As War History Network members know, war often originates in political realms and is fought by politicians as well as soldiers and sailors.  Patrick Henry is one politician inextricably entwined in the American Revolution.  His place in American history is largely limited to two lines, ““If this be treason, make the most of it!”, spoken to the Virginia House of Burgesses and “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” addressed to the Second Virginia Convention.  He is one of those characters who, though never president nor military hero, were influential and essential in the develop of the nation.  More respected in his day than remembered now, Henry was a driving force on the roads to Independence and the Constitution under which we are still governed. 

Henry was born in 1736 Virginia into a legacy that provided opportunity, but not the landed aristocracy who inherited a smooth path to fame and fortune.  A successful career as a lawyer with a reputation for oratory, Henry made his own way into politics and power as a representative of his non-aristocratic and non-established church citizenry.  Service in the House of Burgesses, as Governor of Virginia and a member of the Continental Congress was his instrument for exercising power.  A consistent and strident advocate for colonial rights through the 1760s and 1770s, he encouraged opposition to the Stamp Act and other measures directed at the colonies and guided an unsure people to military preparedness.  While Lexington and Concord are emblazoned in memory as the spark of the Revolution, Henry was involved in similar resistance to Gov. Dunmore’s seizure of a large supply of gunpowder in mid-April 1775.  Unaware of events in Massachusetts, riders sped throughout the Old Dominion to rally militia to march on Williamsburg.  Henry seized the opportunity to enlist support for colonial rights.  Elected commander of the Hanover committee and “invested” with a “Hunting Shirt”, Henry applied military pressure in arriving at a monetary reimbursement for the seized powder.  As Governor, it was he who authorized George Rogers Clark’s defense of Kentucky and capture of Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes extending American control into the Old Northwest. 

Though a biography, “A Son of Thunder” focuses largely on Henry’s political life, which was intimately entwined with military policy.  Author Henry Mayer has skillfully woven a life into a history from which a student may glean much.  Henry’s activity was concentrated in Virginia, reflective of the relative importance of the colonies or states and the nation in his day.  Much revolutionary activity originated in Massachusetts, but Henry is shown as one who generated continental support for Bay State activists.  Though not a delegate to the Second Continental Congress that declared Independence, much of the military strength of the nascent Revolutionary American republic was raised and organized at the State level and, as Governor of one of the largest states, Henry’s role was crucial.  Henry’s Virginia was involved in three wars: support to the Continental cause lead by George Washington, defense of Virginia’s shore and tidewater from British raids and protection of frontier areas from Indian attack, some instigated by British officials. 

With Independence won, Henry continued to guide his state during the period of loose Confederation until adoption of the Constitution.  Originally an Anti-Federalist who opposed the Constitution as an unneeded and unjustified restriction of states’ rights, he eventually supported ratification at the Virginia Constitutional Convention by providing the recommendation for a Bill of Rights, a recommendation made by no previously ratifying state, but followed by every subsequent one. 

The American Revolution and early Republic have more complicated stories than is generally appreciated.  I recommend “Son of Thunder” for War History Network members seeking a deeper understanding of the personalities and political forces that shaped our germinating nation.