Image courtesy of Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Meeting Notes: May 23, 2007

"The Virginia Continentals," John Pagano

The May 23, 2007 meeting of the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond, Virginia was held at 6:00 p.m. (a little earlier due to U of R’s schedule) in the Westhampton Room at the University of Richmond. The speaker was John Pagano who was introduced to the gathering by Lynn Sims, the first Vice President for Programs.
Mr. Pagano works with the Jamestown and Yorktown Foundations as well as Colonial Williamsburg and is an historical consultant with Lion Heart Productions. He’s from upstate New York and styles himself as a “museum gypsy”.

He came armed with a DVD from Lion Heart which showed him as well as others in the various uniforms of the Virginia Line as it’s called.

Mr. Pagano’s story included the infamous Wintermarch during the winter of 1779-1780 and how long it took after leaving New Jersey on December 14, 1779, getting to Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, making it to Fredericksburg in February, to Petersburg on March 8th, Camden, SC some 23 days later and finally to Charleston on or about April 6th. One of the reasons this march took so long was that this winter saw some of the worst weather and marching conditions of the period.

Mr. Pagano’s most informative presentation also covered the accomplishments of the Virginia Line as far back as 1777-1779 as well as some (but not all of course) of the political infighting in the group during its march to Charleston.

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