General George Washington, his lottery of death and.....Stirling.
Welcome to Stirling Archaeology’s regular piece of Friday research, the second of two weekly blogs compiled by Dr Murray Cook. The Monday newsletter summarises of all the interesting history and archaeological things happening round Stirling and the Friday one presents research. Both are generally free but if you like what I do and want to help please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Regardless we hope you enjoy the blogs and perhaps you’ll come along to a dig sometime!
Today’s tale is an expanded extract of my forthcoming book written with my friend Jim Roche Conflicts of The Forth: Exploring 6,000 years of warfare at Scotland’s bloodiest spot. Which will be out later in the Summer. And remember I have a written a few other books!
A hard military fact throughout Scotland’s long and bloody history is that if you wanted to move an army north or south on foot you had to cross the River Forth at or near Stirling and thus if you wanted to stop such an invasion you did it at Stirling. This logic applied to every recorded invasion from the Romans to the Jacobites and including Picts, Angles, Vikings, Edwards I and II, Cromwell and the Duke of Cumberland. At no other place in Scottish history has so much blood been spilled to control such a tiny location. After the Union with England, Stirling Castle became a barracks and the soldiers and regiments played key roles across the British Empire and its campaigns.
This small book is aimed at the general reader and explores these conflicts, the people who fought in them and what remains on the ground. We cover the deeper prehistoric past as well as historical events when the area suffered from tribal wars, slavery, invasions, Empire, foreign occupation and civil war as well as those that fought for Britain across the world, the two World Wars and the Cold War. The book’s geography focusses on Stirling and an area 15 miles from it, although once or twice we go to 25 or 30 miles. In the vast majority of our tales there is an actual place to visit and we give you a grid reference and directions if it’s at all tricky, but sometimes the location is secret or from a find now in a museum. The stories are presented in chronological order but numbered to allow you to visit them in clusters.
This story concerns a memorial with the wonderful church of the Holy Rude and features Lieutenant General Samuel Graham (20th May 1756-26 January 1831) who became the Deputy Governor of Stirling Castle. He published a biography of his exploits which includes marching across frozen rivers in New York to fight the revolutionaries (Editor’s note…Murray we prefer to call them Americans these days).
There is a clear roguish charm to the face above, a smile playing on the lips and a twinkle to his remaining eye. Samuel was originally from Paisley and had fought for Britain across several continents but this story concerns his service as a Captain in 76th Regiment of Foot (MacDonald's Highlanders) during the American Revolutionary War and the Asgill Affair.
Towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, tit for tat killings on both sides became commonplace. In May 1782 one Philip White (a British loyalist) was captured and offered a chance to run but was shot in the back after thirty yards. In turn Loyalist irregular forces killed an American Captain Joshua Huddy.
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In response to this General Washington in contravention of the articles of surrender following the siege of Yorktown ordered a lottery of death.
General George Washington. File:George Washington - by Gilbert Stuart - c. 1821 - National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Thirteen British Captains (including Graham), all prisoners of war were to be subject to the lottery, contrary to the terms of the Yorktown surrender. Captain Charles Asgill was selected but not executed due to protests by the French who were the American’s allies. The French protests were led by the Queen Marie Antoinette (who would later be executed during the French Revolution) and she described it as enough to ‘shock the heart of a savage’.
Exécution de Marie Antoinette le 16 octobre 1793 - Marie Antoinette - Wikipedia
The matter was ultimately decided by Congress who narrowly voted to release Captain Asgill and send him back to Britain.
Asgill-Charles-color - Asgill Affair - Wikipedia
It’s clear that this damaged General Washington’s reputation and there is some evidence of an American smear campaign against Asgill to somehow justify Washington’s actions….politics was ever a murky business! However, to return to our hero General Graham, his small role in the tale was well known and a regular topic at the dinner table. After all, Graham may have been the one to draw the paper marked ‘unfortunate’, rather than Asgill. He was buried within the Church of the Holy Rude though the precise location is now lost but his memorial plaque remains and is well worth a wee trip to a wonderful church.
Thank you. It is so interesting.