This “Minutemen” Culpeper County Leaders Tour will visit many of the most important historic homes and homesites, while hearing important detailed stories, of Culpeper County’s “Minutemen” leaders along the way. The Culpeper Minute Battalion was like no other, as they were the only Minute Battalion in Virginia to fully form and then respond quickly and efficiently in a moment of critical need for Virginia.

Virginia historian Jim Bish and Battles of Hampton and Great Bridge military historian Pat Hannum will lead the tour. This Culpeper County Minutemen Leaders Tour will visit Little Fork Anglican (now Episcopal) Church, the only surviving Culpeper County colonial church, as many of Culpeper’s Minutemen leaders attended. After leaving the church we will drive to Culpeper Rifle Company leader Captain John Green’s “Liberty Hall” home where we will learn about Green and the importance of his “Rifle Company.” After leaving Liberty Hall we will drive to Old House Vineyards for lunch (Lunch is on your own). From there we will visit Lt. Gabriel Long’s Bloomsbury homesite, before heading to the Capt. John Williams homesite where we will continue to learn about these important Minutemen. We will then visit the homesites of Capt. John Jameson and Gen. Edward Stevens before progressing to the Masonic Cemetery (owned originally by the Lt. Col. Edward Stevens-Coleman family) where information about Ensign David Jameson will be shared. The tour will conclude by heading to the original Culpeper Minute Battalion muster site of Major Philip Clayton’s “Old Field” on his Catalpa Plantation. There we will talk about the muster, including how and why it occurred, and how unique it was, before heading back to the Museum.

The Minutemen leaders from Culpeper County comprised unprecedented leadership including Edward Stevens, who was a cousin of future U.S. President George Washington. Culpeper’s Henry Pendleton was the nephew of Edmund Pendleton (First and Second Continental Congress and Presiding Officer of the Virginia Conventions from July 1775-July 1776), and John and David Jameson were nephews to Virginia’s Revolutionary era Lt. Governor David Jameson. Culpeper Minutemen were ancestors to later American heroes, including Union General John Buford (Gettysburg), General George Patton (World War II), and General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller (Marine Corps – Korea).

Don’t miss the chance to visit Culpeper’s historic homes and homesites and to learn about Culpeper County’s heroes of 250 years ago by signing up for this one-time “The Road to Freedom Started Here: Culpeper County Minutemen Leaders Tour” on Friday, October 24, 2025. The tour will start at 9:00 a.m. from the Museum of Culpeper History, located at 113 S. Commerce St, Culpeper, and return by 4:30 p.m. The cost for the all-day tour is $50 with lunch at Old House Vineyards (Pay on your own), as we will be visiting both public and private historic sites associated with Culpeper County Minutemen leaders. Don’t miss this only opportunity to learn about Culpeper County’s leaders who helped liberate Virginia from British control while aiding in the creation of America.