Miracles and Massacres Read Free Page B

night from Louisa on back trails and they’re moving on the main road.”
    Jefferson extended a hand to Jouett and took closer notice of his torn clothes and scratched, bruised face. “Well done.” He turned to a servant. “When the soldiers arrive, raise the flag over the dome. Retract it only when they’ve left and it’s safe to return.” He pivoted to his houseguests and announced with authority, “Gentlemen, let us secure our belongings quickly and depart.”
    As the others dressed, Jefferson calmly ate breakfast, sorted through sensitive state papers crucial for the success or failure of the revolution, and gathered his wife and children to be sent twenty miles to the west. There they would take refuge at the Enniscorthy Plantation, home of his friend and business associate Colonel John Coles.
    Jefferson had not a moment to spare as Tarleton’s crack cavalrymen and Royal Welsh mounted infantry began to invade the grounds of his estate. But even under the intense pressure, he could not forgo his pronounced sense of southern hospitality. “A glass of madeira, Captain Jouett?” Jefferson asked.
    â€œYes, Governor,” answered Jouett with a smile. “I think I could use one right about now.”
    Soon the preparations were complete.
    â€œGod bless Charlottesville,” Jefferson whispered before mounting the horse that had been saddled for him. The governor looked at his home one last time before kicking the stallion and riding up nearby Carter’s Mountain. As he did, enemy horsemen clattered through his front door, riding through the entire depth of his great mansion—and out the back.
    And God bless Jack Jouett .
    At a safe distance from the advancing Dragoons, Jefferson stopped for one last look at his beloved Monticello—and sadly watched as a flag of occupation was raised over its stately dome.
    Swan Tavern
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    9:00 A.M .
    As Jefferson and the other legislators fled, Jouett rode furiously to his father’s inn. He burst through the front door, with the sight of his crimson British uniform startling the elder Jouett, who soon recovered his senses, however, and the two embraced. Quickly, Jack warned him and the several Virginia legislators he sheltered to flee for Staunton, in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.
    He relayed the prior evening’s ride and his father’s eyes gleamed with pride, for John Jouett Sr. was as great a patriot as his son. He had risked his life to sign the crucial Albemarle Declaration of 1779, which supported independence; provided beef for Continental armies; had two other sons in George Washington’s service; and had lost a fourth son at the 1777 Battle of Brandywine.
    When the young captain finished, the elder Jouett told him, “Your work isn’t done yet, son. General Edward Stevens is here and he’s wounded in the thigh. He was hit at Guilford Court House in North Carolina and is still too unsteady to run. He’s healing, but not yet strong enough, I fear, to survive a chase.”
    Jouett knew that Tarleton’s potential capture of Stevens, who was also a state senator, would fuel British confidence. The general’s lackof mobility was a problem, but he had a plan. With his father’s help, Jouett assembled a small militia to meet the British at the river. Then they disguised the general in a shabby cloak and helped him mount a borrowed horse.
    Meanwhile, Jack Jouett dressed himself in a clean blue Continental uniform and made off in the other direction aboard Sallie. He was barely finished and mounted when the British began to close in. Tarleton and his men soon spotted Jouett, whom they correctly assumed to be an American officer, and gave frantic chase, ignoring Edwards entirely.
    Jouett led the British on a winding pursuit through the woods, smiling all the way. Just as his all-night ride had allowed Jefferson to escape, this midmorning ride would do the