Rebuffed in his attempt to command the South Carolina militia, newly commissioned General James Williams returned to North Carolina with his small Regiment. While there, he requested permission to recruit men for his regiment and a return to the south. On September 8, Governor Nash of North Carolina provided him with written orders to recruit […]
The city you probably never thought about for its role in the Revolution had a tremendously important role in the conflict. Boston, Philadelphia, Newport, and New York are well known for their Revolutionary War history. The smaller southern towns of Williamsburg, Charleston, and Savannah are also recognized for their Revolutionary significance. Yet one city stands […]
On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain. American political and military leaders planned to attack the British provinces of Upper and Lower Canada in order to force Britain to redress grievances concerning free trade and maritime rights. Thirty-seven years earlier, in September 1775, the Continental Congress had authorized General Richard […]
Millions of people have become entranced by the new FOX show, Sleepy Hollow. It has mystery, intrigue, and, above all else, a loveable cast of characters. Turning Washington Irving’s tale of Ichabod Crane into a woven narrative of apocalypticism and American History is downright brilliant (don’t think we missed the little jab at this with […]
An ardent Patriot from the early days of the American Revolution, Colonel James Williams commanded the Little River Regiment of the South Carolina militia. His letters home indicate a man not only zealous for the cause but also attentive to his business and his religion. After all, “to fear God is the first and great […]
Myth: Toward evening on December 16, 1773, Francis Rotch, beleaguered owner of one of the tea-laden ships in the Boston Harbor, announced to thousands of people assembled at Old South Meeting House that Governor Hutchinson remained firm and would not allow his vessel to return to Britain with its cargo still on board. At that […]
In popular media, the soldiers of the Revolution and the members of the Continental Congress generally take center stage. It’s actually not fair; John Adams gets a full length series on HBO and yet the workings of local government during the most trying time in our history barely make a footnote. In point of fact, […]
Even as late as the spring of 1783, there was still a war on. A substantial number of British troops were in New York City and the surrounding area, and Continental troops continued to hem them in. But peace and disarmament were near at hand. Among the soldiers with peace on his mind was a […]
The failure of the rebellious colonists to capture the fortress of Quebec during their invasion of Canada in 1775 had many causes; ironically, a major cause was the colonial force’s victory at St. John’s (the original French, and present, name is Fort Saint Jean). Guy Carleton, the British governor of Canada, had been watching the […]
In 1781, British forces operating in Canada set their eyes on kidnapping prominent Americans in Vermont and upstate New York. These patriot leaders had stirred up opposition to efforts to draw Vermont into British Canada. At the time, General Frederick Haldimand, the Governor of the Province of Quebec (which at that time included what is […]
Between his voyages to England and France, Benjamin Franklin logged more transatlantic cruises than any other founder. In fact, in his lifetime, he took a total of eight cruises[i]. On his final 1785 cruise sailing from France to Philadelphia, Ben continued a letter he had started in 1784 in Paris to his friend Julien-David LeRoy. […]
Dear Mr. History: What happened with the famous mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line that occurred January, 1781? Did the soldiers have legitimate grievances? What does such a mutiny say about the professionalism of the Continental Army? Sincerely, Miffed About Mutinies Dear Miffed: When the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line mutinied most of them had not […]
Myth: “Alerted by signal lanterns, express riders Paul Revere and William Dawes eluded British patrols and spurred their horses toward Lexington along separate routes to warn Hancock and Adams.” – Created Equal: A History of the United States, a 2009 college textbook[1] “When Revere and fellow patriot William Dawes saw two lights shine, they set […]
Have you ever tried to imagine what it would have been like to witness an important historical event? If so, the Boston Tea Party Annual Reenactment is a must-attend event. On Monday December 16, 2013, I attended the 240th Anniversary Boston Tea Party Annual Reenactment presented by the Old South Meeting House and the Boston […]
In my recent book, Kidnapping the Enemy: The Special Operations to Capture Generals Charles Lee and Richard Prescott (Westholme Publishing, 2013), I focus on two of the outstanding kidnappings of the Revolutionary War. The first was the stunning capture of Major General Charles Lee, second-in-command of the Continental army, by Lieutenant Colonel William Harcourt and […]
Although half the population was female, writings by women make up only a small portion of the available literature on the American Revolution. There are, nonetheless, quite a number of published tracts to inform and entertain the researcher seeking a woman’s perspective on the events of the era. This list presents only a few, in […]
It was January 1776. In a bold plan hatched in London to end this rebellion, General Sir Henry Clinton was to sail from New York with 2,000 British regulars to the Cape Fear coastline of North Carolina. Meeting him in Brunswick, North Carolina with more troops would be naval commander Commodore Sir Peter Parker and […]
You may think that newspapers are only good for news, but advertising is a critical part of their content. Not only does advertising bring in substantial revenue for the publisher, it’s the reason why many people purchase the paper – think about those coupons, classifieds and supplements. For historians, advertising is also an essential part […]
Until the early decades of the 20th century saw wide-spread construction of roads in North America, water provided ready-made highways. Lake Champlain formed 125 miles of one such 350-mile-long artery through the wilderness that lay between the Atlantic Ocean at New York City and the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. In the spring of 1776, […]
By 1773, Creek Indians in Georgia had run up debts with traders far larger than any amount they could pay. The colony pressed the issue on behalf of its traders and worked out a land deal whereby the Creeks made a large tract of land west of Augusta available for settlement. In return, the colony […]
