The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Cardinal News has embarked on a three-year project to tell the little-known stories of Virginia’s role in the march to independence. As part of this, I will be writing monthly columns about the politics of the era, written the same way I’d write them today. The events described here took place in 1774.
The last news we heard from the west was that our men-at-arms had won a great victory over the Shawnee at Point Pleasant, on the banks of the Ohio River, and secured all the lands from here to the river for settlement.
We’re now starting to hear more details about that battle and the aftermath, one of which might be more significant than the battle itself.
While we have come to call this conflict with the native tribes to the west “Lord Dunmore’s War,” it appears that our royal governor played no role in the fighting. Governor Dunmore had divided his forces, and it was the force under the command of Andrew Lewis of Augusta County (modern editor’s note: He lived in what today is Roanoke County) that did all the fighting. It’s possible that Dunmore did no more than hear the shooting from afar, if that. This is certain to only heighten Lewis’ prestige back home, while we can only speculate what the impact will be on Dunmore’s public standing. He has been something of a problematic governor, but that is a subject for a future dispatch.
To be sure, Dunmore does get credit for marching on across the Ohio and negotiating the treaty that will keep natives on the western side of the river. However, Dunmore then left to return to Williamsburg, leaving his soldiers to make their own way home — and here’s where things really get interesting.
We now learn that on Nov. 5, those men gathered at Fort Gower, Dunmore’s war camp on the Ohio (modern editor’s note: today this is Hockingport, Ohio) and adopted a remarkable document that has come to be known as the Fort Gower Resolves. (Dunmore’s decision to name the fort after the Earl Gower is telling; the British lord is best known for advocating hard-line policies against the American Colonies. He is not our friend).
The short version of these resolves: The men vowed to defend their “just rights and privileges” and implied that, if necessary, they are prepared to take up arms to defend those rights.
Over the course of the summer, we’ve seen 30 or more counties in Virginia pass resolutions protesting the British crackdown on Massachusetts following the tea-dumping incident in the Boston harbor. None of those, however, went so far as to threaten the use of force. Now we have a body of men-at-arms who vow to do so. This will strike some as inspiring, others as alarming. Either way, it feels like, while these men had yet to cross the Ohio when they adopted these resolves, they have passed a political Rubicon.
The soldiers didn’t explicitly declare themselves in rebellion. On the contrary, the language of the document suggests they went out of their way to pledge their allegiance to King George III and his royal governor, Lord Dunmore. The rest of the resolution, though, is nothing short of revolutionary. Perhaps these are merely the intemperate words of men far from civilized society and will have no impact. On the other hand, we recognize the names of many of those said to be present as men of stature in their home communities, and we’re given to understand that these resolves will be published in an upcoming issue of the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, which will give those words great weight throughout Virginia and perhaps the other Colonies as well. However, we at Ye Olde Cardinal News have obtained our own copy. (Modern editor’s note: The resolves were published Dec. 22, 1774.)
Let’s review what we know.
Dunmore and his entourage rode out of Fort Gower on Nov. 5, leaving his army behind. It appears that the officer corps gathered that very day and adopted these resolves. It’s unclear which officers are involved, but all accounts say that George Rogers Clark of Albemarle County was among them. Other reports say that Andrew Lewis, the hero of Point Pleasant, may have been there as well as William Campbell of Augusta County (modern editor’s note: what today is Smyth County) and Daniel Morgan of Frederick County.
Regardless of who was present, it’s likely the officers had heard about the proceedings in Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress had declared a boycott on British goods. (That declaration might have sounded strong but has so many loopholes it may not be as useful as it seems, but I addressed these points in my last dispatch.) The men at Fort Gower were certainly responding to something because their preamble referred to “this alarming crisis.”
The officers declared “the most faithful allegiance to His Majesty King George III” and that “we entertain the greatest respect for his Excellency the Right Honourable Lord Dunmore,” although it’s doubtful that either of those gentlemen will find much comfort in the rest of the resolution. It’s possible that the professions of allegiance and respect are merely perfunctory words.
The essence of the resolution is that despite that allegiance to the monarch, “the Love of Liberty, and Attachment to the real Interests and just Rights of America outweigh every other Consideration, we resolve that we will exert every Power within us for the Defence of American Liberty, and for the Support of her just Rights and Privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, or tumultuous Manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen.”
Let’s read that again and parse those words: The “love of liberty” and the “real interest and just rights of America outweigh every other consideration.” Does this mean the love of liberty and those rights outweigh the professed allegiance to the king? It would seem so. Furthermore, men vow to defend those rights “when regularly called forth by the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen.” Not the king. Not the governor. But “the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen,” whatever that means.
This seems a clear message to both the governor and the king: We love you, but only to a point.
We have not had the ability to interview these men, but these are not unlettered men. Clark has a formal education, which is unusual for these times. He went to a common school in Caroline County, where one of his fellow students was James Madison of Montpelier, who went on to attend the College of New Jersey (modern editor’s note: Today we know this as Princeton University), while Clark took up the business of surveying, for which much skill is needed. A surveyor must make his marks with precision, and it seems likely the authors of this resolution did, as well. If that is the case, this is the most radical resolution we have seen to date because it says that there is a breaking point to our allegiance to the king. Some might even call this treasonous.
The resolution also makes it clear that these are men to be reckoned with. Indeed, the very preamble underscores that these are men not only willing to fight, but men who have experience fighting: “That we are a respectable Body is certain, when it is considered that we can live Weeks without Bread or Salt, that we can sleep in the open Air without any Covering but that of the Canopy of Heaven, and that our Men can march and shoot with any in the known World. Blessed with these Talents, let us solemnly engage to one another, and our Country in particular, that we will use them to no Purpose but for the Honour and Advantage of America in general, and of Virginia in particular.”
Translation: We’re willing to fight for what we believe in, and we believe our rights take precedence over our allegiance to a king across the ocean.
The Virginians at Fort Gower stop short of an outright declaration of rebellion, but it seems a mighty short leap into that unknown. It’s no wonder the men waited until Lord Dunmore had left their midst to declare these sentiments. We can only speculate what will happen after this resolution is formally published, and these martial words make their way to London.
Patriots in Boston spilled tea in the harbor to defend their rights, but Virginians on the frontier have now declared their willingness to spill blood to defend theirs.
Sources consulted: Encyclopedia Virginia, the Ohio Statehouse, Battlefields.org and the 8th Virginia.
Other dispatches
Dispatch from 1774: Colonies convene a Congress, vote to boycott British goods
Dispatch from 1774: Settlers massacre Mingo near Ohio River, prompt ‘Lord Dunmore’s War’
Dispatch from 1774: Britain gives Virginia’s western lands to Quebec
Dispatch from 1774: More than 30 Virginia counties pass resolutions to protest British response to Boston tea-dumping
Dispatch from 1773: Smuggling in Rhode Island prompts Virginia to do something revolutionary
Dispatch from 1772: Britain vetoes Virginia’s vote to abolish transatlantic slave trade.
Dispatch from 1769: Governor dissolves House of Burgesses; Virginia vows boycott of British goods
Dispatch from 1766: A sensational murder at Mosby’s Tavern highlights how much Virginia’s gentry is in debt to Britain.
Dispatch from 1766: In Tappahannock, the Stamp Act prompts threats of violence.
Dispatch from 1765: Stamp Act protest prompts House speaker to accuse new legislator Patrick Henry of treason.
Dispatch from 1765: Augusta County mob murders Cherokees, defies royal authority.
Dispatch from 1763: Despite cries of ‘treason!,’ Hanover County jury delivers rebuke to the church — and the crown. (The court case that made Patrick Henry a celebrity.)
Dispatch from 1763: King’s proclamation has united often opposing factions in Virginia (Opposition to the king’s proclamation forbidding western settlement.)
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