Marcia Barnes • Clay County Progress Kathy Gibby holds the records of Daniel Henson’s military service in the American Revolution. Gibby is Henson’s fourth great-granddaughter.
By Marcia Barnes
Feature Writer
Daniel Henson was born in the county of Culpepper in the state of Virginia, Aug. 17, 1764. The son of Charles Henson, Daniel’s birth took place 12 years and a month before the signing of the Declaration of Independence and when General Washington formed an army of men who were schoolteachers, shoemakers, booksellers, men of every kind of work and status. Charles was a farmer.
In 1781, Charles was drafted. Daniel stepped in to substitute for his father entering the service of the United States on March 10 in the infantry commanded by Captain Fields. Henson was not yet 17 years of age when his company was marched to Fredericksburg.
At Fredericksburg, Henson came under the command of Colonel Willis and marched from there to Boyd’s Hole on the Potomac. He remained there a short time before being marched back to Fredericksburg and then on to Powhatan Court House in Virginia where he was placed under the command of the Baron Steuben.
A letter reveals that Henson was a courier to General George Washington. His annual pay was $60 and his movements from place to place increased as the Revolutionary War intensified.
From the Powhatan Court House, Henson was marched to Richmond. He remained there one day and night before crossing the river to Manchester where he stayed about a week, from there to Point Fork until the British under Cornwallis drove them out. Henson then marched toward North Carolina over Staunton River and joined the main Army at a place called White Oak Springs.
From there, they marched to an old forge where Henson was detached from foot service around the latter part of July or possibly the first of August 1781 and became part of the cavalry commanded by Captain John Hughes under the command of Colonel Anthony Walton White.
By his own pen, Henson remained “Scouting” the month of October when he was marched to Yorktown and engaged in the taking of Cornwallis. On Oct. 19, 1781 British General Cornwallis surrendered his army of 8,000 men to General Washington, giving up any chance of winning the Revolutionary War.
Henson returned to Petersburg, Va. and from there marched about the first of December under the command of General Anthony Wayne for Georgia through North and South Carolina to a place called Ebenezer where Henson remained until the cessation of hostilities. Then, he marched to Savannah and from there to within 16 miles of Charleston to a place called Bacons Bridge where he was discharged. This took place in the month of Sept. 1782. He had served the country during its crucial hour.
Henson, a Revolutionary War foot soldier, courier and calvary man is honored by the descendants who followed him. His second child Absolum Henson served in the War of 1812. Archibald Henson, his grandson, was in the Civil War. Zebulon Talmage Henson Lebanion served in the United States Army in World War I; Carl Clinton Henson, Sr. served the country during the Korean Conflict.
Kathy Gibby who resides in Clay County holds the documented papers of Daniel Henson’s service and other family members close to her heart. Gibby’s father, Fred Henson Sr. lived most of his life in Clay County. He served 21 years with the United States Air Force that included service during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
Gibby and her brother Fred Glyne Henson Jr. were sworn in side by side and served in the United States Navy. Gibby served five years in Reconnaissance VQ2, based with a squadron in Rota, Spain. She worked in aviation supply. Today, she tends the family farm on Fires Creek Road.
How far do we need to look on Veterans Day to see a patriot who has served our country? Not far.
He’s across the road from you in Warne, a paratrooper who jumped from an Army helicopter into fields in Vietnam and will forever own his injuries. He’s a former Marine who is working at the polls on Election Day. From the victory at Yorktown in 1781 they all are keepers of the sweet breath of freedom.