Culpeper Minute Men Chapter
Organized May 29, 1923.
Culpeper, Virginia
The name, Culpeper Minute Men Chapter, was chosen as being especially appropriate in as much as the Culpeper Minute Men were a unit of a regiment of infantry organized in Virginia in the latter part of 1775 and commanded by Patrick Henry. Their flag bore the rattlesnake emblem of the South, accompanied by its warning motto, "Don't Tread on Me", together with the stirring words, "Liberty or Death", of their illustrious commander's historic speech in the House of Burgesses of the Colony of Virginia.
The Culpeper Minute Men were as distinctive as their banner. They wore green hunting shirts with the words, "Liberty or Death", in white letters on the bosom. In their belts they carried the scalping knife and the tomahawk of the Indian warrior.
The use of the rattlesnake as an American emblem grew out of the practice of England in emptying her prisons and sending the inmates to America as colonists. Some stout-hearted patriot of the day made bold to suggest that a cargo of perfectly good rattlers be sent over to the mother country and liberated in St. James Park and other pleasure resorts, as a return compliment.