Year: 2023

 Illness and Disease Posted on

Smallpox Threatens an American Privateer at Sea

Two important books in the twenty-first century have focused on the impact of terrifying smallpox contagions on the American Revolutionary War.[1] Understandably, most of their stories are about smallpox infecting soldiers on land. As the two books relate, smallpox wrought havoc on Benedict Arnold’s small army outside Quebec in 1775 and 1776, and likely killed […]

by Christian McBurney
Interviews Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: William H. J. Manthorpe on the Dewees Family

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor William H. J. Manthorpe on the Dewees family and their contributions to the Patriot cause. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can now be easily accessed […]

by Editors
Politics During the War (1775-1783) Posted on

United for Independence: The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775–1776

BOOK REVIEW: United for Independence: The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775-1776 by Michael Cecere (Yardley, Pa.: Westholme, 2023) In the American Revolutionary War, probably no period was more dramatic than the time between April 1775 and August 1776. It was then that the skirmish at Lexington and Concord grew into an all-out war, and […]

by John Gilbert McCurdy
7
Critical Thinking Posted on

Black Soldiers of Liberty

Estimates have appeared in print for generations that 3,000 to 5,000 Black soldiers served in the American military in the Revolution. These claims seldom offer documentation, being instead what historian Michael Lanning defined as only a “general consensus” of the number of African American patriots. Lack of records, reliance on anecdotal evidence, and other factors […]

by Robert Scott Davis
Constitutional Debate Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Eric Wiser on the Abraham Clark and William Livingston Rivalry

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Eric Wiser on the bitter political rivalry between Abraham Clark and William Livingston. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can now be easily accessed on the […]

by Editors
4
Exhibits Posted on

The Fidelity Medallion

The Fidelity Medallion awarded to Isaac Van Wart has been donated to the New York State Museum in Albany by the estate of Rae Faith Van Wart Robinson, late of Westchester County and a direct descendant of Van Wart, in accordance with Robinson’s stated wishes.[1] Ms. Robinson passed away on October 19, 2020 at the […]

by Victor J. DiSanto
3
Constitutional Debate Posted on

“Those Noble Qualities”: Classical Pseudonyms as Reflections of Divergent Republican Value Systems

During the trial years under the Federal Constitution, some political observers contributed to the national discourse by employing one of the period’s most ambitious and creative ornaments: the classical pseudonym. Cloaked behind these ancient disguises, commenters added a historically nuanced layer to their arguments that enlisted the ubiquitous gravity of the classical past.[1] These signatures […]

by Shawn David McGhee
Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Benjamin George on George Washington’s Information War

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Benjamin George on how George Washington used information tactically and strategically to manipulate the course of the war. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can now […]

by Editors
2
Letters and Correspondence Posted on

Thomas Hutchinson and His Letters

We often remember the controversy surrounding the Hutchinson Letters, which inspired many colonists to oppose the provincial government in Massachusetts, by talking about Benjamin Franklin (who found and sent the letters) and Samuel Adams (who helped publish them). Our memory of the letters’ author, Thomas Hutchinson, is often colored by a 1774 print by Paul Revere, […]

by Will Monk
Battles Posted on

The Journal of Thomas Anderson, Delaware Regiment, Part 1, May 1780–March 1781

In 1867, The Historical Magazine published “Extracts from the Journal of Lieutenant Thomas Anderson.” The original manuscript at that time belonged to the Maryland Historical Society. Unfortunately the original document cannot be found. Anderson’s journal has been quoted in numerous histories of the Revolutionary War in the South in 1780-1782, but the 1867 published version leaves […]

by Joseph Lee Boyle
Loyalists Posted on

South Carolina Provincials: Loyalists in British Service During the American Revolution

BOOK REVIEW: South Carolina Provincials: Loyalists in British Service During the American Revolution by Jim Piecuch (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2023) In his recently published text, South Carolina Provincials, Jim Piecuch provides a well-researched and informative account of South Carolina’s Provincial Loyalists units and their actions in the southern theater during the American Revolution. These units are often […]

by Patrick H. Hannum
2
Critical Thinking Posted on

A Study in Sustainability: The Continental Encampment in Bucks County, December 1776

The standard interpretation of the Continental Army in the dark and waning months of 1776 often features ragged soldiers, devoid of clothing and basic human comforts, facing harsh winter conditions while encamped in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, prior to crossing the Delaware River. Dramatic imagery of cold and discomfort, with regiments, or what was left of […]

by Colin Zimmerman
2
Critical Thinking Posted on

George Washington’s Information War

Information has been as powerful a weapon as any in the history of warfare. Modern militaries continue to grapple with the power of information by developing and incorporating specific information strategies into their warfighting arsenals. In 2017, the U.S. military established information as a warfighting function to define and harness “the military role of information […]

by Benjamin George
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

American Traitor: General James Wilkinson’s Betrayal of the Republic and Escape from Justice

BOOK REVIEW: American Traitor: General James Wilkinson’s Betrayal of the Republic and Escape from Justice by Howard W. Cox (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2023) Beginning in his late teens, James Wilkinson developed the reputation of being an all-around abhorrent human being and history has continued to support that view. Howard Cox decided to investigate this […]

by Michael Barbieri
Books and Publications Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: Ray Raphael on Whether the Declaration of Independence was Signed on July 4, 1776

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author, historian, and JAR Editorial Board member Ray Raphael on the memories of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas McKean about the Declaration of Independence and when it was actually signed. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon […]

by Editors
1
Law Posted on

The Fall of 1774 in Boston

Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party by imposing on the colony of Massachusetts four laws including the Boston Port Bill. This bill received King George III’s royal assent on March 31, 1774 and would go into effect on June 1, 1774. The first sentence of the Bill made its purpose clear, “An act to […]

by Bob Ruppert
Loyalists Posted on

Unfriendly to Liberty: Loyalist Networks and the Coming of the American Revolution in New York City

BOOK REVIEW: Unfriendly to Liberty: Loyalist Networks and the Coming of the American Revolution in New York City by Christopher F. Minty (Ithaca [New York]: Cornell University Press, 2023) Who were the New York Loyalists? Why did they retain British allegiance? What is their lasting impact on American society? Revolutionary War historian and digital documentary editor Christopher […]

by Gene Procknow
4
Battles Posted on

British Soldiers Wounded at Eutaw Springs

After the Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina on September 8, 1781, the commander of the British forces reported, among other casualties 313 rank and file (that is, corporals and private soldiers) wounded and another 224 missing.[1] While surviving muster rolls can be used to determine which men were killed in a battle, it is […]

by Don N. Hagist
Battles Posted on

This Week on Dispatches: William M. Welsch on the Battle of Petersburg

On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor William Welsch on the importance of the overlooked battle of Petersburg, April 25, 1781. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Saturday evening (Eastern United States Time) on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and the JAR Dispatches web site. Dispatches can now be easily accessed on […]

by Editors
9
Critical Thinking Posted on

Was the Declaration of Independence Signed on July 4? How Memory Plays Tricks with History

Early in 1814, thirteen years into his retirement, John Adams received a bizarre letter from Thomas McKean, a former colleague in the First and Second Continental Congresses. “I will give you an historical fact respecting the declaration of Independence, which may amuse, if not surprize,” McKean wrote. “In the printed public journal of Congress for […]

by Ray Raphael
Reviews Posted on

Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean

BOOK REVIEW: Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean edited by Alfred Lemmon (New Orleans, Louisiana: Historic New Orleans Collection, 2022) For anyone interested in the Spanish Colonial period of New Orleans’ history, a recent English-Spanish bilingual anthology, Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean, edited by Alfred Lemmon, would serve as an excellent introduction. Though there are […]

by Al Dickenson
4
Critical Thinking Posted on

Charles Lee’s First Inklings of Fractious American Political Battles

Unique among the Continental Army generals, Charles Lee expressed prescient insights into the upcoming political issues dividing Americans during the Early Republic era. Born and educated in England, Lee espoused pre-Revolution British Whig views seeking to moderate the monarchy’s powers and engender a more representative government. As a recent immigrant, Lee brought his radical republican […]

by Gene Procknow
Battles Posted on

Hobkirk Hill: A Major Minor Battle

The Battle of Hobkirk Hill (or Hobkirk’s Hill), sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Camden, remains one of the less prominent engagements of the Revolutionary War, even as John Buchanan’s masterful study of the campaign in the Deep South terms it “a major and controversial battle” in the American effort to reclaim South […]

by David Price