Contributed by Linda Gore
By the time Fluvanna became a county in June of 1777, the Revolutionary War was already two years old. The records concerning the men from Fluvanna who served are listed in various places like court records and military records, so an exact number of men who served is hard to determine. We do know that the county was ordered to induct ten men for the Continental Army in 1777 shortly after the county was formed. More orders followed.
By 1781 the war came to Fluvanna County when Cornwallis ordered Colonel Simcoe to capture the arsenal at Point of Fork in Fluvanna. Cornwallis had been chasing Lafayette, who he referred to as “the boy,” unsuccessfully around Virginia.
In June 1781, Lafayette camped at Allegre’s Tavern on Three Notched Road in Fluvanna awaiting reinforcements. Once they arrived, Lafayette moved eastward on Three Notched Road following Cornwallis across Virginia to their eventual meeting at Yorktown in October.
The arsenal at Point of Fork was established in early 1781 on land owned by David Ross who had been appointed commercial agent for Virginia. His responsibility was to secure supplies for the army. Colonel Baron von Steuben was appointed to guard the supplies with a troop of approximately 400 Continental soldiers. When word was received of the raid, von Steuben moved some of the supplies across the James and also submerged artillery in the James. Simcoe arrived and destroyed what he could find. The arsenal was rebuilt and served as a supply depot until the early 1800s.
The Fluvanna Historical Society and the Point of Fork chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will be at Second Sunday on Aug. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Maggie’s House (next to the Old Stone Jail) with a list of Fluvanna men who served in the Revolutionary War and particularly in the Fluvanna militia. Do you have an ancestor who served? Do you have an interest in joining the Daughters of the American Revolution? Come talk with us on Aug. 11.
