Page 6 - Demo

In 78, Virginia felt the full force of the Revolutionary War. Beginning
in January, troops led by Benedict Arnold conducted raids along the
James River. By May, Arnold’s men and troops led by Maj. Gen. William
Photo courtesy The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Phillips had joined a larger British force under Lord Cornwallis that had moved into Virginia from the south. This invading army would scatter the Virginia government and create turmoil through a swath of the state—before ultimately surrendering to the combined French and American forces at Yorktown on October 9.
A Narrow Escape from the British, thanks to
Jack Jouett
WBY GAYE WILSON
ithin the turmoil of invasion, a heroic action by
a young Virginian thwarted the British capture of Virginia’s governor, Thomas Jefferson, and members of the Virginia As- sembly. The hero in this instance was John “Jack” Jouett Jr., a 26-year-old resident of the small town of Charlottesville near Jefferson’s Monticello.
Upon learning that Virginia’s legislature was reconvening in Charlottesville after evacuating the capital at Richmond, Cornwallis dispatched Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton to capture the governor and assemblymen. Tarleton traveled swiftly, mostly at night, and counted on catching the Virginians by surprise. He pushed hard before stopping to rest men and horses somewhere in the vicinity of the Louisa Court House
 LYNCH’S FERRY
on the evening of June 3. This is where Jouett observed the British and guessed their destination.
Jack Jouett was a captain in the 6th regiment of the Vir- ginia militia. His older brother, Matthew, had been killed at the Battle of Brandywine, and his two younger brothers also were militiamen. His father, John Jouett Sr., served as a “com- missary” supplying the Continental Army with beef from his farm in Louisa County. As the Jouett family lived in Charlot- tesville, ownership of this farm could explain why Jack Jouett happened to be in Louisa on the evening of June 3.
According to Jefferson’s account, Jouett knew the “byways of the neighborhood, passed the enemy’s encampment, rode all night, and before sunrise of the next day [June 4] called