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Archiver > 1776 > 2003-01 > 1042906603


From: "Mountain Curmudgeon" <>
Subject: [1776] Aristocracy and the Common Soldier
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 11:16:43 -0500


This is in response to a communication sent to me backchannel with questions
about my earlier comments about aristocracy. I have not posted the
backchannel comments to the list.

By 1778 everyone was getting into the act. Henry Hamilton (the hair buyer)
was sending British and Indians into West(ern) Virginia with a bounty on the
heads of settlers and many of these people (the "common soldier") had seen
service against them (Indians) in the F & I War etc. I did not mean to say
that EVERYONE involved was aristocratic (my people certainly weren't) but
rather that the CONFLICT was started by a power struggle between two groups
over control of resources (land, commerce, goods, etc.) The merchant trader
in Massachussetts and the pioneer settler in West(ern) Virginia and the
tobacco planter in South Carolina likely had little in common if not for the
almost artful stupidity of George and his ministers in passing measures that
were to alienate each group for a difrerent reason all in the agreement that
they hated HIM. I reconcile my opinion with the letter you mention by
pointing out that when the Virginia Colonial Government fell and the new
Revolutionary Convention took over it was many of the SAME people without
the top (Dunmore). In a final thought I will caution you to be careful of
documents cited or given by Glenn D. Lough unless original copies or sources
can be found. He did a lot of good works and found some documents but, like
the late Gustav Anjou, does not seem to have been above inventing a tidbit
or two to fill in some blanks and he seems to have taken something of a
"National Enquirer" approach to local history. He was my cousin and I would
love to see the gun that Lough claimed to have upon the stock of which my
ancestor Adam Flesher was supposed to have carved copies of the images from
the famous "Jesus Rock". I am very interested in the letter that you cite
and I will definitely want to follow up on it and see if I can document it
from a primary source.






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