Top Articles of October 2016
byJAR had another busy few weeks welcoming three new writers — Gregory J. W. Urwin, Alex Colvin, C. E. Pippenger —and making great progress on our…
October, 2016
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Drunk and Disorderly: The Dreadful Havoc of Spirituous Liquors
byDrink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.[1] Valley Forge. For most Americans, the very name of the Pennsylvania…
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Hector Maclean: The Writings of a Loyalist-Era Military Settler in Nova Scotia
byBook review: Hector Maclean: The Writings of a Loyalist-Era Military Settler in Nova Scotia by Jo Currie, Keith Mercer, John G. Reid (Gaspereau Press, 2015)…
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The Worthy but Troubled Continental Service of Capt. Barent J. Ten Eyck
byWith the clash of arms that began the American Revolution, Capt. Barent J. Ten Eyck, of the Albany County Militia, served as courier for…
Washington Heeds Jeney, Takes Trenton
byAttacking at night, during a snowstorm: genius or folly? For Gen. Richard Montgomery at Quebec on December 31, 1775, it was a fatal disaster,…
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How Yorktown Almost Couldn’t Afford to Happen
byGen. George Washington, from the point of view of Americans being trapped at “York,”[1] wrote these prophetic words- These by being upon a narrow…
Election Fraud and Voter Suppression: 18th-century Style
byThere was certainly no love lost between two of the three Virginia gentlemen from Prince William County who stood for office in the county’s…
Hezekiah Munsell Goes to War with the Connecticut Militia
byIn the spring of 1841, a correspondent from the Hartford Courant went to East Windsor, Connecticut looking for an elderly man who was a…
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With Cornwallis to the Dan: Deconstructing the “Forbes Champagné Letter”
byThe American War of Independence produced many dramatic episodes, but none surpassed the campaign that Lt. Gen. Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis, conducted in North…
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Continental Generals: Backgrounds and Fates
byOn the pages of the Journal of the American Revolution there have been articles on the best and worst generals of the Revolutionary War….
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Religious Liberty in Virginia: How “Dissenters” Parlayed Oppression into Freedom
byVirginia’s role in helping to spearhead disestablishment and religious freedom has not received the treatment it deserves although it was, itself, a moving force…
A New Eyewitness Account of Valcour Island Resolves the Pringle Controversy
byThe Battle of Valcour Island was, in many ways, a waterborne version of the Battle of Bunker Hill: a greatly superior British force rushed,…
Skirmish at the Thomas House: America’s First Sniper Team?
byEven under the strange, somewhat inept leadership of Loyalist Col. John Moore, the task of hampering Spartanburg’s Fair Forest role as a Patriot stronghold…
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Recently Discovered Letters Shed New Light on the Battle of Valcour Island
byIn July 1776, two hundred and forty years ago this year, the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring the United Colonies to…
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Was the Revolutionary War in the south winnable by the British?
byA re-evaluation from a British perspective in the light of The Cornwallis Papers Relying mostly on inferences drawn from my commentary in The Cornwallis Papers,[1]…
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George Washington’s Secret Spy War
byBook review: George Washington’s Secret Spy War: The Making of America’s First Spymaster by John A. Nagy (St. Martin’s Press, September 2016) [BUY NOW ON…
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The Truth About George Washington and Hemp
byDid George Washington grow hemp? Yes. Hemp was a well-known, multi-purpose crop. Did George Washington smoke hemp? There’s absolutely zero evidence that he grew…
A Look at Lauzun in L’Expédition Particulière
byBest known in this country for his role in the in the Yorktown Campaign of the American Revolution, the Duc de Lauzun (April 13,…
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General Washington’s First Spy, and Why His Mission Was Doomed from the Start
byOn July 15, 1775, less than two weeks after he arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take command of the Continental Army, Gen. George Washington…
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Major André Popularizes Revolutionary Events
byHistorians today strive to interpret the past with a fresh, hip outlook. Long before there was talk about making history accessible and fun, Major…