Editor’s Note: This is part three of a five-part series. Part one. Part two. The portion of James McMichael’s journal covering June 11 through September 11, 1777,[1] finds our hero with his bride Susanna whom he had left to see on May 31. McMichael did not return to duty until June 13. While the army […]
When war came to down east Maine in the spring of 1775, a rough frontiersman named Andrew Gilman joined the patriot cause. He served with distinction as an Indian interpreter, a courier, and as a lieutenant in command of a group of Penobscot Indians and local settlers in an American ranger force that protected the […]
“Solid obedience is always the fruit of the confidence, respect, and affection, which a corps has for its chief.”[1] For the armies of the Revolution, few men were as vital to maintaining unit cohesion than company-grade officers—ensigns, lieutenants, and captains—who played a key role in transferring orders from higher up the chain of command. Junior […]
Today, February 22, 2018, is George Washington’s 286th birthday. We asked some of our editors and contributors to reflect on George Washington, his role in American history, and the importance of celebrating this day. Enjoy their remarks and please feel free to post your own thoughts about George Washington on his birthday (Old or New, […]
In the American Revolution, as with most other wars, the winners write the history. As such, we have the term “loyalist” for those colonists who remained loyal to the crown, while the winners claimed the term “patriots.” To give an idea how loyalists were regarded during the era, one definition I found said a loyalist […]
On July 4, 1777, as Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne’s expedition on Lake Champlain prepared for a siege of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, camp follower Anna Anderson gave birth to a boy, James or affectionately Jamie. He grew up to have two fathers, enlisted man William Anderson and Gen. James Inglis Hamilton, who adopted him in […]
Even by Victorian standards Great Massingham, Norfolk was a sleepy hamlet. Though it had been a settled community since Norman times, in 1880 it comprised little more than a few farms, an inn and a handsome medieval church. Local humour had it that there were more ducks in the village pond than there were people. […]
Book Review: The Expanding Blaze: How the American Revolution Ignited the World, 1775-1848 by Jonathan Israel (Princeton University Press, 2017) BUY THE BOOK FROM AMAZON For Jonathan Israel, the American Revolution “was the crucible of democratic modernity” (24). But it played its role unwittingly, at times even unwillingly. While “moderation” dominated in America, writes Israel, […]
At the height of his wealth and power in the 1780s, Elias Hasket Derby may have been seen around Salem, Massachusetts or nearby Boston dressed in nothing less than absolute finery and opulence; sometimes donning a Sir Roger de Coverley coat, sometimes leaning on a gold-headed cane[1]. Indeed, Derby was among the wealthiest men of […]
On June 28, 1777 elements of the 9th Connecticut Regiment that had been fighting with General Washington’s army in New Jersey departed Lincoln Gap in the Watchung Mountains for the return to Morristown and Peekskill. In his journal, Sgt. Simon Giffin of Capt. Caleb Bull’s Company recorded the events of their march[1] “June 28, 1777 […]
In October 2016 my wife and I went to visit the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York. We went because of Susan’s interest in Alexander Hamilton who, as many know, married Gen. Philip Schuyler’s daughter Elizabeth, and then went on to help change the world only to perish in a duel with Aaron Burr. As […]
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a five-part series. Part one. Part three. The portion of James McMichael’s journal covering November 1, 1776 through June 3, 1777 begins after his participation in the Battles of Brooklyn and White Plains.[1] McMichael participated in the “Long Retreat” from New York, across New Jersey, and into Pennsylvania. […]
Book Review: American Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and National Identity in the Age of Revolution by A. Roger Ekirch (New York: Pantheon Books, 2017) BUY FROM AMAZON This is a quirky and fascinating three-part story, set not during the Revolution proper, but somewhat later, focusing on the years 1797 to 1800. The three parts, each occupying […]
Journal of the American Revolution today announced its winner and runner-up for the 2017 Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year Award. The annual award goes to the non-fiction volume that best mirrors the journal’s mission: to deliver engaging, creative, and intelligent content that makes American Revolution history accessible to a broad audience. […]
In January 1775, James Dole of Troy, New York, joined a company of minutemen commanded by James Wells. It was armed and equipped in order to be ready in a moments warning. Nothing particularly happened until that May, when the company received orders from the Committee of Safety, Correspondence, and Protection in Albany to march […]
In 1782, six months after Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, Patriot militiamen committed one of the most heinous war crimes of the Revolutionary War. On March 8, between 100 and 200 militia and frontiersmen from western Pennsylvania slaughtered nearly 100 peaceful Indians at the small village of Gnadenhutten, on the Tuscarawas River in present day Ohio.[1] […]
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a five-part series. Part two. Part three. The “Diary” of Lieutenant James McMichael first appeared in 1890 in the Pennsylvania Archives series 2, volume 15. It reappeared in volume 16 of The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography in 1892. Both versions are available online at Hathitrust and […]
Book Review: Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom by Russell Shorto (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] That the Revolution produced winners and losers is hardly news. Factors such as geography, ethnicity, race, religion, and political inclination were central to any individual’s response to the upheaval. Studies examining […]
It was August 1775 and Belcher Noyes, worried about his son Nathaniel, was writing to him from Boston for a third time. “My dear son: Have received no letter from you since May 27, which I duly answered 3d June … I wrote you May 25, both of which I hope came safe to your […]
