Fluvanna and the American Revolution
Bill Jones
Fluvanna County Historical Society
There is a point in Fluvanna County where the Rivanna River flows into the James. It is appropriately named Point of Fork. During the Revolutionary war an arsenal was located there. It was comprised of an armory, a magazine, barracks, shops, and storehouses. Many supplies poured into it. From Southwest Virginia came lead for shot, from Bedford came iron for arms and ammunition, and from Chesterfield and Goochland came coal for the forges. The armory was under the command of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Von Steuben.
The British general Lord Cornwallis dispatched two detachments. One was under the command of Colonel Banastre Tarleton whose objective was to march to Charlottesville and capture Thomas Jefferson and the other members of the Virginia Legislature. The other was under the command of Colonel John Graves Simcoe. These were known as the Queen’s Rangers and were American Tories. Their objective was to capture the arsenal at Point of Fork and confiscate its contents.
When Von Steuben learned that Simcoe was approaching, he had his troops transport the stores across the James River. Pieces of heavy artillery were dropped into the river and would later be recovered.
Simcoe arrived at Point of Fork on the 5th of June 1781and seized the arsenal. In his account of the raid he claimed that he destroyed and seized a vast quantity of arms and stores. However, Von Steuben and Lafayette reported that the losses were negligible.
Today, the seizure of Point of Fork is dramatized in a reenactment held in conjunction with Columbia days. The town of Columbia is situated at Point of Fork. This reenactment usually occurs in the month of June and provides a glimpse into the Revolutionary war.
In an aside, as Colonel Tarleton and his men advanced towards Charlottesville, they stopped to spend the night in Louisa. As they were drinking in the Cuckoo Tavern they boasted of their plans to capture the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson and the legislature had fled from Williamsburg to Charlottesville. Young Jack Jouett, Jr. overheard their boasts. He had stopped at the tavern to show off the uniform of a British Dragoon he had captured. Young Jack saddled his horse and took off on a night ride to warn Jefferson and the Virginia Legislature of the approaching redcoats. His ride was no less spectacular or less important than the midnight ride of Paul Revere. His ride was 45 miles through rough terrain. Revere’s ride was only 15 miles. For the rest of his life Jouett’s face bore the scars of the limbs and bushes that scraped him during his ride. Although Henry Wadsworth Longfellow didn’t immortalize Jouett in poetry his ride saved Jefferson from capture and undoubtedly saved the cause of the Revolution. Longfellow attributed to Paul Revere that the fate of a nation was riding on him. The fate of a nation was also riding on Jack Jouett. He certainly deserves his place in history.
(Most of the material in this article came from a publication entitled Historic Fluvanna edited by David W.C. Bearr and published by The Fluvanna County Historical Society, pp 14-16) (The material for Jack Jouett’s ride was found on the internet and was from an article that appeared in the Richmond Times 2 December 1934)