Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Black Baron's Random Fact of the Unspecified Time Period - #18

Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence…

Five were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

3 comments:

  1. Wow... is all of this true?

    It's the "other side" of the revolution that we never hear about.

    I'm actually stunned.

    Revolution is a pricey game, no doubt. I just never thought about how it would have really went down.

    Great post.

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  2. There are more, these are just the ones I found doing some quick research.

    Everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence were considered traitors to the crown & criminals and were treated as such by the British military.

    One really interesting thing is there's actually a statue of George Washington in Trafalgar Square.

    It's sitting on soil imported from the US because he swore to never set foot on British soil again.

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  3. Hey, you guys ok over there ?

    Sam

    ReplyDelete