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February 27, 2021 Saturday (10 am) – 245th Commemoration of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge Location: Virtual Event Details: This is a National - level event, hosted by the Lower Cape Fear Chapter NCSSAR and Stamp Defiance Chapter NCDAR, with Moores Creek National Battlefield. The park will hold a “virtual” Anniversary event beginning at 10 am on Saturday 27 February and continuing through Sunday February 28, via Facebook Live, their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/moorescreeknps) as well as Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/moorescreek_nps/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/MooresCreekNPS), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRyckhSy0fgvxwBGH74AA1w?view_as=subscriber). Please click here to Register for wreath presentations, bringing Greetings and Color Guard participation before 20 February 2021. A practice Zoom call will be conducted on Thursday, 25 February 2021 at 10:00 am. Event Coordinator – John O. Thornhill. In the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina on 27 February, 1776, during the Revolutionary War (1775-83), American forces defeated the British. The victory ended British authority in North Carolina and provided an important boost to Patriot morale. Within two months of the American victory, on 12 April, 1776, North Carolina became the first colony to vote in favor of independence from Britain. Weather: N/A Attendees: Bonner
March 6, 2021 - NSSAR Spring Leadership Conference and Trustees Meeting Location: Virtual Event – details forthcoming Details: This is a National - level event, hosted by the NSSAR. Weather: N/A Attendees:
~ March 13, 2021 Saturday – 240th Commemoration of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse Location: Virtual Event Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and hosted by the NCSSAR, who will host a virtual ceremony via Zoom. Please register your attendance here. Sign in to Zoom starting at 2:30 PM 13 March 2021. The event will start at 3:00 PM. Please enter the number assigned and emailed to you on 12 March, with the link, in front of your name. Instructions will be included in the link. Registration Point of Contact is George Strunk, gkstrunk2@gmail.com, (919)778-8324. The Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina, on March 15, 1781, proved pivotal to the American victory in the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Although British troops under Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) scored a tactical victory at Guilford Courthouse over American forces under Major General Nathanael Greene (1742-86), the British suffered significant troop losses during the battle. Afterward, Cornwallis abandoned his campaign for the Carolinas and instead took his army into Virginia, where in October of that year he surrendered to General George Washington (1732-99) following the Battle of Yorktown, the last major land battle of the war. Weather: N/A Attendees: Bonner
~ March 20, 2021 Saturday - 246th Anniversary of Patrick Henry's Speech Location: Richmond, VA - Details forthcoming Details: This is a VASSAR Presidential "Lift Your Voice" Initiative and Public Service Program, organized locally by the Richmond Chapter, VASSAR. This event is traditionally a full-costumed re-enactment and performance of Patrick Henry's famous speech on 23 March, 1775 where he spoke the words "Give me Liberty or Give me Death". Weather: Attendees: Bonner
April 19, 2021 Monday (3 pm) – Patriots’ Day Location: Arlington National Cemetery, Lexington Minuteman Memorial, Sec 1-297-34 Details: This National - level event is also now a VASSAR Presidential Initiative. Organized locally by the Fairfax Resolves Chapter, VASSAR memorializes the eight men of the Lexington Militia killed in action on 19 April, 1775. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ April 22 - 25, 2021 Thursday - Sunday - Fort Frederick 18th Century Market Fair Location: TBA Details: The annual Fort Frederick 18th Century Market Fair features the best period artisans, craftspeople, and sutlers together with an 18th Century encampment. Explore Maryland's French and Indian War era stone fort built in 1756. See hundreds of reenactors and 18th century sutlers (vendors) selling 18th C. period wares: paintings & prints, clothing & fabric, books, camp gear, flintlock rifles, fowlers, muskets, powder horns, bags, fireplace & cooking hardware, lanterns, copperware, etc. Attend the Auction on Saturday for great buys on items donated by the sutlers - all auction proceeds benefit the Park. Hosted by the "Friends of Fort Frederick" in partnership with the staff of Fort Frederick State Park. For more information, visit http://friendsoffortfrederick.info/market_fair.htm. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ May 8, 2021 Saturday - Wilderness Road/Raid at Martin's Station Location: TBA Details: This National - level event sponsored by the VASSAR and hosted by the Friends of Wilderness Road State Park. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ May 22, 2021 Saturday – 241st Commemoration of the Battle of Waxhaws (Buford’s Massacre) Location: TBA Details: This is a Chapter - level event sponsored by the General Francis Marion Chapter, SCSSAR. The Battle of Waxhaws (also known as Buford's massacre) took place during the American Revolutionary War on 29 May, 1780, near Lancaster, South Carolina, between a Continental Army force led by Abraham Buford and a mainly Loyalist force led by British officer Banastre Tarleton. Buford refused an initial demand to surrender, but when his men were attacked by Tarleton's cavalry, many threw down their arms to surrender. Buford apparently attempted to surrender. However, the British commanding officer Tarleton was shot at during the truce, causing his horse to fall and trap him. Loyalists and British troops were outraged at the breaking of the truce in this manner and proceeded to fall on the rebels. While Tarleton was trapped under his dead horse, men continued killing the Continental soldiers, including men who were not resisting. Little quarter was given to the patriots/rebels. Of the 400 or so Continentals, 113 were killed with sabers, 150 so badly injured they could not be moved and 53 prisoners were taken by the British and Loyalists. "Tarleton's quarter", thereafter became a common expression for refusing to take prisoners. In some subsequent battles in the Carolinas, few of the defeated were taken alive by either side. This 'Battle of Waxhaws’ became the subject of an intensive propaganda campaign by the Continental Army to bolster recruitment and incite resentment against the British. Equally plausible accounts of the battle by soldiers from both sides describe Tarleton as having no part in ordering a massacre as he had been trapped under his horse, and when freed immediately ordered thorough medical treatment of American prisoners and wounded. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
May 28, 2021 Friday - 285th Anniversary of Patrick Henry's Birthday Location: Patrick Henry's Red Hill Plantation, 1250 Red Hill Road, Brookneal, VA 24528 - Details forthcoming Details: This is a VASSAR Presidential "Lift Your Voice" Initiative and Public Service Program. Red Hill Plantation is the final home and burial place of Patrick Henry, the fiery legislator and orator of the American Revolution. Henry bought Red Hill Plantation at his retirement in 1794 and occupied it until 1799, the year of his death. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
May 29, 2021 Saturday (11 am) - 240th Commemoration of Wayne's Crossing Location: Spirit of Loudoun Revolutionary War Memorial, Loudoun County Courthouse, 18 E Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176 Details: This is a Chapter - level event, hosted by the Fairfax Resolves Chapter and commemorating the crossing of the Potomac River by General Anthony Wayne’s army on 31 May 1781. The army passed through Leesburg on 3 June, 1781 in route to joining General Lafayette’s Army. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
May 31, 2021 Monday - National Memorial Day Parade Location: TBA Details: This is a National - level event, organized locally by the George Washington Chapter, VASSAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
June 29, 2021 Saturday (am) - 240th Commemoration of the Battle of Spencer's Ordinary Location: Williamsburg, VA - Details forthcoming Details: This is a Chapter - level event, organized locally by the Williamsburg Chapter, VASSAR. The Battle of Spencer's Ordinary was an inconclusive skirmish that took place on 26 June 1781, late in the American Revolutionary War. British forces under Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe and American forces under Colonel Richard Butler, light detachments from the armies of General Lord Cornwallis and the Marquis de Lafayette respectively, clashed near a tavern (the "ordinary") at a road intersection not far from Williamsburg, Virginia. Lafayette had been shadowing Cornwallis as he moved his army toward Williamsburg from central Virginia. Aware that Simcoe had become separated from Cornwallis, he sent Butler out in an attempt to cut Simcoe off. Both sides, concerned that the other might be reinforced by its main army, eventually broke off the battle. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
June 29, 2021 Saturday (pm) - Patrick Henry Day and 245th Anniversary of his election as Virginia's First Revolutionary Governor Location: Williamsburg, VA - Details forthcoming Details: This is a VASSAR Presidential "Lift Your Voice" Initiative and Public Service Program, organized locally by the Williamsburg Chapter, VASSAR. The first Virginia State Constitution was ratified in the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg on the 29th of June 1776, and Patrick Henry was sworn in as the first Colonial Governor on the 5th of July. Henry was elected unopposed and served three consecutive one-year terms until 1779. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
July 4, 2021 Sunday - Independence Day and March to the Tomb Location: George Washington's Mount Vernon Details: This is a National - level event, organized and conducted by the George Washington Chapter, VASSAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
July 9 - 15, 2021 Friday - Thursday – 131st NSSAR Congress Location: Renton, WA Details: This National - level event hosted by the WASSAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
July 18, 2021 Saturday (11 am) – 247th Commemoration of the Signing of the Fairfax Resolves Location: Pohick Church 9301 Richmond Highway Lorton, VA 22079 (US 1 & Telegraph Road) Details: This Chapter - level event honoring the memory of the signers of the Fairfax Resolves. The Fairfax Resolves were a set of resolutions adopted by a committee in Fairfax County in the colony of Virginia on 18 July, 1774 in the early stages of the American Revolution. Written primarily by George Mason, the resolutions rejected the British Parliament's claim of supreme authority over the American colonies. More than thirty counties in Virginia passed similar resolutions in 1774, "but the Fairfax Resolves were the most detailed, the most influential, and the most radical. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
August 13 - 14, 2021 Friday - Saturday - Atlantic Middle States Association (AMSA) Location: Crowne Plaza Annapolis, 173 Jennifer Road, Annapolis, MD 21401 Details: This is a Mid-Atlantic Region event. Tour sites include MD State House (ca 1774), MD Archives, Harwood Hammond House, and the William Paca House. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
August 21 - 22, 2021 Saturday - Sunday – 32rd Annual Nansemond Pow Wow Location: 1001 Pembroke Lane, Suffolk, VA Details: Date, time and agenda to be confirmed. This Chapter - level event hosted by the Nansemond Indian Patriot Chapter, VASSAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ September 4, 2021 Saturday – 240th Commemoration of the Battle of the Capes Location: Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse Statue, Fort Story, Virginia Beach, VA. Details: Date, time and agenda to be confirmed. The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September, 1781. The combatants were a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse. The battle was strategically decisive, in that it prevented the Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating the besieged forces of Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The French were able to achieve control of the sea lanes against the British and provided the Franco-American army with siege artillery and French reinforcements. These proved decisive in the Siege of Yorktown, effectively securing independence for the Thirteen Colonies. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ September 17 – 18, 2021 Friday - Saturday - VASSAR Semi-Annual Meeting Location: TBA Details: This is a State - level event, hosted by the Virginia Society SAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ September 18, 2021 Saturday - SAR Vigil at Washington's Tomb Location: George Washington's Mount Vernon, Alexandria, VA Details: This is a National - level event, commanded by the National Color Guard Commander. Weather: Attendees:
~ September 18, 2021 Saturday – 241st Gathering at Sycamore Shoals Location: Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, 1651 W Elk Avenue, Elizabethton, TN Details: This is a National - level event, hosted by the Kings Mountain Chapter TNSSAR. The year was 1780. The tide of the Revolution had turned against the colonists. The British, forced out of New England, gained new allies in the divided South and won victory after victory in a bloody civil war. Charleston had fallen, and American forces had crumbled at the battle of Camden. But then the impossible occurred ... the frontiersmen of the western mountains began a long march, gathering an army along the way, from the highlands of Virginia to the hills of South Carolina. At a place called King’s Mountain, they destroyed British forces and opened the way for the final American victory at Yorktown. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
September 23 – 26, 2021 Thursday - Sunday – NSSAR Fall Leadership Meeting Location: TBA Details: This is a National - level event, hosted by the NSSAR Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ October 7, 2021 Thursday (11 am – 2pm) – 241st Commemoration of the Battle of Kings Mountain Location: 2625 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC 29702 Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and co-hosted by the SCSSAR and NCSSAR. The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took place on 7 October, 1780, 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina in what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, where the Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. The battle has been described as "the war’s largest all-American fight". Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ October 9, 2021 Saturday – 247th Commemoration of the Battle of Point Pleasant (Battle of Kanawha) Location: Tu-Endie-Wei Park, Point Pleasant, WV 25550 Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and hosted by the Point Pleasant Chapter, WVSSAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ October 16, 2021 Saturday (10 am) – 240th Commemoration of the Battle of Yorktown Location: Yorktown, VA Details: A National - level event sponsored by the VASSAR. The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German Battle, ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British army commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American region, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The Color Guard musters at 9:30. Pictures will be taken immediately following the wreath laying. Included below are overhead and ground pictures of the muster sites for Nelson's tomb and Grace Episcopal Church. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
November 11, 2021 (Thursday) - Veterans Day Commemoration Location: George Washington's Mount Vernon. Details: This is a National - level event, organized locally by the George Washington Chapter, VASSAR. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
~ December 4, 2021 (Saturday) - 246th Commemoration of the Battle of Great Bridge Location: TBA Details: This is a National - level event, commemorating the Battle of Great Bridge was fought 9 December, 1775 in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The victory by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any remaining vestiges of British power over the Colony of Virginia during the early days of the conflict. Following increasing political and military tensions in early 1775, both Dunmore and colonial rebel leaders recruited troops and engaged in a struggle for available military supplies. The struggle eventually focused on Norfolk, where Dunmore had taken refuge aboard a Royal Navy vessel. Dunmore's forces had fortified one side of a critical river crossing south of Norfolk at Great Bridge, while rebel forces had occupied the other side. In an attempt to break up the rebel gathering, Dunmore ordered an attack across the bridge, which was decisively repulsed. Colonel William Woodford, the Virginia militia commander at the battle, described it as "a second Bunker's Hill affair". Shortly thereafter, Norfolk, at the time a Loyalist center, was abandoned by Dunmore and the Tories, who fled to navy ships in the harbor. Rebel-occupied Norfolk was destroyed on 1 January, 1776 in an action begun by Dunmore and completed by rebel forces. Weather: Attendees: Bonner
COLOR GUARD WORKSHOPS - Download the files below for information on suitable Color Guard uniforms and supplies
Information from the 15 Sep 2017 & 09 Feb 2018 Color Guard Workshop. Includes how to join the Color Guard, uniform options, basic drill, weapons & safety, and medals.