790
VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY
able. This was Gideon Macon, who, com-
ing to the American colonies in the latter
half of the century just mentioned, settled
at Middle Plantation, Virginia, where he
soon became a prominent man in St. Peter's
Parish and an extensive and prosperous
tobacco cultivator. There is a record of
him and his estate in 1680. This estate was
known as Prospect Hill, and is even now
standing in its original location, and is still
regarded as one of the landmarks of eastern
Virginia. Gideon Macon was the father of
William Macon, who in time inherited Pros-
pect Hill, and became a very conspicuous
figure in the colony, being appointed colonel
of the New Kent county militia, New Kent
county being the location of Prospect Hill.
It was of this Colonel William Macon that
Martha, the wife of Colonel William Massie,
was the daughter.
(V) Major Thomas Massie, a son of Colo- nel William and Martha (Macon) Massie, was born according to the parish records, August II, 1747, at Batton's Bridge, in New Kent county, Virginia. His life was a most eventful one, as was almost sure to be the life of an ardent lover of liberty, devoted to the interests of the American colonies in those troublous times. For Major Massie's lot was cast just when the long drawn out struggle between the colonies and Great Britain had reached the breaking point, and he was, indeed, just in the prime of young manhood when the revolution began. He received his commission as captain in the Sixth Virginia Regiment of the line on Con- tinental establishment, in the autumn of 1775, and with an enthusiasm characteristic of the man, threw himself into the conflict in the cause of liberty and his native land. His first service was under Colonel Buck- ner in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where he took part in many active engagements, notably those of Fort Mont- gomery, when that redoubt was captured, and at New Brunswick on the Raritan river, where the advance of the British van was checked, thus giving an opportunity for General Washington to cross the Delaware river in safety. The Sixth Virginia suffered so severely in this campaign that Captain Massie was necessarily employed in special or detached duty for the major part of the next two years, but on January i, 1777, he was again attached to the army, this time under General Scott, in the latter's move- ment against Lord Cornwallis, who was at
that time threatening Trenton, New Jersey.
Once more he was in the thick of action, en-
gaging in that sanguinary fight known as the
Cannonade of Trenton. For a period of five
months thereafter Captain Massie was en-
gaged in the severest kind of duty at Middle
Post, Metuchen, under Colonel Hendricks,
duty which included constant patrollmg and
frequent skirmishes, nocturnal surprises and
the cutting off of pickets, work of a most
perilous and fatiguing kind, entailing a great
loss of men. After five months of this dis-
tressing kind of service, his detachment re-
joined the main army at Middlebrook, and
yet a little later was transferred to the army
under General Washington at White Marsh
Hills. He seemed destined to endure the
hardships of the campaign in full measure,
for it was while a part of Washington's
army that it passed that most bitter winter
at Valley Forge, the suft'erings of which
were shared by Captain Thomas Massie.
Detailed for duty under General Morgan,
he received a partial reward for his faithful
services in the form of a major's commission
on February 20, 1778. He was in command
of the lines near Philadelphia in the spring
of 1778, and while there he took part in some
historic transactions, notably that of the
evacuation of Philadelphia by General Sir
Henry Clinton, Major Classic being the one
who first received the flag of truce from that
officer, which opened the way to the nego-
tiations for his departure. General Clinton
no longer in Philadelphia, General Morgan,
with Major Massie in his command, marched
through that city and shortly afterwards
joined the main army. It was not long after
this, June 27, 1778, to be precise, that Major
Massie was the bearer of the despatches
from Washington to General Charles Lee,
directing the latter officer to attack the
British army in full force the following day.
These orders, as all the world remembers,
were not obeyed, a disobedience which was
the occasion of a " most brilliant piece of
generalship on the part of Washington, who
was forced thus unexpectedly, to bring the
troops into action himself, and also of the
well known rebuke of Lee. Ordered once
more into New Jersey, under General Mor-
gan, Major Massie took part in the hard-
fought battle of Monmouth Court House,
in which the British were defeated and pur-
sued as far north as Middletown Heig'hts,
near Sandy Hook. From New Jersey, for-
tune took him to Rhode Island, where,
