I had the opportunity to visit the grave of the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de LaFayette recently. As the American colonists were seeking to take more local control over their own affairs from the British, fighting against “taxation without representation,” and fighting for “the separation of church and State,” many people outside of America […]
As the sun set, Saturday, August 24, 1776, three American schooners, a sloop-of-war, and six gondolas sailed north from Crown Point toward the widest part of Lake Champlain. Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold aboard the schooner Royal Savage had been ordered by Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates to position his fleet at a narrows on the lake […]
On March 14, 1778, Gen. George Washington sent the following recommendation to Congress concerning Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski, who on February 28 had resigned as Commander of Horse: The Count, however, far from being disgusted with the service, is led by his thirst for glory, and zeal for the cause of Liberty, to solicit farther […]
Book Review: Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics and the Origins of American Independence by Justin du Rivage (Yale University Press, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] The typical narrative of the American Revolution generally posits 1763, which marked the end of the Seven Years’ War, as the beginning of the end for the British colonies in America.[1] That […]
In the early morning of May 30, 1777, my distant grandfather Sgt. Simon Giffin of Wethersfield, Connecticut left his home and followed the dirt trail over Rocky Hill and down to the Village Green. After three months of training and recruiting he had been called to muster with his regiment, the 9th Connecticut commanded by […]
George Washington biographies abound and the number continues to grow with at least fifteen new memoirs published in 2017. In fact, historian and Washington biographer Ron Chernow estimates that over nine hundred George Washington biographies have been written since the first by Mason Locke (Parson) Weems in 1800, a year after the General’s death.[1] By […]
On September 25, 1777, the day before British Gen. William Howe’s army triumphantly marched into the newly designated American capital of Philadelphia,[1] two of his officers were upstairs at Hull’s Tavern in New York City, resolving differences they had developed during the course of a trans-Atlantic voyage that had only ended earlier that day. A […]
On an October day in 1820, a fourteen-year-old African American boy trudged along a rural lane near the town of Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Two hundred miles from home, in a strange place he had never visited before, the boy tugged at a string trailing behind him. Tagging along at the other end was his father, Bristol […]
There are a lot of big numbers that demonstrate our exciting growth since publishing our first article in 2013. Four hardcover book series books published (and one forthcoming) Four collectible hardback volumes published More than 3.15 million unique website readers More than 5.7 million website pageviews More than 165 writers More than 5,600 comments on our articles (and nearly […]
I recently attended the Third Annual Conference of the American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference in Fort Plain, New York where I met an eighty-seven-year-old gentleman named Skip Barshied. Previously he had sent me a letter telling me of the large number of artifacts that he collected at the site of Fort Paris in Stone Arabia, […]
In a cemetery behind the Salem United Church of Christ, in Reamstown, Lancaster County, a boulder stands: This grinding bowl from East Cocalico is placed to Commemorate ITS MAKER THE AMERICAN INDIAN AND The Boulder, Three other local figures, who lived abreast of the loftier Traditions of their time, light and race: THE SOLDIER of […]
As events would prove, the autumn campaign was a very risky venture indeed, yet despite the operational difficulties attending it Cornwallis saw no option but to go on to the offensive after his victory at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, on August 16, 1780. As he had explained to Clinton, “It may be doubted […]
About Joshua Shepherd Joshua Shepherd, a sculptor and freelance writer, has created over 20 public monuments. His articles, with a special focus on Revolutionary and frontier America, have appeared in publications including MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Military Heritage, Muzzle Blasts, and The Artilleryman. He lives in rural Indiana with his wife and children. What […]
Book review: Dunmore’s War: The Last Conflict of America’s Colonial Era by Glenn Williams (Westholme, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] In 1763, King George III issued a proclamation essentially declaring the regions west of the Allegheny off limits to settlement by whites. As it took responsibility for territories once claimed by France, Britain hoped to […]
Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Franklin and, to a much greater extent, lesser notables such as Reed, Rush, Morris and dozens more profoundly understood what it would take to keep an army together, but it may well be that their wives and daughters knew something that they did not. A group of ‘knotty matrons’ proposed a […]
In 1775 London was the largest, most prosperous and economically important city in the world. [1] Though it was Britain’s capital, politically and economically it remained aloof from the rest of the Kingdom. Uniquely governed by an independent Corporation, it had declared itself a “commune” as early as 1191 and held a constitutional position of […]
It is not often the site of a Revolutionary War battle is rediscovered. It is even more unusual that the probable site is in between New Jersey’s largest trash dump and the loud rushing traffic of its most crowded highway. New research indicates that the site of the Battle of Bennett’s Island is either just […]
Before we break for Independence Day, we want to extend a hearty welcome to several new writers who joined the JAR squad in June—Katie Turner Getty, Richard J. Werther, Joseph F. Stoltz III, Robert N. Fanelli and Darren R. Reid. That makes an impressive crew of 164 journal writers total! We will be taking the week of July […]
The conflict in the south is often referred to as a civil war, pitting family members against each other. I haven’t really found too many instances of close family against each other; maybe Edward Lacey or James Habersham are good examples. But it is common to find entire families serving together in the district regiments. […]
“This is My Little Girl That I Was So Afraid the Red Coats Would Get” One important aspect of the Battle of Lexington that has been often overlooked by historians is the psychological and physical impact upon the civilian populace. Hours before the engagement, at approximately six o’clock in the evening of April 18, 1775, […]
As I summarized in The ‘Battle at McIntire’s Farm’, on October 3, 1780 Lord Cornwallis sent Maj. John Doyle on a foraging party north from Charlotte with over 500 men and 40 wagons. Capt. James Thompson, Lt. Francis Bradley and twelve other Patriots ambushed them at McIntire’s, killing several of the British then harassing Doyle’s […]
Based preponderantly on The Cornwallis Papers,[1] this article describes in part Cornwallis’s last days in Virginia, his brief sojourn in New York, and events thereafter leading up to his arrival in London. Immediately after the capitulation of Yorktown and Gloucester Cornwallis began to write his letter of October 20, 1781 reporting the outcome of the […]
Book review: Theaters of the American Revolution: Northern, Middle, Southern, Western, Naval by James Kirby Martin, Mark Edward Lender, Edward G. Lengel, Charles Neimeyer, Jim Piecuch and David Preston (Westholme Publishing, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] The concept of a global war divided into distinct geographic theaters, each with its own unique characteristics is well established […]
During the hot, humid Philadelphia summer of 1776, the writing of the Declaration of Independence was just another Congressional housekeeping chore which the delegates decided would have to be done to explain to people everywhere why the vote for American independence had just happened. As Thomas Jefferson later described it: “an appeal to the tribunal […]
Setting aside the question of whether or not the American Revolution was as radical as Gordon Wood famously argued that it was, at least two fundamental changes occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains in the last quarter of the eighteenth century that had little to do with the political revolution in the east.[1] Stephen Aron, […]
The fourth and final season of the TV series TURN: Washington’s Spies premiers Saturday, June 17. We had the pleasure of interviewing Alexander Rose, whose book about the Culper spy ring inspired the series. Your book Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring is the best known of several recent works on spycraft […]
Bunker Hill is one of the best-known battles of the American Revolution, recognized by name even among those who know little about the war.[1] In spite of this recognition, many important facts of the battle are overshadowed by misconceptions and romantic images. Undeniably, it was a British victory won at a cost so great that […]
We are thrilled to announce that our newest JAR book—Invasion of Virginia, 1781 by Michael Cecere—is now available for sale. [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Benedict Arnold vs. the Marquis de Lafayette. The notorious traitor to the Patriot cause and the symbol of international recognition for American independence faced off in battle in Virginia in 1781. […]
Continental Army general George Washington sat atop his horse ignoring the “smart skirmish” raging around him.[1] He could have joined his soldiers in attacking the Hessian troops “very much allarm’d” by the Americans’ “sudent appeerence before their works.” [2] Instead, Washington focused on the fortifications just beyond the Germans. The skirmish that occurred on July […]
In late November 1777, Col. William Grayson and a group of gentlemen gathered in a tavern near Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, a mile and half in front of their lines, glad to be out of the cold, but apprehensive that the enemy might even now be marching against them from their winter quarters in Philadelphia. They sat […]
William Bingham. Does the name sound familiar to you? Some of the readers of this journal will recognize it. For many others, including myself, who have read extensively about the American Revolution it may be a name they have either never encountered or may vaguely recall from a footnote someplace. In this era of “Founders […]
Capt. Samuel Whittemore, a seventy-eight year old American farmer, became a legend on April 19, 1775 when he was shot in the face by British soldiers, bayoneted at least six times, and clubbed in the head with the butts of their muskets. Armed with a musket and horse pistol, Whittemore had crouched behind a wall […]
Samuel MacKay The American invasion of Canada of 1775 failed during the following winter when the siege of Quebec City was raised by the arrival of British reinforcements from overseas. The rebels were pushed out of the province and driven south on Lake Champlain to take refuge in the fortress of Ticonderoga. For the 1777 […]
On September 26, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed an official Commission to France. It was composed of Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee. The Paris Commission, America’s first diplomatic mission abroad, opened in late December of 1776. Franklin was its de facto head of mission, and it was located in the Hotel de Valentinois, […]
Last call for Fort Plain Museum’s 2017 American Revolution Conference! The sign-up deadline has been extended to Tuesday, June 6. It was a busy month so here is a quick recap. In May, we welcomed more than 75,000 unique readers and two new writers: Aaron J. Palmer and Kyle Dalton. Our 2017 collectible hardcover and our newest JAR […]
Book review: Scars of Independence: America’s Violent Birth by Holger Hoock (Crown, 2017) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Wars take an awful human toll, no matter how just the cause. Regardless of the ideological, economic or other reasons that a war is fought, and regardless of how much humanity as a whole might benefit from the […]
“We Have Sacrificed Our All.” Thus, stated eleven loyalist officers from Ninety-Six and Camden Districts of South Carolina in a petition intended for the King of England. What happened to them, and the three hundred more named in the petition, is part of the equation leading to the question of how many families lost husbands […]
Its occupation by the British, the character of its inhabitants, and its flora, fauna and terrain Overall, I am of opinion that militarily the broad picture of the Revolutionary War has not markedly altered since the 1970s, but almost all interpretive works are written from an American perspective that does not always coincide with my […]
Benjamin Franklin was appointed an American Commissioner to France on September 26, 1776. [1] One month later he set sail for France where he arrived safely on December 3. His mission was to gain French support for American Independence. Little did he know that shortly after he arrived he would be confronted with an issue […]
