The Shadow
VA250
The United States is approaching its 250th birthday in 2026.
In the run up to next July 4th, there are a series of 250th birthday or anniversary events in American and Virginian history that are also worth celebrating.
Recently, I attended an event hosted by the VA250 Commission, an initiative created by the Virginia state legislature to commemorate historical events from the American Revolution era.
The site location of the VA250 Commission event was at the Volvo Truck Plant in Dublin, Virginia.
The reason for this was because Volvo Trucks donated a brand new top-of-the-line VNL Volvo truck to the Commission. The donated truck will be used to haul a mobile museum as the Commission works to continue their public education and engagement efforts throughout the Commonwealth.
The mobile museum will help shed light on numerous events in Virginia history, particularly the formation of the nation.
A second mobile museum is in the works and will help draw attention to Western Virginians’ contributions to the American Revolution.
Of course, one of the greatest figures from our region is none other than General Andrew Lewis.
I make it an annual routine to honor Lewis when we reach October 10th.
October 10, 1774, marks the famous battle between Lewis’ men and the Native American tribal nations, primarily the Shawnee led by Chief Cornstalk.
In what is now modern-day West Virginia, Lewis and his forces triumphed at the Battle of Point Pleasant! Their victory is credited for bolstering Virginia’s defenses, particularly as it came to the brewing American Revolutionary War.
Defeating the Shawnee opened up critical access for settlement expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Figures like Daniel Boone, who leading up to the battle was in charge of supplies for Lewis, would help guide groups through the mountain range and facilitate settlements in the Kentucky territory of Virginia and in parts of Tennessee.
Such settlements allowed the colonies and their forces to bolster their defenses from their Western flank as the ongoing feud with the British crown grew.
When conflict erupted and the Revolutionary War started, Virginia’s forces responded.
The Overmountain Men were one such unit, consisting of frontiersmen from Abingdon and the surrounding area.
The colonies needed help from the Overmountain Men to counter Lord Cornwallis’ lieutenants and challenge the British army’s stronghold in the South.
Accordingly, the Overmountain Men marched south. One of their starting points was the Abingdon Muster Grounds.
On October 7, 1780, the Overmountain Men fought valiantly in the Battle at Kings Mountain in South Carolina. They delivered a blow to the British and helped secure part of the South. Thomas Jefferson described the victory as “The turn of the tide of success.”
As a result of the defeat, Cornwallis had to readjust his army’s strategy in the southern colonies, eventually resorting to a path that took him to Yorktown, Virginia.
There are other noteworthy October events to celebrate from this famous period of American history. We just recently celebrated the birth of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps!
October 13, 1775, is when the Continental Navy and the Continental Marine Corps were founded.
The Second Continental Congress established these vital organs of the U.S. military to help the colonies combat the superior naval force of the British Empire, considered by many as the preeminent and most powerful naval force of that period.
The British Navy totaled over 250 vessels of all sizes!
Nonetheless, it did not intimidate the American colonists and their nascent Continental Navy!
The Continental Navy, led by Captain John Paul Jones, dispatched several fleets in combat.
The Continental Navy’s actions were not limited to the shores of America. We took the battle to Britain’s very own backyard!
One such notable event is the Battle of Flamborough Head in 1779.
While the official impacts of the battle were disputed, Jones captured the British HMS Serapis. Not only did this action incense British leaders, but proved that American forces were more capable than previously perceived.
The heroic actions by Jones during the War earned him respects from the 1787 Continental Congress. The Congress awarded Jones a gold medal in honor of his “valor and brilliant services.”
These monumental feats helped shape the founding of our country. I look forward to sharing more stories like these as we get ready for America’s 250th birthday.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.
