Virginia

Overview

The American Revolution, from 1775 to 1783, had profound implications for Virginia, one of the Thirteen Colonies that engaged in rebellion against British rule. In the years leading up to the Revolution, tensions between the colonists and the British monarchy escalated, with issues like the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts inciting outrage and protest among Virginians. Virginia, with its robust economy and influential leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, played a significant role in mobilizing the revolutionary cause, advocating strongly for independence.

During the Revolution, Virginia became a significant battleground and a center for political and military strategy. The state was subjected to numerous British raids and battles, culminating in the decisive Siege of Yorktown in 1781, where General Washington, allied with French forces, defeated British General Cornwallis to essentially end the war. Notably, Virginia’s leadership in drafting key documents of the Revolution, such as Jefferson’s authorship of the Declaration of Independence, and the state’s promotion of the ideals of liberty, self-government, and natural rights, have solidified its pivotal role in the founding of the United States.

Diaries and Memoirs

John Davis diaries, located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania 

John Davis was captain of the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion, Continental Army, under General Anthony Wayne. His diary covers the Virginia campaign, Yorktown, and the march to North and South Carolina to join Nathanael Greene. An online record is available at https://discover.hsp.org/Record/ead-Am.6565

Other Primary Sources

Clinton, Henry. The Campaign in Virginia 1781.  An Exact Reprint of Six Rare Pamphlets with Very Numerous Important Unpublished Manuscript Notes. Vol. I. 2 vols. London: Benjamin Franklin Stevens, 1888.

Oswald, Richard. Richard Oswald’s Memorandum – On the Folly of Invading Virginia, The Strategic Importance of Portsmouth, and the Need for Civilian Control of the Military. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1953.

Secondary Sources

Cecere, Michale. Invasion Of Virginia 1781. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2017.

Holton, Woody. Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia. Chapel Hill: Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

Kranish, Michael. Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War. Oxford, England ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Maass, John R. “The Greatest Terror Imaginable: Cornwallis Brings His Campaign to Goochland, June 1781.” Goochland County Historical Society Magazine 41 (2009): 12–101.

Maass, John R. George Washington’s Virginia. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017.

Oswald, Richard. Richard Oswald’s Memorandum – On the Folly of Invading Virginia, The Strategic Importance of Portsmouth, and the Need for Civilian Control of the Military. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1953.

Virginia in the American Revolution – An Exhibition by The Society of the Cincinnati. Washington, DC: Anderson House, 2010.

Virginia Revolutionary War Memorials

John Marshall House in Richmond and Statue in Washington, DC