Culpeper Minute Men HISTORY By JAMES BAYNE Friday, August 26, 2005 (http://ads.mgnetwork.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/starexponent.com/[email protected]?x) On Clayton’s field in September, 1775, men of Culpeper, Fauquier and Orange Counties and the surrounding areas answered the call of the Third Virginia Convention to raise a battalion of 500 minutemen. Moving faster than other counties of Virginia, these men were soon trained in the rudiments of soldering and in mid-October were called to active duty to throw off the yoke of English oppression. They were soon dispatched to Great Bridge, the land entrance to the Norfolk area. At Great Bridge they met the English forces who attacked across the bridge. The Minute Men repulsed them inflicting many casualties while suffering only a few minor wounds themselves. The Culpeper Minute Men Battalion was established as an elite militia unit of the Virginia forces whose purpose was to be available on a minutes notice to support the regular components and to protect the area from which they were formed as needed. Within a few months after the Battle of Great Bridge, the battalion was disbanded and most men were taken into the various Virginia Line units of the Continental army. The Culpeper Minute Men Battalion was reformed for service in various conflicts up through World War I although it lost its identity when it was absorbed into the 116th Infantry, 29th Division. The CMM flag with a coiled rattlesn ake and the words “Don’t tread on me” and “Liberty or Death” is well known throughout the world. In 1889, the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) was organized and chartered by an act of the U.S. Congress on June 6, 1906. From that, it has grown into a world wide organization having some 28,000 members. Membership is open to any male of age 18 or over who is a lineal descendent from a patriot of the American Revolution, and is of good repute in the community. The application must be approved by the genealogist of the national organization. The SAR has, among its objectives history, patriotic and educational programs. These programs are implemented through commemorations, memorials, records preservation, participation in civic and patriotic events, public service, conducting youth programs in history (orations and essay), Eagle Scouts, JROTC, and the locating, recording, and marking of graves of patriots of the Revolution. The programs are managed through state organizations. In Virginia, it’s the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and then within the state through chapters who serve their areas. The Culpeper Minute Men Chapter which serves Culpeper, Orange, Madison, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties meets monthly (except for February and August) at various locations and conducts its program support in those counties. The CMM Chapter was chartered by the state in 1974, and has been recognized as a leader in meeting the objectives of the SAR. The year 2004 saw the chapter being accorded the best mid-size chapter in the state. Among its proudest achievements in supporting the objectives of the SAR is its outstanding record in locating and recording the graves of patriots of the Revolution. In recent years the chapter has placed bronze markers at the graves of Captain Angus Rucker, Lt. Col. John and Lt. David Jameson, Col. Robert Randolph, Seaman John DeBaptiste, Pvt. Martin Fishback, Patriot John Spillman, the Rev. James Waddel and Captain Francis Hume. In 2003, the chapter organized a national ceremony to place a marker at the grave of President James Madison and this year it drafted a proclamation declaring Sept. 17, 2005, as Constitution Day in Virginia. Jerry Hubbard, president of the Culpeper chapter, can be reached at (540) 825-5343.