240th Anniversary of the Battle of Great Bridge

5 Dec 2015                                               Chesapeake, VA

pictures by Kirk Sheap, Norma Sheap, & Cat Schwetke, unless otherwise noted.

The SAR Color Guard, under the command of Darrin Schmidt, presents the colors at Great Bridge. Co-host Norfolk Chapter President Maury Weeks is at the Podium.

     Virginia SAR President Reverdy Wright led the Virginia contingent to mark the 240th Anniversary of the Battle of Great Bridge.  The National Society was represented by Vice President General Mike Elston, who is also Virginia SAR 2nd Vice President. The stirring ceremony was well organized by compatriot Tom Whetstone as chairman of the Battle of Great Bridge Observance Committee and was  blessed with perfect weather: sunny, high 50's, and an occasional breeze to stir the flags.  240 years ago a force assembled under Col Woodford, commander of the 2nd Virginia, and repulsed an attack by British regulars backed by Tory Militia and freed slaves.  They inflicted significant casualties on the British and their allies at the cost of one minor wound to one of their own.  Col Woodford's force included elements of his own 2nd Virginia Regiment, local militia and minutemen, militia from North Carolina, and notably the Culpeper Minute Battalion.  The defeated British soon took to the safety of their ships leaving Virginia in the hands of the patriots.

CMM Color Guard Commander Darrin Schmidt, in command of the SAR Color Guard, makes ready to parade the colors, as the bagpiper, far right, makes ready to play.

Virginia SAR President Reverdy Wright addresses the gathering.

Vice President General Mike Elston represents the National Society.

The crowd gathers before the ceremony.

Great Bridge Monument Park.

     Later that day several compatriots augmented the Norfolk Chapter and marched in the Chesapeake Christmas parade behind their banner.

The Color Guard in the Chesapeake Christmas Parade, left to right: Virginia SAR Color Guard Commander Darrin Schmidt, Virginia SAR Color Guard Deputy Commander (Tidewater Region) Chris Melhuish, SAR Foundation President Sam Powell of North Carolina, Culpeper Minutemen President Bill Schwetke, Norfolk past President Tom Whetstone (also chairman of the Great Bridge Commemoration of 2015) and Fairfax Resolves President Vern Eubanks,