The True Story of the Unheralded Patriots of The Battle of Point Pleasant
On October 10, 1774: Six months before the 'shots heard round the world' were fired at Lexington and Concord, 1,000 rugged Colonial militiamen, under the command of Col. Andrew Lewis, met and defeated the combined forces of the Indian Nation, commanded by Chief Cornstalk at the confluence of the Ohio and Great Kanawha Rivers. If the Shawnee had claimed victory, an alliance with the British may have developed and weakened the position of the colonists during the Revolutionary War. Most of the brave soldiers who were killed during the battle were taken to Point Pleasant and buried in the cemetery. But forty-six militia men were buried on the battlefield, and for over two hundred years, they were forgotten by the nation.
Eventually, the bodies of the men who had been buried on the Point Pleasant Battlefield were discovered in a mass grave on the site. Using the top forensic scientists and genealogists in the country, the remains of 25 of the men were positively identified, and the others were listed as unknown. The United States Congress recognized these men as unheralded patriots, and the facts of their death were entered into the 102 Congressional Records on November 1, 1991.
Thomas McClung was born in Virginia in 1728, to pioneer parents John and Rebecca Stuart McClung. Thomas married Nancy Black, and the couple lived in the Greenbrier territory of Virginia. Thomas was one of the unheralded patriots who died and was buried on the Point Pleasant Battlefield. In addition to the forensic findings, Congress and the National Society of Sons of the American Revolution have provided numerous genealogical records that prove beyond any doubt, that Thomas McClung did die at Point Pleasant. These include McClung family Bible entries confirming his death, and sworn testimony that other soldiers such as Private Henry Dickenson witnessed his death and burial on battle field on October 10, 1774.
America owes a debt of gratitude to all the brave colonial militia men of Virginia who fought in what has come to known as the opening battle of the Revolutionary War. We owe a special thanks to the forty-six men whose sacrifice was forgotten for two centuries.
Copy Right 2015
All Rights Reserved
