Patient Hero: John Henry and the Earliest American Account of Posttraumatic Stress
byIn 1871, Jacob Mendes Da Costa published a study of a condition he termed “Irritable Heart” that described a series of symptoms observed among…
The 3rd New Jersey Regiment’s Ticonderoga Vendetta
byLt. Col. Anthony Walton White of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment had a very rocky 1776. His service was peppered with several episodes more…
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A Tale of Three Gunboats: Lake Champlain’s Revolutionary War Heritage
byBook Review: A Tale of Three Gunboats: Lake Champlain’s Revolutionary War Heritage by Philip Lundeberg, Arthur Cohn, Jennifer Jones, et al. (Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and the…
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Terror on the Frontier: The Grim Ordeal of Delilah Corbly
byMore often than not, the horrific realities of warfare are shielded by bland accounts and cold statistics. When it comes to the Revolutionary War,…
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Thomas Jefferson, the American Revolution, and the Creation of a Republican World
byIn popular understandings of the three Atlantic Revolutions of late eighteenth century, the American Revolution (1765-1783) is often regarded as the least radical and…
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The French Bread Connection
byIt was the letter that forced Washington to give up his dream of recapturing New York. Gen. Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau,…
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A Fresh Look at Major Patrick Ferguson
byIn the prior year there have been several articles in the Journal of the American Revolution reappraising certain participants involved with the southern campaign….
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Fire and Desolation: The Revolutionary War’s 1778 Campaign as Waged from Quebec and Niagara Against the American Frontiers
byBook Review: Fire and Desolation: The Revolutionary War’s 1778 Campaign as Waged from Quebec and Niagara Against the American Frontiers by Gavin K. Watt…
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Unfriendly to America? The Two Sides of Jacob Rogers
byJacob Rogers was scared. So scared, in fact, that he—a Loyalist and former lieutenant in the Royal Navy—traveled twelve miles to the Continental Army…
Tested Loyalties and Sense of Obligation: Two Maine Men and the American Revolution
byWhat do an American Revolution prisoner of war accused of being a spy, a first born scion of an established wealthy New England family,…
America’s First Black Ops
byPierre-Augustin de Caron, better known by his stage name, Beaumarchais, was a French playwright, financier, and confidant of King Louis XVI. In the spring…
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Strong Ground: Mount Independence and the American Revolution
byBook Review: Strong Ground: Mount Independence and the American Revolution by Donald H. Wickman and The Mount Independence Coalition (The Mount Independence Coalition, 2017) [BUY NOW]…
Top Articles of August 2017
byWe’re back! After celebrating our 1000th article and taking a summer break, we’re back in the saddle again with a healthy backlog of new…
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LaFayette, the American Experience
byI had the opportunity to visit the grave of the Revolutionary War hero the Marquise de LaFayette recently. As the American colonists were seeking…
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Did Benedict Arnold’s fleet plunder an American settlement?
byAs the sun set, Saturday, August 24, 1776, three American schooners, a sloop-of-war, and six gondolas sailed north from Crown Point toward the widest…
Casimir Pulaski’s Difficulties in Recruiting his Legion
byOn March 14, 1778, Gen. George Washington sent the following recommendation to Congress concerning Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski, who on February 28 had resigned…
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Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence
byBook Review: Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence by Justin du Rivage (Yale University Press, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] The…
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Sergeant Simon Giffin and his journal of the Revolution
byIn the early morning of May 30, 1777, my distant grandfather Sgt. Simon Giffin of Wethersfield, Connecticut left his home and followed the dirt…
Latest Reviews
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A Tale of Three Gunboats: Lake Champlain’s Revolutionary War Heritage
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Fire and Desolation: The Revolutionary War’s 1778 Campaign as Waged from Quebec and Niagara Against the American Frontiers
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Strong Ground: Mount Independence and the American Revolution
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Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence
Featured Articles
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The funniest thing?
byWhat’s the funniest thing you’ve come across in researching this period? In Paris, while negotiating the treaty with France, Ben Franklin stopped for…
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How do you define “Founding Fathers”?
byHow do you define “Founding Fathers”? You can define it either broadly or narrowly. By consensus, most historians limit the narrow definition to six….
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Which side benefited the most from the Native Americans?
byWhich side do you think benefited the most from the Native American involvement in the war? Why? The British benefited the most, from one…
Hamilton: An American Musical
byReview of the Broadway musical Hamilton, now playing at the Richard Rodgers Theater on 46th Street in New York City. Let me confess at…
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George Mason: Author of Rights
byIn the spring of 1776, the Continental Congress recommended that each colony create a new government “under the authority of the people” [for] “the…
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9 Questions with Rick Atkinson
byLearning that one of the most acclaimed military writers of our time has turned his narrative expertise towards the American Revolution is exciting news…
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Fever
byThroughout the American Revolution, opposing armies fought a common enemy. Primary documents on both sides are full of complaints, descriptions and responses to the…
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The American Vicars of Bray
byLoyalists, those Americans who openly supported the British Government during the American Revolution, have been largely assumed to have had unchanging allegiance during the…
America's Most Important History!
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Continental Army Major Generals: The Best Biographies
byGeorge Washington biographies abound and the number continues to grow with at least fifteen new memoirs published in 2017. In fact, historian and Washington…
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Evolution of a Duel
byOn September 25, 1777, the day before British Gen. William Howe’s army triumphantly marched into the newly designated American capital of Philadelphia,[1] two of…
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The Tireless Pension Pursuit of Bristol Budd Sampson
byOn an October day in 1820, a fourteen-year-old African American boy trudged along a rural lane near the town of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Two hundred…
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Celebrating 1,000 Articles (with a Holiday)
byThere are a lot of big numbers that demonstrate our exciting growth since publishing our first article in 2013. Four hardcover book series books published (and one…
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Bite the Bullet: An Impressive Collection from the Mohawk Valley Campaign
byI recently attended the Third Annual Conference of the American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference in Fort Plain, New York where I met an eighty-seven-year-old…
Reamstown Provides: A Pennsylvania Town’s Contribution to Valley Forge
byIn a cemetery behind the Salem United Church of Christ, in Reamstown, Lancaster County, a boulder stands: This grinding bowl from East Cocalico is…
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Cornwallis and the autumn campaign of 1780 ― His advance from Camden to Charlotte
byAs events would prove, the autumn campaign was a very risky venture indeed, yet despite the operational difficulties attending it Cornwallis saw no option…
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Contributor Close-up: Joshua Shepherd
byAbout Joshua Shepherd Joshua Shepherd, a sculptor and freelance writer, has created over 20 public monuments. His articles, with a special focus on Revolutionary…
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Dunmore’s War: The Last Colonial Conflict of America’s Colonial Era
byBook review: Dunmore’s War: The Last Colonial Conflict of America’s Colonial Era by Glenn Williams (Westholme, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] In 1763, King…
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Offering of the Ladies: Esther Reed’s Sentiments, Washington’s Objections
byWashington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Franklin and, to a much greater extent, lesser notables such as Reed, Rush, Morris and dozens more profoundly understood what…
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King George III’s Twitter War
byIn 1775 London was the largest, most prosperous and economically important city in the world. [1] Though it was Britain’s capital, politically and economically…