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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
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 Posted - October 29 2013 : 2:38:02 PM
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...all lived at one time or another in very close proximity to each other in what is now Jefferson Co. in the northeast corner of the state of West Virginia, but was then Berkeley Co., Virginia. This area was settled and developed in the period right after the French and Indian War and became home to these three troublemakers who figure large in the story of the Revolution, Major Generals Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, and Adam Stephen. Mark Mayo Boatner's excellent Landmarks of the American Revolution, which I used to find these homes, repeats a characterization of the three as "Lee, who was cashiered... because when he should have advanced he retreated... Gates, who was cashiered because when he should have retreated he advanced... Stephen, who was cashiered because when he might have advanced or retreated he did neither."
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Today, Adam Stephen's large stone house is a city park in Martinsburg, founded by Stephen on his own land in 1778 after his court-martial and dismissal from the army; as too often in my travels, I found it already closed for the ridiculously short "tourist" season. Built after the Revolution in 1789 it was home to the General until his death in 1791.
Adam Stephen was the first of the foriegn-born trio to gain both fame and then notoriety. A Scot born in 1718, his relations with Washington date to their association as officers in Washington's Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. Though a political rival of Washington's in western Virginia, the two seem to have been on friendly terms. When the Revolution began, Stephen again became an officer under Washington, rising to command of a division. Unfortunately, a fondness for the bottle instead of battle led to the incident refered to above, when during the Battle of Germantown his troops went astray in the fog, causing his troops to collide with and fire upon Anthony Wayne's men. The ensuing confusion halted the American advance, thereby allowing the British to counterattack and win the battle. Stephen had apparantly been delivering a substandard performance for some time, dating as far back as Trenton, and Washington used this opportunity to rid the army of him for good. The best thing to come out of this was that his troops were given to the promising young Marquis d'la Fayette.
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - October 29 2013 : 3:33:29 PM
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The most successful of this somewhat unlikely trio was also the longest resident of the area, the English Major General Horatio Gates, whose substantial stone house Traveler's Rest was occupied by the Gates family on and off for a period of eighteen years and is now a private residence shown above and below. Gates bought land here near Charles Town between the wars around 1772 on the advice of his friend George Washington whose brothers owned land in the area. Gates finally left Virginia for New York in 1790, supposedly disliking the continuation of slavery following the Revolution.
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Gates was also a veteran of Braddock's tragic campaign, being wounded at the Monongahela and becoming a friend of Braddock's young volunteer aide, Washington. Rising only to the rank of major in the postwar British army, Gates resigned his comission and came to America where he identified himself with the revolutionaries. Once war broke out, he accompanied Washington to Boston and as one of very few there with professional military experience was a great help as an organizer and administrator. His early association with radicals like his countryman Tom Paine and the homegrown Sam Adams would soon prove troublesome indeed for Washington.
Gates was far from an imposing or inspiring figure whose troops referred to him as "Granny" Gates, so his victory over Burgoyne at Saratoga was something of a poor fit. Unfortunately, this coincided with Washington's own failures outside Philadelphia; the ensuing so-called Conway Cabal instigated by malcontents like Adams sought to replace him with the Hero of Saratoga. When that failed, Gates was given command of the Southern theatre where he soon suffered the greatest battlefield defeat of the Revolution at Camden, S. C. Relieved of command, he was eventually reinstated after Yorktown, becoming Washington's second-in-command in upstate New York. An intriguer to the last, he probably was behind the Newburg Conspiracy aimed at defying or even overthrowing the bankrupt Congress by a military coup. |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - October 29 2013 : 4:24:15 PM
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Perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the most mystifying of the three was Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, third ranking officer in the Continental Army, right behind Washington and Artemus Ward. Another British officer who saw service in the French and Indian War under Braddock and later at Ticonderoga, he had also resigned his comission to become a soldier-of-fortune before finally coming to rest here near Gates at this modest home, unfinished in his time, he called somewhat grandiosely Prato Rio, or "beside-the-river", in memory of his service in Portugal as a subordinate of John Burgoyne's. Prato Rio is now also a private residence, but briefly following his downfall at Monmouth and Gates' at Camden, reputedly they met here along with the disgraced Stephen to comisserate with each other, and no doubt damn the unqualified provincial, George Washington.
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In brief, Lee was another friend of the Commander-in-Chief who traveled with him to Boston and helped create the Continental Army. Considered an intellectual and a political radical, Lee became something of a "troubleshooter", visiting New York, Virginia, and South Carolina assisting with the war effort and making recommendations for everything from recruitment to fortification. Later it was realized the Battle of Sullivan's Island had been won despite the advice Lee had given its defender Moultrie. Lee missed the action and ensuing blame at New York, arriving back in time to assume command over half the army at White Plains. Things began to go sour soon afterwards, as Lee resentful over Washington's position, began to willfuly disobey orders to reunite his force with the latter for the defense of Philadelphia. It's suggested he may have even contrived his own capture by Tarleton's dragoons, becoming a prisoner of Howe and Cornwallis prior to Trenton and Princeton.
Washington continued to think highly of Lee and miss his service, so exchanging him was a top priority the winter of Valley Forge, which Lee passed comfortably in New York. He even wrote Howe a memorandum on how to defeat the Rebellion while waiting to rejoin the army! Exchanged before the British left Philadelphia, Lee joined Washington in time to lead the pursuit of Clinton through New Jersey. But it was a vastly different army Lee found, and his caution was not appreciated by the veterans of Valley Forge trained by von Steuben and led by confident men like La Fayette and Anthony Wayne. Lee bungled badly in the opening phase of Monmouth and was relieved of command on the field by the irate Washington. Lee never knew when to keep quiet, so instead of letting things blow over, he demanded a court-of-inquiry which ultimately found him guilty of disrespectful language to the Commander-in-Chief!
Disgusted at his suspension from command for a year, Lee resigned from the army and spent the short remainder of his life criticizing Washington, Congress, and anyone else who drew his ire. He lived only briefly here at Prato Rio from July, 1779 to Jan., 1780. It's said the unfinished house had no interior walls, the "rooms" being indicated with lines chalked on the stone floors. Lee was said to prefer the company of his dogs to people, and infrequently bathing or changing his clothes that was probably a good thing! This true eccentric of the Revolution soon departed for liberated Philadelphia where he continued to agitate against his former commander and the government to anyone who would listen until his untimely death there in 1782 at the age of fifty. |
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James N.
Colonial Militia
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
October 24 2007
Status: offline
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Posted - September 27 2018 : 2:25:04 PM
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To this thread I'll add a photo of Charles Lee's headstone just outside the entrance to the Philadelphia church where he was buried - The Knight Errant of Liberty! |
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