SCAR is entering its tenth year of planning symposia and conferences on American Revolutionary War topics. These gatherings feature the latest scholarship, opportunities for fellowship with our scholars and others with a mutual interest, and to have fun with tours and field presentations to see where the heroes fought.
Lt. Col. Henry “Light Horse Harry Lee” at Guilford Courthouse as depicted by 19th c. artist Alanzo Chappell.
April 26, 2013 – Friday – our Lee bus tour will feature tours of the posturing of the Southern Department armies commanded by Lord Charles Cornwallis and Gen. Nathanael Greene in early March 1781 leading up to their final clash at Guilford Courthouse. Included are Harry Lee’s battle sites in the Burlington, NC area: the skirmishes at Clapp’s Mill, the Rocky Ford at Weitzel’s Mill, and the latest scholarship on Pyle’s Hacking Match and its location. The tour is organized by David P. Reuwer and will feature knowledgeable local guides including historians Bob Carter, Stewart Dunaway and Jeff Bright.
April 27-28, 2013 – Greensboro, NC – SCAR’s “WEDDED TO MY SWORD” The Life and Times of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee will include the latest scholarly research on the interesting and, sometimes, controversial life of Harry Lee with boots-on-the-ground tours of Lee battle sites. Dynamic presentations on Lee’s life, contributions to the Revolutionary War, as a Virginia politician, Southern Campaigns historian, and his controversies will be made by world-class scholars including Jim Piecuch, Dennis Conrad, Ben Huggins, Mike Cecere, Jim Mc Intyre, Ben Rubin, John Hutchins, John Beakes, Steve Rauch, Dan Murphy, Dave Neilan, and Stewart Dunaway. On Sunday’s included battlefield tour, we will see the New Garden Meeting House and road - sites of Harry Lee’s initial battles with the British commanded by “Bloody Ban” Tarleton prior to the general engagement at Guilford Courthouse – and walk the Guilford Courthouse battlefield. Lee’s climatic clash at Guilford did not happen within the federal park; we will go to the site.
Please call (803) 549-6710 for preregistration. cbbaxley@truvista.net & davidreuwer3@aol.com For more information, click: Symposium Schedule — Presenters’ Biographies – Registration — Hotel Reservation Information.
“I believe few Officers either in America or Europe are held in so high a point of estimation as you are…” ——Gen. Nathanael Greene to “Light Horse” Harry Lee January 27, 1782
The sentiment above, expressed by General Nathanael Greene, commander of the American southern army, captured the opinion of many Americans regarding Light Horse Harry Lee, the dashing cavalry commander from Virginia. In early 1782, twenty-six year old Lieutenant Colonel Lee commanded a legion of mounted and dismounted dragoons that had just completed a spectacular year of military service in the South. Lee’s efforts in 1781, in conjunction with General Greene and the American southern army, resulted in the British loss of most of South Carolina and Georgia. Over the course of 1781, Lee and his legion, often detached from Greene’s army, helped screen Greene’s desperate retreat to Virginia in the Race to the Dan River, captured or destroyed numerous enemy outposts and detachments in South Carolina and Georgia, and played a crucial role in the bloody battles of Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs and the sieges of Augusta and Ninety Six.
The extraordinary service of Lee and his men in 1781 capped what had already been five years of distinguished military service for Lee. He had reported to General Washington’s army at Morristown as a twenty year old cavalry captain in 1777 and his daring exploits at Valley Forge (1778), Powles Hook (1779) and Springfield (1780) earned him a reputation as a bold commander. Lee’s extraordinary military service on both the northern and southern battlefields of the Revolutionary War confirm that the young officer made the right decision when he declined the opportunity in 1778 to join General Washington’s staff as an aide-de-camp. Lee preferred to remain in the field and explained to General Washington that “I am wedded to my sword.” The American army and cause benefited from that decision. — Mike Cecere, Wedded to my Sword
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Spring 2014 – Charleston, SC – three British attacks, extant structures, the seat of the British colonial, Rebel, and British military government, great victories and humilitiating defeats. No, we won’t see Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, but we will walk where real heroes of the AWI walked.
SCAR is also working with Dr. Dennis Conrad to plan a cruise ship based presentations and land tours on the major naval and land battles in the Caribbean arising from the American Revolution. We hope to announce this family fun, laid-back but informative program in the future. Stay tuned for additional information.
Charles B. Baxley
Publisher
Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution
##### Prior Symposia:
February 27, 2010 - Lancaster, South Carolina – “Blood Be Upon Your Head” : Tarleton and Buford at the Waxhaws. For information on Jim Piecuch’s new book on Buford’s Defeat: “The Blood Be Upon Your Head”: Tarleton, Buford and the Myth of Massacre http://www.southerncampaign.org/publications
Battle of the Waxhaws - “Blood Be Upon your Head”, Tarleton and Buford at the
Waxhaws, February 2010
The Redcoats are Coming – Loyalist in the Southern Campaigns – 2008
Cavalry in the American Revolution 2007
Eutaw Springs 2006
Nathanael Greene 2006
Thomas Sumter 2005
Camden Campaign 2004
Banastre Tarleton 2002
updated May 09, 2013