March 2017 - Journal of the American Revolution

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on March 22, 2017March 13, 2017

Fort Anne: Remembering the Continental Army’s First Stand Against Burgoyne

Burgoyne’s campaign of 1777 has been termed a turning point in the American Revolution.[1] Marked by the Continental Army’s victories at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga, the campaign came to show the limits of the British army and gave credence to and international recognition of the American cause. Hidden in these histories of Burgoyne’s […]

by Michael Jacobson

Food & Lifestyle Posted on March 21, 2017March 13, 2017

A Republic of Wool: Founding Era Americans’ Grand Plans for Sheep

Only 1,457 pounds of wool? George Washington was astonished. He had 568 sheep, so that meant the recent shearing at Mount Vernon and his other farms yielded an average of just over two and a half pounds of wool per animal. Washington was not home to supervise the process; it was June of 1793 and […]

by Brett Bannor

Techniques & Tech Posted on March 20, 2017March 13, 2017

The prowess of American riflemen: a mystery now solved

In his Colonel George Hanger to all Sportsmen, and particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers (London, 1814) Hanger retails a diverting anecdote about the prowess of American riflemen, but, ever since, the date and precise location of the incident to which it relates have remained a mystery: Colonel Tarleton and myself were standing a few yards […]

by Ian Saberton

Prewar Conflict (<1775) Posted on March 16, 2017March 12, 2017

Country Crowds in Revolutionary Massachusetts: Mobs and Militia

Peter Oliver, the Crown-appointed Chief Justice of provincial Massachusetts, knew how to discredit popular protest. Mindless and incapable of acting on their own, crowds that opposed British imperial policies “were like the Mobility of all Countries, perfect Machines, wound up by any Hand who might first take the Winch.” They needed a director who could […]

by Ray Raphael

Reviews Posted on March 15, 2017March 15, 2017

From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution

Book review: From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution by Robert A. Geake (Westholme, 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Author Robert A. Geake, an established author of early Rhode Island history making his first foray into the Revolutionary War, writes of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army, […]

by Christian McBurney

Postwar Politics (>1783) Posted on March 14, 2017March 12, 2017

Experience, Policies, Failures: President Washington & the Native Americans

Experience had taught George Washington a great many things. His father had passed away at a young age, denying him the chance for the college education in England that he had been promised. Instead of lecture halls and libraries, his factories of learning were to be the wildernesses of the Virginia frontier, the battlefields of […]

by Geoff Smock

Espionage and Cryptography Posted on March 13, 2017July 15, 2021

Henry Defendorff: A Very Intelligent Man

Henry Defendorff enlisted as a sergeant in Christopher P. Yates’s Tryon County company of the 2nd New York Provincial Battalion commanded by Col. Goose Van Schaick, on July 20, 1775. The position of his name on the company muster roll indicates he was the company’s second sergeant.[1] The original company didn’t exist for long; shortly […]

by Philip D. Weaver

News Posted on March 9, 2017October 22, 2017

The 100 Best American Revolution Books of All Time

Our readers are avid consumers of history, continually hunting for the next great book about the Revolutionary War. And there’s no shortage of options. Amazon alone sells more than 12,000 books categorized as “Revolution and Founding.” With so many choices, where does any student of the Revolution begin? Which tomes are the most credible for […]

by Editors

People Posted on March 8, 2017February 22, 2017

Lafayette: An acerbic tongue or an incisive judge of character?

A truly French and American hero, Marquis de Lafayette, a nineteen-year-old nobleman without significant military or political experiences, joined the fledgling American Revolution at a low point. He distinguished himself from other French officers by volunteering to serve in the Continental Army without commission and pay. Worldly beyond his years, Lafayette rapidly sized up the […]

by Gene Procknow

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on March 7, 2017February 22, 2017

Benedict Arnold’s Phantom Duel

Though he was just twenty-two years of age, Walter Stirling already possessed enviable social advantages. He had powerful family connections and enormous personal wealth. A successful banker himself, his renowned father was on the verge of being raised to one of the most prestigious posts in the Royal Navy as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.[1] If he […]

by John Knight

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on March 6, 2017February 22, 2017

Admiral Rodney Ousts the Jews from St. Eustatius

An incongruous spectacle greeted a scorching Caribbean sun that shone upon a stone quay. Tall slim palms seemed to wave a mournful farewell while providing a much-needed cooling sea breeze. A crowd of darkly dressed Jewish men, their bearded faces hidden in the shadows of broad-brimmed dark hats, huddled on the pier. They were surrounded; […]

by Louis Arthur Norton

Reviews Posted on March 1, 2017February 22, 2017

The American Revolution Reborn

Book review: The American Revolution Reborn, edited by Patrick Spero and Michael Zuckerman (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] For decades, the American Revolution’s scholarship has mostly fallen within the same interpretive schools with little departure. In The American Revolution Reborn, a collection of essays edited by Patrick Spero and Michael Zuckerman, […]

by Kelly Mielke

Month: March 2017