Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of — Jack Jouett?
Jouett’s mission, like that of his more famous fellow horseman, was to warn American patriots of the approaching attack by British regulars.
While most people have heard of Paul Revere and his ride, forever memoralized by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, there are few who know anything of Jouett, even though his ride has been described as having had “a greater impact on the outcome of the American Revolution then did Paul Revere’s ride.”
John “Jack” Jouett, Jr. was a man who looked the part of a hero. He stood 6 feet four inches tall and was described by his contemporaries as “muscular and handsome.” He descended from a Norman Huguenot family accustomed to fighting against the oppression of tyrants.
Even though he didn’t have the good fortune of having a Longfellow to immortalize his name and his exploits, Jouett’s story and service to the cause of liberty are every bit as exciting as those of the Massachusetts silversmith.
Jouett was a captain in the Virginia militia and was deployed outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. Late in the night on June 3, 1781, Jouett was sleeping in front of a famous watering hole — the Cuckoo Tavern. He and his unit were bivouacked on the lawn of the building when they were awakened by a sound of several horses approaching the location quickly.
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