The Georgia Spirit Quest series of geocaches will take you
to a number of historic cemeteries built by Southern
Pioneers or other historic sites.
Georgia Spirit Quest
#21
The
Virginia Continental Line
Bottoms Family Cemetery Fayetteville,
Georgia
The First Virginia Regiment was
authorized by the Virginia Convention of July 17, 1775, as a
provincial defense unit composed of six musket and two rifle
companies under the command of Patrick Henry. Each company was to
consist of 68 enlisted men, with officers to include a captain,
lieutenant and ensign (second lieutenant). Six of the companies
were armed with muskets, and two with rifles.
In September the companies began
arriving in Williamsburg from the surrounding counties where each
was recruited. The regiment encamped behind the College of William
and Mary where the men were trained in military drill and
maneuvers. On December 28, 1775, the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia recommended that each regiment should have 10
companies, and the First Virginia soon raised two more musket
companies.
The First, along with the Second
Regiment saw service in the Tidewater area fighting the troops of
Virginia's Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore. Dunmore raised two
Loyalists regiments and a small unit made up of runaway slaves to
reclaim the wayward government of the colony. Two British Grenadier
companies soon augmented his force. Members of the First Virginia
engaged Dunmore's troops at Hampton, Jamestown and Norfolk. On
December 9th, 1775, three companies from the First joined the
Second Virginia Regiment in defeating Dunmore's troops at the
Battle of Great Bridge near Norfolk. Dunmore made several more
attempts to gain a stronghold on the colony but in August 1776 he
abandoned Virginia.
JAMES
WALDREPE, the Georgia Pensioner, born 8 February 1751, probably
in
Amelia County, Virginia and died
3 December 1847 in Fayette Co., Georgia, was the
SON OF JAMES WALDROP who lived
in Amelia and Pittsylvania counties in
Virginia, and died in
Pittsylvania County, Virginia in 1772. James served during
the
Revolutionary War in Virginia.
He received a Pension for his service.
Please go to the posted
Coordinates and pay your respects to Mr. Waldrop, who believed
Freedom was worth dying for.
Look to his
left for a younger person with the same last name. Take the second
number from the year he was born and use to replace “A” in the
following cords. Then take the last
number in the year he passed to replace the letter
“B”.
Now walk
diagonally across the cemetery to the far corner where lies a Civil
War Veteran. Please take a moment to
reflect before using the third number in the year he was born to
replace the letter “C”. Now use the day
of the month he died to replace the letter
“D”. Final cords will require a short
drive to find a small Loc-N-Loc.
Please use N33’
27.BA4 W084’ 2D.1C4
The cache is not located near a grave. Do not
disturb monuments. If you find a fallen
U.S. flag, please stick it back in the ground, preferable next to a
Vet’s Marker. As always, please be
respectful. Do not drive into the
cemetery. This cache is only available
during day light
hours.
Please
rehide cache the same or better than found. Please trade even
or trade up.
Would you like to join the Georgia Spirit
Quest?