Major Abraham Kirkpatrick was not one to mince words. “There is a few of them Damned Cherokees,” he reported in July 1784, “near 40 men, settled on Siota about the old Chillicoffee Towns . . . These is the Villains that killed the family at the blue licks,” he continued, “as is still doing mischeif […]
BOOK REVIEW: Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America by Karin Wulf (Oxford University Press, 2025). $35.00 Hardcover. In Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America, Karin Wulf explores the ways in which people of the foundational era represented their family histories and what we can learn about the […]
Introduction The actions of the cavalry at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781 have been particularly difficult to understand. Previous researchers have struggled to explain the actions of the cavalry under Lt. Col. William Washington while accounting for his seeming to be in multiple places on the battlefield at different times.[1] During research […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews author Steven Bier on what he found out when researching the Hessian troops who fought at the Battle of Trenton, the subject of his new book. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon […]
As anyone who studies history will know, history is seldom a linear account of one fact after another. It’s a series of stories that reveal how we see ourselves. Sometimes, intentionally or no, the telling of those stories blurs the lines between truth and fiction. In my region of North Carolina, there is a story […]
In May 1775, a letter was sent to British General Thomas Gage in Boston the likes of which had never been received before. The letter certainly looked harmless enough. It was very short, and it didn’t say anything important at all—it simply requested the delivery of some papers. But this mysterious letter contained far more […]
Worcester, Massachusetts, claims to be the site of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in New England. A bronze star and plaque on the sidewalk in front of Worcester’s City Hall commemorates the event. The plaque reads: Here July 14, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was first publicly read in New England […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Michael Adelberg on the attempt to jail Loyalists in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and the eventual jail break by prisoners in 1781. New episodes of Dispatches are available for free every Sunday evening(Eastern United States Time), first on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music, and […]
Located along the western coast of the Hudson River just north of New York City, Orange County New York[1] was an active theater of war in the northern department. Large mountain ranges abutting both sides of the river gave the region the name of the Highlands, and provided a strategic barrier between New York City […]
BOOK REVIEW: Atlas of Independence: John Adams and the American Revolution by Chris Mackowski, (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, LLC, 2026) $16.95 Paperback Chris Mackowski’s Atlas of Independence positions John Adams as just that, a self-sacrificing man who attempts to direct his “reluctant colleagues” towards America’s independence. Mackowski is pretty plain in his argument […]
A British writer wrote in 1781 that it was through individual obscure events that the conduct of the American Revolution was demonstrated across the whole continent.[1] The Battle of the Burke County Jail, fought in Georgia on January 26, 1779, was such an incident. This small but brutal gunfight brought to a head the political […]
Let’s start with what was lost: the 1691 Massachusetts charter, which merged Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth into a single royal colony. The document contains 9,755 words, but here’s the gist of it:[1] The Crown appointed a governor, but he would not govern alone. “Upon every last Wednesday in the Month of May, every yeare for […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding by Joseph J. Ellis (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2025) $31.00 hardcover. The latest book by Founding Brothers author Joseph J. Ellis brings the reader back to the meaning of what he has referred to as “The Cause,” that is, the ideals […]