The "Shirt Men"

From a letter reprinted in The Magazine of History with Notes and Queries, Vol. III, January-June 1906, published by William Abbatt, New York:

June 12 1775.

"Patriot Dixon son of the once beautiful and good natured York Lady, with some others went in the night to rob the magazine.
There being no ground about it 'tis said some of the seamen of the Fowey when at Wmsburg set some of the guns, so as to go off if a string near them was touched, accordingly off went a gun; when the patriots went in to steal; none of them were wounded. They immediately alarmed the town, swearing that the magazine was full of armed men and 40 guns had been fired at them. You will see the Govr with his famillie on board the Fowey again, I do not think his Lady will return to Williamsburg. 'Tis said he will, provided the shirt men are sent away. These shirt men or Virginia uniform are dressed with an Oznaburg shirt over their cloaths, a belt round them with a Tommyhawk or Scalping Knife. They look like a band of Assassins and it is my opinion if they fight at all it will be in that way." He [Norfolk tory James Parker] ends "I am still of opinion when General Gage begins to act on the offensive the Rebellion will be immediately crushed."

Uncle Samuel McDowell

Patrick Henry was one of the most influential (and radical) advocates of the American Revolution. He is perhaps best known for the speech he made in the Virginia House of Burgesses on 23 March 1775, urging the legislature to take military action against the encroaching British military force. The House was deeply divided, but was very much leaning toward not committing troops. As Henry stood in Saint John's Church in Richmond, he ended his speech with his most famous words: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" This speech is credited, by some, with single-handedly delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War.
My 5x great-uncle Samuel McDowell (1735-1817) was one of two delegates from Rockbridge County to the Virginia Conventions of 1775, and was present that day in the House of Burgesses. His life remains a lesson in citizenship and patriotism. Samuel McDowell had been a captain in the French and Indian War, commissioned 16 August 1759. On 21 November 1759, he was installed as County Commissioner and Justice in Augusta County, Virginia. He was a captain of the Rangers Company at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. At the Battle of Point Pleasant, he served as aide-de-camp to Gen. Isaac Shelby, who later became the first governor of Kentucky. Samuel became a colonel in the Revolutionary War, serving in Gen. Nathanael Greene's campaign in North Carolina, and was with the army that drove Gen. Cornwallis to Wilmington. In 1775, in conjunction with his kinsman Thomas Lewis, son of Augusta County settler John Lewis and brother of Gen. Andrew Lewis, hero of Point Pleasant, Samuel was chosen to represent the freeholders of Augusta County in the convention which met at Richmond, Virginia. He was also a member of the second convention that met at Williamsburg in 1776. As an officer, Samuel McDowell distinguished himself in the Battle of Guilford Court House. In addition, he raised a battalion at his own expense to aid in repelling the invasion of Virginia by Benedict Arnold.
In 1783, uncle Samuel McDowell moved his family to what became Fayette County, Kentucky (but was then still part of Virginia), where he was a surveyor. He was appointed to the first District Court ever held in Kentucky, 3 March 1783, and was President of the convention which was called to frame the constitution for the state of Kentucky on 19 April 1792.
All this, and 13 children, too.

(info: "Rockbridge County, Virginia Notebook", The News-Gazette, Lexington, Virginia)