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Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War

2,176 views · Published 1 April 2010 · 52:13 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Library of Congress · 2010 · Education

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Michael Kranish illuminates the events that unfolded as Benedict Arnold, in command of British troops, descended on Virginia and eventually occupied Williamsburg. Arnold was easily able to take control of the rest of the state, leaving Jefferson to take to the back roads, with a British force quite literally nipping at his heels. Though he was running for his life, Jefferson would be called a coward for his actions, and worse: He would later receive a letter in refuge that accused him of being responsible for all that had happened since the British invaded Virginia earlier that January. His political enemies would later attempt to use this episode against him in his bid for the presidency; and the personal demons these events unleashed would plague him until the end of his life.

Speaker Biography: Michael Kranish is a reporter in the Washington bureau of The Boston Globe. He is the co-author of the New York Times best-seller John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography.

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