(Editor's note: This article is a very condensed version of a lecture given by Dr. McCarty.)

When I became president of the James Monroe Chapter, SAR, I felt compelled to learn at least the highlights of the life of this patriot for whom our chapter was named. Maurice A. Thorne (deceased) was the founder and impetus behind the formation of the James Monroe Chapter, and his short article in the National SAR Magazine titled "James Monroe - The Forgotten Patriot" was the nidus that inspired me to elaborate on this theme.

The title "Forgotten Patriot" is appropriate because there is not one site or monument constructed or cared for by the Federal Government in recognition of the many contributions that this patriot gave to the greatness of our republic. There was a single postage stamp issued commemorating the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1958, but our Federal Government has otherwise done nothing to show its appreciation of the great service of this fifth president. Even the Monroe House in Washington, D.C., occupied by Monroe when he simultaneously filled the offices of both the Secretary of War and Secretary of State and also his home for a period of six months during his first term as President, has only recently acquired a memorial plaque on its exterior (and that was by the present owner). This home is presently owned by the Arts Club of Washington and they have proudly kept this house in excellent condition.

How many of you know that, of our early presidents, only Monroe and George Washington served in the Continental Army during the Revolution? Further, of these presidents, only James Monroe was wounded.

Monroe wins hands down in having held more public offices than any other person in our history. He was twice a member of the Virginia General Assembly; four times the Governor of Virginia; served in the U.S. Senate and Congress; and was appointed Minister to three major European Empires (France, Great Britain, and Spain), including being Envoy Extraordinary to France for the Louisiana Purchase as well as Plenipotentiary during the French Revolution. He was delegate to the Virginia Conventions of 1788 and 1829-1830 (over which he presided) and President of the United States twice (1816-1824).

James Monroe was born April 18, 1758, to Spence and Elizabeth (Jones) Monroe in Westmoreland County, Virginia, which has the distinction of being the only county in the U.S. where two presidents were born (the first being Washington). The Monroes lived on an approximately 500 acre farm growing primarily tobacco, but they also grew corn and barley and raised cattle and hogs. A family with this size plantation would have been considered "landed gentry" but perhaps not "top drawer" society.

At first, Monroe had a home tutor named William Douglas until the age of 12. Then, from 1769 to 1773, Monroe attended school taught by Reverend Archibald Campbell at his Campbelltown Academy. For at least one of the these years, a fellow classmate was John Marshall, who was to serve as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835.

In September 1774, at age 16, Monroe entered The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. While at William & Mary, he lived in the Wren Building and started law studies under the famous George Wythe. Monroe's father died late in 1774, and his maternal uncle, Joseph Jones, subsequently paid his college expenses. This Joseph Jones was a judge and had considerable influence on Monroe especially after the death of Spence Monroe. On April 20, 1775, after hearing of the Battle of Lexington, Lord Dunmore the Governor of Virginia seized all of the gunpowder in Williamsburg to forestall a local uprising. Citizens of Williamsburg and students at the college (Monroe probably among them) protested en masse.

Later, on June 24, 1775, Monroe and 23 others entered the Governor's Palace and removed all of the arms and powder stored there. In September 1775, Monroe was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Third Virginia Regiment. On June 24, 1776, he was commission a First Lieutenant, whereupon he dropped out of college to devote his full energies to the cause of the Revolution.

In August 1776, Monroe left Virginia with his regiment to join General George Washington in New York and fought in the Battle of Harlem Heights (September 16) and the Battle of White Plains (October 28). He was among the first of Washington's troops to cross the ice-choked Delaware River at Trenton (December 25) to surprise the Hessians, which was the first real victory for the Continental forces.

Here is an interesting tidbit to remember: most have seen the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware, painted in 1851 by a famous German artist named Emanuel Leutze. This painting has detractors who scoff at the thought of Washington standing up in a boat. However, it has been determined subsequently that the boats used had a fifteen foot beam so that Washington would have been safe in standing. Secondly, Monroe is depicted as the soldier holding the flag when in fact Monroe had crossed the Delaware the night before with a scouting party.

Subsequently, on December 26, at the Battle of Trenton, Monroe was severely wounded by enemy fire which severed an artery in his shoulder. He carried that musket ball in his left shoulder for the rest of his life.

After this battle, Monroe was promoted to Captain by Washington. In September 1777, after a slow recovery from his wound, he fought at Brandywine Creek where the Marquis de Lafayette was wounded. Monroe ministered to him, and this action initiated a lifelong friendship between the two. In November, Monroe was made the official aide-de-camp to Major General [William Alexander] Lord Stirling and promoted to Major. In the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, he first acted as a scout and then became Stirling's adjutant general.

By May 1779, at the age of 21, Monroe was recommended by Washington for a military command, and he was appointed a Lieutenant Colonel. However, because Virginia's finances were exhausted, and the additional militia could not be raised, in June 1780, he was appointed military commissioner from Virginia to the Southern Army (to establish communications between the Virginia Governor's Council and Southern troops). Monroe resigned in December 1780 to resume his legal studies under the direction of Thomas Jefferson who was Governor of Virginia.

His uncle, Judge Joseph Jones, set him up in Fredericksburg while Monroe was pursing his law studies; during this time, he resided at his late mother's farm known as Glebe of Hanover in King George County.

In 1782, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.

During Monroe's term as delegate to the Continental Congress, he roomed with Thomas Jefferson in Annapolis. It was here that Monroe learned French from Jefferson's French-born cook name Partout.

In 1783, he was elected to the Fourth Congress of the Confederation, and the Federal Government and Congress moved to New York City. During his visits to New York City as a Congressman, he fell in love with Elizabeth Kortright. Her father, Captain Lawrence Kortright, had been a staunch Loyalist to the British and as a merchant and real estate investor had been impoverished by the Revolution. Monroe married Elizabeth on February 16, 1786, and the couple lived with the Kortright family.

In October 1786, when Monroe's term in Congress ended, the Monroes moved to Fredericksburg where they lived in a building owned by his uncle, Judge Joseph Jones, and Monroe continued his law practice. The building containing his law office still stands today and currently serves as a museum and library dedicated to the collection of Monroe artifacts. It is owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia and administered by Mary Washington College. The Monroe home at 301 Caroline Street is in private hands.

It was here that three children were born to them: (1) Eliza Kortright, 1786 (2) a son (1799 - died 1801), and (3) Maria Hester (1803).

About this time, in a statement to show his regard concerning Monroe:, Jefferson wrote to James Madison concerning Monroe: "Turn his soul wrong side outwards and there is not a speck on it." I think that this reads better this way.

In 1787, Monroe again won a seat in the Virginia Assembly, and in 1788, he served in the convention called by Virginia to ratify the U.S. Constitution. After the ratification in 1789, Monroe traded a portion of his Kentucky land awarded for his Revolutionary service for 800 acres in Albermarle County and built Monroe Hill; this was referred to as the "lower" plantation (now part of the University of Virginia).

In 1790, the Virginia legislature elected him to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Senate; at this time the seat of the government moved from New York City to Philadelphia. When Congress was in session, the Monroes first lived with Elizabeth's uncle (Charles Willing) but then bought a modest home on Arch Street.

In 1793, Monroe purchased 3,500 acres closer to Jefferson's Monticello, which he called his "upper" plantation or Highland.

Monroe regarded Jefferson as a personal hero and enjoyed being in his company. Jefferson himself selected the Monroe house site which he could see from Monticello, and besides sending gardeners from Monticello to start the orchards, he personally supervised the construction when Monroe was absent from the country on diplomatic assignments.

When the Monroes moved to Highland, and - the "and" should be omitted, their first guests were James and Dolley Madison. They had planned to eventually retire to Highland, but poor finances and poor health in 1826 forced the sale of their "cabin castle," which later became a retreat from political pressures in Richmond and later Washington.

Not content with Highland, in 1794 he purchased 1,797 acres on Goose Creek in Loudon County from Charles Carter of Cleve in partnership with his uncle Jones. This later retirement home was built by slaves and indentured German servants during the period of 1821-1825 from a design by Jefferson which Monroe named Oak Hill; Monroe received sole title in 1805 when his benefactor died.

Also in 1794, as he ended his second term as a U.S. Senator, George Washington appointed Monroe as Minister Plenipotentiary to France. The French had their own revolution in 1789 and demanded that a "republican" be sent to represent the U.S. Among Monroe's acts (make this achievements) was securing the release of Thomas Paine from imprisonment. He also arranged for the release of the Marquis de Lafayette and his wife from La Force. Madame Lafayette, her mother, and her grandmother had been imprisoned and were awaiting the guillotine. Unfortunately, Monroe was not successful in the release, and they were beheaded, but he did arrange the release of all imprisoned Americans during "the reign of terror."

Upon his return to the U.S. in 1799, Monroe was elected Governor of Virginia.

After Jefferson became President in 1801, however, he appointed Monroe as a Minister to France to aid Robert Livingston in perhaps buying New Orleans and acquiring the right of free navigation on the Mississippi River. It turned out that it was Monroe who signed with Livingston for the Louisiana Purchase for the equivalent of 15 million dollars. In 1803, he was sent as Minister to England in order to secure a shipping treaty and then sent to Spain to assist Charles Pinckney in acquiring West Florida; in this, the two men were unsuccessful.

In 1808, reluctantly, he accepted the nomination for presidency by the Republican Party and lost to James Madison. During this time, he busied himself with getting his plantation at Highland in working condition. In 1810, he was offered the Governorship of Louisiana, but he refused, wanting an elective office or the post of Secretary of State. In 1811, he became the Governor of Virginia a second time and finally was offered the position of Secretary of State by James Madison, which prompted his move and the purchase of a home in northwest Washington.

In 1812, Congress declared war against Great Britain, and because of the ineptitude of the Secretary of War, Monroe was also appointed to that post temporarily. In 1814, because of the British invasion, Monroe left Washington to join the Maryland militia, but this militia was forced to retreat, and the British burned Washington, including the President's Mansion (later to be known as the White House).

On December 4, 1816, Monroe was elected fifth President of the United States. As noted previously, because of the burning of the "President's House," he continued to reside at his home in Washington where he had resided as Secretary of State until September 1817. Six states were admitted to the union during Monroe's two terms as President; Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820) and Missouri (1820). The era of the eight years of Monroe's presidency are known as "the era of good feeling."

Monroe died in New York City at the home of the Gouverneurs on the July 4, 1831. This was exactly five years later than the date of the deaths of former presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1826.

Dr. William M. McCarty is a retired ophthalmologist who attended Princeton, graduated from Harvard Medical School and practiced in Troy, NY for nearly fifty years. He retired to his roots in Virginia where he now indulges in genealogy and primarily Virginia history. After finishing The McCartys of the Northern Neck in 2005, he is now working on a book Hannah ! the story of Hannah (Lee) Corbin the elder sister of the five intrepid Lee brothers who played such a prominent role in the American Revolution. Being President of the James Monroe Chapter VASSAR led to research on James Monroe himself and this article.