May Message

As May arrives with its promise of abundance and renewal, we enter a month rich with revolutionary history that shaped the character of our struggle for independence. The events of May remind us that our Revolution was not won in a single decisive stroke, but through persistent courage, strategic brilliance, and unwavering commitment to the cause of liberty across eight long years of conflict.

This month, we commemorate one of the war's most audacious exploits: the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. In the early morning hours, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, joined by Benedict Arnold and a small contingent of Massachusetts volunteers, surprised the British garrison at this strategic fortress on Lake Champlain. Allen reportedly demanded the fort's surrender "in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," securing a bloodless victory that yielded desperately needed artillery. Colonel Henry Knox would later transport these captured cannons, some sixty tons of artillery, across three hundred miles of wilderness in the dead of winter to Boston, where they were positioned on Dorchester Heights and forced the British evacuation of that city in March 1776. This single bold action set in motion a chain of events that freed New England from British occupation.

May also witnessed the formation of institutional foundations for our new nation. On May 10, 1775, the same day Ticonderoga fell, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. This body would guide the colonies through the dark days ahead, appointing George Washington as Commander-in-Chief on June 15th, and ultimately declaring independence the following year. The delegates who gathered that May understood the gravity of their undertaking, they were creating mechanisms of governance even as they challenged the world's most powerful empire.

We remember May 29, 1780, when one of the Revolution's darkest episodes occurred at the Battle of Waxhaws in South Carolina. Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's cavalry overtook a retreating Continental force under Colonel Abraham Buford. When the Americans attempted to surrender, Tarleton's troops continued their assault in what became known as the "Waxhaws Massacre" or "Buford's Massacre." Over one hundred Americans were killed or wounded, many after they had laid down their arms. This atrocity inflamed patriot sentiment throughout the South and gave rise to the rallying cry "Tarleton's Quarter!" The brutal incident galvanized resistance and demonstrated that the struggle for independence demanded not only courage but also endurance in the face of an enemy willing to disregard the conventions of civilized warfare.

The month of May 1781 brought renewed hope to the Southern theater when Nathanael Greene's forces clashed with Lord Rawdon at the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill on April 25th, followed by the successful siege of Fort Motte in South Carolina, which fell to patriot forces on May 12, 1781. At Fort Motte, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee and General Francis Marion again displayed the innovative tactics that characterized the Southern Campaign. Rebecca Motte, the patriot owner of the plantation home that the British had fortified, reportedly provided fire arrows to burn her own mansion rather than allow it to remain in enemy hands. This act of selfless patriotism exemplified the sacrifices civilians willingly made for the cause of independence.

Throughout May 1781, the systematic reduction of British outposts across the Carolina interior continued. Fort Granby fell on May 15th, and Augusta, Georgia, capitulated on June 5th after a siege that began in late May. These victories, though less celebrated than the great battles in the North, were crucial to reclaiming the Southern colonies and isolating Cornwallis's army, which would eventually be trapped at Yorktown.

We must also remember the ongoing siege of Ninety-Six in South Carolina, which Greene initiated in May 1781. Though the siege ultimately failed when British reinforcements arrived, it demonstrated the Continental Army's ability to conduct sophisticated siege operations and tied down significant British resources during a critical period of the war.

The patriots of May faced circumstances both triumphant and tragic. At Ticonderoga, bold action against a superior force proved that audacity could overcome might. In the halls of Congress, men risked their fortunes and their lives by putting their names to documents of revolution and governance. On the killing fields of Waxhaws, Americans learned the depths of brutality they might face, yet refused to surrender their cause. At Fort Motte and throughout the Carolina backcountry, civilians and soldiers alike demonstrated that commitment to liberty sometimes required the sacrifice of everything they held dear.

These May patriots could not know that their individual acts of courage would weave together into a tapestry of freedom. The cannons seized at Ticonderoga would thunder at battles yet to come. The Continental Congress would craft a Declaration that would inspire oppressed peoples for centuries. The martyrs of Waxhaws would steel the resolve of their countrymen. The victories in the South would tighten the noose around British ambitions.

As we reflect on these events this May, let us consider the varied nature of patriotic service. Some served with muskets on battlefields, others with wisdom in council chambers, and still others with quiet sacrifice on the home front. Each contribution mattered. Each patriot's choice to support the cause, whether through military service, material support, or simply refusing to bend the knee to tyranny, added to the collective strength that won our independence.

The spring of 1775 saw the birth of armed resistance. The spring of 1780 witnessed some of the Revolution's darkest hours. The spring of 1781 marked the beginning of the end for British hopes in the South. Through all these May seasons, patriots persevered because they understood that liberty is not granted by the powerful but claimed by the determined.

In our own time, as we work to educate younger generations about these events, to preserve historic sites, and to honor the descendants of these patriots, we continue the mission that began in that revolutionary May of 1775. We are the keepers of their memory and the guardians of their legacy. Let us prove worthy of that trust.

In fellowship and patriotic service,