Happy 245th Anniversary to Jack Jouett’s Midnight Ride!
Most people have heard of Paul Revere due to the popularized poem: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Some may know the two riders that night, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, but few know of John (Jack) Jouett Jr. who would make his own midnight ride six years later— earning him the apt title of “Paul Revere’s of the South.”
Jouett was born on December 7, 1754 to a tavern keeper of the Swan “ordinary” tavern (Jack Jouett Sr.) and his wife Mourning Harris.
During the Revolutionary War, Jouett served as a captain in the 16th Regiment of the Virginia militia. His whole family was highly involved in the revolutionary cause, all three of his brothers having served alongside him, one of them dying at the Battle of Brandywine, and his father providing meat rations for the militia. Both he and his father signed the Albemarle Declaration which renounced allegiance to King George III and pledged loyalty to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In 1781, the British operations in the south were underway. British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis had intercepted a dispatch from Governor Thomas Jefferson that the Virginia legislature, including Jefferson, had fled from Richmond to Charlottesville after defected general Benedict Arnold had attacked Richmond. Cornwallis also learned that weapons were being stockpiled by the colonists at the Old Albemarle Courthouse at Scott's Landing. In response, Cornwallis ordered Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to ride to Charlottesville and capture Jefferson and the legislature while Colonel John Graves Simcoe was ordered to destroy the colonists’ military supplies at Scott’s Landing. Tarleton left on June 3 with 180 cavalrymen and 70 mounted infantry of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, marching them covertly with plans to march the 70 miles to Charlottesville in 24 hours to catch the members of the legislature by surprise.
Meanwhile, Jouett had allegedly being resting on the lawn of Cuckoo Tavern* in Louisa County, Virginia, when he heard the sound of approaching cavalry. Noticing it was Col. Tarleton's cavalry, he presumed they were marching to Charlottesville to capture the politicians hiding in the area. He was aware that Charlottesville was largely undefended as little to no fighting had taken place on Virginian soil from 1776 to 1780, most of the forces being deployed elsewhere. At around 10pm, Jouett decided to take it upon himself to warn Jefferson and the legislators by riding the 40 miles to Charlottesville from Louisa. Due to the fact that the British cavalry was occupying the main route, Jouett had little other option but to take the backwoods trails to Old Mountain Road in the dead of the night.
*Jefferson's account states that Jouett had been at his father's house.
Jouett arrived at Monticello at around 4:30 am, waking Jefferson and several of the legislators taking up temporary residence at the estate. Jefferson awarded Jouett with fine Madeira before Jouett continued his ride another two miles to warn the town of Charlottesville.
Paul Revere was said to have rode about 12.5 miles, which was a little more than ¼ of the distance Jouett rode on the night of June 3rd and morning of June 4th. Furthermore, Revere had many other riders that night. Some estimates go up to 40 other riders throughout Middlesex County spreading the alarm.
That is not to belittle Revere's role on the night of April 18th and morning of the 19th. Rather, the point is to show how much of history has been forgotten and outright lost to time. Few stories are preserved and many which did survive have been embellished in some shape and form to further some sort of perspective or agenda.
Paul Revere of the South by Elizabeth Nix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Jouett?wprov=sfti1#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Revere's_midnight_ride?wprov=sfti1#
https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/04/dissecting-the-timeline-of-paul-reveres-ride/
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/jack-jouetts-ride
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