Culpeper Minutemen Memorial Ceremony

6/11/2016

The Culpeper Minutemen Chapter of the SAR honored the Culpeper Minutemen of 1775 in a ceremony at the DAR memorial marker in Yowell Meadow Park today. Ten CMM Members (three in uniform), four prospective members, and four of our wives, were joined by several members of both the Culpeper Minute Men and Faquier Court House Chapters of the NSDAR, and the Asby Gap Chapter, C.A.R. Special guests this year were three members of the Regiment von Huyen, Hessian re-enactors. CMM 1st Vice-President Jerry Hubbard was the Master of Ceremonies.
The program opened with the combined color guard posting the colors of the United States, the 1775 Culpeper Minutemen, and the Regiment von Huyen, to the beat of Regiment von Huyen drummer Ken Smith-Christmas.

The colors are advanced, left to right: Bill Schwetke, Don Jennings, Larry Alexander; and Hessians: Ben Williams, Alan Wetherald, and Ken Smith-Christmas.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, and the SAR Pledge, President Schwetke gave a brief history of the Culpeper Minute Battalion. Then the Roll of Honor was called for twelve of the known Culpeper Minutemen, followed by the ringing of the bell by Len Cowherd, and the reading of a short biography of each by three readers: Secretary Tom Hamill of the CMM, Regent Mary Ann Cowherd of the CMM/DAR, and Past Regent Beverly Alexander of the FCHC/DAR. Those we honored today included:

Left to right: Bell Ringer Len Chowherd, Master of Ceremonies Jerry Huibbard, Reader #1 Tom Hamill, Reader #2 Mary Ann Cowherd, and reader #3 Beverly Alexander.

Next each group presented their wreath in honor of the 1775 Minutemen, with their own honor guard of musketeers, Don Jennings, and Larry Alexander. Treasurer Bill Mutziger presented the CMM wreath, Regent Mary Ann Cowherd presented the CMM/DAR wreath, Regent Cat Schwetke presented the FCHC/DAR wreath, Braden McGreevy presented the Ashby Gap Society of the C.A.R. wreath, and Grenadier Alan Wetherald presented the Regiment von Huyen wreath.

Treasurer Bill Mutziger presents the CMM wreath.

Regent Cat Schwetke presents the FCHC/DAR wreath.

Regent Mary Ann Cowherd presents the CMM/DAR wreath.

Braden McGreevy presented the Ashby Gap C.A.R. wreath, accompanied by his mother the Society's Senior President, Katrina McGreevy.

Grenadier Alan Wetherald presents the Regiment von Huyen wreath.

Finally a musket team of Continental Line Soldiers (portrayed by the CMM Color Guard) and a Hessian Grenadier (portrayed by Alan Wetherald), fired a musket volley to salute the 1775 Culpeper Minutemen.

1 Comment

Franklin Davis link

3/1/2024 01:31:43 pm

Hi,

My name is Franklin Davis, and I'm an independent author working on the first volume of a three-book series entitled "Flags of Freedom." The series tells the story of "How America Became America & Why It Matters," as told by 100 of its greatest "Flags of Freedom."

Each of those 100 flags served as an eyewitness to history, and each shares its role and stories of how it helped to advance the Cause of Freedom over America's long and exciting story. This series of books, which is primarily written for America's history-deficient young people, helps them understand why Freedom, Faith, and America's Flags were, and are, so important to the creation our exceptional nation. The series spans 2,700 years, and includes many of the flags that helped lead to America's Independence and Freedom as a new democratic nation, and on through its almost 250-year history to become the world's greatest Superpower.

"Flags of Freedom - The Founding," the first volume of the series, will be published on Flag Day, June 14th of this year. It profiles the flags starting with the ancient Greeks and Romans who so greatly influenced the thinking of our Founding Fathers, though the Discovery, Exploration, Colonization, Fight for Freedom, and the eventual Birth of America, and ending with the creation of our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

One of those flags in "Flags of Freedom - The Founding," is the Culpeper Minutemen Flag, which helped play a significant role in America's history through three wars. Of course, this volume of the series covers the Revolutionary War, which brings me to the purpose of my message. As your members are the experts on the Culpeper Minutemen, there's no better source for accurate information about the flag’s history. Therefore, I was hoping that one of your members might volunteer to read what I have written so far about the Culpeper Minutemen flag, to help me ensure that I have all of my facts about it straight, and that I have not omitted anything of importance.

While the book is still in early draft form, I can send a copy of the pages that are specifically about the Culpeper Minutemen flag as a PDF document or Word file, if someone would do me the honor of sharing their email address with me.

As an aside, when I was a young lad of 12 or 13, my mother, who was trained as an RN at VCU in Richmond in the 1930s, took me to visit her good friend during one summer vacation who graduated with her in the same class at her home in beautiful Culpepper, Virginia. During our visit, she, a doctor's wife, whose name I can't recall the moment, regaled me with the history of your Minutemen, which helped to set me on a lifelong path of interest in American history, becoming an amateur historian, and eventually, an author of American history.

As I was doing research on your flag today, this visit came to mind some 60-years later, and I recalled my affinity for Culpepper, especially for its beautiful rolling hills and mountain vistas that were so fascinating to a boy who was raised in the absolutely flat farming lands of Northeastern North Carolina! I hope to visit Culpepper again one day!

I'm sorry if I am taking too long to ask a simple question, but I'm hopeful that one of your members will respond to my request for help with my research. Thank you for your wonderful website. I've enjoyed reading it.

Your Servant,

Franklin Davis

Culpeper Minutemen Memorial Ceremony

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