About

Due to its geographic location and its large population, Loudoun County played an integral role in Virginia’s Revolutionary War experience. By the time the War of Independence began in 1775, Loudoun County was home to an ethnically and religiously diverse population in one of the most agriculturally productive regions of Virginia. Well settled villages and towns, including Leesburg, Waterford, and Lovettsville were connected by a network of roads that tied Virginia’s eastern tidewater region to the Shenandoah Valley to the west. As relations with Great Britain became increasingly strained in the 1770s, Loudoun residents responded with the drafting of the Loudoun Resolves in the summer of 1774. These resolves expressed local support for the people of Boston and Loudoun’s commitment to resist British overreach into colonial affairs.

When war broke out in 1775, Loudoun’s large militia served in the county, collecting supplies, guarding prisoners, and suppressing local loyalists. Hundreds of men from the county also enlisted in the Continental Army, serving in nearly every battle of the war. With many men gone, local women took a leading role in managing farms and industries and performed vital work in keeping their families, communities, and the army fed, clothed, and supplied. Far from the fighting, Loudoun County became a “breadbasket” for the American armies, supplying food, livestock, and other goods. Loudoun roads were filled with marching soldiers and wagons full of supplies moving to the important theaters of war. Not all Loudouners supported the Revolutionary cause, however. Many Quakers were harassed and imprisoned for their pacifist beliefs, while many of the enslaved people looked to the British for freedom from bondage. Loudoun County’s many diverse stories help to highlight the rich complexity of the American Revolution and our understanding of this vital period in our nation’s history.

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