Southern Historical Association

Archibald Cary of Ampthill: Wheelhorse of the Revolution. by Robert K. BrockReview by: W. M. E. RachalThe Journal of Southern History, Vol. 4, No. 2 (May, 1938), pp. 233-234Published by: Southern Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2192008 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 233

Archibald Cary of Ampthill: Wheelhorse of the Revolution. By Robert K. Brock. (Richmond: Garrett and Massie, 1937. Pp. xi, 183. Bibliography, illustrations. $3.00.)

"No man perhaps in the entire colony of Virginia," declares the author, "through so long a period served his country so well and with such fidelity, as did Archibald Cary of Ampthill."

Cary, a typical "Tuckahoe," lived on his fine estate, Ampthill, overlooking the James six miles below Richmond. There he was visited by the great and near great of his day, including his intimate friends, Washington and Jefferson. He owned very extensive tracts of land in several counties of Middle Virginia. His large and varied business operations included the manufacture of iron, rope, and gunpowder. His flour mill at Warwick, which was burned by Arnold, was one of the largest and finest in the state. Although he was at one time very wealthy, his estate was much involved at the time of his death.

While in his twenties Cary entered the House of Burgesses and served for more than thirty years, first from Goochland and later from Chesterfield County. He became chairman of the powerful committee of public claims, and by the time of the Revolution was one of the outstanding leaders in Virginia. His name appears more often in the journal of the last session of the Burgesses than that of any other man. In the Revolutionary conventions only Pendleton exerted an influence equal to that of Cary. It was Cary who reported the resolution which directed the Virginia delegates in the Continental Congress to declare for inde- pendence. It was Cary who headed the committees which wrote Virginia's first constitution. With the establishment of a state government, he was unanimously elected speaker of the senate, an office which he held until his death in 1787. Cary's leadership embraced and united colony and commonwealth as did that of no other man. He took no part in national politics, was not an orator or a writer, and so has failed to attract the attention of historians, but in his day his leadership was unquestioned.

This biography, written in a pleasing style, should do much to re-establish Cary's reputation, but it falls far short of the possibilities in that it makes almost no contribution to the sum total of our knowledge of the period in which Cary made history. Its chief value lies in the fact that previously scattered information is here collected together into one book. Though the author has gathered a large number of interesting facts, he has failed to explore any of the many important movements with which Cary was connected. His researches are incomplete, and at times he is mistaken. There are a number of incorrect dates, one of which leads the author to confuse the Association of June 22, 1770, with that of May 27, 1774 (p. 61). The Convention of August, 1774, was not called because Dunmore dissolved the Burgesses (p. 64), but because dispatches were received from Boston urging united action against the ministry. Cary stigmatised not

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234 THE JOURNAL OF SOUTHERN HISTORY

Christopher Gist (p. 99), but his son Nathaniel Gist. It is to be regretted that the author did not make use of the manuscripts available in Richmond, Wash- ington, and New York.

Fourteen letters to or from Archibald Cary, two of which have not been previously published, are printed in an appendix. For some reason the two letters from Cary to William Preston quoted in the text of the book are omitted here. The author has generally copied the letters from printed editions which are often abridged or inaccurate. There are about a dozen other Cary letters which are not included.

The book has a very good index, but an incomplete and inaccurate bibliogra- phy, and no footnotes.

Lynchburg, Virginia W. M. E. RACHAL

History of Fredericksburg, Virginia. By Alvin T. Embrey. (Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1937. Pp. 202. Illustrations. $2.50.)

Situated, as it is, at the western end of the famed Northern Neck of Virginia; at the fall line of the Rappahannock River which leads back to one of the easiest crossings over the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia into the Shenandoah Val- ley; almost equally distant from the national and the Confederate capitals during the Civil War; marked by nature to be the meeting place of boat, wagon, rail- road, army, merchant, and citizen, the little city of Fredericksburg has had a remarkable past. Home town or nearest shopping center of such notables as Governor Spotswood, George Washington, John Paul Jones, James Monroe, Matthew Fontaine Maury, John Taylor of Caroline, the Lees, the Lewises, and the Mercers, it is rich in historic interest of which, even to this day, its shrines, quaint entrances, and "atmosphere," as well as its documents, are evidence. From this spot proceeded John Lederer on his way to the West near the close of the third quarter of the seventeenth century. Nearby were the German settlement of Germanna and Spotswood's iron mines. A little westward are the Wilderness and Chancellorsville, a little to the south is Spotsylvania Court House. At the edge of the city are the Sunken Road, Marye's Heights, and national and Con- federate cemeteries. Here, in 1777, met Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, George Mason, and Thomas Ludwell Lee to prepare a revision of the legal code of Virginia. Here, according to the author, appeared on April 30, 1789, the following to be admitted to practice as attorneys: James Monroe, John Marshall, John Taylor of Caroline, John F. Mercer, Bushrod Washington, W. W. Hening, and others.

The volume under review contains many interesting facts but -it is evident throughout that the writer is not a trained historian. He fails to plan an ordered account or to relate it to the broader story. The study throws little light upon the problem of interpreting the forces that have been at work in the making of Virginia or the nation. The treatment is discursive and digressive. References

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