Brother Jonathans Images, No. 4 Contributor: Stephan P. Zacharias Lt. Col.

James Innes, Williamsburg Volunteers and 15th Virginia Regiment Artist: Charles Wilson Peale Year: 1774 -1777 Collection: Virginia Historical Society

Inness miniature is very interesting. It was painted by Charles Willson Peale either when he visited Williamsburg in the fall of 1774 or when Innes was Lieutenant Colonel of the 15th Virginia during the Philadelphia campaign. The sitter wears a blue coat faced in buff or pale buff with gilt buttons along with a ruffled shirt and black neck stock. Also worth noting are his sword belt with gilt mountings. The two gold epaulettes, which appear to have no fringe, certainly denote the commissioned rank of lieutenant colonel, but his uniform of blue and buff does not seem to correlate with known evidence for 15th Virginia uniforms; blue faced white or brown faced buff coats. The uniform he wears may date from his days as an officer in the Williamsburg Volunteers. Of the last-named organization, a traveler through Virginia commented, "As to politicks I think most of the people are mad, in South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, they muster and are every where learning the exercise as if they were going to be attacked. In South Carolina they have several companies in uniforms, very gay, being scarlet faced with black velvet [that is the St. Helens Volunteer Co. and perhaps another, as well], their artillery company is blue faced with scarlet, gold button holes [which I can also verify from other sources]. They were raising two companys of light horse when I came away. At Williamsburg their uniform is blue faced with buff."
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James Innes was born the youngest of three boys to Reverend Robert Innes (17201765) and Catherine (Richards) Innes in King and Queen County, Virginia (near modern day Newtown, VA) in the year 1754. His father was Rector of the Drysdale Parish which had church and glebe lands in both Caroline and King and Queen Counties. While there were glebe lands in both counties, only the King and Queen County had a parish glebe house and was home to the Innes family prior to Rev. Innes passing in 1765. Following her husbands death Mrs. Innes resided in a home provided for her in Beverley Park, the plantation of Virginia historian Robert Beverley. Along with his older brothers Robert and Harry, James attended the prestigious Donald Robertsons School in King and Queen County from 1759-1765. In 1770 at the age of 16, he enrolled at the grammar school at the College of William and Mary where Edmund Pendleton, the executor of his fathers estate paid the boarding bill until November of 1770, when James was nominated for a scholarship by his teachers. In the spring of 1771, Innes was awarded one of two Nottoway Foundation Scholarships. In 1772, he was appointed assistant usher of the grammar school at the College, drawing a salary of 40 pounds per year. During his time as a student at William and Mary, Innes is reported to have authored a series of pseudonymous articles for the Virginia Gazette denouncing England and its ill-treatment of her American colonies. Enraged by these essays, the Royal Governor, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, demanded unsuccessfully Innes removal as usher at the grammar school. The report also claimed that the articles attacked Captain Foy, Henry Collins, Corbin, William Byrd, and John Wormley. During his College career,

Innes joined the Fraternity of the FHC, or sometimes referred to as the Flat Hat Club and served as their President. During the summer of 1773 Innes was granted his A.B. degree/preferment from the College of William and Mary. He would accept the position of Head Usher at the Grammar School and stay on at the College at the salary of 75 pounds per year. It was during this time when he took up the study of law, presumably under the direction of Mr. George Wythe. During the same summer, James joined the Masonic Lodge in Williamsburg. In the spring of 1775, with tensions rising between the American Colonies and England, Innes raised and formed the Williamsburg Volunteers, serving as their captain. While commanding the Volunteers, he became involved in the Williamsburg Gunpowder Incident, the Dunmore scheme that removed gunpowder from the community magazine. In the aftermath of this incident, Innes and his friend George Nicholas, son of the Treasurer of Virginia, were singled out by the Royal Governor. In a deposition of Dr. William Pasteur, 23 April 1775, Dr. Pasteur claims to have been stopped by Lord Dunmore and ordered to deliver a message to the Speaker and the gentlemen of Williamsburg that if the Governor, (Henry) Collins, or Captain Foy (both aides to the Royal Governor) were to be molested he would depopulate the whole country, burn Williamsburg, and arm the slaves. Dr. Pasteur quotes Lord Dunmore in the deposition as saying: If Innes and George Nicholas continued to go at large what he (Lord Dunmore) had said would from some misconduct of theirs be certainly carried into execution. By August of 1775, President Camm had no choice but to remove Innes from his position as Head Usher at the College, claiming his time with the Williamsburg Volunteers had left him too much absent from his duties. That same fall of 1775, Maj. James Innes led the Williamsburg Volunteers in action at the battles of Hampton and Elizabeth City against Michael Squires ship The Otter, which the Williamsburg Volunteers successfully sunk and made prisoners of the survivors. Following these battles, Innes raised and trained a company of artillery as well. On 13 February 1776, the Committee of Safety appointed Major Innes to captain of the Virginia Artillery, with Charles Harrison, Edward Carrington, and Samuel Denney as lieutenants. Innes served in this position for a short time when on 19 March 1776 the Continental Congress appointed Dohickey Arundel as captain of the Artillery. Captain Innes favored this appointment and Maj. Gen. Charles Lee then appointed Innes major of the 9th Virginia Regiment in April 1776. This regiment was assigned to Eastern Shore duty, and, in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Nelson 16 May 1776, Jefferson makes known Major Innes displeasure at this assignment: so disagreeable to him that he had determined to have resigned In the fall of 1776, the General Assembly raised six new battalions of the Virginia Line and on 16 September 1776 Maj. Innes was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 15th Virginia, under the command of Col. David Mason. (Mason commanded the 15th

Virginia until 31 July 1778; in September 1778 Virginia reduced the number of regiments from fifteen to eleven, and the 15th was absorbed into the 11th Virginia.) On 27 December 1776, the 15th Virginia Regiment was assigned to the Main Continental Army. The 15th Virginia served in the battle of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. Lieutenant Colonel Innes received a commendation for his actions in service at the Battle of Brandywine.[1] James Innes sent a letter to Gen. George Washington resigning from active duty service at the rank of colonel on 30 September 1778. That same fall he married Elizabeth (Eliza/Betsy) Cocke, the daughter of Dr. James Cocke, two-time former mayor of the City of Williamsburg and the Co-Auditor of Virginia. In the late fall of 1778, the Virginia House of Delegates unanimously appointed James Innes Commissioner of the Navy. On 22 February 1779, Commissioner Innes became involved in an incident at the Raleigh Tavern during a celebration to honor the birthday of the Commander-inChief: Far different however was the celebration of the event down at Williamsburg. The students at the College of William and Mary had prepared a subscription paper to ask contributions for a big birthday party honoring the Virginian who was head of the forces fighting for American liberty to be held at the Raleigh Tavern. In this tavern the students of the College of William and Mary held their grand ball in honor of Washingtons [sic] birthday in 1779 they felt justified in doing this since he never received any salary from the government while serving as chief of the Continental army With the precedent of observing the birthday of the Father of His Country he was first called that in a German almanac published at Lancaster, Pa late in 1778 thus established at Valley Forge it was natural that his army should hold another celebration the next year Their enthusiasm was somewhat dampened when Gov Patrick Henry refused permission for the celebration to be held Even though the cause was a worthy one he could not think of any kind of rejoicing at a time when our country was engaged in war with such gloomy prospects But the irrepressible collegians went right ahead with their prep and a grand ball on the night of February 22 was given in the historic Raleigh tavern the scene of so many important social events in old Williamsburg. Sometime during the evening a party of hilarious students found unguarded two cannon belonging to the Virginia militia and dragged them to the Raleigh to climax the evening by firing a salute in honor of General Washington. Soon afterwards a lieutenant appeared with a platoon of soldiers to claim the cannon. The celebrants made him welcome carried him into the Raleigh and supplied him with punch to drink. But this hospitality could not dissuade him from he had been sent to get the cannon by force if necessary. When a certain Colonel Innes who was one of the sponsors of the celebration declined to give them up the lieutenant reported the matter to Captain Digges who in turn notified Governor Henry of the situation. The governor told Captain Digges to use his own judgment in handling it. Thereupon according to the diary of David Meade Randolph one of the William and Mary student celebrators: In the pride of his power with 6O men he Captain Digges drew up in form and demanded the cannon at the point of his bayonet Innes stept up to Captain Digges and shaking his cane at him swore that he would cane him if he did not depart

instantly with his men. This enraging said that if the pieces were not surrendered would fire upon the party Innes repeating his threat ordered Finnie to charge the cannon with brick bats the mob in the street and the gentlemen of the ball reechoing the order. The pieces were soon charged with brick bats Innes all the while firmly standing by the Captain at the head of his urging him to fire. After some delay the Captain retreated with his men and the evening closed with great joy. But that wasnt the end of the affair by any means the next day Colonel Innes was arrested and arraigned before the Hustings court for riot. In the courtroom he was confronted again by Captain Digges. Hot words passed between the two men and again the colonel threatened to cane the captain. Colonel Innes anger abated however when the court released him and he walked triumphantly out of the courtroom with the friends who had shared the honors of the preceding.[2] In April, Commissioner Innes submitted his resignation as Commissioner of the Navy to Governor Henry. On 7 May 1779, Brig. Gen. Thomas Nelsons resignation was accepted by the House in order to facilitate his reporting to the Continental Congress. A writ for new election in York County was submitted to find a replacement for Nelson. The next day Colonel Innes was appointed to the committees of Propositions and Grievances, Courts of Justice, and a special committee to examine the claims for war damages to the property in Hampton. On 11 May 1779, Innes was appointed to Thomas Jeffersons committee to bring in a bill to establish the Board of War, and the next month, was appointed as President and Clerk of the Virginia Board of War. In the spring of 1780, Col. James Innes stood for election and was appointed the representative for James City County to the Virginia House of Delegates. By May of 1780 the Virginia Board of War disbanded. During the summer of 1780, Innes opposed the policy of neglecting the defenses of the Eastern Counties by sending Virginia reinforcements to the Carolinas. On 3 January 1781, Colonel Innes found himself in military service once again, when with Brigadier General Nelson, he commanded a militia force of 55 men and prevented the landing of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnolds British forces at Kingsmill. An account from William Tatham states: most of the Enemys Ships were come to an anchor off the Place (an Estate belonging to Lewis Burwell, Esq.), a small boat taking the Soundings towards the Shore, and larger boats filled with men were maneuvering towards the land in readiness for debarkationI believe the Enemy were deterred from effecting their purpose on this occasion, partly by Col. Inness good management, and partly by accidental occurrence, which happened, much to the soldierly credit of old Chancellor Wythe, and one or two other old Gentlemen who took a pop at them while Partridge shooting near the mouth of Archers Hope Creek. On 4 January 1781, Arnold and his men landed at Westover, where in response General Nelson and Colonel Innes gathered at Byrds Tavern at nightfall with plans to muster the militia at full strength at New Kent Court House.

During February 1781, after weeks of skirmishing with the British, James Innes was forced to take command of this force after Nelson became confined to his Chamber with a violent pleurisy In the period 5 February 1 April 1781, the Black Affair at Westover occurred. It involved a somewhat trivial matter of the return of property and slaves to Mrs. William Byrd III under a flag of truce. Colonel Innes and his men detained a vessel flying under the flag of truce and prevented the exchange of goods, at the same time detaining Lt. Charles Hare. This incident led to an angry exchange of letters between Maj. Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm de Steuben and Innes. On several occasions Steuben attempted to have Gov. Thomas Jefferson discipline Colonel Innes, but Jefferson refused to interfere. Arnold used this incident as an excuse to charge Virginians with violation of the flag and retaliated with raids throughout the Chesapeake area during Innes detainment of Lieutenant Hare at Sandy Point. During 20-29 April 1781, Innes and his militia followed and harassed British forces from their landing at Jamestown to their occupation of Williamsburg and their move up the Chickahominy River to destroy the shipyards, followed by a return back to Richmond. According to the journal of Dr. Robert Honeyman, Colonel Innes force was between 600-700 strong: On April 21, 1781, in the morning Colonel James Innes sent a detachment of men to attack a British picket that was posted near the college. The militia did attack this post but was forced to retreat as the enemy was quickly reinforced. During this skirmish Col. Innes lost two or three men. Later that day Colonel James Innes notifies the Governor that 500 British Infantrymen, 50 horses, and 4 pieces of artillery had come ashore at Burwells Ferry, because of this unexpected event, Innes and his troops retreated to Isham Allens Tavern at Six-Mile Ordinary (modern day Lightfoot, VA) around midnight on the 21st. On 2 May 1781, following Maj. Gen. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayettes arrival in Virginia, Colonel Innes was instructed to reestablish batteries at Gloucester and Yorktown. Throughout Lt. Gen. Charles Earl Cornwalliss occupation of Yorktown and the subsequent siege Inness militia maintained their positions at Gloucester. On 13 July 1781, a letter from Lafayette to Gov. Thomas Nelson warned: Should Lord Cornwallis detachment enterprise anything against Innes, we have everything to dread from his vast superiority. This was written while the Marquis was engaged at Long Bridge and Colonel Innes was left solely to defend the Lower Peninsula. In a follow up letter to Governor Nelson, Lafayette added I shall take measures to increase Col. Inness command indeed if I am to judge from our circumstances I am apt to believe he has not any body with him the Militia that goes far exceeds the numbers that we receive but I hope that this will soon alter for the better Both Brigades are extremely weakwe must depend upon what Col. Innes may effect. On 24 July 1781, acting upon Nelsons orders Innes visited Williamsburg in an attempt to gather supplies and recruits; however, the city had been left in a most distressful situation with very little supplies or men willing to defy their paroles. By

August, the colonel and his troops reestablished their base of operations at Gloucester. By 11 September 1781, Governor Nelson regained active command of the Virginia militia. Throughout the Yorktown siege it appears that Inness militia aided the Allied forces as they sought to prevent any escape northwards, and block any reinforcement from Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, trapped at Gloucester Point. The Siege of Yorktown and Cornwallis subsequent surrender signaled the end of James Inness military career. Immediately following the British surrender at Yorktown, James Innes returned to practicing law, serving both in the courts of the Tidewater and Richmond. By 1790 he was able to concentrate his practice in the Richmond courts. His most famous case coming in 1796 in Ware v. Hylton, this case also became known as the British Debt Case. Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Alexander Campbell, and James Innes appeared for the American debtors, and Andrew Ronald, John Wickham, and Starke, and Baker, for the English creditors. This case involved the Treaty of Paris, which established peace in 1783. A Virginian owed a debt to a British subject. A Virginia law provided prohibited collection enforcement of such debt on the grounds of being owed to an alien enemy. The administrator for the British subject sued in a federal court to recover on the bond. The administrator argued that the Treaty of Paris ensured the collection of such debts. Four of the five justices wrote opinions. It was the practice of the day for the Court to issue opinions one after another. There was no "opinion for the Court." Collectively, the justices held that federal courts had the power to determine the constitutionality of state laws. They invalidated the Virginia law under the supremacy clause and, in the words of a distinguished scholar of the period, "established for all time [the Supreme Court's] power of judicial review of state laws." In 1782, Innes was appointed Rector of the College of William and Mary and, in addition, served on the Colleges Board of Visitors. Innes resigned as rector in 1788. Also in 1782, upon the nomination of Theodorick Bland, Jr., the Continental Congress appointed Col. James Innes Judge Advocate of the Army; however, Innes declined this nomination on account of its requiring he reside away from his home at Williamsburg. James Innes was elected for three terms representative from Williamsburg to the Virginia House of Delegates during the period 1781 to 1787, and in 1786, was appointed by the Virginia General Assembly to succeed Edmund Randolph as the state Attorney General; John Marshall was another contender for that position. Innes served as Attorney General until 1796. In 1788, as a representative to Virginias 1788 Constitutional Ratifying Convention Innes spoke on behalf of the Friends of the Constitution in opposition to Patrick Henry. Henry acknowledged Inness speech by stating, It was grand. It was magnificent. It was fit to shake the human mind. The ensuing vote awarded the Friends of the Constitution a narrow victory.

Sometime in March/April 1796, Innes was appointed and confirmed as a United States Commissioner to negotiate the details of damages awarded the citizens under Act VI of the Jay Treaty. Despite the need to absent himself from Williamsburg, he accepted the appointment in April 1796. On 2 August 1798, while in Philadelphia on assignment as United States Commissioner for the Jays Treaty, Col. James Innes died suddenly; the cause was given as dropsy of the abdomen (ascites or fluid in the abdominal cavity, typically a form of liver disease). He was buried in the Christ Church graveyard, not far from the tomb of Benjamin Franklin. Brother Jonathans Images Consortium Neal T. Hurst tailor@nhursttailor.com John U. Rees R. Scott Stephenson Matthew C. White [1] The Continental Line at Brandywine September 11, 1777 15th Virginia Regiment of Foot [RAW] Commander Lieutenant Colonel James Innes Brigade 3rd Virginia (Brig. Gen. William Woodford) Raised October 1776 Estimated strength 200 men Notes served in Woodfords brigade throughout its two-year existence [2] Cambridge City (Indiana) Tribune, February 9, 1939 (Series introduction below.)

(July 2012) Welcome to the military artwork series, Brother Jonathans Images. We will be following the same premise as Redcoat Images moderated by Dr. Greg Urwin (now nearing 1,900 installments). Greg began this new series, originally called Continental Images, in August 2010 with two contributions. His Redcoat Images project continued on and eclipsed the newcomer. Our small consortium thought that artwork showing the soldiers and uniforms of the fledgling republics military forces is well worth disseminating and we now continue with Dr. Urwins blessings. The series will cover the period 1753 to the end of 1799, the first date denoting George Washingtons rise in military service and the latter coinciding with his death after serving as commander-in-chief and first president of the United States. Images will include militia, officers (including foreign volunteers), and soldiers of the Confederation and early Republic. The narratives will focus on clothing and officers careers, but other pertinent information will be presented as well. Guest contributors will be considered, and anyone with information, images, or artwork sources they wish to share please email Neal Hurst at tailor@nhursttailor.com. With that in mind, we hope to make this an informative and entertaining, as well as a collaborative effort. Our first installments will begin with Greg Urwins Continental Images Nos. 1 and 2, renamed Brother Jonathans Images to reflect the wider umbrella. Our initial contribution, No. 3, will immediately follow. ______________________ The British were very civil, and indeed they generally were after they had received a check from Brother Jonathan for any of their rude actions. Connecticut soldier Joseph Plumb Martin writing in his 1830 memoir of the October 1776 Battle of White Plains.