Next Meeting: March 17, 2021

Our March meeting will again be a Zoom meeting. Gary Ecelbarger will speak on "George Washington During the First Month of the Philadelphia Campaign: Old Challenges & New Discoveries, August 24-September 23, 1777." Information about the Zoom meeting will be conveyed in Bill's March newsletter.

 

Meeting Notes: November 18, 2020

Pre-Guest Speaker Notes:

ARRT-R’s next meeting is scheduled for 1/27/21 at 6:30 p.m.  This is a zoom meeting!  Sign in

details will be provided in the January newsletter.  Thanks again to Peggy Watson for allowing us to utilize the Osher network.

ARRT-R’s featured speaker on 1/27/21 will be Ed Lengel.  Mr. Lengel will be speaking on “New Thoughts on Valley Forge”.

Mr. Lengel is a historian in residence at Colonial Williamsburg, and previously served as Chief Historian of The White House Historical Association.  Before that, Lengel was Editor-in-Chief of The Papers of George Washington and Professor at the University of Virginia.

Mr. Lengel is the author most recently of Never In Finer Company: The Men of the Great War’s Lost Battalion. He is also author of Thunder and Flames: Americans in the Crucible of Combat, 1917-1918 (2015), To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918 (2008), and This Glorious Struggle: George Washington's Revolutionary War letters (2007). His book General George Washington: A Military Life was a finalist for the 2006 George Washington Book Prize.

 

Guest Speaker – Jeff Dacus – “Washington’s Family: The Aides and Secretaries Who helped Him Through the War”

 Jeff Dacus is a retired schoolteacher who taught U.S. history for 35 years and also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Portland.  A retired Marine tanker, he volunteers with local veterans groups and is a speaker at historical events.  A member of the Company of Military Historians, he has written numerous articles in the Journal of the Company of Military Historians, Marine Corps Tanker’s Association Newsletter, as well as Leatherneck and Armor Magazines.  He is the winner of the 2020 General Roy S. Geiger Award given to the author of the best article in the field of Marine Corps Aviation.  His first book is The Fighting Corsairs: The Men of the Marine Fighting Squadron 215.

 Duties of an aide de camp/secretary:

 “It is unnecessary for me to observe to you, the multiplicity of business I am involved in – the number of Letters, Orders & Instruction’s I have to write – with many other matters which call loudly for Aids that are ready Pen-men

--Washington to Lee

During the war 32 men served Washington as Aides.  Aides were appointed by Congress.

 Washington’s biggest need was assistance with correspondence.

 Of the men who served Washington 9 had previous combat experience.  After the war, 17 served in government jobs.

 Washington did not speak a foreign language.  His Aides assisted him in communicating with the French army and foreign officials

Tench Tilghman was Washington’s favorite aide.  He was from Maryland and served as an aide for 4 years without leave or salary.

The Common Background of Washington’s Aides:

11 from Virginia

5 from Massachusetts

4 each from New York and Connecticut

3 each from Maryland and Pennsylvania

1 from South Carolina

1 from France

Only 7 states represented

 

3 were born in Ireland

1 born in France

1 born in England

1 born in the British West Indies

                             

 2 were Washington’s nephews

 1 was Washington’s stepson   

 Robert Hanson Harrison and George Johnston, Jr. were brothers in law

 John and Jonathan Trumbull were brothers

 William Grayson was James Monroe’s brother    

                --Noah Rogers       

January 20 Meeting Postponed Until January 27

Due to the impending inauguration and potential related events, we are postponing our January 20, 2021 meeting to January 27. Same time, speaker, etc.

Watch for Bill's January newsletter for further details.

"Revolutionary Richmond" Brochure Now Available

For the past three years, Bill Welsch, Bert Dunkerly, and Woody Childs have been hard at work developing a brochure on "Revolutionary Richmond." The format is modeled after the out-of-print (we think) brochure published by the City of Petersburg in 2008, "Revolutionary Petersburg: A Driving Tour." Bill's son-in-law, Matt Rowan, did a fantastic job on the design. The map was done by Edward Alexander, a VIP at the NPS.

While we are investigating printing costs, we are not sure if the brochure will ever be printed for mass distribution. However, the link below will enable you to print one for yourself and for your friends and family. You can also access the link on your cell phone or tablet so you can carry it with you while you're investigating all things Revolutionary that Richmond has to offer!

Link to "Revolutionary Richmond Brochure

Henrico County History e-Newsletter

Henrico county has worked hard to develop an e-newsletter to be released three times per year. It's filled with updates on historic sites, information about programs and staff, as well as a couple of in-depth, well-researched articles about Henrico history.  Stay tuned because the second issue will debut very soon...December. To find previous issues archived online or to sign up, please visit  https://henrico.us/rec/history

Next Meeting: January 20, 2021

Ed Lengel will be our speaker.  Ed will speak on "New Thoughts on Valley Forge."

Our January 20 meeting will again be a Zoom session, rather than an in-person gathering.  Thanks to Peggy Watson, we will be utilizing the University of Richmond's Osher network.

Sign-on information will be included in the January newsletter, the weekend before the meeting.  Stay tuned.

To participate in a Zoom session, your computer will need a camera function, standard for most lap tops and tablets.  But I would suggest reviewing the camera function before that time.  We recommend that you join in 5 - 10 minutes before the start, to be sure that your equipment is working.  All attendees will be put in a waiting room, then admitted one by one. You will be muted on admittance, but will be able to unmute as soon as you’re in.  Peggy Watson will explain the meeting protocol.
 
We do realize that all members might not be able to view the program, but also feel that this approach is better than entirely missing another meeting.  As with November, we won't worry about the other parts of the meeting.  

2021 Dues

Due to our only having met once during 2020, the Board of Directors has decided that ALL PAID MEMBERS FOR 2020 WILL HAVE THEIR MEMBERSHIPS EXTENDED THROUGH 2021.

Since we plan on continuing our preservation efforts, however, we are asking that all members donate that $5.00 portion of their dues for preservation in 2021.

Please wait for our next in-person meeting to pay your $5.00 for preservation. We do NOT want five-spots floating around the USPS!