Revolution on the River

Revolution on the River. . The Chestertown waterfront seems quiet today, but it was a flashpoint in the American colonists' struggle for liberty., Kent County, long loyal to England, found its ancestral ties weakening with each new generation born on American soil. Growing tensions finally exploded in 1758 during the French and Indian War, when a riverfront brawl between occupying British redcoats, visiting sailors, and local youths erupted into musket fire that left one man dead., Tea and Mutiny , In May 1774, the brig Geddes arrived from London laden with goods from the East Indies , including tea, subject to a much-hated tax. Patriots met and vowed that any persons caught drinking the beverage would be "stigmatized as enemies to the liberties of America.", Chestertown tradition holds that the protesters marched to this waterfront and dumped the tea into the river, just as had Bostonians a few months earlier. Though it was never documented, the fabled event is reenacted every spring by local residents., Rest Stop for Patriots , The large brick homes across the inlet from you, known as the Hynson-Ringgold House, hosted George Washington as an overnight guest in 1773. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry, and other Revolutionary leaders also enjoyed local hospitality as they traveled between the Chesapeake region and Philadelphia., The Hynson-Ringgold House, donated to Washington College in the early 20th century, now serves as the home of the College President., Wartime , Although this area saw no Revolutionary battles, local military companies marched off to enroll in General Washington's army, while other men joined the struggle on the Loyalist side. Kent County shipbuilders launched a "row galley," the Chester, to intercept British warships on the Chesapeake Bay, and several of the Continental Navy's earliest commanders were mariners from Chestertown.