On 11 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress authorized the raising of ten companies of riflemen in

Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to aid General George Washington at the British siege of Boston. The Berkeley

County Committee of Safety selected Captain Hugh Stephenson to command and recruit one of the two Virginia

companies. Within a week in the Shepherdstown area, Stephenson had raised 98 men. These riflemen were the first

continental or regular troops of the rebelling colonies. Mustered by 22 June but delayed by acquisition of arms, the

men drilled and organized for their trek. At his spring on 10 July, William Morgan gave a barbeque for the company.

On 17 July, Stephenson's company rallied at Morgan's Spring and began the 600-mile beeline march to Cambridge.

Covering the distance in 25 days, they arrived at Cambridge on 11 August. Before the Revolution ended in 1783,

seven companies from the Shepherdstown area had served in the war. About 100 soldiers were from the town. At a

gala barbeque fifty years later at Morgan's Spring, two of the five who survived from Stephenson's company

attended.(John E. Stealey III, Distinguished President, Emeritus of History, Shepherd University)

[Picture included: The Morgan Springs]

"... at the base of the hill..., a glorious spring leaps out into the sunlight... flowering over the smooth sides of

an artificial reservoir, it runs rippling along, making merry music as it tumbles over its rocky bed into the placid

waters of the lake... this is ' Morgan's Spring' " (My Ride to the Barbeque , 1860, Alexander Boteler)

Boating and fishing were pastimes until the railroad was completed in 1879. Its gravel bed severed and covered

portions of the marl marsh, affecting the flow of many springs that fed the lake. Today, Morgan's Spring still flows,

only into a large pond, which is on private property.

[Included: Shepherdstown map

Beeline Map- Shepherdstown to Cambridge, MA

Picture of Virginia Riflemen monument at Morgan's Plantation

Picture of Rifle and riflemen

Drawing of George Washington greeting Virginia riflemen]

...each soldier furnished his own uniform of 'homespun' hunting shirt made of two linen, fringed around the neck

and front, leather leggings, and mocassins[sic]. Each wore a bucktail in his hat, and had a tomahawk and scalping knife

in his belt. 'Liberty or Death' was embroidered on the front of the hunting shirt.Alexander Boteler

"They(riflemen) use a peculiar kind of musket called a rifle. It has a circular pattern of grooves within the barrel

and carries a ball with a great exactness to great distance. They are the most accurate marksmen in the world."

John Adams, 1775

By: Jefferson County Museum,   Old Charles Town Library, Historic Shepherdstown and Museum,    WV Army

National Guard, 157th Military Police Co.,Martinsburg, WV    Researched by Diana Sutterfield

Marker is on S King Street (County Route 480/2) near W German Street, on the right when traveling south.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: