Remembering a Minister who is a Revolutionary War Hero.

submitted by past President Larry Johnson, Col James Wood II Chapter

Compatriot Bishop Larry Johnson beside a statue of the Rev. Johnathan Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg.

     On January 20 the Shenandoah Christian Alliance will remember the Reverend General Muhlenberg with a presentation by the Rev. Dr. Larry Johnson in period dress of a colonial clergyman. Johnson is a presenter of American Revolutionary War history known to many as Liberty Man. His great grandfathers fought in the Revolution, and he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.  He is a past president of the Col. James Wood II Chapter located in the Shenandoah Valley. His web site is: www.libertyman.net
    The Rev. Johnathan Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, 240 years go on January 21, 1776,  incited 162 men of his congregation in Woodstock, Virginia, to join the American Revolution. He was a minister serving at least seven churches in the Shenandoah Valley. The Rev. Muhlenberg  received a commission as a Colonel in George Washington’s Army and would serve until the end of the War where British forces at Yorktown under Lord General Cornwallis surrendered. Earlier he was with Washington at Valley Forge receiving a promotion to Brigadier General. 
     He is remembered for the sermon he delivered on 21 January in Woodstock where he preached from Ecclesiastes the Third Chapter, which starts with “To everything there is a season….” After reading the eighth verse, “a time for war, and a time for peace,” he declared, “and this is the time for war.” With this he whipped off his clerical robe to reveal his Revolutionary War uniform. He continued to recruit and the next day  300 men marched off to war with him. General Washington, his good friend, had asked him personally to take this commission and to join him in the most epic war ever fought for freedom. The Rev. Muhlenberg is a role model for ministers and all Patriotic Americans today.

Bishop Johnson - 2016

General Rev. Muhlenberg - 1777