Derden speaks to Exchange Club

The Swainsboro Exchange Club held their weekly meeting, Tuesday September 6, 2022, at the Rustic Grille at 12:30 with President David Davis presiding. He called on Exchange Club member Wilder Smith, Jr. to introduce Dr. John Derden who presented his program on the American Revolution.

Compatriot John Derden is a member of the Wiregrass Chapter, Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution. Compatriot John is fresh from presenting his program to the more than 600 attendees of the 132nd Congress, National Society Sons of the American Revolution in Savannah, GA on July 13, 2022. John's title of his presentation was: "It all Started in a Bar: Revolutionary Savannah". He focused on the role and significance of the port city in the American Revolution.

He emphasized that Savannah's strategic importance to both sides during the war made the town a focal point of several campaigns and that the failed attempt by the combined French and American forces to retake Savannah in October 1779 led to what has been described as "the bloodiest hour of the American Revolution.