Meeting Notes: November 14, 2007

Presentation: "Rebellion in the Ranks: Mutinies of the American Revolution," John A. Nagy.

The American Revolution Roundtable – Richmond concluded its first year in existence with a meeting at the University of Richmond on November 14, 2007. The speaker was John A. Nagy and, as usual, was introduced by Lynn Sims, the first Vice President for Programs. Of course it was duly noted that both John Nagy and our President were from New Jersey!

Mr. Nagy is an expert in antiques and antique manuscripts and is also a consultant for the Clements Library at the University of Michigan and has appeared on the History Channel. Mr. Nagy was the founder of the American Revolutionary Roundtable in Philadelphia and is its current president. His book, titled the same as the presentation, is out to the printer and should be available in bookstores on November 28 or at least by December 1 of this year – just in time for holiday giving!

Mr. Nagy’s talk was most interesting and informative and he went into quite a bit of detail concerning mutinies and espionage during the American Revolution. He’d found that 5.8% of all court’s marshals during the Revolution had a charge of mutiny involved although most of those particular situations really involved “disorderly conduct” and not “mutiny.”

Mr. Nagy presented his material with the assistance of a “PowerPoint presentation” which contained not only various quotes that he had referenced but also maps and pictures of some of the places and people involved.

The main points were as follows:
(1) Command and control
(2) Supply problems
(3) Roles of spies and double agents
(4) Washington’s opinions

Although the history of the American Revolution is rich with all sorts of tales of mutiny and espionage, one of the most famous such incidents and one in which Mr. Nagy went into great detail had to do with the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny. Mr. Nagy also referenced the fact that the English had been in contact with a “high officer” whose first initial was “W.” However, once the incident with Benedict Arnold materialized, all such correspondence from the English ceased.

One of the main points that seemed to come out is that a lot of these mutinies had to do with not so much a change of heart as far as allegiances to either the Crown or America were concerned but rather because of concerns about salaries not being paid, individuals being confused about their actual terms of service and, from time to time, concerns about supply of alcoholic beverages!

The question and answer period was quite lively and Mr. Nagy’s presentation was enjoyed by all.

Meeting Notes: September 19, 2007

Presentation: “George Washington in the West,” William G. Clotworthy.

The American Revolution Roundtable – Richmond met at the University of Richmond on September 19, 2007. The speaker was William G. Clotworthy (who was ably introduced to the gathering by Lynn Sims, the first Vice President for Programs) whose topic had to do with George Washington “in the west.” Mr. Clotworthy had written a book entitled In the Footsteps of George Washington but his emphasis for this talk was George Washington “In the West.”

Mr. Clotworthy was retired but had been in the broadcast business for many years. His last twelve years were with NBC where he had a job which he was sure no one thought existed – “the network censor for Saturday Night Live!”

Mr. Clotworthy’s talk was quite interesting and frankly he was very easy to listen to. He talked of how there were so many places in this country where George Washington either slept, battled, grew up, was born, or in fact “bathed.”

Mr. Clotworthy spoke of George Washington’s early years where he was acting as a surveyor and as a true “Western visionary.”

In 1748, George Washington joined a surveying party put together by Colonel Fairfax. He indicated surveying was arduous; there were plenty of snakes to deal with, mountains, rivers, and it was very physically challenging. However, this benefited George Washington greatly as he learned so much in dealing with all of these adversities, the various challenges, people to deal with, the Indians to be traded with, and so forth. In fact, one of the finer points of all this was that George Washington developed his sense that he was “the master of various events.” Mr. Clotworthy spoke of the effects of the Fort Necessity debacle, but in this, as was to be his lot later in life, George Washington seemed to lead a charmed military life.

According to Mr. Clotworthy, the West really molded George Washington because he learned in that setting as a surveyor, and as an officer during the French and Indian War the necessary attention to detail, dealing with shortages and all of the problems associated with that life and yet he was constantly drawn to the West and constantly thought of it.

In conclusion, Mr. Clotworthy felt that George Washington really always had the welfare of the country in his mind and heart and that his great object was the perpetuation of our nation’s strengths.

Meeting Notes: May 23, 2007

Presentation: "The Virginia Continentals," John Pagano.

The May 23, 2007 meeting of the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond, Virginia was held at 6:00 p.m. (a little earlier due to U of R’s schedule) in the Westhampton Room at the University of Richmond. The speaker was John Pagano who was introduced to the gathering by Lynn Sims, the first Vice President for Programs.

Mr. Pagano works with the Jamestown and Yorktown Foundations as well as Colonial Williamsburg and is an historical consultant with Lion Heart Productions. He’s from upstate New York and styles himself as a “museum gypsy”.

He came armed with a DVD from Lion Heart which showed him as well as others in the various uniforms of the Virginia Line as it’s called.

Mr. Pagano’s story included the infamous Wintermarch during the winter of 1779-1780 and how long it took after leaving New Jersey on December 14, 1779, getting to Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, making it to Fredericksburg in February, to Petersburg on March 8th, Camden, SC some 23 days later and finally to Charleston on or about April 6th. One of the reasons this march took so long was that this winter saw some of the worst weather and marching conditions of the period.

Mr. Pagano’s most informative presentation also covered the accomplishments of the Virginia Line as far back as 1777-1779 as well as some (but not all of course) of the political infighting in the group during its march to Charleston.

Meeting Notes: March 21, 2007

Presentation: "The American Rifleman," Michael Cecere.

The March 21, 2007 meeting of the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond, Virginia was held at 6:45 p.m. in the Westhampton Room at the University of Richmond. The speaker was Michael Cecere who was introduced to the gathering by Lynn Sims, the first Vice President for Programs.

Mr. Cecere teaches high school at the Robert E. Lee High School in northern Virginia, has written a number of books, has been a reenactor for approximately eight years, has a Masters from the University of Akron, is from Maine and is a “Coast Guard Brat”.

Mr. Cecere came dressed as an American Rifleman, gave a very informative program about the long rifle and compared and contrasted it with a smooth bore musket which was, of course, not as accurate but which could be loaded much quicker.

He indicated that there weren’t many long rifles north of Pennsylvania and frankly the Virginia riflemen were quite popular and some think they just got spoiled when they went up to help out in Boston.

The presentation was very well received and the speaker was especially animated during the question and answer session.

Meeting Notes: January 17, 2007

Presentation: "Revisions to Boatner's Encyclopedia of the American Revolution," Dr. Harry M. Ward.

This was the inaugural meeting of the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond, held on the 226th anniversary of the Battle of the Cowpens. Forty-two members attended.