[WVNan]

Where was the first battle of the Revolution? Lexington/Concord? Not exactly. Look for the Battle of Point Pleasant or Lord Dunmore’s War. This is not generally mentioned in history books, so you might get extra credit for finding something unusual.

[Politicalkiddo]

Well, this is just for my own person knowledge. I never feel like I know enough about the Revolution, and it’s one of my favorite periods to study.

[gusty]

Not exactly. Lord Dunmore’s War was an Indian conflict in western Virginia along the Ohio River. Many of the participants on the Virginia side lined up against each other after Lexington and Concord. For example, Lord Dunmore, a rebel earlier during the ‘45, led the British forces in Norfolk against the Patriots at the Battle of Great Bridge in 1775. While Daniel Morgan, a distinguished Patriot commander at Quebec, Saratoga, etc, fought for Dunmore in the Virginia militia in Lord Dunmore’s War.

[bert]

I visited the National Battle Field at Cowpens SC and was treated to a personal lecture by the NPS resident historian.

He had developed a map indicating the revolutionary battles in South Carolina. There were more battles there than any other state. He said he got tired of hearing about New Jersey and all the battles and decided to make a list and plot them on the map.

For those interested, there is a new National Historic Trail named The Over Mountain Victory Trail. It is the trail from Sycamore Shoals at Elizabethton Tennessee across the mountain to Morganton, North Carolina and down through Cow Pens SC to Kings Mountain. It is the 1780 route of the Overmountain men from East Tennessee to fight the decisive revolutionary battle of Kings Mountain.

It actually begins in Abington VA where the Virginia militia gathered to come to join the main force at Sycamore shoals. There is a nice National Park Service presentation and shop where you get a map guiding you along the route. You pass Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton TN where the forces gathered and there is a nice museum. There are very good places of interest at the National Battlefields at Cowpens and Kings mountain.

It makes a good week end trip