Month: August 2019

4
Features Posted on

Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds

Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds by William L. Kidder (Lawrence Township, NJ: Knox Press, 2018) Gen. George Washington’s granite composure in Emanuel Leutze’s painting of the Delaware River crossing conveys a sense of majesty and leadership. “His Excellency” appears to be in complete control while his armies are organized behind him, carefully maneuvering […]

by Timothy Symington
8
Battles Posted on

“Four Battleflags of the Revolution: Captured by Lt.-Col. Banastre Tarleton”

On a late summer afternoon in 2005 representatives from Sotheby’s, the world’s most prestigious Fine Art auctioneers, pulled up outside the Hampshire home of Christopher Tarleton-Fagan. Fagan was a retired Grenadier Guards officer and the owner and custodian of four of the most historic Revolutionary war artefacts still remaining in private hands. He was also […]

by John Knight
1
Historic Sites Posted on

The Beeline March: The Birth of the American Army

On a late spring afternoon in 1825, the two Bedinger brothers—Henry and Michael, old men now, seventy-four and sixty-nine respectively, proud immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine—commanded attention among “a party of ladies and gentlemen” gathered for an “elegant [midday] dinner” to keep a fifty-year-old pledge to their other “brothers” in arms. They were at Daniel Morgan’s Springs, […]

by John Grady
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Joseph Wroblewski on the Queen’s Rangers during the British Occupation of Philadelphia

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews educator and JAR contributor Joseph Wroblewski on the operations of the Queen’s Rangers during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777–1778. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a voice to the writing […]

by Editors
5
Battles Posted on

The Battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis

Author’s note: Continental Navy midshipman Nathaniel Fanning’s eyewitness account of the American Revolution’s most famous naval battle is among the most detailed available. This article presents his account, rewritten in the third person with some modifications for clarity. A six-knot breeze blew from the south southwest off Flamborough Head as the Continental Navy ship Bonhomme […]

by Louis Arthur Norton
2
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Rick Atkinson on The British Are Coming

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Pulitzer-prize winning author Rick Atkinson about his latest book, the best-selling The British are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777, the first volume of his trilogy on the War of Independence. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the […]

by Editors
13
Features Posted on

Historic Structures and Sites Worth Preserving?

A recent article mentioned Sidman’s Tavern in New Jersey, a building with strong connections to the American Revolution that is under threat of destruction. That compelled us to ask our contributors: “Which historical structure related to America’s founding that is currently not recognized by a foundation, group, or organization do you think deserves preservation?” While […]

by Editors
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: J. L. Bell on Truths and Myths of the Declaration of Independence

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews author and historian J. L. Bell on the Declaration of Independence and which stories surrounding the document are probably true or probably not. As your host Brady Crytzer says, “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the interview. . . .” New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every […]

by Editors
3
Conflict & War Posted on

The Penobscot Expedition of 1779

For much of the Revolutionary War, the relative obscurity and isolation of the three Massachusetts counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln along the coast of present day Maine protected the inhabitants from British threats. This changed in June 1779, when Gen. Francis McLean and 700 British troops, escorted by a handful of British warships and […]

by Michael Cecere
3
Features Posted on

Small Boats and Daring Men: Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy

Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy by Benjamin Armstrong (University of Oklahoma Press, 2019) In the seventy-foot sloop of war Providence, John Paul Jones began his illustrious military career in 1776 with a series of littoral raids in Canadian waters. The bold commander, sailing with a contingent […]

by David Kindy
3
Critical Thinking Posted on

“That Damned Absurd Word Liberty:” Les Habitants, the Quebec Act, and American Revolutionary Ideology, 1774–1776

The American invasion of Quebec of 1775-1776 failed to achieve its primary objective: to bring into the fold what the Continental Congress referred to as “the only link wanting, to compleat the bright and strong chains of union.”[1] While Canada would not join its southern brethren in outright rebellion, the Americans’ campaign furnishes important insight into […]

by Sebastian van Bastelaer
Features Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Andrew Waters on the Campaign in the Carolinas

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Andrew Waters on the course of the campaign through the Carolinas, including Cowpens and other key engagements. His experience as a land conservator has provided him a knowledge of the Carolina backcountry that enhances his interpretation of the campaign. As your host Brady Crytzer says, “Sit back, […]

by Editors