Friday, March 22 (6:30pm) – Sunday, March 24, 2019 (noon)
Williamsburg, Virginia
The Conference and Arnold raid bus tour is now full. Please call Bruce at 703-785-4373, if you want to be put on the waiting list.
Edward G. Lengel, Head of Faculty —
Rick Atkinson – “The British Are Coming: Waging Expeditionary War in the Age of Sail.”
Rod Andrew Jr – “Not the Swamp Fox: South Carolina’s Andrew Pickens in the Revolutionary War”
Jack Buchanan – “The Road to Charleston: How Nathanael Greene Dealt with Logistics, Civil War and Politics in South Carolina and Georgia”
Larrie Ferriro – “Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It”
Stephen Fried – “Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father”
Don Hagist – “A Thousand Lashes: Discipline in the British Army by the Cat o’ Nine Tails”
James Kirby Martin – “In a Wanton and Barbarous Manner’: Benedict Arnold’s New London Raid and the Fort Griswold “Massacre”
Eric Schnitzer – “The Hessians are Also Coming: Who Were King George’s Hirelings and Where Did They Come From?”
Lt. Col. Sean Sculley – “The Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775-1783”
Richard J. Sommers – “Founding Fathers and Fighting Sons: The Revolutionary War Forebears of Civil War Soldiers and Statesmen”
Fifes & Drum Cocktail Reception on Friday Evening for Speakers and Attendees
Update from the Revolutionary War Trust
Friday Bus Tour: Benedict Arnold’s Raid on Richmond, 1781
led by Mark Lender & James Kirby Martin
Conference Registration: includes cocktail reception, lunch and refreshment breaks:
Friday Bus Tour: includes admissions, lunch, refreshment breaks, map package $120.
Exclusive Offer: Discounted tickets to the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area will be available to all attendees to use before or after the conference.
Conference Hotel: We have booked a block of rooms at the Colonial Williamsburg’s Woodlands Hotel next to the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor’s Center at a rate of $92.00 per night (double or single occupancy) or suite $112. This hotel provides a hot and cold breakfast buffet each day. You may call the hotel Monday through Friday at 800-261-9530 between the hours of 8:30 am and 5 pm to make a reservation or anytime using the hotel’s Passkey link.
Our Featured Sponsors: Westholme Publishing Company, Tim Sampson’s Battlemaps.us, Knox Press and 224Design
Benedict Arnold’s Raid on Richmond, 1781 – Friday, March 22 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) – Led by Mark Lender and James Kirby Martin
On 4 January 1781 a British expeditionary force under Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold landed at Westover Plantation, some thirty miles from Richmond. The next day Arnold’s command arrived in Richmond. The British met no resistance as they sacked and burned public buildings; some private property also went up in flames as collateral damage. The state foundry at Westham also fell to Arnold’s raiders before he withdrew. Heading down the James, Arnold sent detachments to scatter militia concentrated at Charles City Courthouse and pillage the grounds of the neighboring plantation of Berkeley, home of Virginia patriot Benjamin Harrison. Arnold sailed for Portsmouth on 10 January. Arnold’s expedition marked the beginning of British operations in Virginia which ultimately ended with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Our tour will trace Arnold’s movements during his Richmond raid on the north side of the James. Tour attendees will receive a copy of the Virginia Historical Society’s Magazine of History and Biography which includes Mark Lender and James Kirby Martin’s new article on Arnold’s raid with an excellent map.
Some of the sites we’ll visit include Charles City Courthouse where Arnold sent Simcoe’s Queen’s American Rangers to hit patriot militia on 8 January; Westover Planation on the James where Arnold arrived on 4 January and Berkeley Plantation where 40 slaves left with British troops. We will follow the route Arnold followed going to and coming from Richmond. The route is clear on period maps. At Church Hill in Richmond, a militia position, we’ll stop at St. John’s Church (clearly marked on the Simcoe map), where Patrick Henry gave his “Liberty or Death” speech. Various sites in Richmond will be pointed out that are associated with the raid.
This tour is an opportunity to learn about an overlooked operation led by Benedict Arnold who will be wearing a red uniform for the first time in the War for Independence. We expect Arnold’s biographer, James Kirby Martin will be along with us to add his perspective on the military hero-turned-traitor.
Our 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Conferences SOLD OUT. For more information about our 8th Annual conference on the American Revolution and to be put on the waiting list, call Bruce at America’s History: 703-785-4373.
DOWNLOAD CONFERENCE AGENDA
Is there a conference agenda that has been published ? If so how do I gain access?
Thank you.
The conference agenda will be posted on our web site in about 10 days and Lynne will be emailing it to conference attendees.