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The only known from-life image of Jack Jouett, a silhouette made by his son Matthew.
Legend has Jefferson offering Jouett a glass of good Madeira before he continued on to Charlottesville to rouse the assemblymen there.
Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton
at Monticello.” This would have been a hazardous ride of approximately forty miles. Legend has Jefferson offering Jouett a glass of good Madeira before he continued on to Charlottesville to rouse the assemblymen there.
After Jouett’s departure, Jefferson ordered a carriage made ready for his family and offered breakfast to the members of the legislature who were staying at Monticello. Jefferson sent his family to safety at a neighboring farm but remained behind, perhaps to gather needed papers, when he received a second warning from a neighbor, Chris- topher Hudson, that the British troops were ascending Monticello mountain. Hudson related that he found Jefferson “perfectly tranquil, and undisturbed” but urged him to leave immediately. According to Hudson, Monticello was surrounded “in ten minutes at farthest by a troop of light-horse.” Jefferson described how he avoided the main road and traveled through the woods to join his family.
Tarleton did not remain long in
Charlottesville. He managed to catch seven legislators, but most of the assem- blymen escaped across the Blue Ridge Mountains to the town of Staunton. Meanwhile, believing his term as gov- ernor had expired, Jefferson escorted his family to safety at their farm, Poplar Forest, near Lynchburg, and remained there until the middle of the summer.
When the members of the General Assembly reconvened in Staunton, they immediately voted Jack Jouett a pair of pistols and a sword as symbols of grati- tude, but a proposal was put forward for an inquiry into Jefferson’s actions. The inquiry ultimately was dropped, yet Jefferson insisted on appearing before the lawmakers in December to respond to charges of mishandling his duties and abandoning leadership at a critical moment. He reported that he had be- lieved it understood that he was leaving office and that he had discussed with other legislators the advantages of Gen. Thomas Nelson, a commander of the state militia, being appointed governor. Jefferson recognized that he was “unpre-
SPRING/SUMMER 2010 
Image courtesy of Jack Jouett House