Swainsboro Exchange Club rededicates the Freedom Shrine

On Tuesday, September 3, Members of the Swainsboro Exchange Club gathered at the Emanuel County Courthouse lobby area for the purpose of rededicating the Exchange Club’s Freedom Shrine located there. This date was selected in order to commemorate and celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Paris which ended all hostilities in the American Revolutionary War, thereby securing our liberty from Great Britian.

Gary Mason, the acting President of the Exchange Club, made opening remarks, and introduced Mike Lisenby as the speaker at the ceremony.

Lisenby, a member of the Exchange Club, served to administer the rededication, stating that the Freedom Shrine is an assemblage of about 30 documents that pertain to our freedoms as citizens of the United States. The documents are laminated on wooden frames for presentation in the Shrine. He noted that the Exchange Club has placed Freedom Shrines in many locations in Swainsboro, including public schools, universities, and court rooms.

In his talk, he reviewed The Declaration of Independence published in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776; The United States Constitution signed on September 17, 1787 and resulting in the First United States Congress meeting in 1789 in conjunction with President George Washington; and, The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, ratified by the states in 1791.

After that, he turned to two other documents: The Articles of Confederation, and the Treaty of Paris. He mentioned that many historians point to the fact that the Articles of Confederation, the document that allowed for a political way to prosecute the Revolutionary War, were held by many to facilitate a successful end to the war. By way of example, he mentioned that the Second Continental Congress was instrumental in facilitating the efforts of George Washington as Commander in Chief, and the Continental Army. He also pointed out that the Revolutionary War had begun in 1775 and was not over until the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

At this point, Lisenby mentioned two men instrumental in the successful conclusion of the war. These men were Henry Laurens, a founding father, and his son, John Laurens, a war hero.

Lisenby provided a brief portrayal of Henry Laurens by reviewing these points:

President of Second Continental Congress in 1777, when the Articles of Confederation were published; signer of Articles of Confederation; minister to The Netherlands, securing necessary funds and loans to prosecute the war; prisoner of war captured by the British and held in the Tower of London, until 1781; and signer of the Treaty of Paris ending all hostilities.

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For context to Henry Laurens imprisonment, he emphasized that he, himself, had been to the Tower of London, and seen its dungeons, torture chambers, and execution sites. He noted that King George III, the ruling monarch over Great Britian, had issued a death warrant for anyone committing treason, and that Henry Laurens was accused of treason.

Lisenby then spoke about John Laurens by reviewing these points:

Aide De Camp to George Washington, the Commander in Chief; soldier fighting in the front line in three major battled in 1777 and 1778 [known for his bravery and gallantry]; attempted liberator of Savannah, commanding a light infantry regiment; soldier fighting in Charleston during the city’s siege; prisoner of war in May of 1780 when Charleston fell; freed prisoner of war exchanged for British Officer in November of 1780; Minister to France in 1780 [with Benjamin Franklin, convinced Louis XVI to provide access to French Fleet which secured Chesapeake Bay, integral to winning the Battle of Yorktown]; Lieutenant Colonel in leading a division against a fortified British position in The Battle of Yorktown; as charged by George Washington, drafter of terms of surrender to be signed by the British Commander, Cornwallis [the terms that John Laurens drafted included the exchange of Cornwallis for his father, still imprisoned in the Tower of London]; Lieutenant Colonel fighting under Nathaniel Greene in South Carolina; and, lastly, a casualty of war losing his life on August 27,1782, when, in a skirmish, he was shot from his saddle and killed, as one of the last casualties of The Revolutionary War.

For context for the importance of the French Fleet at Yorktown, Lisenby pointed out that, in the absence of the French Fleet, Cornwallis and his army likely would have been able to evacuate and save his army, because the British Fleet, a sizeable force, would have had access to Chesapeake Bay and its ports.

For context to the importance of the Battle of Yorktown, he emphasized that this was a decisive victory. He noted that the Americans lost 389 casualties, and that British had about 8,500 casualties, including 7,400 missing and captured. This effectively ended any chance that the Americans would not gain independence. But, Cornwallis, even though he surrendered his army, did not have authority to end the war. That required The Treaty of Paris in 1783.

At this point, Lisenby turned back to Henry Laurens, the Founding Father and the father of John Laurens. He pointed out that Henry Laurens went back to Paris, France, on almost the exact anniversary of his son’s death in combat, in order to sign the Treaty of Paris. John Laurens had died on August 27, 1782, and the Treaty was signed on September 3, 1783. Of course, if one remembers back to the start of this article, The Swainsboro Exchange Club meeting rededicating The Freedom Shrine was held on September 3, 2024.

To end the talk, Lisenby reminded the club members that, in last year’s Freedom Shrine Rededication at East Georgia State College, Dr. David Sheckler, the President of the College, encouraged the audience to go to Washington, D.C. to see the originals of the documents in the Freedom Shrine. In referencing this, Lisenby noted that the Capitol Rotunda in Washington D.C houses a painting of Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown, and that the painting is 12 feet by 8 feet. He said that the painting was done by John Trumbull, himself a revolutionary war fighter.

In closing, The Swainsboro Exchange Club hopes that you see and appreciate these Freedom Shrines, and that this serves to demonstrate the underlying importance to our freedom and independence.