Bee Line March 250th Anniversary Celebration Will Begin with Museum Exhibit & Talk

The town of Shepherdstown will begin a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Bee Line March during the third week of April with the opening of a special exhibit of Revolutionary War-era rifles at the Historic Shepherdstown Museum.

The Bee Line March was a trek made in the summer of 1775 by a company of riflemen from Shepherdstown to join General George Washington at his siege of Boston. The Shepherdstown company was one of 10 such companies raised in the colonies that summer in response to a call for volunteers from the Continental Congress. The raising of these companies is generally recognized as the beginning of the United States Army. The Shepherdstown company is of particular significance because it covered the 600 miles to Massachusetts in just 25 days. This was an extraordinary feat for the time, and it was quickly dubbed the “Bee Line March.”

The Historic Shepherdstown Museum exhibit will open on April 19. It will feature choice examples of flintlock rifles made by the famous Sheetz gunsmithing family and other 18th- and early 19th-century gunsmiths of the region, along with gunsmithing tools and related items. It is being assembled in cooperation with the Kentucky Rifle Foundation, one of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to the collection and preservation of American flintlock long rifles.

The Historic Shepherdstown Museum exhibit will be open every weekend from April 26 through October 19, on Saturdays from 11 am to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., and by appointment. A $5 donation will be requested for admission; members of the military and children will be admitted free.

The exhibit’s opening will be preceded by a talk the evening of Wednesday, April 16, about the rifles that will be displayed and gunsmithing of the period in general. Sponsored by Historic Shepherdstown, the talk will be held at 7 pm In the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on the Shepherd University Campus. The presenters will be master gunsmith Brian LaMaster, of High View, WV, and Kentucky rifle expert Tim Hodges, of Winchester, VA. Admission will be free.

The Bee Line March anniversary celebration will continue through the summer with a series of events and activities, all free, including the following:

• May 14 talk about the Bee Line March, by Jefferson County historian Doug Perks. The talk will be sponsored by Historic Shepherdstown and held at 7 pm in the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education.
• June 7 dedication by the Daughters of the American Revolution of a Patriots Marker at Morgan’s Grove Park at 11 am.
• June 14 a daylong Bee Line March celebration at Morgan’s Grove Park. Event and activities will begin at 10 am and include drills and weapons demonstrations by members of the Sons of the American Revolution; 18th Century children’s games; music by the West Virginia University Mountaineer Fifes and Drums; displays by Jefferson County Historical Society, Historic Shepherdstown, Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and similar groups; and a 2 pm commemorative ceremony. Food trucks will offer barbeque for purchase. The Shepherdstown Community Club will have a tent selling special Bee Line March beer brewed by the Bavarian Inn Resort and Brewing Company.
• June 22 recital and lecture on military music of the Revolutionary War period, by Music of the Regiment, an ensemble of musicians and researchers dedicated to the study and performance of 18th and 19th century military music. Sponsored by Friends of Music, the performance will be held at 3 pm at Shepherdstown’s Trinity Episcopal Church.
• July 19 a daylong encampment of Revolutionary War reenactors at Morgan’s Grove Park. Events and activities will begin at 10 am and include talks in the park pavilion to frame the living history context; 18th Century children’s games; fife and drum demonstrations by the Old Line Fife and Drum Corps from Frederick, MD; drill and flintlock use demonstrations; and demonstrations of Revolutionary War camp life activities. Food trucks will offer barbeque for purchase.

The anniversary celebration is being made possible by contributions from the Jefferson County Historical Society, the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown, Historic Shepherdstown, the Friends of Music, the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, the Jefferson County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Shepherdstown Community Club, the Adam Stephen Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Pack Horse Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

(Photograph of Martin Sheetz rifle courtesy of Tim Hodges of the Kentucky Rifle Association)