Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

Danville Middle School fifth grade students were the beneficiaries of a two-hour program presented by the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the American Revolution on Thursday.

Presenters were Robert L. Anderson Jr and his wife Amy Anderson of Hartselle and Connie Cook, Bob Baccus and Jim Maples, all of Huntsville.

Dressed in Revolutionary Army uniforms, each presenter traced his linage to the 1700s and told what part his ancestor played in the Revolutionary War.

The major part of the program was devoted to covering some of the main events preceding and during the war. They included the Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre and the Ride of Paul Revere.  Wartime events included the Battle of Saratoga, Battle of Valley Forge, Battle of King’s Mountain, Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Yorktown.

The backdrop for the program was a display of regimental and early U.S. flags. They included a royal blue flag with white stars which George Washington claimed as his own and a replica of the U.S. flag, which Betsy Ross designed and made.

At the program’s conclusion, Revolutionary War armaments were shown and identified. They included a replica of a French-made muzzle loading rifle the colonists used and a muzzle-loading rifle with bayonet that the British soldiers used.

“The colonists were at a disadvantage,” said Anderson. “It took twice as long for them to reload their rifles as it did the British. In fact, before they had guns the colonist soldiers would throw rocks, sticks and anything else they could find to throw at the British soldiers.”

Fifth grade teacher Amy Cooper said the presentation ties in with what fifth graders have been studying in social studies.

“Some of the material they have covered will be repeated,” she pointed out. “But what they get today will bring a different perspective to what they have learned from history books. They can see the different uniforms the soldiers wore, the flags they fought under, the weapons they used and the suffering and sacrifice they made in their fight for our freedom.”

Anderson, a past chapter president of the Sons of the American Revolution, said the Tennessee Valley Chapter averages making a school presentation once every month.

“We always look forward to working with students of this age,” he said. “We can see their eyes light up when they listen carefully to what we’re telling them. Their minds are like sponges and have a good knowledge of our nation’s history is something that will stay with them a lifetime.”