March 2018 - Journal of the American Revolution

Espionage and Cryptography Posted on March 29, 2018

Allen McLane—Revolutionary War Intelligence Officer and Spy

There is often confusion in terms when discussing individuals involved in intelligence activities. For example, intelligence officers are often referred to as spies, and while this is occasionally the case, it is not the norm. A spy is an individual with access, through location, occupation or relationship, to information of value regarding an adversary. In […]

by Ken Daigler

Features Posted on March 28, 2018March 27, 2018

Thadeuz Kosciusko and the American Legacy in Europe

Monarchy everywhere fundamentally detested the American colonists. They expected subjects to respect the crown and abide established class rule. They resented our insubordination and they resented our “peasant” assertions of rights. While history records altruistic anecdotes about France aiding the American cause, the primary motive for any support of the American colonists in the war […]

by John E. Happ

Features Posted on March 27, 2018March 26, 2018

A Relation of Disagreeable Circumstances: The Attack on Young’s House, February 3, 1780

One of the hallmarks of Journal of the American Revolution is its ability to bring lesser-known yet compelling events of the War for Independence to the public’s knowledge. Great battles and campaigns that altered the course of the war are always at the forefront of history, but smaller, more obscure actions often bore witness to […]

by Todd W. Braisted

Features Posted on March 23, 2018March 21, 2018

Take Them At Their Word: Virginia’s Opposition to the Townshend Duties

The other day I became indirectly embroiled in a disagreement about what belonged on a historic road sign that was to be posted to commemorate a local battle during the Revolutionary War. The folks in charge seemed determined to include information on the sign that I felt, and still feel, was not properly sourced or […]

by Michael Cecere

Features Posted on March 22, 2018March 20, 2018

Patrick Tonyn: Britain’s Most Effective Revolutionary-Era Royal Governor

Even among historians of the American Revolution, the name of East Florida’s royal governor, Patrick Tonyn, is all but unknown. However, Tonyn proved himself to be the crown’s most effective governor in mainland North America during the Revolutionary era. Tonyn’s leadership was not only instrumental in maintaining British control of East Florida, but he also […]

by Jim Piecuch

Features Posted on March 21, 2018March 20, 2018

Plenty With Grudges: The Cold Case Murder of Joseph Junin

In February 1791, when local Indian trader Joseph Marie Junin was found dead, shot twice in the head in his cabin in what is present-day Bangor, Maine, many thought it a simple robbery and that local Indians were to blame. When Junin’s feckless nephew was arrested and put on trial, some agreed the boy did […]

by Charles H. Lagerbom

Features Posted on March 20, 2018March 21, 2018

The General, the Corporal, and the Anecdote: Jacob Francis and Israel Putnam

On August 18, 1832, a seventy-eight-year-old New Jersey man named Jacob Francis went before Hunterdon County officials and described his military service in the Revolutionary War. His affidavit became the core of his application for a federal government pension available to surviving veterans.[1] According to Francis, he had joined the Continental Army besieging Boston in […]

by J. L. Bell

Culture Posted on March 19, 2018March 18, 2018

The Second Battle of Cowpens: South Carolina vs. Winchester, Virginia

On January 17, 1781, at Cowpens, South Carolina, Gen. Daniel Morgan solidified his position as an iconic Revolutionary War figure with his decisive victory over Lt. Col. Banister Tarleton. This victory over the aggressive and capable Tarleton had significant consequences for the war in the southern colonies and contributed to Gen. Charles Cornwallis’s risky decision […]

by Patrick H. Hannum

Features Posted on March 15, 2018March 14, 2018

The James McMichael Journal, September 12, 1777–December 23, 1777

Editor’s Note: This is part four of a five-part series. Part one. Part two. Part three. This portion of the James McMichael journal begins on September 12, 1777, with McMichael thanking “Kind providence” for saving him at Brandywine, and ends on December 23, 1777, with him being reunited with his wife in New Jersey after […]

by Joseph Lee Boyle

Features Posted on March 14, 2018March 13, 2018

Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse State Historic Site

Early in the morning of July 16, 1779, Gen. Anthony Wayne and his Corps of Light Infantry successfully stormed the British works at Stony Point, launching the rocky peninsula on the Hudson River into the American memory. Having served as both a garrison and a western landing of the King’s Ferry for nearly the entirety […]

by Michael J. F. Sheehan

Culture Posted on March 13, 2018March 12, 2018

Creating American Nationalists: Presbyterians and the War for Independence

There was no turning back after the morning of April nineteenth.[1] When the militiamen under Captain John Parker defended themselves against the British regulars at Lexington, they signaled a transition in the imperial crisis. What was still primarily a war of words before the sun broke the horizon that morning in 1775 had intensified into […]

by William Taylor

Features Posted on March 12, 2018March 11, 2018

Grace Galloway—Abandoned Loyalist Wife

Grace Galloway was living in a world of woe. The pressure had been building, and a little after 10 p.m. on August 20, 1778, it came to a head. Knock, knock, knock came the persistent rapping on the door of her Philadelphia mansion at the corner of Market and Sixth Streets[1]. She informed the unwelcomed […]

by Richard J. Werther

Reviews Posted on March 9, 2018March 5, 2018

First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call for American Independence

Book Review: First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call for American Independence by Harlow Giles Unger, (New York: De Capo Press, 2017) BUY THE BOOK FROM AMAZON When people think of the Founding Fathers, a few names likely come to mind. But how many minds jump to Richard Henry Lee? Moreover, how many […]

by Kelly Mielke

Features Posted on March 8, 2018January 15, 2019

The Conspiracy to Destroy the Gaspee

With but few exceptions,[1] it has usually been surmised by historians that the 1772 attack on the Royal Navy schooner Gaspee was a spontaneous response to the accidental grounding of the King’s vessel, allowing its opportunistic destruction by angry Rhode Island colonists. But was this really such a serendipitous event? What is presented here is […]

by John Concannon

Features Posted on March 7, 2018March 6, 2018

Richard Howe: Admiral of the British Fleet in North America and Peace Commissioner

In the Spring of 1775, Benjamin Franklin, still stationed in England, made what he thought was a last attempt to secure a plan of reconciliation between Great Britain and her American colonies. One of the men he worked with was Adm. Lord Richard Howe. Though their efforts proved unsuccessful, at their final meeting on March […]

by Bob Ruppert

Features Posted on March 6, 2018March 4, 2018

The American Revolution of Private Jacob Francis

When Jacob Francis[1] began life on January 15, 1754 in western New Jersey’s Amwell Township in Hunterdon County, free black people in a state supporting slavery could find life unpleasant unless they “knew their place.” During his long life, Jacob not only fought for the concept of freedom and independence from Great Britain in the […]

by Larry Kidder

Features Posted on March 5, 2018March 4, 2018

The Loyalist Raid on Newtown: The Consequences of Being Surprised

The small village of Newtown played a noteworthy role during the American Revolution from the time when General Washington’s army retreated in 1776 across New Jersey into Pennsylvania through the British occupation of American capital of Philadelphia until mid-1778. This was due to its geographical location in Bucks County, having been since 1726 the seat […]

by Andrew A. Zellers-Frederick

Economics Posted on March 2, 2018March 19, 2018

Mining Liberty: Daniel Roberdeau’s Quest for Lead on the Pennsylvania Frontier

In the fall of 1777, the Continental Congress had reached one of its most desperate points of the American Revolution. In September of that year George Washington had been defeated by the forces of Sir William Howe at Brandywine, the Battle of the Clouds, Paoli, and Germantown. Because of this failure the British captured the […]

by Brady J. Crytzer

Features Posted on March 1, 2018February 28, 2018

Women on Trial: British Soldiers’ Wives Tried by Court Martial

Wives of British soldiers were allowed to accompany their husbands overseas, much like spouses of military personnel often do today. Unlike modern militaries, however, wives of soldiers often lived in the barracks and encampments, and accompanied their husbands on campaigns. Although not under the contractual obligations of an enlistment, wives were fed by the army […]

by Don N. Hagist

Month: March 2018