Jack Jouett, Revisited

If this thread looks familiar, there is a reason. I posted this last year, honoring Jack Jouett, one of Charlottesville’s heroes. Most people haven’t heard of Jouett. He was one of those people that the little old ladies sat around and named their sewing circles after. However, were it not for Jouett and his vigilance, we might not be a nation today. I liked the thread. It is colorful and I am trotting it back out. Regardless of which part is myth and which part is real, every town needs a few home town heroes.

The United States of America is a proud 234 years old today. In many respects, its hard to believe that we are so old. 234 years is a long time. We have had 44 different presidents. We have fought a Revolution, a Civil War, 2 World Wars, and a bunch of other wars, some large, some small. We are the oldest democracy in the world (although some would debate this ‘fact.’)

Yet we are young–very young as a nation. Antiquity to us is Williamsburg. Antiquity in other parts of the world goes back thousands of years. We only got to the west coast crossing the continent a little more than 200 years ago.

It might not all have happened however, if it weren’t for Jack Jouett of Albemarle County, Virginia. Well now who the hell was Jack Jouett? He was the Virginia Paul Revere. General Tarleton was riding towards Charlottesville to capture Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Virginia Legislature who were hiding out at Jefferson’s home, Monticello.

Jack Jouett was sleeping (on the lawn no less) at Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa when he spotted Tarleton and his calvalry. Jouett knew where the legislature was and rode off toward Monticello to warn Virginia’s leaders of the approaching British. Had they been captured, they probably all would have been hanged as traitors.

Jouett made the 40 mile ride and all but a few of the legislators escaped. He rode the back trails and through the woods, guided by the light of the full moon. Tarleton took the road. Much myth has grown up around this hometown boy.