Books

For most of his military career—his only career—Captain Charles Fordyce commanded the elite grenadier company in His Majesty’s 14th Regiment of Foot, an infantry regiment deployed to America and the West Indies between 1766 and 1775. These were the years leading to the War of American Independence. It was a time when the British government was accused of implementing a “ruinous system of colony administration … calculated for enslaving these colonies.” It was a time when impatient colonists with aspirations for civil and religious liberties and commercial and territorial growth, challenged the authority of a King and his Parliament thought to be confounding those aspirations. It was a time of fomenting rebellion. This is the account of Captain Fordyce’s life and career. As such, it is the account of the sequence of confrontations that climaxed in the outbreak of war in America in 1775. The account ends with a detailed assessment of a historically neglected battle in Virginia in the earliest days of the War, the Battle of Great Bridge, Virginia on December 9, 1775. The Patriot victory at Great Bridge influenced the British commitment to New England as the focal point for their fight against the Americans. It was Captain Fordyce’s last battle and although a defeat for the British, Fordyce and his grenadiers were praised by both the Americans and British for their heroic resolution, courage and valor.

Thomas Hubbard volunteered for militia duty in his home state of Virginia in March 1775, a month before the “shot heard ’round the world” was fired at Concord. When the Revolutionary War started, Virginia formed a state army and Thomas enlisted in the 1st Virginia Regiment, commanded by Patrick Henry. A year later he re-enlisted—again in the 1st Virginia Regiment but now part of the Continental Army. Within weeks of his enlistment he fought at Harlem Heights on Manhattan Island. Next he fought at White Plains, New York then struggled with Washington’s retreating army across New Jersey in the dark days of the Revolution. He crossed the Delaware River with Washington on Christmas night 1776 and fought the Battle of Trenton the next morning. Eight days later he was wounded at the Battle of Princeton. He was in the largest battle of the War at Brandywine and in the thick of the fighting at Germantown. He endured the greatest cannonading of the War at Fort Mifflin and was wounded a second time. He wintered at Valley Forge in 1777 – 1778. After the fall of Charleston in 1780, he was in the two largest battles in the Southern Campaign, Camden and Guilford Courthouse. He was captured by Benedict Arnold at Petersburg, five months before General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. By the War’s end, Thomas had traveled thousands of miles, fought in many of the key battles and served under commanders who would become presidents, governors and senators of the new nation. He came as close as any foot soldier to serving for the entire War. This is his story, as told by Thomas and the men who served with him.