The area we live in is rich with history. I’m constantly learning about historical events and activities that happened in and around Shepherdstown that I didn’t know. A local paper recently ran an article about an event that originated in Shepherdstown that I found interesting.
Back in June of 1775, it was pretty certain that the country was headed toward war – a revolutionary war. It was then that the Continental Congress took a couple of steps to prepare for the battles to come. It put out a call for 10 companies of riflemen from around the colonies and it appointed a 43 year-old Virginian — young, but experienced — to head this new “American Army.” The Virginia Colony was asked to supply two of these companies. In Mecklenburg (the original name for Shepherdstown,) Hugh Stephenson stepped up and had 98 men equipped and trained by mid-July.
The men assembled just outside of town at Morgan’s Spring on July 17, 1775. Twenty five days later, after a 600 mile march, the men arrived in Cambridge (Massachusetts) and presented themselves to General Washington. Because of the speed at which they traveled, their march was immediately dubbed the “Bee Line March,” and that nickname stuck through the years
The company that made the Bee Line March is of particular significance for three reasons: it was among the first of the ten companies to reach Washington’s encampment, it is probably the best documented of any of the ten companies because of a detailed diary that was kept by one of its members, and the starting place of its march to Cambridge is likely the only starting place of any of the ten companies that can be identified reliably today.
So with the 250th anniversary of the Beeline March to Boston coming up, seems like a good time to celebrate….
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