Western Settlement
Independence opened a vast western territory to settlement, most of which belonged to Virginia. Managing the land as hoards of settlers migrated west was difficult as Indian Tribes, lingering Redcoats, squatters, and treaty negotiators clashed with veterans coming to claim the only thing Virginia and Congress were able to pay them with: land.
"The New Dominion" (Gabriel Neville, JAR) - A three-part study of how Virginia veterans were compensated with land after the war and what it took to distribute it and settle on it.
“Initial Land Acquisition in Kentucky” (Neal O. Hammon, KY.gov) How the earliest Kentucky settlers got title to their land.
“Pioneers and Profiteers: Land Speculation and the Homestead Ethic in Frontier Kentucky” (Stephen Aron, Western Historical Quarterly) Winners and losers in the unruly race for Kentucky land.
“The 8th Virginia and Kentucky" (Gabe Neville, Kentucky History Channel) Gabriel Neville returns to the Kentucky History Channel to tell stories of the 8th Virginia in the war and postwar Kentucky.
New & Notable
"The Lees of Stratford and the Cause of Liberty" (Gordon Blaine Steffey, ERW) - Lead Stratford Hall historian Gordon Steffey discusses his research on the Lee family and their role in the cause of independence.
Address to a Joint Session of Congress (Charles III) - King Charles comments on Britain's and America's shared heritage, putting the 250th anniversary of Independence in context.
"Robert Higgins and the 8th Virginia Regiment" (Gabriel Neville, RV) - Hardy County, West Virginia, has many stories to tell from the French & Indian and Revolutionary wars. Some of them involve Robert Higgins, who was a boy in the first war and a captain in the second.
“Portrait of Brigadier General William Washington by Thomas Coram” (Christopher Bryant and Sumpter Priddy, MESDA) - Out of public view for 200 years, a portrait of William Washington resurfaced in Tennessee. Washington was an infantry officer and then a cavalry officer, and was captured at the battle of Eutaw Springs. He was the commander-in-chief’s cousin.
"Strasburg at War for Liberty" (Gabriel Neville, RV) - Gabriel Neville tells the stories of Strasburg and Shenandoah Valley heroes (and some non-heroes) of the Revolutionary War.
