Cheney Clow - Significance of Rebellion

Significance of Rebellion

The Statement of Significance of the Cheney Clough Rebellion site from the US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form continues with:

Cheney Clow's Fort site and the surrounding fields were the scene of Kent County, DE's only Revolutionary battle. Although the fort no longer stands, the two farms on which the battle took place are still under cultivation. The character of the neighboring country has changed little since the Revolution.

Cheyney Clow was a local eccentric who obtained a British commission and raised a force of Tories along the western boundary of Delaware. Although the line between Delaware and Maryland had be finally settled a few years earlier, Clow insisted that he was a Marylander; even though his house lay 200 yards inside Delaware, he refused to pay Delaware taxes.

He led his small band of loyalists in raids on the scattered farms of the area, until the inhabitants appealed for military protection. Charles Pope was sent to put down the rebellion, and camped with his Delaware militia at Grogtown (now Kenton, DE). In a letter to Caesar Rodney on April 14, 1778, Pope reported that Clow a fort erected nearby. Two days later, he informed Rodney that he had ordered "militia from the Head of Chester to join me at Marches Quarter within one-mile and a half of their fortress." The attack proved unsuccessful; Clow fled, and the militia burned the fort. In May, the Delaware Assembly called for inhabitants to take an oath of loyalty, which Clow refused. In 1782, a warrant was issued for Clow's arrest on charges of treason, and the sheriff of Kent County, Delaware was sent to take him in custody. Clow and his wife defended their house; a man was shot, and Clow was taken prisoner. He was eventually sentenced to hang, but the sentence was not executed until 1788, when he asked the State to decide between pardon and death. Public sentiment, which had been a factor in the decision to hang him, changed almost immediately after his death. Clow became a popular martyr, who had been unjustly executed because of his political convictions. The circumstances surrounding Cheyney Clow's last ten years serve to emphasize Kent County's indifferent support of the Revolutionary cause.

Archaeological exploration, to determine the exact fort site, would be desirable.