controversy over the years, including at least one fraudulent re-creation of its supposed original publication in the Cape Fear Mercury in June of 1775.

As it is, the well-documented Mecklenburg Resolves of May 31, 1775 were fully as radical as anything adopted in the northern Colonies, and the historical record is unambiguous about the vigor of various Committees of Correspondence, and later, well-armed Committees of Safety across the southern Colonies. Of course, as imagined in the pages of The Declaration, the discovery in an old family chest stashed away in the corner of some dusty attic of an authentic copy of the alleged Mecklenburg Declaration would reinvigorate the claim by proud North Carolinians of their special role in the drive toward eventual American independence.

It may be that part of the reason that our popular memory of the Revolution omits most of the events in the southern Colonies is simply that it was there that the American cause suffered its greatest defeats. With the active assistance of Loyalist forces, the British conquered and occupied most of the southern Colonies until the waning days of the war in the north.

The occupation was ungentle, even brutal at times, and the suffering of those who had stood against the Crown has received some attention in a film of recent years, but is still largely forgotten. Forced to sign loyalty oaths, dispossessed of their property (both real estate and other), and even subjected to violence at the hands of Loyalists, those who had supported the rebellion against Britain paid a high price for their convictions.

In the end, however, the rebellious Americans prevailed, and between the efforts of the well-known “Swamp Fox” General Marion and the pivotal battle at Cowpens, they ejected the British from the south, driving them northward to their ultimate defeat at Yorktown. The heroic efforts of the Patriots of the southern Colonies have long been overdue for greater recognition, and I am glad to do some small part toward that in telling the story of some of the people who made huge sacrifices and achieved stunning victories in our movement from subjects of the Crown to citizens of the Republic.

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A big thanks to Lars Hedbor. He’ll give away a signed paperback set of the first three books in the series to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Delivery is available within the U.S. and Canada. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Thursday 3 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 3 July deadline will also be entered in a drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

The Counsel of the Founders

Posted on July 5, 2012 by AdminJuly 7, 2014

Welcome to my blog! The week of 29 June – 5 July, I’m participating with more than two hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

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Earlier this year, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. Much has been made of a poll finding that, among Americans, the queen had a 61% approval rating while President Obama’s approval rating was a mere 45%. Some Americans declared, “Yes! Let’s return to the fold!” Brits quipped, “We welcome you, as long as you pay that back tax on tea first!”

Those findings don’t mean that most Americans are ready to chuck it all and leap into the lap of monarchy. The poll compares an elected official with a non-elected official. So it’s an “apples and oranges” comparison.

However Americans are undeniably fascinated with Britain. Helped along by Hollywood and American mythology, Britain represents an icon of both urbanity and villainy. Many Americans with ancestors from the British Isles succumb to the genetic pull and vacation in the UK. And let’s face it, the Brits do pageantry 24/7 to the heights that Americans, caught up in Calvinistic roots, cannot begin to approach—although certain annual events such as the Kentucky Derby come close.

The year 2012 is an election year in America. A good many “issues” are on the table. People are disgruntled. Beneath everyone’s vitriolic exchanges over the issues, the suspicion skulks for many Americans that the country is tromping through a tangled, endless forest. That it stepped off a path defined by founders more than two hundred years ago. And that squabbling over issues is not what the founders envisioned for the future of America.

It so happens that the country’s founders addressed a number of these hot issues in their speeches and writings. Read the counsel of America’s founders:

“Experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor.” (Thomas Jefferson)

“I have already intimated to you the danger of Parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on Geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party, generally.” (George Washington)

“The essence of a free government consists in an effectual control of rivalries.” (John Adams)

“If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women.” (Abigail Adams)

“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.” (John Adams)

“Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.” (James Madison)

“I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” (Thomas Jefferson)

“And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” (James Madison)

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.” (Thomas Jefferson)

Did any of that resonate with you? Do American people know that the country’s founders said these things? Do you get the feeling that America would be better off if citizens actually took the counsel of the founders?

This week, my guests have covered territory that was probably omitted from your high school history class. Omitted details often point to lessons we should be learning about human nature, religion, government, and society. In other words, they’re what makes history relevant.

We aren’t learning from history very well. Why does this matter? Because every time we don’t learn a lesson, we risk making a costly mistake. Ask yourself what can be done about it. (And the answer isn’t leaping into the lap of monarchy.)

This second annual week-long Fourth of July wouldn’t have been possible without you or my talented guests: Don Troiani, Peggy Earp, Don Hagist, and John Buchanan. What worlds can they open for you? Browse back through the posts. Look for their works. Then comment here on something you learned this week that made history relevant to you. Thanks for stopping by!

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Contribute a legitimate comment on this post by today at 6 p.m. ET to be entered in a drawing to win one of two autographed copies of Regulated for Murder. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll publish the names of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 9 July.

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

A Successful Battle May Give Us America

Posted on July 4, 2012 by AdminJune 24, 2014

Happy Fourth of July! Welcome to my blog! The week of 29 June – 5 July, I’m participating with more than two hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Today for a few hours, my sons and I will be at the Joel Lane Museum House in historical clothing, talking with visitors about patriot Joel Lane and the Revolutionary War in North Carolina. If you’re in the Raleigh area, stop by and say hello. Musket drills and firings, games for the children, tours of the house, and plenty of cool lemonade.

Relevant History welcomes John Buchanan, author of the highly regarded The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. For over two decades he was Chief Registrar of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in charge of worldwide art movements. His other books are Jackson’s Way: Andrew Jackson and the People of the Western Waters; The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution; and a novel of the Cold War, The Rise of Stefan Gregorovic. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. For more information, check his web site.

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About a year ago, as he was preparing to retire as Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates said that in the future, any advisor to a President of the United States who recommended placing a large American land army on the Asian continent “…should have his head examined.” In the context of the American Revolution, the same might be said of British generals, backed by George III’s ministers, who cut themselves off from the lifeline of the British Navy and invaded the dangerous American backcountry. “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne lost his army at Saratoga in the wilds of northern New York State. And three years later our story begins with Lieutenant General Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis, deep in the Carolina backcountry, chasing ghosts.

In October 1780, Cornwallis was poised in Charlotte, North Carolina, to drive northward, reclaim the state for the crown, destroy the remnants of the Continental army he had scattered at the Battle of Camden, and then perhaps push on into Virginia. But on 7 October, 1100 Tory militiamen under the British officer Major Patrick Ferguson, who were protecting Cornwallis’s left wing, were wiped out at King’s Mountain, South Carolina by backcountry militia and Overmountain Men from beyond the Appalachians. His left wing in the air, believing incorrectly that he was in danger from thousands of rebels descending on him from the west, Cornwallis retreated to winter quarters in South Carolina.

Once again the British attempt to re-conquer the Carolinas had run up against a fierce guerrilla campaign that had begun in the backcountry in the summer of 1780. The irony of the Revolution in South Carolina is that it was started by the Low Country Rice Kings and saved by the backcountry militia, whom the Rice Kings scorned as a “pack of beggars.” Yet it was those men, horsemen all, who waged a sweeping war of movement, maintained their allegiance to the Cause despite two disasters to Continental armies, demoralized the Tory militia, and held their own against British and provincial regulars in classic guerrilla style in actions large and small, some lost to memory in the mists of time.

But they could not win the war in the South by themselves. Their great contribution was to the gain the time necessary for there to appear on the scene two Continental generals who had much to teach Lord Cornwallis and his subordinates about the art of war: Major General Nathanael Greene and his deputy, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.

Fearful that Morgan’s detached force of regular light troops, the cream of Greene’s army, was threatening one of his major backcountry posts, Cornwallis sent his celebrated cavalry commander, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, to deal with the threat. Morgan and Tarleton met in battle on 17 January 1781 on the field of Cowpens, South Carolina. In the tactical masterpiece of the war, Morgan combined regulars and militia and destroyed most of Tarleton’s light troops, the eyes and ears of Cornwallis’s army.

In a rage over his loss, Cornwallis burned his cumbersome baggage train and set off in pursuit of Morgan, and then Greene after the two American forces merged. At Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, Greene and Cornwallis fought a battle described by Greene as “long, obstinate, and bloody.” By eighteenth-century standards, Cornwallis won, for at the end he occupied the field while Greene withdrew. But in winning, His Lordship had ruined his army. His losses heavy, deep in the backcountry swarming with foes, Cornwallis was forced to withdraw to Wilmington, North Carolina, on the coast. There he wrote to a fellow general, “I assure you that I am quite tired of marching about the country in quest of adventures.” His plan now was to “bring our whole force into Virginia” where “a successful battle may give us America.”

While Nathanael Greene artfully combined the respective talents of regulars and militia and proceeded to liberate South Carolina and Georgia, Lord Cornwallis pursued his delusion of a “successful battle” to win America. He turned his worn and decimated army northward, where he found more adventures and fulfilled his American destiny: in a village in Virginia called Yorktown.

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A big thanks to John Buchanan. He’ll give away an autographed copy of The Road to Guilford Courthouse in trade paperback format to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on my blog today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Thursday 5 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 9 July. And remember that anyone who comments on this post by the 5 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win one of two autographed copies of my book, Regulated for Murder: A Michael Stoddard American Revolution Thriller.

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

The Courtship of Lt. Row and Jenny Innes

Posted on July 2, 2012 by AdminMay 17, 2014

Relevant History welcomes Don Hagist, an independent researcher specializing in the demographics and material culture of the British Army in the American Revolution. He has written numerous articles and three books on the subject, using primary sources to reveal personal information about British soldiers and their wives in America. His fourth book, British Soldiers, American War will be released from Westholme Publishing in November 2012. He maintains a blog about British common soldiers, and his books are available from Revolutionary Imprints, also a source for first-hand accounts of the American Revolution.

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John Row was a British officer in the 9th Regiment of Foot, and he was in love with Jenny Innes. For six years their courtship was maintained largely by correspondence due to separations during his military career. I recently perused dozens of their letters that survive in the National Archives of Scotland, revealing a touching love story and a surprising visual treasure.

Row began writing to Jenny from Dublin in 1775, soon after they had met. They hadn’t made their mutual interest known to her family and agreed to limit their correspondence so as not to arouse suspicions. The next year, however, saw the 32-year-old officer embarking to join the war in America, bound for “Quebec which is not the worst Country in the World.”

Row’s letters from America are not particularly informative. (A soldier in his regiment, Roger Lamb, left a detailed chronicle of the 9th Regiment’s service. Lamb later transferred to the 23rd Regiment and Cornwallis’s army, and his chronicle includes details of his military action in the Southern theater.) From Quebec, Row apologized in letter after letter for writing so frequently, since he did not know when the next opportunity would arise. A long winter in lonely isolated quarters curtained their correspondence, which resumed only briefly in the spring of 1777 before a new campaign began. In the mean time Row had received only one letter from Jenny since departing Ireland, and he feared for her health as she battled respiratory complaints.

It was Lt. Row’s own health, however, that caused the next hiatus. In November 1777 he wrote from London, informing Jenny that he had been wounded in the right knee at the Battle of Hubbardton on 7 July 1777. In Great Britain to recover, he hoped to return to his regiment in the spring. The campaign he’d left had gone badly, though, and the 9th Regiment was in captivity after the British capitulation at Saratoga. Row returned to Scotland, spent time with Jenny and negotiated with her family. This sojourn was a short one, however, as Row had his career to attend to.

There was nothing in Britain for a zealous officer determined to distinguish himself. In 1779 Row was able to obtain a captain’s commission in a new regiment, the 85th Regiment of Foot, being raised for service in the rapidly-expanding war. Jenny objected to his choice, for not only would it keep them apart but it also stood to put him at risk if the regiment was sent abroad. He nonetheless related details of his recruiting and training activities.

Within a few months the 85th Regiment was fit for service and received orders for the West Indies. Jenny was mortified and wrote a long letter expressing her dire concerns for her beloved’s fate. Hadn’t he already risked enough and suffered enough? Not only would the climate be his enemy, but he would be exposed to greater danger because the effects of his wound made him less adroit than younger officers. Having stated her misgivings, she agreed to say no more on the subject.

As the 85th was preparing to embark, a painter arrived at the port offering his services to officers who knew they might be leaving their homeland for the last time. Row commissioned a portrait for Jenny, which the artist prepared for by using a projection machine to create a silhouette. Row mailed the silhouette to Jenny on 30 March 1780, and this rare image remains enclosed in the letter to this day. Seen here, it is a fascinating look at this man who zealously sought to balance love for a lady and a career.

Or, at least, it might be John Row. Row’s own comments about the silhouette cast interesting doubts on the likeness:

My Dear Jenny,

Inclosed I send you my shade in profile but which from my opinion of it is either badly taken, or else I make a very bad one which the person who took it tells me is the case of every one who has not high features…I appear the most stupid insipid looking fellow imaginable, and to compleat my mortification every one tells me that it is a most striking likeness.

In a subsequent letter Row went so far as to suppose that the artist had accidentally given him the silhouette of another officer. Jenny made no comment on the silhouette, but when she received the portrait she was as unimpressed with it as she was with his decision to go overseas. She wrote:

I was somewhat disappointed with the Crayon as I do not think it a favourable likeness especially in the under part of the face, in the upper it resembles you more & place it at a considerable distance & it is certainly upon the whole like, but it is a bad resemblance coarsely done & with materials which discolour & fade very soon. I however return you my thanks for it such as it is…

It is unfortunate that Jenny was so indifferent to the portrait, for it was the last image of her suitor that would ever greet her eyes. Her fears about John Row’s safety were realized. He died in September 1780, just ten weeks after arriving in the West Indies, victim not to battle but to contagious diseases that carried off nearly half of his regiment.

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A big thanks to Don Hagist. He’ll give away an autographed copy of A British Soldier’s Story: Roger Lamb’s Narrative of the American Revolution in trade paperback format to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on my blog today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Tuesday 3 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 9 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 3 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win one of two autographed copies of my book Regulated for Murder: A Michael Stoddard American Revolution Thriller.

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

The Trials of Clothing the 18th-Century Family

Posted on July 1, 2012 by AdminMay 17, 2014

Relevant History welcomes Peggy Earp, currently a resident of Lexington, Tennessee and the former co-owner of 96 District Fabrics, a provider of period-correct fabrics. Originally from Oklahoma, Peggy lived in South Carolina for twenty years along with her husband and two children before moving to Tennessee last September. After selling their business this year, she and her husband are enjoying a life of semi-retirement, and looking forward to the birth of their first grandchild. For more information, contact her through email at peggyearp (at) gmail (dot) com.

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The year is 1775, and I live in the backcountry of western South Carolina with my husband and five children. We have forty acres, two mules, and a two room cabin with a loft. When I came here from northern Virginia as a newlywed, I had never considered the daily realities of feeding, clothing, and keeping healthy seven people.

In 1995 my husband, Dennis, and I, along with our children, began volunteering at Ninety Six National Historic Site, in Ninety Six, South Carolina. Through volunteering, we began our quest for knowledge of the Revolutionary War and the domestic activities of daily life during that period. The life of the soldier is well documented, but what about the family left at home: whether in town or the sparsely-settled countryside?

Many times over the last fifteen years, I have considered the beginning scenario above. If I were this wife and mother, what would I have done? How would we have lived? How would I have provided for my children?

As we began researching the Revolutionary War, I developed a deep interest in the textiles of the era. Could our family, by our own hands, have provided all our own fabric for bedding, linens, and clothing? Could we have furnished ourselves with warm woolen cloth for winter clothes? What would producing our own wool entail? We would have to raise the sheep, shear them in the spring, wash the wool, card and spin the wool into yarn, and then weave the wool into woolen fabric.

If we were to have nice linen fabrics, could we have possibly be able to produce that fabric from start to finish? Could we have planted, grown, and harvested the flax? Could we have retted, scutched, hackled, spun the flax into linen thread, and then woven the thread into fabric?

Could my family have produced all our cloth? It is my personal opinion, that no, we could not. Not even close.

Up until January of this year, Dennis and I owned a fabric supply business. We specialized in period-correct fabrics for reenactors, museums, historic sites, and movie productions. We traveled up and down the east coast, attending living history events. Early on, while speaking with the general public, I discovered that most people assume that in the “olden days,” everyone provided all needed items for themselves. That there were no places to buy ready-made clothes, or yard goods for making your own clothes.

What did the average family do about fabric and clothing? Did they provide for themselves, or did they barter or buy clothes and cloth? In my search for answers, I have concluded that what families could provide for themselves in 1775 is as varied as what families can provide for themselves today.

Most did not have enough land for growing sheep for wool, or for planting flax or cotton. Nor did they have enough hands for tilling, planting, tending, and harvesting. Children were taught at an early age to help with whatever chores were necessary for survival. Boys were taught farming, hunting, chopping wood, and other activities. Girls were taught cooking, sewing, spinning, and weaving.

But not all families were equal. Some families had all boys, or all girls, or had no children. Some families were plagued with illness, or with the death of one spouse. What did they do to meet these challenges?

Most families did make their own clothes, especially their underclothes. They were well-made, handed down, patched as needed, altered, until they were generally used up. The rags were then used for many purposes or sold to the rag picker. Some families did grow sheep and sell the wool, or maybe spun the wool into yarn, and used the yarn to barter for cloth goods. Or they grew linen or cotton and sold or traded it either as raw goods or as spun thread or woven cloth.

The possibilities are countless as to how they obtained their fabric. In western South Carolina there were several trading posts in the late 18th century. Their inventory lists show an extensive variety of cloth.

There were also many itinerant spinners and weavers. You could grow your own wool or flax, and then wait until the spinner came by on their circuit. You provided housing for them for several weeks while they spun all the season’s wool into yarn or flax into thread. Or maybe you had the means to spin your own yarn, and the weaver came and wove all the yarn into cloth.

Many of the large landholders did provide a good portion of their own fabric. They had slaves or indentured servants to perform all the labor. They could then produce enough cloth for the household linens and clothes for the servants. They may have custom-ordered clothing for the immediate family from the local seamstress, from Charles Town, or from England, depending on their weath.

In January of this year, Dennis and I sold our textile business. But this has not diminished my desire to learn more about fabrics and their manufacture in the 18th-century American South. My research goes on!

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A big thanks to Peggy Earp. She’ll give away instructional DVDs from Renee Gillespie on spinning with a drop spindle or spinning wheel to two people who contribute legitimate comments on my blog today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose the winners from among those who comment on this post by Monday 2 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 9 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 2 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win one of two autographed copies of my book Regulated for Murder: A Michael Stoddard American Revolution Thriller.

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Georgian Secrets: Ladies’ Undergarments During the American War of Independence

Posted on September 24, 2010 by AdminSeptember 24, 2010

Readers occasionally ask me what ladies of the late 18th century wore for underwear beneath those lovely gowns and petticoats. Did they wear panties? What made their hips so huge and their torsos look like tubes? On Sunday 19 September, … Continue reading →

Revolutionary War Days 2006 at Camden

Posted on November 7, 2006 by AdminNovember 29, 2013

Traditionally, the November reenactment in Camden, SC is one of the more well-attended for reenactors and spectators in the South. It always draws a variety of sutlers — merchants who sell period items such as wool fabric, clay pipes, wooden bowls, horn spoons, pewter buttons, and jewelry — plus artisans who demonstrate period crafts, such as candle making and blacksmithing, and entertainers, such as this acrobat. I enjoy strolling Sutler Row at Camden, and it’s dashed hard to keep from spending money there because everyone is so friendly and helpful.

Saturday morning, 3 November, the panel discussion on non-traditional roles of women and girls during the Revolution (Leslie Sackrison, Dr. Christine Swager, and me) went smoothly, as if the three of us had done the panel together several times before. It was also well attended. The State, one of Columbia’s newspapers, gave us publicity in the 2 November edition. Joanna Craig of Historic Camden wants us on the schedule for Camden 2007 and will try to generate more interest among the general public. Redefining the role of women in history is a timely idea. It’s a theme touched on by many historical fiction authors, such as Mary Sharratt. At the conference for the Historical Novel Society 9 June 2007, I will be on a panel discussion about this topic. How exciting to be in the forefront of this “wave.”

I missed seeing the battle on both Saturday and Sunday. I was selling and signing books. But I heard the battles both days went well, and from the sounds of the cannon and musket fire, the reenactors on the field were putting on their usual entertaining show for spectators.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason, and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

For my family and me, one of the high points of Camden each year is the Bonfire Night celebration on Saturday night. Bonfire Night is a fine, old British fete celebrated by colonists even during the Revolution to commemorate Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. (Guy Fawkes was one of a group of conspirators who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament with kegs of gunpowder 5 November 1605.) If you think our Guy looks a bit worn out, it’s because he’s been tortured a bit.

This year, my sons received the honor of carrying the Guy to the bonfire as we processed through the camps. Imagine torches in the night, drums beating, and a mob chanting, “Treason! Burn the Guy! Kill the Guy!” Perhaps that’s why British expatriates elsewhere in America are apt to have the cops called on them by American neighbors who mistake their jollification for a bit of backyard human sacrifice. The Camden cops don’t even bat an eyelash at us — some of them are even reenactors — and didn’t stop the Guy from being tossed onto the bonfire, where he ignited, along with all the fireworks planted within him, to provide us with a thrilling show. For an interesting twist on Bonfire Night, check out Carola Dunn’s mystery, Gunpowder Plot.

After the fireworks, Historic Camden treats reenactors to a feast of heavy hors d’oeuvres in the candlelit dining room of the Kershaw-Cornwallis house. (The house is named for Joseph Kershaw, owner in 1780, and Charles Lord Cornwallis, who briefly occupied the house in 1780.) Because there’s 18th-century dancing afterwards, some reenactors trot out their finest period clothing for the night, and this is where you see elegantly-attired men and women in velvet and lace. One fellow pulled out all the stops: white wig, black satin suit, loads of lace at his throat and wrists, black shoes with red high heels, and a painted-on mole beside his eyebrow. He looked like Mozart.

Women used the positioning of their fans at dances in the 18th century to communicate messages to potential suitors. Here’s a list of some of the signals and interpretations. The comedic theater got a lot of mileage out of misinterpreted fan signals. After a few drinks, it’s easy to forget (or pretend to forget) what signal means yes and what means no.

I admit to being a “Ramada Ranger” for this event and not camping out. By the time we left the dance, the ground was already covered in frost, and I just couldn’t envision sleeping in sub-freezing temperatures in a British Army tent as benefiting my booksignings every weekend through Christmas. Gotta vacuum the straw and grass from the inside of my car and air it out to dissipate the smells of wood smoke and burned black powder. Business as usual after a weekend of reenacting fun.

Here’s a Huzzah! for my family for helping with the mechanics of the booksigning. And another Huzzah! for Joanna Craig for providing me with the opportunity to participate on the panel and sell more copies of Paper Woman.

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The Crystal Coast Book Festival 2006 and Three Magical Surprises

Posted on October 25, 2006 by AdminNovember 29, 2013

Not long ago, the Webb Memorial Library in Morehead City, NC was in danger of closing. Thanks to the Crystal Coast Book Festival, now in its second year, that won’t be happening. This gem-of-a-library, located in the historic area of Morehead City, is in a 1930s-era building that used to be a house. (Or was it two houses?) Individual rooms within the library, each furnished differently, hold specific collections of books, such as fine arts, fiction, and classics. There’s a piano in a room upstairs and a ghost who wanders throughout, and although I didn’t make the acquaintance of the latter, I never before met a library imbued with such charm and quaint personality.

Friday 20 October was the big fundraiser day. Proceeds from luncheon workshops and themed literary dinners benefited various local libraries, including the Webb Memorial Library. I participated with five other mystery/suspense authors in a dinner called “The Mysterious Affair at the Waterfront” at Captain Bill’s waterfront restaurant. Each author sat at a table, and during a course, conversed with guests at the table. Authors switched tables every fifteen minutes or so. Later, we talked before the group about our work and signed books the guests had published. And the view of the sunset was stunning.

Magical Surprise Number 1: One of the dinner guests, librarian Pam Janosky (Hi, Pam!), was about 7/8ths finished reading the library’s copy of Paper Woman, and she liked it so much that she’d been stumping for it. She’d drummed up interest in several other librarians, and they were queuing up to read it. Wow! Grasshopper is humbled and amazed. My first fans!

Saturday 21 October delivered cool, autumn weather and clear skies. At 9:30 a.m. in the Reading Room of the Webb Memorial Library, I read from Paper Woman and made a presentation on the extraordinary courage of ordinary people in the Revolutionary War. Thanks to all the folks who turned out to hear me so early in the morning — and who purchased books from me afterwards.

Magical Surprise Number 2: Toward noon on Saturday, the stack of books my publisher sent sold out, necessitating my supplying the bookseller with additional copies from the stash in the trunk of my car. Tough break, eh?

Magical Surprise Number 3: When I arrived home Saturday evening and checked email, Lesa Holstine, a librarian from Glendale, AZ, had posted a very favorable review of Paper Woman (and my first review) to her blog as well as to the Dorothy-L discussion list. Sunday morning, she posted a version of her review on Amazon.com. And she gave me five stars. Thank you, Lesa!

Last weekend, I found myself answering some of the same types of queries I’ve received all along. Wasn’t it unusual for women in the Revolutionary War to run a business like a printing press? Would women in 1780 really have done the sorts of things my protagonist Sophie Barton did? Look for me to address these questions in a future blog entry.

Thanks to the Crystal Coast committee and the staff at the Webb Memorial Library for the opportunity to participate in the book festival.

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Walnut Grove Plantation 2006 Living History and Battle Reenactment — and My First Booksigning

Posted on October 11, 2006 by AdminNovember 29, 2013

Tremendous improvements have been made to Walnut Grove Plantation since my last visit, in 2001. In addition to a new visitors’ center, the site features a pavilion with a fireplace, focus of activities during rainy or chilly weather. At the pavilion last Friday night, 6 October, the Spartanburg County Historical Association held its annual fundraiser for the plantation: live bluegrass music, South Carolina upcountry BBQ with scrumptious hushpuppies and ribs, and an open bar. And if you came dressed in your 18th-century finery, you didn’t pay the $60 admission fee!

During dinner, the Historical Association held a silent auction, the donated items ranging from bags of dog food to ceramics to woodworking. Dressed in my polonaise gown, I quickly homed in on board members to learn how I could donate a copy of Paper Woman to the auction. In no time at all, they had the book set up on one of the auction tables. My pleasure to contribute to such a worthy cause.

Saturday 7 October delivered the type of weather that wool-clad reenactors relish: cloudy but not rainy, and highs in the lower 60s. The tree leaves on site were just beginning to turn color and helped make the grounds lovely. As usual, the crown and patriot encampments were separated, and most of the sutlers and tradesfolk set up for business in the patriot camp. Plenty of things to see there. I was so busy chasing details for my booksigning that I didn’t get to spend much time in that section of camp, but I did spot blacksmithing, soap making, food preservation, surveying, and dressmaking.

One lady brought her goats and demonstrated how to milk them. She had for sale goats’ milk cheese and shampoo and soap made from goats’ milk.

The historical incident that puts Walnut Grove on the map for the Revolution involves loyalists under “Bloody” Bill Cunningham who barged into the house and killed three patriots. Kate Barry, wife of the owner, slipped away to warn her husband, and he returned in time to spare the house from being torched. But spectators at reenactments want to see battles, so Walnut Grove follows its staging of the three patriots’ killings with a fictitious battle reminiscent of backcountry skirmishes that occurred all the time in the Carolinas. Plenty of musket fire and black powder smoke, colorful uniforms, noise, and “death” on the battlefield. The spectator crowd numbered several hundred, and a good time was had by all.

After the battle, the staff at Walnut Grove turned the mike over to me. For the debut of Paper Woman, I read a passage from the book and tied the action found therein with what had happened at Walnut Grove. And then I sold books to total strangers — an amazing feeling! Was I nervous? Not really. I felt very much alive and enjoyed everything about the afternoon. I’m grateful to everyone who purchased books from me and was delighted to connect with each reader at an individual level.

Here’s a Huzzah! for my family for helping with the mechanics of the booksigning. And another Huzzah! for the folks at Walnut Grove — Becky Slayton, Jim Crocker, and Jennifer Furrow — for allowing me the opportunity to debut my novel in such a lovely location.

Next up: the Crystal Coast Book Festival, 20-21 October 2006.

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