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Reviews Posted on April 27, 2018April 26, 2018

American Hannibal: The Extraordinary Account of Revolutionary War Hero Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens

Book Review: American Hannibal: The Extraordinary Account of Revolutionary War Hero Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens by Jim Stempel (Tucson, AZ: Penmore Press, 2017). [BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON] Although it seems like common sense to regard the country’s founding as something of enduring importance, according to statistics Jim Stempel cites from the American […]

by Kelly Mielke

Culture Posted on April 26, 2018April 25, 2018

Jefferson’s Reckoning: The Sage of Monticello’s Haunting Final Years

It was a mountaintop idyll; a luxuriant bath in the affirming glow of acclaim; a sunset valediction. Or so it was to Saul K. Padover, who described the retired Thomas Jefferson as “that most rare of human species, a balanced and harmonious man capable of viewing the world with detached compassion and serene wisdom.” Cushioned […]

by Geoff Smock

Features Posted on April 25, 2018April 25, 2018

Interview with Author and Illustrator Michael Dooling

Michael Dooling is an author and illustrator of educational children’s books about important periods in American History. One of his books, George Washington’s Army and Me, is being adapted for a feature film. We asked him about his work, the book, and the movie. You’ve produced a line of children’s books and workbooks dealing with […]

by Editors

Features Posted on April 24, 2018

Jedediah Huntington of Connecticut

Brigadier General Jedediah Huntington is an overlooked yet very interesting patriot leader from Connecticut who grew up with Benedict Arnold, fought in several battles, and became close to General Washington toward the end of the war. Huntington was born in 1743 into a wealthy merchant household headed by Jabez Huntington, who owned a fleet of […]

by Damien Cregeau

Features Posted on April 23, 2018May 17, 2019

Elias Boudinot IV: America’s First Commissary General of Prisoners

“The prisoner of war is one of the most tragic figures in any conflict.”Larry G. Bowman[1] Various studies have placed the number of Americans taken prisoner during the American Revolution anywhere from 18,000 to 20,000, with 8,500 to 12,000 dying in captivity.[2] The harsh treatment of Americans taken by the British began after the Battle […]

by Joseph E. Wroblewski

Features Posted on April 19, 2018April 18, 2018

Antoine Felix Wuibert: The French “Forrest Gump” of the American Revolution

Antoine Félix Wuibert was one of the earliest foreign volunteers to the War of the American Revolution, arriving even before the United States pronounced its independence from Britain. Although commissioned as an officer of engineers, he served his newly-adopted nation in a variety of roles throughout the entirety of the war, popping up in key […]

by Larrie D. Ferreiro

Features Posted on April 18, 2018April 17, 2018

The Hessians Who Escaped Washington’s Trap at Trenton

The year 1776 opened with the overall promises of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet seemingly coming to fruition; however, the ensuing months were anything but militarily triumphant for General Washington’s army. Even before the ink was dry on the Declaration of Independence, American forces were on the defensive on all fronts and in a deplorable […]

by Andrew A. Zellers-Frederick

Conflict & War Posted on April 17, 2018April 16, 2018

An American Sea Captain Encounters Horatio Nelson—And Lives to Tell the Tale

Few sea captains could claim they crossed bowsprits with Lord Nelson and sailed away – ship and cargo intact – but Nathaniel Carver of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was one who did. Not only did he survive the encounter, the American received a letter of commendation from the man who would later be remembered as the “Hero […]

by David Kindy

Features Posted on April 16, 2018April 15, 2018

Contributor Close-up: Patrick H. Hannum

About Patrick H. Hannum Patrick H. Hannum is currently serving as an associate professor in the Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College, National Defense University, Norfolk, Virginia where he specializes in operational-level warfare and Phase II Joint Professional Military Education. He completed twenty-nine years of active service in the United States Marine […]

by Editors

Features Posted on April 13, 2018April 10, 2018

The James McMichael Journal, December 29, 1777–May 12, 1778

Editor’s Note: This is the final part of a five-part series. Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four. The final portion of the McMichael journal covers December 29, 1777, through May 12, 1778. When the journal opens, McMichael is not among those at Valley Forge having received a “leave of absence” on December 22. He […]

by Joseph Lee Boyle

Espionage and Cryptography Posted on April 12, 2018April 10, 2018

How to be a Revolutionary War Spy Master

George Washington is credited with being a great spy master, and the feats of his Culper spy ring have become famous. How did he learn this clandestine craft? Although he had military experience, prior to 1775 he hadn’t served in the headquarters and staff positions that were usually the hub of intelligence gathering activities. But […]

by Don N. Hagist

Features Posted on April 11, 2018April 10, 2018

A Phantom at Middle Brook: Washington in the New Jersey Short Hills

Most of the stories told of George Washington are tales of complete fiction. He never chopped down a cherry tree, at least not in the boyhood fashion we have been taught as school children. He was capable of lying, and tactically perfected it on occasion. His elder white hair tied back had not been born […]

by Adam E. Zielinski

Features Posted on April 10, 2018September 3, 2021

The “B Team” of 1777: Maxwell’s Light Infantry

On the topic of Maxwell’s Light Infantry, Lt. Col. William Heth’s views were crystal clear. “Maxwells Corps ’Twas expected would do great things,” he complained in a letter, “we had opportunities—and any body but an old-woman, would have availd themselves of them—He is to be sure—a Damnd bitch of a General.”[1] The subject of his […]

by Gabriel Neville

Features Posted on April 9, 2018April 9, 2018

The House at Penny Ferry, Burnt: Skirmishes on the Mystic

In the summer of 1775, American forces had succeeded in bottling up the British army on the Boston peninsula and laying siege to the town. Although virtually surrounded by thousands of Continental soldiers, the British did not remain perfectly contained in Boston for the duration of the siege. Nor did the two forces maintain a […]

by Katie Turner Getty

Reviews Posted on April 6, 2018April 6, 2018

Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776-January 3, 1777

Book Review: Mark Maloy. Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776-January 3, 1777. Emerging Revolutionary War Series. (El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie LLC, 2017). [BUY THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON] Almost entirely covered by modern development, urbanized Revolutionary War battle sites such as Brooklyn or Germantown are tough to locate […]

by Gene Procknow

Features Posted on April 5, 2018April 4, 2018

Marylanders Bear the Palm: Manpower and Experience as Elements of Extraordinary Military Success

During the American Revolutionary War, the soldiers of the Maryland Line rapidly gained a reputation in the Continental Army for reliability in combat, a reputation that has lasted to this day. Contemporaries attested to the Marylanders’ tenacity as early as their first engagement, the Battle of Long Island in August of 1776: “all [the Americans] […]

by R. J. Rockefeller

Reviews Posted on April 4, 2018April 4, 2018

Two Recent Reviews of Titles from the Journal of the American Revolution Books Series

Two outstanding reviews of titles in the Journal of the American Revolution Books Series were recently published. In the Spring 2018 issue of Army History (https://history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH-Magazine/2018AH_spring/index.html), historian Gregory J. W. Urwin reviewed The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War by J. L. Bell. Prof. Urwin writes, “J. L. Bell’s The Road to […]

by Editors

Features Posted on April 3, 2018April 2, 2018

Revolutionary Rookies

Performing as a general atop an independent command is the most difficult military assignment and for which prior experience critically fosters improved strategic and tactical decision-making. Many people think that the Revolutionary War British generals were highly experienced while the Rebel generals, although possessing battle proficiency as junior officers, principally gained their military strategy and […]

by Gene Procknow

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

Features Posted on February 27, 2018February 27, 2018

The James McMichael Journal, June 11, 1777–September 11, 1777

Editor’s Note: This is part three of a five-part series. Part one. Part two. The portion of James McMichael’s journal covering June 11 through September 11, 1777,[1] finds our hero with his bride Susanna whom he had left to see on May 31. McMichael did not return to duty until June 13. While the army […]

by Joseph Lee Boyle

Features Posted on February 26, 2018February 25, 2018

Gone Bad?: American Patriot Andrew Gilman

When war came to down east Maine in the spring of 1775, a rough frontiersman named Andrew Gilman joined the patriot cause. He served with distinction as an Indian interpreter, a courier, and as a lieutenant in command of a group of Penobscot Indians and local settlers in an American ranger force that protected the […]

by Charles H. Lagerbom