October 2019 - Journal of the American Revolution

Economics Posted on October 31, 2019October 30, 2019

Isaac Roosevelt: Merchant, Federalist, Banker, New Yorker

On Saturday September 17, 1938 New York governor Herbert H. Lehman and 5,000 others assembled in Poughkeepsie to observe the sesquicentennial of the Empire State’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution. One hundred and fifty years previously delegates had gathered in that Hudson Valley hamlet to debate whether New York should ratify that document and thus […]

by Keith Muchowski

Pension Records Posted on October 29, 2019October 28, 2019

A Reprieve for John Sutherland, a Poor Silly Creature

John Sutherland had intended only to visit his brother, and now he sat in confinement, awaiting a death sentence. It was not a likely fate for the forty-one-year-old private soldier who had always borne “a very good Character” during his eighteen years in the army, except for an occasional bout of intoxication, a common vice […]

by Don N. Hagist

Law Posted on October 28, 2019October 27, 2019

Courts-Martial of the Corps of Light Infantry, 1779

Orderly books are great sources of information for military historians. Their contents are a treasure, and include everything from general and regimental orders, returns, lists, troops movements, guard postings, and the day to day activities of the men themselves. They also include the results of courts- martial, giving insight into what a particular soldier did […]

by Michael J. F. Sheehan

Features Posted on October 26, 2019

This Week on Dispatchers: Frederic C. Detwiller on the Mysterious “Monsr Dubuq”

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews architect and preservationist Frederic C. Detwiller on the enigmatic French engineer, “Monsr Dubuq,” who was one of the first French nationals to assist the American cause. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts […]

by Editors

Espionage and Cryptography Posted on October 24, 2019October 23, 2019

Enoch Crosby: A Hudson Valley Spy in Fact and Fiction

James Fenimore Cooper published his wildly popular second novel, The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground, in 1821. The book tells the story of Harvey Birch, a Patriot spy operating in the “Neutral Ground,” an uncontrolled region north of New York City that included Westchester County. Not long after Cooper published his novel, a […]

by Charles Dewey

Conflict & War Posted on October 22, 2019October 24, 2019

“The Americans Have Hoisted Their Standard of Liberty at Salem”

The skirmishes at Lexington and Concord are often considered the beginning of the American Revolution, a violent change in the controversy between Great Britain and thirteen of its North American colonies. John Adams opined that the Revolution started many years before: “But what do We mean by the American Revolution? Do We mean the American […]

by Jeff Dacus

Features Posted on October 21, 2019

North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders

North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders, edited by Jeff Broadwater and Troy L. Kickler (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2019) The Old North State has its own Revolutionary War heroes, and although not totally ignored, their fame has been obscured on the national stage due to the more famous stories of Adams of Massachusetts, […]

by Timothy Symington

Constitutional Debate Posted on October 19, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: Andrew Schocket on Who Mattered in Early America?

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Andrew Schocket, professor of history at Bowling Green State University about the original research he and two of his students, Kinzey M. McLaren-Czerr and Colin J. Spicer, conducted to establish that free women and children were included in the population counts for congressional representation. Thousands of readers like […]

by Editors

People Posted on October 17, 2019October 17, 2019

Joshua Barney, the Hyder-Ally‘s Triumph, and its Aftermath

One of the most colorful men to seek and earn an officer’s commission in the Continental Navy was Joshua Barney. He was a man with little formal education or military experience; a mariner who had natural gifts of seamanship, leadership, and courage. Barney took part in thirty-five Revolutionary War naval engagements and lost only five […]

by Louis Arthur Norton

Letters and Correspondence Posted on October 16, 2019October 16, 2019

Catharine Macaulay: Her Final Gifts to America and France, 1787–1791

In September 1787, Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren informed Catharine Macaulay of the results of the Federal Convention in Philadelphia. She was guardedly optimistic. Macaulay, upon receiving the letter, responded immediately: Indeed I have expected with much impatience the result of the deliberations of your convention . . . I find in the propositions they are […]

by Bob Ruppert

The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on October 15, 2019October 14, 2019

Picking Up the Pieces: Virginia’s “Eighteen-Months Men” of 1780–81

The first half of 1780 had gone disastrously for Virginia. The surrender of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln’s army at Charleston and the destruction of Col. Abraham Buford’s detachment of Virginia continentals at the Waxhaws virtually eliminated Virginia’s continental line. A force that once boasted sixteen regiments and thousands of men was now reduced to a handful of […]

by Michael Cecere

Features Posted on October 14, 2019October 21, 2019

Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775–1783

Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775-1783 by Seanegan P. Sculley (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2019) Seanegan P. Sculley’s recent book, Contest for Liberty: Military Leadership in the Continental Army, 1775-1783, is organized into five chapters with a substantive introduction and a short conclusion. Each chapter addresses one of the five elements selected […]

by Patrick H. Hannum

Features Posted on October 11, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: John G. McCurdy on the Quartering Act

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews historian and author John G. McCurdy, professor of history at Eastern Michigan University, about the quartering act, the subject of his recent book, Quarters: The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the […]

by Editors

People Posted on October 10, 2019October 11, 2019

Milton’s Odyssey: The Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary Service of Georgia’s John Milton

Georgia’s fragile independence within the new American republic was shattered on December 29, 1778, when British troops attacked Savannah. Despite clear signs that the British were coming, the capital of the state on that December morning was caught by surprise. Panic set in as the redcoats approached the city. State officials and soldiers fled for […]

by R. Boyd Murphree

Critical Thinking Posted on October 9, 2019

Worthy of Commemmoration

We recently ran an article about monuments commemorating the American Revolution. We asked our contributors: If you could commission a monument, what would you commemorate and where would it be located? They provided a wide range of worthy candidates. Nancy K. Loane On December 19, 1777, over 400 women—and an unknown number of children—struggled into […]

by Editors

Pension Records Posted on October 8, 2019October 6, 2019

Benoni Simmons: Long-Serving Hero of the American Revolution

The amazing story of Benoni Simmons’s military service in the American Revolution spans some fourteen years, perhaps the longest term of service by anyone in that conflict. More so, his astounding dedication to the cause of independence despite his grievous wounds make him a true American hero.[1] Benoni Simmons was born August 4, 1755, the […]

by John Concannon

Features Posted on October 7, 2019October 21, 2019

Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763–1789

Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763-1789 by Joseph M. Adelman (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019) An explosion of new media! News editors and writers under attack for their views! Increasing media polarization along partisan lines. Readers expecting the news to be free. Newspapers teetering on the edge of profitability. A […]

by Gene Procknow

Features Posted on October 5, 2019

This Week on Dispatches: Gabriel Neville on the Historic Clove Road and Its Role during the Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Gabriel “Gabe” Neville on the Clove Road between northern New Jersey and New York and its strategic importance during the American Revolution. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a […]

by Editors

Critical Thinking Posted on October 3, 2019

How Magna Carta Influenced the American Revolution

In 1984, Ross Perot purchased a copy of the 1297 reissuance of the Magna Carta from the Brudenell family who had held the document for centuries. In 1988, it became a permanent fixture of the National Archives Museum where it stayed in the rotunda along with the American charters of freedom for several years. Nearly […]

by Jason Yonce

Features Posted on October 2, 2019

Contributor Profile: John Knight

What inspired you to start researching and writing about the Revolution? For my thirteenth birthday, I was given a history book on the Kings and Queens of England. Like all kids, I was more interested in the pictures than the text. One painting, in particular, fascinated me: The British army attacking Bunker Hill by Howard Pyle. […]

by Editors

Historic Sites Posted on October 1, 2019September 30, 2019

The Whitall Family and the Battle of Red Bank

James W. Whitall (1717-1808) was a prominent Quaker businessman and farmer in the southern region of New Jersey. In 1739 he married Ann Cooper (1716-1797), a devout, no-nonsense Quaker, and together they built a house situated on a farm consisting of over four hundred acres of land along the Delaware River in Red Bank, New […]

by Gregory Safko

Month: October 2019