{"id":2687718,"date":"2026-10-19T08:55:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T12:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignhow-the-paul-revere-of-the-south-saved-virginias-founding-fathers\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T08:55:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T12:55:45","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignhow-the-paul-revere-of-the-south-saved-virginias-founding-fathers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignhow-the-paul-revere-of-the-south-saved-virginias-founding-fathers\/","title":{"rendered":"How The &#8216;Paul Revere Of The South&#8217; Saved VA&#8217;s Founding Fathers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignhow-the-paul-revere-of-the-south-saved-virginias-founding-fathers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2687718&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>It is high time, in this 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, to nationally honor Jack Jouett and his horse, both heroes of the Revolutionary War. Their midnight ride in June 1781 saved Thomas Jefferson, future statesman Edmund Randolph, Patrick Henry, and at least  40 Virginia legislators from the clutches of the infamous British officer Banastre Tarleton. Without Jouett\u2019s ride, it\u2019s possible that General Charles Cornwallis may not have surrendered four months later on Oct. 19, bringing an end to the Revolutionary War.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.battlefields.org\/learn\/biographies\/jack-jouett?ms=sms241202\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John \u201cJack\u201d Jouett Jr.<\/a> was a 26-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopediavirginia.org\/entries\/jack-jouetts-ride-1781\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">civilian<\/a> in his home county of Louisa in central Virginia during the Revolutionary War. About 10 p.m., <a href=\"https:\/\/fusilier.wordpress.com\/banastre-tarleton-article-2000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on the night<\/a> of June 3, 1781, he saw a movement of British cavalry, recognizing the distinctive uniform of the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harrishomestead.com\/jack-jouett.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Green Dragoons<\/a>\u201d of the notorious Tarleton. Jouett suspected that they were going to Charlottesville to capture Gov. Thomas Jefferson and legislators who had <a href=\"https:\/\/cabell.com\/timeline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fled<\/a> Richmond in mid-May under threat by turncoat Benedict Arnold. Jouett\u2019s suspicions were correct. Tarleton had been dispatched by Cornwallis with a cavalry of 250 and intended to travel quickly overnight.<\/p>\n<p>On his own initiative, Jouett mounted a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/lifethomasjeffe09randgoog\/page\/336\/mode\/2up?q=250\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">very fleet Virginia blood horse<\/a>\u201d and rode <a href=\"https:\/\/allthingsliberty.com\/2013\/03\/from-cuckoo-to-charlottesville-jack-jouetts-overnight-ride\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">40 miles<\/a> to Jefferson\u2019s Monticello. To avoid Tarleton, he used back roads fortunately lit by a moon <a href=\"https:\/\/nineplanets.org\/moon\/phase\/6-3-1781\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">90 percent full<\/a>, but nonetheless a path so heavily packed with briars and thickets that it left Jouett with <a href=\"https:\/\/visitlouisa.com\/jouetts-heroic-ride-through-louisa-county\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">permanent facial scars<\/a>. After riding more than six hours, he arrived at Monticello just before the pre-5 a.m. sunrise. Leaving Monticello, Jouett rode a few more miles to Charlottesville to warn the legislators.<\/p>\n<p>When the British caught up with Jouett and retired General Edward Stevens, now serving as a legislator, they didn\u2019t recognize Stevens in his disheveled state. They gave chase to Jouett, the decoy, who was wearing a scarlet jacket and a military hat and plume, which was his eccentric custom. Jouett teased them, staying within their sight long enough for Stevens to get away, and then Jouett\u2019s horse outran them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>On June 15, the legislature, seemingly consisting of about 50 \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/allthingsliberty.com\/2013\/03\/from-cuckoo-to-charlottesville-jack-jouetts-overnight-ride\/#_edn30\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seven legislators had reportedly been captured<\/a> \u2014 met in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanheritage.com\/jack-jouetts-ride\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Staunton<\/a> on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and, by resolution, honored Jouett for his quick and brave actions. Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781. In 1782, Jouett relocated to Kentucky (then a part of Virginia), married and had <a href=\"https:\/\/jouetthouse.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">12 children<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/kentuckyhistorictravels.com\/2024\/04\/11\/jack-jouett-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bred horses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Forgotten Hero of the Founding<\/h2>\n<p>Jouett has received very little publicity outside Virginia in the 245 years since his ride. I canvassed all of the newspapers digitized by the Library of Congress that had been printed between 1781 and 1963. Aside from District of Columbia and Virginia papers, I found only 32 notices or articles about Jouett in 21 states, all between 1899 and 1955.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, Jouett is honored in Virginia \u2014 with an annual \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopediavirginia.org\/entries\/jack-jouetts-ride-1781\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jack Jouett Day<\/a>\u201d since 1940. There is also \u201cJack Jouett Road,\u201d that is, State Route 640 (parallel to I-64), and <a href=\"https:\/\/encyclopediavirginia.org\/entries\/jack-jouetts-ride-1781\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">historical markers<\/a> all along Jouett\u2019s route. Louisa County has had an <a href=\"https:\/\/jes.lcps.k12.va.us\/jouett_elementary_school\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">elementary school<\/a> named after him since 1985. Albemarle County named a middle school after him in 1966 (but, following the death of George Floyd, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.29news.com\/2022\/08\/26\/jack-jouett-middle-school-renamed-now-journey-middle-school\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">renamed<\/a> it because <a href=\"https:\/\/resources.finalsite.net\/images\/v1623090523\/k12albemarleorg\/sx92lby8efsn20g0bxu8\/JJMS2021NameReviewCommitteeResearch.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jouett owned slaves<\/a> in Kentucky).<\/p>\n<p>Jouett\u2019s horse filled an essential role in the heroic ride and is also deserving of honor. Folklore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harrishomestead.com\/jack-jouett.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has it<\/a> that the horse was a mare named Sallie and was a thoroughbred. Yet, we don\u2019t know for sure that the horse was a mare or named Sallie \u2014 or whether it could have been a thoroughbred (the ride occurred when that breed was <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thoroughbred\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">just being developed<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>What we do know is that this horse survived this ordeal. It covered 40 miles to Monticello and then an additional few miles to Charlottesville in roughly seven hours, yielding a speed of around 6 miles per hour, a demanding pace. After the grueling night, it outran the British. This horse, unlike farm horses of the time, had the stamina and breeding to carry Jouett at night through dense woods and briars, suffering the same slashes and scars on its head and chest and legs as its rider plus muscle fatigue, hoof wear from rocky terrain, and bruises from roots.<\/p>\n<h2>National Honor<\/h2>\n<p>Honor by the lone state of Virginia is insufficient. Jouett\u2019s ride has been eclipsed by Paul Revere\u2019s with William Wadsworth Longfellow\u2019s 1861 poem \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44637\/the-landlords-tale-paul-reveres-ride\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paul Revere\u2019s Ride<\/a>,\u201d but Jouett deserves honors greater than Revere for a number of reasons. Revere\u2019s ride was premeditated, while Jouett\u2019s was spur of the moment. Revere coordinated with two other riders while Jouett acted alone. Revere rode <a href=\"https:\/\/allthingsliberty.com\/2014\/04\/dissecting-the-timeline-of-paul-reveres-ride\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about 13 miles <\/a>over well-traveled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paulreverehouse.org\/interactive-map-midnight-rides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">roads<\/a> (albeit potentially muddy from spring rains), while Jouett rode 40 through backwoods. Jouett rode more than six hours through the night and past dawn while Revere rode from 11 p.m. to about 2 a.m. Revere and his horse were both captured; while Jouett and his horse escaped capture even though chased after a grueling night.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, Jouett\u2019s ride had arguably a greater effect on American Independence. Jouett <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanheritage.com\/jack-jouetts-ride\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">saved<\/a> Jefferson (future president), Thomas Nelson Jr. (future governor); <a href=\"https:\/\/www.californiasar.org\/2023\/06\/jack-jouett-becomes-the-paul-revere-of-the-south\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Edmund Randolph<\/a> (future governor, U.S. attorney general, and U.S. secretary of state), Patrick Henry (past and future governor), and Richard Henry Lee (future president of the Confederation Congress and future U.S. senator). Four men who were saved by Jouett were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/signers-factsheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signers<\/a> of the traitorous Declaration: Jefferson, Lee, Nelson, and Benjamin Harrison. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanheritage.com\/jack-jouetts-ride\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In 1961<\/a>, Virginius Dabney, Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of the <em>Richmond Times-Dispatch,<\/em> wrote: \u201cTheir capture would have been a serious blow to the morale of the Continentals, especially at a time when things were going rather badly for their cause. Incalculable, even catastrophic, results might have followed from such a coup.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dabney ended his 1961 essay with this flourish:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Jack Jouett\u2019s ride from Cuckoo Tavern to Monticello cries out for a ballad that will seize the fancy of the American people. The hoofbeats of his steed, toiling and sweating through the warm June night across forty miles of Virginia countryside, come echoing down the years. Jack Jouett gave some of America\u2019s greatest patriots a timely warning in one of the Revolution\u2019s dark hours, but his valorous deed has been well-nigh forgotten. He deserves a kinder fate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The United States must honor Jouett as a national hero. Make Jack Jouett Day a national day. And the horse must also be honored, perhaps with a statue at Churchill Downs.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>   James M. Thunder is the author of more than 300 publications in law, public policy, religion, history and biography, including for The Federalist, and is the co-author with K. Chris Todd of the new compendium of 49 biographies, &#8220;The United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia, 1801-2024.&#8221; The most famous of the 49 is Francis Scott Key.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is high time, in this 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, to nationally honor Jack Jouett and his horse, both heroes of the Revolutionary War. Their midnight ride in June 1781 saved Thomas Jefferson, future statesman Edmund Randolph, Patrick Henry, and at least 40 Virginia legislators from the clutches of the infamous<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2850,"featured_media":2687719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Copy-of-Untitled-2.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2687718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Copy-of-Untitled-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2850"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2687718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2687719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2687718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2687718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2687718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}