October was a month of many amazing milestones for us. We surpassed 250,000 readers, 1000 comments and 200 articles. We also sent our first collector’s hardcover edition to the printer (read the official press announcement). If you’ve enjoyed the 100% free daily content we’ve been providing since January, please show your support by buying a […]
“Congress Does Not Trust Me. I Cannot Continue Thus.” These are two of the most important sentences George Washington ever spoke. Almost instantly they destroyed a plot aimed at ruining his reputation and forcing him into humiliated retirement. At least as important, the words marked the big Virginian’s emergence as a political leader with talents […]
Edward Bancroft habitually worked late into the evenings on Tuesday. This evening he was finishing a letter to his new mistress and arranging a liaison. Finishing his letter, he rolled it up as was his custom and slid it into his coat pocket. Later that evening after a short carriage ride, he entered the Tuileries […]
When the American colonists entered into a shooting war with the British Empire over their grievances, they were not prepared in many ways. They lacked the means to produce the materials of war such as gunpowder, arms, and artillery, as well as a currency or any form of bullion or financial credit. If they were […]
In September 1776[1] there occurred an incident of long distance marksmanship, or luck, that deserves a close look. The eyewitness, Private Joseph Plumb Martin[2] of the Continental Army, describes the scene. Martin was on the east shore of Manhattan Island marching north with the East River on his right. He wrote that: “…here I saw […]
Recently, I offered my choices for the ten most important Continental Army generals. Not the best or the worst, but the most important. But attempting to suggest the ten least important would likely be an exercise in futility, as well as somewhat disparaging of those patriotic men who had an actual, but minimal, impact on […]
For as long as there have been dispatches from the front, there have been armchair generals attempting to call the shots from afar. Some months after the battle of Bunker Hill, Britons received news of another British defeat at Great Bridge, Virginia on 9 December 1775. Although much smaller than the action outside Boston, Great […]
We’ve all had to “eat humble pie” at one time or another, a saying that hearkens back to the medieval period, when the term meant that one was eating a dish made with the scrap meat from a successful hunt or slaughter[i]. Where the master of the house might get a fine roast, the servants […]
Dear Readers: For this month’s Mr. History, I offer a recent e-mail exchange between a friend and me. Maybe this is why not a lot of friends send me e-mails. From: Tina O’Rourke To: Michael “Mr. History” Schellhammer Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 9:12 AM Subject: RE: Boston Massacre Hi Mike. I recently took the […]
The famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 is permanently etched in many minds. It graces the covers of countless books and magazines often with great attention paid to the subsequent Battle of Trenton. But just how did Washington’s army cross the river? The collector’s print edition of Journal […]
Icons of the American Revolution are ubiquitous in American culture. They grace our currency, sell Hondas in television ads, teach lessons via children’s cartoons, climb the history bestseller lists, and dot our landscape on markers and memorials. This isn’t surprising. The Revolution is our first real “story” as an independent nation, distinct from native and […]
Reading Thomas Fleming’s fascinating article on “Celts in the American Revolution,” one is struck by the extent to which Scotland and the Scots informed and supported American independence. From the presence of Scots in congress, to the influence of common sense moral philosophy (Paine’s phrase was not coincidental), to the still-debated influence of the 1320 […]
British Lt. Gen. Alexander Leslie, 50, was burned out, ill, missed his daughter, and wanted to go home. He had arrived in South Carolina in late 1781 to command the Southern colonies. Leslie needed to ensure the security of the few enclaves the British still controlled. He had to feed not just his own army, […]
If Ray Raphael had a personal mission statement, it would likely be three sentences from a recent profile story in Reed magazine: Ray wants to rescue history from mythology. He wants our understanding of revolutionary America to be based on evidence, not ideological convenience. And he won’t stop until he gets it right. I’ve had […]
Groundbreaking New Book About American Revolution Debunks Myths, Addresses Unanswered Questions in Remarkable Style New “Edutaining” History Book Loaded with Fascinating Discoveries and Expert Analysis of American Revolution. The Revolutionary War is Exceptionally Presented in this Compilation of 60 Essays by 20 Historians. Okay, best ever might be a stretch, but we are thrilled to […]
Thursday, September 26, 2013, represented the 233rd anniversary of the Battle of Charlotte, a small but important skirmish between local Carolina militia and the full might of Lord Cornwallis’s British army. In the late summer of 1780, local militia received word that Cornwallis’s army was on the march from Camden, South Carolina towards Charlotte. Militia […]
In mid May 1775, just weeks after the bloody Battle of April Nineteenth had sparked the start of the American Revolution, the perhaps first naval skirmish of the Revolution was waged. I am not referring to the Battle of Chelsea Creek near Boston on May 27-28, 1775. True, British warships were involved at Chelsea Creek, […]
At what point during the American Revolution is it most acceptable to classify colonists as either Patriots or Loyalists? 1776. Before this, many people who were indisputably Patriots (John Dickinson, James Wilson) were also loyal; in fact, most still professed loyalty. They were being forced to make choices in 1773, 1774, 1775—but after July […]
Could the new nation have thrived economically if slavery had been abolished when the colonies won independence? Probably would have thrived even more. Tobacco economy was bust by the 1770s, Virginia and Maryland had too many slaves, freeing them would have pushed Virginians into other economic fields, led more into the Ohio territory (where […]
John Paul Jones. A good ship captain and tenacious fighter but an abysmally bad squadron commander and a tireless self-promoter and schemer, who was deservedly disliked by subordinates and peers and who certainly does not warrant the title “Father of the United States Navy.” –Dennis M. Conrad Tough question—most of the characters are forgotten, […]
While Nathanael Greene is getting greater recognition, I believe his contributions are still undervalued because the American cause in the South was on “life support” when he assumed command in 1780 and in less than a year and with virtually no outside material or manpower support, he redeemed it. –Dennis M. Conrad All are […]
