Gary Shattuck served over three decades in the Vermont law enforcement community as a supervising officer with the Vermont State Police, an Assistant Attorney General and as an Assistant United States Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. He has also served as a legal advisor to governments in Kosovo and Iraq during those latest conflicts. An alumnus of the University of Colorado and magna cum laude graduate of the Vermont Law School, Gary also holds a Masters degree in Military History (with honors), concentrating on the Revolutionary War. He is the author of two books, Artful and Designing Men: The Trials of Job Shattuck and the Regulation of 1786-1787 (Tate Publishing, 2013) and Insurrection, Corruption and Murder in Early Vermont: Life on the Wild Northern Frontier (The History Press, 2014).
Before Lexington and Concord, before there was any need for an army, and before men found themselves beholden to the dictates of military service there were the many trade, social, and sporting organizations offering them opportunities to associate together. In Philadelphia, where before the war there were no less than seventeen private fire companies engaged […]
The last, dying words of many of history’s renowned figures were often inconsistently recorded. Those identified below from people who were famous during the Revolutionary War time period certainly demonstrate that fact. While some can be relied upon for accuracy, the literature reveals that for others various additions and omissions took place over time, and […]
You have sent General Gage, who is a man of great abilities, to quell the disturbances in that country, which I am sure he never will do, unless, at the same time that you give him the sword in one hand, you give him the olive branch in the other; and I think you will […]
I, poor creature, worn out with scribbling, for my Bread and my Liberty, low in Spirits and weak in Health, must leave others to wear the laurels which I have sown; others, to eat the Bread which I have earned. John Adams to Abigail Adams June 23, 1775[1] … flour was laid upon a flat […]
When a party is formed within the State which ceases to obey the sovereign and is strong enough to make a stand against him, or when a Republic is divided into two opposite factions, and both sides take up arms, there exists a civil war. … it is perfectly clear that the established laws of […]
Co-authored with Don N. Hagist An inevitable facet of warfare is prisoners. During the American Revolution, thousands of soldiers and sailors were captured by each side and the prisoners suffered in many ways. The impact of these captures extended far beyond immediate manpower concerns, compelling each side to confront unwanted, huge logistical considerations concerning their […]
Of the many thousands of soldiers and seamen serving during the Revolutionary War, only a select few were singled out by the Continental Congress to receive its highest honors. Seventeen men had the distinction of being named, but of them, only seven received the ultimate award, a gold medal. The names of those seven are […]
There are two versions of how the plot to murder George Washington first came to light in June 1776, precisely at the moment a large British invasion fleet was descending on New York harbor. In one, as fellow soldiers restrained him, private Thomas Hickey was forced to watch as suspected poisonous peas destined for his […]
They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid. Micah 4:4 Out at Flushing Landing on Long Island in late 1769, until at least 1779 (apparently little affected by the intervening British invasion of 1776), William Prince advertised for sale “many Thousands of a nice […]
On Tuesday, October 9, 1781, at 5:00 that afternoon, as an American flag unfurled over Grand Battery 13A at Yorktown, George Washington personally set light to an eighteen-pounder announcing to Charles Cornwallis that his end was not far off. As the hurtling ball spent itself, it left behind a wake of devastation killing the British […]
