Georgia historian Otis Ashmore wrote that “of the many heroic men who illustrated that stormy period of the Revolution in Georgia that ‘tried men’s souls’ none deserves a more grateful remembrance by posterity than Col. John Dooly.”[1] The colonel was Georgia’s first folk hero. His life is an epic heroic tale of how he lost […]
A single day of gory trauma defined the life of Brook Watson. As a teenager, he had gone swimming in Havana harbor, where a shark attacked him. The shark first peeled off the skin of his calf with its thrashing bite. With its second turn, Watson’s foot was wrenched away at the ankle. His own […]
Spies and Deserters is an exciting new novel by Martin R. Ganzglass that depicts real life experiences during the Revolutionary War. It follows eighteen-year-old Will Stoner, a lieutenant in General Henry Knox’s artillery regiment, and his friend, Private Adam Cooper, an African American in the Marblehead Mariners, from the bleak, disease ridden camp at Valley […]
April was a short month for JAR as we returned from spring break with our “Runaway a Day” series. In short time we still welcomed four new writers—Bruce Ware Allen, Nichole Louise, Jason Glasser and R. Paul Mason—who contributed some excellent articles. The fine folks at Fort Plain Museum have announced the impressive line-up for their […]
One of history’s little mysteries is why some people become famous and others of similar, or even greater, accomplishment do not. Among those overlooked is the Cruger family of New York, which gave us two Mayors of New York City (one of whom was the host for the Stamp Act Congress), early New York’s most […]
An important facet of Washington’s generalship has gone largely unexplored by historians: his role as a diplomat. For a top-level military leader in a coalition, maintaining good relations with allies is of the first importance. With the signing of the military alliance with France in 1778, Washington had to add this role to his generalship. […]
The Fort Plain Museum, in the heart of upstate New York, is proud to announce its Third Annual Conference on the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley–the 2017 conference features more authors, more days and more events. Click here to register. The Mohawk played a key role in the struggle for American independence. Discover the area’s […]
Ten years in the planning and construction, the new fifty million dollar state of the art American Revolution Museum at Yorktown was officially dedicated in a thirteen day series of events celebrating each of the thirteen original states in the order in which they ratified our Constitution. From March 23 through April 4, 2017, daily […]
About Christian McBurney Christian McBurney resides in the Washington, D.C. area and is an independent historian who has authored the recently released Abductions in the American Revolution: Attempts to Kidnap George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and Other Military and Civilian Leaders (McFarland, 2016). His other Revolutionary War books include Kidnapping the Enemy: The Special Operations to […]
Outmaneuvering and overwhelming the Patriots during the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn, the British won a huge victory by executing a daring night march around the Patriots’ left flank. Patriot commander Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam is heavily criticized for not guarding a vital pass that allowed British forces to surround the advance units of the Continental […]
Almost anyone that develops a passion for history can point to an event deep within themselves that spawned an imaginative interpretation of events, and out of that, perhaps a lifelong passion for a certain historical period. The battlefield at Yorktown, Virginia covering the 1781 siege, certainly excites the imagination as one treks through the British […]
Walking into the Museum of the American Revolution’s spacious rotunda, museum patrons will be met with polished terrazzo floors and an elegant curling staircase illuminated with the natural light from the George Washington standard flag six-pointed star skylight. At the start of the Museum experience, an orientation video depicts differing perspectives from founding mother Abigail […]
On the face of it, there would seem no greater natural disparity between the two countries, one an ancient aristocratic pan-European (but mostly French) Catholic military theocracy, the other a modern, egalitarian, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant confederation. Nevertheless, during the American Revolution, a healthy number of Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem […]
If a person ran away once, they were liable to do so again. In some cases this provides two distinctive descriptions of the same individual, but the example below shows that an ad might be largely reused. This woman ran away in August and again in October, taking almost the same clothing with her each […]
Some advertisements revealed details about the person’s history and situation, as well as their physical characteristics and possessions. This affords an avenue for further research on the individual. Two Dollars Reward. Run away from the subscriber, living in Upper Salford township, Philadelphia county, on Friday, the 27th of August last, a Dutch servant Girl, named […]
Some runaways took only the clothing they had on, and lacked even a complete ensemble. Running away without shoes shows either desperation or determination. Run away, the 13th of this instant July, from the subscriber, near Newtown, Bucks County, an Irish servant girl, named Judy Fagan, between 15 and 16 years old, of a dark […]
For some reason not all advertisements included the name of the missing person. Whether this showed an impersonal knowledge on behalf of the master, or was a simple oversight by either the person placing the ad or the publisher, we can only wonder. RAN away from the subscriber in Newport, on the night of the […]
Throughout the eighteenth century, newspapers advertised servants, slaves, soldiers, spouses and others who had fled from contractual obligations. The advertisements give us remarkable textual descriptions of everyday individuals about whom little else is known. Each day this week, we’ll present an advertisement for a runaway woman, accompanied by an illustration of carefully researched, handmade clothing […]
Just as many schools are going on spring break now, so is Journal of the American Revolution. We will be taking a short hiatus to recover from all the exciting activity in our world and will return to our regular programming the week of April 10. Writers: Please continue to send your article submissions to ed****@al**************.com during […]
Did you hear the news? Two awesome American Revolution museums are opening in the next 30 days, providing the bookends of an epic Philadelphia to Yorktown family road trip itinerary this summer! The grand opening celebration of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is going on today, March 23, through April 4, officially launching the impressive new museum […]
Burgoyne’s campaign of 1777 has been termed a turning point in the American Revolution.[1] Marked by the Continental Army’s victories at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga, the campaign came to show the limits of the British army and gave credence to and international recognition of the American cause. Hidden in these histories of Burgoyne’s […]
Only 1,457 pounds of wool? George Washington was astonished. He had 568 sheep, so that meant the recent shearing at Mount Vernon and his other farms yielded an average of just over two and a half pounds of wool per animal. Washington was not home to supervise the process; it was June of 1793 and […]
In his Colonel George Hanger to all Sportsmen, and particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers (London, 1814) Hanger retails a diverting anecdote about the prowess of American riflemen, but, ever since, the date and precise location of the incident to which it relates have remained a mystery: Colonel Tarleton and myself were standing a few yards […]
Peter Oliver, the Crown-appointed Chief Justice of provincial Massachusetts, knew how to discredit popular protest. Mindless and incapable of acting on their own, crowds that opposed British imperial policies “were like the Mobility of all Countries, perfect Machines, wound up by any Hand who might first take the Winch.” They needed a director who could […]
Book review: From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution by Robert A. Geake (Westholme, 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Author Robert A. Geake, an established author of early Rhode Island history making his first foray into the Revolutionary War, writes of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army, […]
Experience had taught George Washington a great many things. His father had passed away at a young age, denying him the chance for the college education in England that he had been promised. Instead of lecture halls and libraries, his factories of learning were to be the wildernesses of the Virginia frontier, the battlefields of […]
Henry Defendorff enlisted as a sergeant in Christopher P. Yates’s Tryon County company of the 2nd New York Provincial Battalion commanded by Col. Goose Van Schaick, on July 20, 1775. The position of his name on the company muster roll indicates he was the company’s second sergeant.[1] The original company didn’t exist for long; shortly […]
Our readers are avid consumers of history, continually hunting for the next great book about the Revolutionary War. And there’s no shortage of options. Amazon alone sells more than 12,000 books categorized as “Revolution and Founding.” With so many choices, where does any student of the Revolution begin? Which tomes are the most credible for […]
A truly French and American hero, Marquis de Lafayette, a nineteen-year-old nobleman without significant military or political experiences, joined the fledgling American Revolution at a low point. He distinguished himself from other French officers by volunteering to serve in the Continental Army without commission and pay. Worldly beyond his years, Lafayette rapidly sized up the […]
Though he was just twenty-two years of age, Walter Stirling already possessed enviable social advantages. He had powerful family connections and enormous personal wealth. A successful banker himself, his renowned father was on the verge of being raised to one of the most prestigious posts in the Royal Navy as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.[1] If he […]
An incongruous spectacle greeted a scorching Caribbean sun that shone upon a stone quay. Tall slim palms seemed to wave a mournful farewell while providing a much-needed cooling sea breeze. A crowd of darkly dressed Jewish men, their bearded faces hidden in the shadows of broad-brimmed dark hats, huddled on the pier. They were surrounded; […]
Brand new! Retro 70s Revolutionary War t-shirts have finally arrived in our JAR shop. More than 30 new vintage tees are now available and make the perfect gift. Don’t forget Father’s Day! The 1770s take on new meaning with more than 30 different variations of this vintage tee: Stamp Act 1765, Detestable Tea 1773, Lexington […]
Mark your calendars! The grand opening celebration of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is March 23-April 4, 2017, officially launching the impressive new museum that replaces the Yorktown Victory Center. Through comprehensive indoor exhibits and outdoor living history, the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown offers a truly national perspective, conveying a sense of the transformational […]
Book review: The American Revolution Reborn, edited by Patrick Spero and Michael Zuckerman (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] For decades, the American Revolution’s scholarship has mostly fallen within the same interpretive schools with little departure. In The American Revolution Reborn, a collection of essays edited by Patrick Spero and Michael Zuckerman, […]
In February, we welcomed two new writers, Matthew Wigler and Douglas J. Gladstone, and announced our online magazine’s 2017 advertising rates. If you missed it, we also recently launched pre-orders of our 2017 annual hardcover edition and hosted our ninth group interview. Last call for one of the biggest American Revolution conferences of the year. If you’re free the weekend of […]
Strong in the memories of North Carolina veterans of the Revolution were images of Tory (Americans loyal to the British government) terrorists, mounted on horses (some stolen from Patriots) and flourishing guns and swords.[1] Few of these soldier veterans had been at home during a Tory raid. More often, what the men said in their […]
Before ever he was a president, vice president, ambassador, Continental Congressmen, or Massachusetts lawyer, John Adams was a schoolmaster in a rural hamlet in Colonial Massachusetts. And he was in a state of torment. “I find myself very much inclined to an unreasonable absence of mind, and to a morose and unsociable disposition,” he lamented […]
The war between Britain and her North American colonies shut off the availability of raw materials, specifically timber, tar, and pitch, for the British Royal Navy and her commercial fleet. This placed greater concern on protecting their second biggest supplier, the Baltic States. Part of that protection included confiscating all contraband and naval stores […]
As the colonies of South Carolina and Georgia moved closer to open rebellion against Great Britain in the summer of 1775, leaders of the revolutionary movement found themselves facing a host of potential threats. In addition to the numerous loyalists in both colonies, the tribes of pro-British Indians on their frontiers, and the possibility of […]
