Those three resounding volleys of musket fire between 11 a.m. and noon Oct. 25 will be part of a grave-marking ceremony honoring four of Washington’s Revolutionary War patriots.

The three volleys — seven muskets firing in unison during each volley— will provide a 21-gun salute to those patriots — Col. James Bonner Sr., naval Capt. John Bonner, John Gray Blount and Capt. Nathan Keais. Some of their descendants are expected to attend the ceremony.

The General George Washington Chapter of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Major Reading Blount Chapter of the North Carolina Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the North Carolina Society of the Children of the American Revolution will serve as co-hosts of the grave-marking ceremony at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Washington. The ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m., includes the installation of memorial markers at the graves of the four patriots.

During its Oct. 6 meeting, the Washington City Council gave its permission for the three volleys to be fired. That permission is needed because a city ordinance prohibits the discharge of firearms in the city. The muskets will use black powder for the three volleys.

The ceremony will feature the presentation of the colors by the color guard of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, a bugler and a bagpiper. The event will be similar to a funeral with military honors. Many of the event participants will wear replicas of uniforms worn during the American Revolution.

“The Sons of the American Revolution — this is one of their key things, recognizing anyone that was involved with the revolution. It’s an educational-type situation. People have a tendency to put things on the back burner and forget about them. This day and time, we need to recognize the people, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, that Gen. Washington worked with, what his part of it was and get more particular about a little town named Washington, North Carolina,” said Charlie Alligood with the General George Washington Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. “We were a vital asset to the Revolutionary War, and people don’t realize this.”

Because the ports of Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S.C., and Wilmington were under siege by the British, the Continental Army relied on Washington as a supply port, Alligood noted.

“Well, happen to be they got down there by Portsmouth Island, put the supplies off and we had the smaller ships — that were able to make the shoals — loaded up and brought it up to Washington. … That kept us going during the war,” Alligood said.

James Bonner Sr. (born August 1719, died 1782) was a member of the North Carolina Militia, North Carolina House of Commons and Colonial Assembly of 1769. He is considered the founder of Washington. John Bonner (born Sept. 15, 1746, died Dec. 6, 1788) served in the colonial navy. He was one of first commissioners of Washington. Blount (born Sept. 21, 1752, died Jan. 4, 1833) was the deputy paymaster and commissary for the Washington district and a member of the North Carolina House of Commons. He also was a Washington merchant who played a key role in North Carolina’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Keais (1740-1795) served with the 2^nd Regiment, North Carolina Line. He was one of the first commissioners of Washington.

The SAR, DAR and CAR are historical, educational and patriotic societies with members who are direct descendants of the patriots who earned independence of the colonists from Great Britain, according to an SAR document.