My name is William McHugh

Dear Thomas and Sally,

Here is the first collection of stories I promised you. I am gathering them together so you can know how we won our political Independence and achieved our proper place as a free and sovereign people. This is the greatest gift a parent can give his children. You must be careful to protect it so you can give it to yours.

Your loving Grandfather,

William MacKay

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Remembering the American Revolution

I am an American. As a young man I served in the Continental Army. After fighting the British in at the Battle of Great Bridge in December 1775, I joined the staff of our great leader, General George Washington. My job was to collect and compile reports he received from commanders in the field and from his eyes and ears among the American citizenry.

My father fought against the tyranny of England at the Battle of Culloden in 1745. The defeat the Scots suffered there made it necessary for him to leave his homeland forever. He chose to come to America and to start life anew as an American. He brought his family to Virginia, but moved soon after that to Mecklenburg, North Carolina, which is where I was born in 1751.

My father carved a farm out of what was then wilderness. I farmed with my father – like everyone else in my family. We all worked very hard to make a living and to better ourselves. My father thought it was important to have a good education. This is what he wanted most to give his children and the children of his neighbors. He therefore built a school where we all learned to read and write. It was my father, however, who taught me the most important things I know. I learned from him that all men are created equal and have God-given rights that no man can take away, that these rights include freedom to worship as the spirit calls each of us do and to live under laws that we the people create to promote our common good.

I became a patriot when the English Parliament began to violate our inherent rights by taxing us without first seeking our consent. In May of 1775, the citizens of Mecklenburg County drafted a set of resolves protesting this tyranny. My father and I were among the first to sign them.

I was twenty-three years of age at that time, which was old enough to be elected Captain of the one of the first companies North Carolina created to defend our rights. Six months after my company mustered in, we were sent to Virginia to help our patriotic neighbors defend themselves against their villainous governor, John Murray, Lord Dunmore.

In the spring of this year, our Culpeper District raised a battalion consisting of ten companies of minute men and one company of riflemen. The Colonel is Lawrence Taliafero and the Major is Edward Stevens. Captain John Jameson and Captain William McClanahan are two of the company commanders. We are all eager to rid the colony of the British, but many of us have only our hunting rifles for weapons. Our uniforms consist of hunting shirts made of linen dyed the color of green tree leaves and across the shirt front were the words “Liberty or Death”.

We spent the month of September learning to stand in formation and to march. In early October we marched to Williamsburg. We arrived on the outskirts of that town on October 20. Initially we were met with some trepidation on the part of the local citizenry as they thought our appearance to be nearer that of savages than an army. However after learning that the tomahawks and knives we carried were for use against the British and not themselves we were welcomed. The pub keepers were especially happy to have us in their midst.

we might dry ourselves while he rode to the riverfront to see what lay before us. He found the British ships in line in the James and soon the cannonading began. Woodford came back and moved us down into homes and other buildings which provided us cover. Here we held the advantage even though we lacked cannon. We were concealed and well protected and being expert riflemen were able to pick off the British sailors as they stood at their guns. Finding himself in an untenable position, Captain Squire ordered his flotilla to withdraw. In the course of doing so, one of his ships drifted close enough to shore that we were able to capture it. After this success, Captain Buford led our company back to Williamsburg. Captain Green’s company of riflemen succeeded in repelling the final attempts by the British to land again on Virginia soil.

Reuben’s company was subsequently sent to Great Bridge where we had an unexpected reunion. Lord Dunmore had declared martial law on November 15 and freed all indentured servants, negroes or others who were willing to bear arms for the Crown. These new men brought Lord Dunmore’s force to about 300 men under arms. His first move was to secure the port of Norfolk, a city which had loyalist leanings. After he had accomplished this, he sent a detachment 20 miles to the west to a village called Great Bridge. By doing this, he confirmed his intention to control the western entrance to the city. Our mission was to prevent this.

My North Carolina company joined the Virginians there on the night of December 8. The Battle of Great

Bridge was fought on the following morning. Colonel Woodford was again in command of the patriotic army. Here is a segment of the report he submitted to the committee of safety after the battle:

We arrived in the vicinity of a British fortification, which they called Fort Murray in honor of the colony’s royal governor, on December 2nd. (My men called this crude enclose the “Hog Pen.”) The area was swampy and except

for two small plots of land that approximate islands, Great Bridge and Norfolk are accessible only by causeways that keep on the few isolated tracts of solid ground.

Fort Murray lay on the northern island. A spy told us that they had placed at least one cannon to cover the

bridge and roadway leading up from the south. This thoroughfare runs the length of the lower island and another 400 yards at which point it splits near a small church.

We established our camp near this point which placed us within gunshot of the British and Fort Murray. We put up abreastwork in the form of the letter M which provided for a defensive crossfire in the event Dunmore ordered an attack.

I did not believe that an attack on the Dunmore forces would succeed as we had no cannon to support our musket and rifle men.

For the next several days we exchanged musket and rifle fire with the enemy. Because of this continuous firing, we began to run low on ammunition. I discovered upon inspecting the companies of militia that came in during these days that many of the men were shoeless and lacked blankets. The damp ground and chilled air aggravated their uncomfortable condition. Therefore on December 7th I sent a letter to Patrick Henry, a member of the committee of safety, requesting provisions.

At dawn on December 8 I sent the Culpeper Minutemen to probe the British position, but they were easily repulsed. We learned later that evening that additional forces had come out from Norfolk and that these additions brought British strength up to 700 men.

As dawn broke on December 9th, they started replacing planks on the bridge which they had earlier removed. They also burned the nearby buildings to clear a field of fire. While doing this they exchanged gunfire with our pickets. When they had finished this destruction, we heard the shout “boys, stand to your arms” and watched as the British began their advance. They came on in a parade array of six abreast because of the narrowness of the causeway and bridge. Because of their formation, they could not make a broad frontal assault upon us. After an initial volley we were ordered to hold fire until they were within 50 yards. Our riflemen then cut down the officer leading the British charge. Seeing their leader fall, the rank and file began to fall back dragging their dead and wounded with them as they retreated.

My officers wanted to pursue them, but I considered the risk too great for the good we might accomplish. Mt orders notwithstanding, Lt Col Stevens and his Culpeper Minutemen rushed forward and occupied the deserted trenched around the British battery. Once in position there we were able pick off the enemy with ease.

Our victory at Great Bridge ended English rule in Virginia. Following this defeat, Lord Dunmore abandoned Norfolk. Shortly after that, he sailed home to England. Many of Virginia’s Tory sympathizers became patriots at this time. Our victory at Great Bridge also proved that America’s citizen soldiers could stand against England’s professional army.

Our respite in the area did not last long as we received word that Lord Dunmore had ordered his troops and the British naval forces under the command of a Captain Squire to begin raids of the towns along the James River. On October 24th, the Committee of Safety placed the 2nd Virginia Regiment of Colonel William Woodford on alert and attached five of our Culpeper Minutemen companies to Woodford’s command.

One of Captain Squire’s ships was driven aground near Hampton during a storm and a part of its crew was captured by the local militia. They removed such goods and arms as they could, set fire to the ship and later released the captured seamen. The night of the 25th Captain Squire landed some men in the Hampton area and they set about looting a number of homes. On the evening of the 26th word of these prevarications reached us in Williamsburg. The Committee of Safety there immediately ordered Colonel Woodford’s regiment together with our Culpeper Minutemen rifle companies.

We traveled all night in a driving rain and arrived at Hampton about 8 o’clock the next morning. Colonel Woodford left us in a church so that