The opening to investigators of the Marquess of Bath Papers by the British Manuscripts Project has thrown new light on Bacon's Rebellion. There are several letters from Bacon to Berkeley and several from Berkeley to Bacon. They show that Berkeley went to England during the Civil War to fight for the King, that Bacon was related to Lady Berkeley, that Lady Berkeley was in England during most of the rebellion, and that she corresponded with Philip Ludwell.
The Bath Papers add to the already abundant evidence that Bacon fought partly to end misgovernment in Virginia. The evidence comes not only from Bacon's supporters but from Berkeley himself, Ludwell, and others.
Berkeley's letters explain why he did not hang Bacon when he had him in his power, why he dissolved the Long Assembly and called for a new election based on a widened franchise, why he evacuated the almost impregnable post of Jamestown. There are several revealing letters by Philip Ludwell.
Historians have long been acquainted with the county grievances collected by the King's commissioners. They are to be found in the British Public Record Office, CO5-1371, have now been transcribed by the Library of Congress and some have been published in the _Virginia Magazine_, Vols. II and III. The most detailed and probably the least prejudiced account of the rebellion is the _True Narrative of the Rise, Progress and Cessation of the Late Rebellion in Virginia_, by the commissioners. The only narrative we have of the transactions of the Assembly of June, 1676, by one of the members is Thomas Mathews' _The Beginning, Progress and Conclusion of Bacon's Rebellion_, published in C.M. Andrews' _Narratives of Insurrections_ and elsewhere. Important also are _Bacon's Proceedings_ and _Ingram's Proceedings_, attributed to Mrs. Ann Cotton. Bacon's expedition to the Roanoke river, the defeat of the Susquehannocks, and the battle on Occaneechee Island are described in a document entitled "A Description of the Fight between the English and the Indians in May, 1676," published in the _William and Mary Quarterly_, Series 1, Vol. IX, pp. 1-4. The account given by the Council is in the Bath Papers.
W.W. Hening's _Virginia Statutes at Large_ is a storehouse of information. It includes not only the laws of the Restoration period, but many official reports, among them "The Proclamation of Pardon of October 10, 1676," "Bacon's Submission", and the proceedings of some of the courts-martial. The details of the Susquehannock war in Maryland may be pieced together from the accounts by Thomas Mathews, the King's commissioners, Mrs. Cotton, and others. By the aid of an old pen-and-ink diagram of the Susquehannock fort, I have been able to locate the site, and Mrs. Alice L.L. Ferguson to uncover parts of it.