This week, we share the first of a five-part series on the covert Southern missions that helped birth America’s freedom, starting with the Southern intelligence web. We also spend some time in Virginia exploring Cornwallis’ Cave in Yorktown and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach. But first, let’s find out who our Pinehurst Barbecue Festival ticket winners are!
Pinehurst Barbecue Festival Ticket Winners
Here are the randomly chosen winners of our Pinehurst Barbecue Festival ticket giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered. The festival is September 4-6 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
One set of two tickets to the Pitmaster Invitational on September 6: Tommy Pope of York, South Carolina
One set of four tickets to the Pitmaster Invitational on September 6: Gwen Gangewere of Jacksonville, North Carolina
One set of four tickets to the Q School Grilling Class on September 5: Janina DeMasi of Chapel Hill, North Carolina
One set of two tickets to the High on The Hog Pitmaster Dinner on September 4: Tony Baughman of Warrenville, South Carolina
Congratulations to all of our winners, who should have received an email from us prior to this email. We hope you have an awesome—and delicious—experience!
Revolutionary Secrets, Part 1
By Elizabeth Poland Shugg
During the pre-Revolutionary War period, Northern Patriots relied on structured espionage strategies through systems like the Culper Spy Ring, directed by Gen. George Washington and Lt. Col. Benjamin Tallmadge. Down South, however, intelligence moved through informal, human networks embedded in daily life.
The South’s role in the war, however, unfolded in a far less orderly way. Across Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, and beyond, a shifting landscape of local intelligence networks, civilian participation, enslaved resistance, global alliances, and hidden supply chains contributed to the Patriots’ victory. What emerged was not a single war, but multiple conflicts that played out concurrently.
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Cornwallis’ Cave
Yorktown, Virginia
A small, mostly human-made grotto along Yorktown’s waterfront in Virginia, Cornwallis’ Cave holds legendary importance for its role in the final days of the American Revolutionary War. During the 1781 Siege of Yorktown, British General Charles Cornwallis established his base here.
Folklore claims he used the cave—less than 350 square feet—as a hiding place and last headquarters to escape relentless American and French artillery bombardment. Though the National Park Service suggests it may have resulted from stone quarrying and was likely used for storage, the cave is a symbol of Yorktown’s pivotal role in securing American independence. The cave later stored munitions in the Civil War and became a tourist site.
