One of our oldest known stories is The Odyssey, in which Odysseus travels from the Siege of Troy on various adventures to reach his long suffering wife and son, who wait for him to return. Recent movies like Cold Mountain, The Patriot, and Free State of Jones show men going great distances to see their loved […]
In 1775, within weeks of the violent clashes at Lexington and Concord, Patriots throughout the colonies established Committees of Observation to thwart Loyalists from assisting the anticipated British war effort. In the township of Brookhaven in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island, New York, the Committee of Observation was spearheaded by William Floyd, a wealthy […]
Our fourth annual volume of the Journal of the American Revolution is available for immediate purchase. Featuring some of the best historical research and writing from the previous year, this annual volume contains thirty-eight articles, including “The Setauket Raid, December 1777” by Phillip R. Giffin, “The 3rd New Jersey Regiment’s Plundering of Johnson Hall” by […]
Drums, fifes, and bands provided martial music ranging from battlefield signals to ceremonious pomp. The drummers, fifers, and musicians might also provide casual entertainment for their comrades, but some soldiers played other instruments. The most common non-military instrument to appear in deserter advertisements was the fiddle (or violin); it was the most common among non-military […]
There were drummers, there were fifers, and then there were men who had general musical talent, capable of playing several instruments. Many British, American and German regiments, and other military organizations, had bands of music. These bands, which might consist of six to twelve men, were separate entities from the regiment’s drummers and fifers. In […]
Fifes provided a melodic complement to the drums that provided cadence and conveyed signals to armies in the American Revolution. Like drummers, fifers were not always boys; some men spent their entire military careers playing the fife, showing the importance to the army of that skill. Fifers were not as numerous as drummers in most […]
Primary sources are essential for the best historical scholarship and writing. This week we will be examining advertisements for deserters who played instruments in the armed forces during the American Revolution. Every army and navy involved in the American Revolution used drums for signaling, and the image of the drummer boy is among the conflict’s […]
“Diplomacy is seduction in guise …”, whispered Benjamin Franklin to his fellow commissioner John Adams. “One improves with practice.” Although the quote isn’t real and was written into the script of the HBO/Playtone miniseries John Adams, the spirit of the words rang very true when it came to the infant “United American-States”[1] trying to find […]
Early one morning in late June 1778, an unknown passerby tossed a package of documents that clanged against the gate at Benjamin Franklin’s home in Passy, France.[1] In it was a letter addressed to Franklin dated June 16, 1778 from one “Charles de Weissenstein,” writing from Brussels. In addition to the letter, the package contained […]
Introduction Few ideas were more widely accepted in early America than that of the danger of peacetime standing armies.[1] This anti-standing army sentiment motivated colonial opposition to post-French and Indian War British policies, intensified after the Boston Massacre, influenced the writings of most founding fathers, and remained politically relevant well after the Revolutionary War ended. […]
South Carolina, by several measures, was the most affluent and economically important pre-revolutionary British colony in North America. Largely agrarian and sparsely settled, it contained plantations that used slave labor to grow the valuable cash crops of indigo and rice for European, Caribbean, and American markets. Indigo, used to make blue dye, was one of […]
During the War for American Independence, displaced Loyalists from the southern colonies sought refuge in East Florida. Due to a large influx of refugees, the towns of Hillsborough and St. Johns, both towns built in Northern Florida, were erected; the former was built at the modern day Old Town Fernandina on Amelia Island.[1]Refugees like Louis […]
I attended a new program at the Capitol in Colonial Williamsburg recently called Resolved. I have long missed the days when the reconstructed Capitol was filled with burgesses debating the issues of the day while visitors entered the chamber to witness these debates. When I heard the focus of this new program was centered on […]
Upon our arrival, I did behold a most curious Sight, which gave me further Cause to wonder about the true Safety we might here enjoy. Above the entrance to the Harbor of this town there stands upon the Gibbet a most piteous set of remains, being the last mortal pieces of a most heinous Criminal, […]
As Tidewater lands played out, exhausted from repeated tobacco plantings, or were encumbered by inheritance, the established church moved with young planters like Peter Jefferson into the Piedmont. One hundred thirty miles from the colonial capital Williamsburg and “planted close under the southwest mountains,” James Maury preached the gospel of the Church of England in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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] […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
