Thanks to everyone for making July a spectacular month at Journal of the American Revolution. We welcomed 125,000 readers and four new writers: T. J. Johnson, Michael Tuosto, Jason R. Wickersty and Steven Park. We also tweaked our logo to add a little more pizazz. Looking forward, the pipeline is filled with an impressive range of articles. […]
About Michael Cecere Michael Cecere teaches U.S. History at Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County, Virginia and at Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge, Virginia. He was recognized by the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution as their 2005 Outstanding Teacher of the Year, is a former president of the […]
Book Review: General Washington’s Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War by Richard F. Welch. Jefferson (McFarland & Company, 2014). While most historians agree that American victory in the Revolutionary War would not have been possible without George Washington’s military leadership, it is less frequently noted that Washington could not have exercised effective command without […]
The Traditional Narrative of the Gaspee Affair Patriot fervor seemed to have cooled in the months and years following the Boston Massacre in 1770. All of the taxes of the 1760s had been repealed, save on tea, and the famous Boston Tea Party was still more than one year off. The Admiralty had purchased several […]
No, I have not lost my mind. Of course, the Americans won their freedom from British rule. However, what started in 1775, as an American rebellion against British rule in the thirteen colonies evolved into a far-reaching global war among world’s most powerful nations. Fighting between Britain and American allies including France, Spain and The […]
About Thomas Verenna Thomas Verenna is a member of the Valley Forge Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, an Associate Board Member of the Moore Township Historical Commission, and a History student at Columbia College, MO. He is an alumnus of Valley Forge Military Academy—about five miles away from the site of 1777-1778 encampment—which he […]
The British defeat at Yorktown in October 1781 did little to convince those fighting that peace was near. Gen. George Washington pleaded with his French naval ally, Admiral de Grasse, for a campaign against other British strongholds, perhaps in the Carolinas. When Grasse, instead, returned to the Caribbean, Washington began planning for his 1782 campaign […]
Almost every student of the Revolutionary War has heard of Deborah Sampson, the Massachusetts woman who disguised herself as a man and served for over a year as a Continental soldier.[1] As fascinating as her case is, it was exceedingly unusual; although some historians have attempted to prove that many women served in the ranks […]
Before a single British soldier set foot on New Jersey soil, Deputy Adjutant-General of the British Army in North America Stephen Kemble was concerned for his native colony. “Shudder for Jersey,” he confided in his journal on November 7, 1776, “the Army being thought to move there Shortly.”[1] Once the invasion and occupation of the […]
On June 12, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to prepare a plan of confederation for the young colonies. The articles directed the states to supply whatever requisitions Congress requested. Article VIII stated that expenses “Shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states, in proportion to […]
Book Review: Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It by John Ferling (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2015) Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It is John Ferling’s most concise analysis of the American Revolutionary War. In many ways it feels like his final attempt to describe the most important […]
In a letter to Patrick Henry recounting the events of the Battle of Monmouth, George Washington included information about losses on both sides and the death of a young Virginia officer: “…Capt. Fauntleroy of the 5th was unfortunately killed by a random Cannon Ball.”[1] What was the connection between the commander in chief and the […]
Book Review: Stark: The Life and Wars of John Stark, French and Indian War Ranger, Revolutionary War General by Richard Polhemus and John Polhemus (Black Dome Press, 2014). 2015 marks the 240th anniversary of the beginning of American Revolution. With the passage of time, many of the seminal figures that fought in those epic battles […]
There is a tendency today to lump the Founding Fathers together as though somehow they thought alike, acted in unison and actually got along with each other while leading the Revolutionary Cause and founding a new nation. Now that America’s founding is well over two hundred years old, distance brings clarity in understanding the period, […]
I first encountered Patrick Henry in fifth grade. He was the patriot of “Give me liberty, or give me death!” fame—not to be confused with that other “H” patriot, Nathan Hale, who was disappointed because he had only one life to give for his country. More than half a century later, students are still asked […]
About Thomas Fleming: Thomas Fleming is one of the most distinguished and productive historians and novelists of our time. He has written twenty nonfiction books that have won prizes and praise from critics and fellow historians, many with a special focus on the American Revolution. His twenty-three novels, many of them bestsellers, explore the lives […]
The winter of 1774-75 had been difficult for the colonists nestled near the falls of the Machias River on the far eastern edge of Massachusetts (present day Maine). First settled in 1763, the small village of Machias, just 30 miles from the border of Canada, was a lonely outpost on the rocky coast. Heavily dependent […]
The next time you’re in a trivia contest and the question comes up, “What was the last battle of the American Revolutionary War?” the judges will probably be looking for the predictable answer of “Yorktown.”[1] That’s the neat and tidy answer, but it’s not true. After the defeat at Yorktown, King George III brushed it […]
On September 27, 1779, John Adams was appointed “Minister Plenipotentiary for negotiating a Treaty of Peace and a Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain.” On November 13, he set sail from Boston; on February 9, he arrived in Paris,1 and on February 11 was formally presented to the French Foreign Minister, the Comte de Vergennes. […]
On September 11, 1780, a detachment of forty-one Northampton County, Pennsylvania, militiamen was surprised by a force consisting of thirty Seneca warriors and Tories. When the fighting was over, fifteen American patriots lay dead on the ground.”[1] “As the summer of 1780 began to wane, a detachment of forty-one of the veteran Van Etten’s Company […]
The March 18, 1777 Pennsylvania Packet (Philadelphia) published an essay by “S.” that classified five political characters of Americans. The article was republished in the April 23 Connecticut Journal (New Haven) and is transcribed below: THE people of America with respect to their political characters may be divided into the five following classes. – 1. […]
When a soldier’s term of service was complete, he was discharged. Besides having arrears of pay and other obligations resolved, he was given a document called, aptly enough, a discharge. This piece of paper was vitally important for the soldier, for it proved that he had departed the army legally and was not a deserter. […]
So you’ve been elected Captain of the militia company of your small Massachusetts town in 1774, and now you’ve got to train your men. Where do you begin? Probably by sending to a Boston bookseller (maybe Henry Knox) for a copy of a militia training manual. Several were published in England during the French & […]
