250 Years Ago - What Was He Fighting For?

With the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026, I was motivated to revisit this blog. The DAR Plaque sits atop the box grave. It reads: 

"Revolutionary War Soldier, James Franklin, Corporal & Private, VA, Born in Maryland, Died Dec. 29, 1828, in TN, Marker Placed by General Jethro Sumner Chapter DAR October 2016."

I wonder what James was fighting for? Motivations were complicated. No social media was screaming for attention. It took real courage and conviction to decide to fight. But it was also a pay-to-play gig in times when money and feeding a family motivated participation.

PATRIOTS

• Political Independence: They fought to break free from British rule, rejecting what they saw as taxation without representation and "oppressive imperial policies".
• Community and Home: Militiamen primarily fought to defend their specific local communities and homesteads from British raids and occupation. 

• Economic Incentives: Many working-class men enlisted in the Continental Army for the steady employment, clothing, food, and promises of cash bonuses or land grants. 

• Enslaved and Free Black Soldiers: Thousands of Black soldiers fought for the Continental Army, many with the promise or hope of gaining personal emancipation and freedom.

REDCOATS

• Preserving the Empire: British regulars and Loyalist militiamen fought to maintain the authority of the Crown, preserve the British Empire's global power, and suppress what they viewed as an illegal rebellion. 

• Enslaved Freedom Seekers: Many fought on the side of the British because the Crown offered freedom and land to enslaved individuals who escaped Patriot masters and took up arms for the King.
• Native People: For the more than 80 Indigenous nations living east of the Mississippi River, the Revolutionary War was an existential crisis. Whether they decided to fight for the British, ally with the Patriots, or remain neutral, nearly all Native people fought for the same core goals: to preserve their ancestral lands, maintain their tribal sovereignty, and ensure their physical survival. Most Native nations that chose a side ultimately backed the British Crown. This included the majority of the Iroquois Confederacy (such as the Mohawk, Seneca, and Cayuga) as well as the Cherokee and Shawnee. 

I think what motivated James Franklin's participation was the Proclamation of 1763, which banned white colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. Because where did James go after the war? The Cumberland. 

In my research over the years, I discovered something super interesting about the Franklins' move west from Maryland. I have always struggled with several disjointed facts. One is the Goodspeed description that says James the Senior was a native of West Virginia. How does that shake when West Virginia did not become a State until 1863? Other writings say he lived in Virginia, though he was born in Maryland.

In his son Isaac Franklin's recollections, Mecklenburg (VA or NC?) is mentioned. They mention Eastern Kentucky and an elder brother. That is William. They fought in Dunmore's War together at Point Pleasant, VA, on the Ohio River.  Is that the West Virginia connection? I have a new hypothesis on this confusion.

Dunmore's War was a period of conflict in which the British used settler militias to fight for territory against Native peoples. By the end of that year, the same militiamen who had fought at Point Pleasant switched sides and drove Lord Dunmore and the British troops supporting him out of Virginia as some of the first skirmishes at the onset of the American Revolution. This Proclamation deeply frustrated colonial land speculators, wealthy elites heavily invested in western lands, and everyday farmers seeking new opportunities, making it a major catalyst for the Revolution. 

Following James Franklin's service at Point Pleasant and muster rolls from Botetourt, everything forward aligns with DAR research, though there may be missing links on how much back-and-forth he did between the Holston and Eastern KY and the Cumberland. Long hunting? Maybe? Escorting settlers? Likely.

But where do these Mecklenburg, KY, and WV parts come in? So I started researching map history. Maybe names changed? State and county lines change. Well...

"Botetourt County, VA was created in 1770 from part of Augusta County, which originally comprised a vast area, which included the southern portion of present-day West Virginia and all of Kentucky."  SO maybe this is the cause for confusion?

 

In northern WV, on the Potomac River, near the Maryland line, is a town called Shepherdstown. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherdstown,_West_Virginia

But before 1798 it was called Mecklenburg, VA!

I think that is where the Franklins ended up after Baltimore. Took a boat right up the Potomac River to Mecklenburg. That area borders western expansion. They wanted to eventually go across the mountains. Anyone know folks in Shepherdstown, WV?

Old Mecklenburg, VA holds secrets in the pursuit of wealth and power. 

Some things do not change. 250 years...