Champe enlisted in the Virginia Cavalry from Loudoun County in 1776 and was made sergeant major in Lee's Legion, a unit commanded by (then Major) Henry Lee III, later and better known as Colonel "Light-Horse Harry" Lee (and father of Gen. Robert E. Lee). Champe's family was said to be well known to Major Lee. A plan was formulated to kidnap the defecting General Benedict Arnold and bring him back to American lines to face court martial. A key motivation for the operation was to obtain information as to the possibility of other high-ranking American officers being involved in the treasonous Arnold's activities. Handpicked by George Washington and Lee for the spy mission, Champe "defected" to the British side in 1780, where he was introduced to Arnold and soon gathered intelligence that established that there were no other American generals involved with Arnold. Champe formulated a plot to capture Arnold on his regular evening stroll, but before he could act the entire British unit, Champe included, embarked in New York on the Virginia campaign of 1780–1781. Thus, the whole endeavor had to be called off.[1]
After the failed attempt, Champe served in the British Army for many months before finding a way to escape back to the Continental Army. Upon rejoining the Americans, Champe voiced a desire to continue his service fighting the British, but Lee dissuaded him from it — pointing out that if captured, he could now be hanged as a spy.[2] Nevertheless, Lee believed that Champe had acquitted himself well and had him discharged honorably from the Continental Army.
According to Legends of Loudoun: An Account of the History and Homes of a Border County of Virginia's Northern Neck (1938) by Harrison Williams:
...after the war, it is said on the personal recommendation of General Washington, Sergeant Champe was appointed to the position of doorkeeper or sergeant-at-arms of the Continental Congress, then meeting at Philadelphia, but obliged, on account of rioting, to remove to Trenton. His name appears on the rolls of August 25, 1783 as holding that position. Soon afterwards, he returned to Loudoun County, married and acquired a small holding near what is now Dover, between the later towns of Aldie and Middleburg, close to the present Little River Turnpike.
Champe may also have spent time in Kentucky. He and his wife had seven children.[3] Champe then moved to Augusta (now Pendleton) County, then in Virginia, today in West Virginia.[4] A local tradition, maintained by Champe's descendants, is that he had been promised a grant of lands in the area, but never received it. He died in poverty, unable to care for two of his sons, John and Thomas, who as teenagers were apprenticed to a tannery at Mouth of Seneca.[5]
Champe died on September 30, 1798, while staying at Prickett's Fort — near what is now Fairmont, West Virginia — on a trip to (according to different accounts) consider a land purchase or visit one of his children. He was buried near the fort, but the exact location of his grave remains unknown.[6][7]
Legacy
Family
Champe's wife was Phebe Susan Barnard who, beginning in 1831 and then living in Ohio, received a pension of $120 annually based upon her husband's war service.
Family Tree
Family Tree
John Champe
Phebe Susan Barnard
William Champe June 6, 1795, - May 9, 1875, Peoria, IL
Mary Champe ~ 1798 - abt. 1837, Warren Co., IN
Susann Champe
Eleanor Champe
Amelia Champe (d. 1835)
John Champe
Nathaniel Champe d. Feb. 13,1870, Ingham Co., MI
Notes:
Namesakes
In the American Civil War, the Confederate rifle company from Aldie, Virginia, "Champe's Rifles", named themselves in honor of Champe.
At Prickett's Fort, Marion County, West Virginia, near where he died and was buried. The marker here is not at his grave, but was placed on 22 April 2001, in a ceremony with full military honors.[9]
^Judy, Ida MaBelle (1940), John Champe, the Soldier and the Man. The author of this short book confused Sergeant Major John Champe (1752-1798) with his father, John Champe (ca. 1720-1808). This resulted in misidentification of the descendants of his siblings and half-siblings. The John Champe she calls "John Junior", late in the book, married to Phebe Barnard, is in fact the Sergeant Major. Her identification of his children is correct.
^West Virginia Writers Project (1940), Smoke Hole and Its People: A Social-Ethnic Study; Charleston, West Virginia: State Department of Education; Reprinted (pp 101-132) in: Shreve, D. Bardon (2005), Sheriff from Smoke Hole (and Other Smoke Hole Stories), Fredericksburg, Virginia: The Fredericksburg Press, Inc, pp 127-128. The descendants relating this story were Mrs. William W. Shirk and Mrs. Henry J. Judy, both said to be great-granddaughters of Champe.
^Lough, Glenn D. (1969), Now and Long Ago: A History of the Marion County Area; Morgantown, West Virginia: Morgantown Printing and Binding Company, pp 507-510.
^His grave is located in a small cemetery right near the fort. It is on the same side of the road as the fort is now, about 1/4 of a mile before you reach the fort.[citation needed]
^Kranish, Michael (2010), Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War, Oxford University Press, pg 369, note 7.
Further reading
McGroarty, William Buckner 1937. "Sergeant John Champe and Certain of His Contemporaries." The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Apr., 1937), pp. 145–175.
Hall, Wilbur C 1938. "Sergeant Champe's Adventure." The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul., 1938), pp. 322–342.
Rose, Alexander 2007. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. New York: Bantam Dell.
McBurney, Christian 2016. Abductions in the American Revolution: Attempts to Kidnap George Washington, Benedict Arnold and Other Military and Civilian Leaders. Jefferson NC: McFarland.
United States of America
