The French army was returning from Yorktown, Virginia in 1782 on their way to Newport and Boston. Lt. Gen. Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de Rochambeau, preferring his duty to his comfort, always ordered his general staff to select the house closest to the camp for his headquarters. When the army reached Crompond, New […]
Casimir Pulaski, an exiled Polish nobleman, through the influence of well-placed individuals in the French Court and based on his experience as the de facto military leader of the rebel forces in Poland[1] was able to obtain interviews and letters of recommendation from both Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin.[2] He arrived at Marblehead, Massachusetts, with […]
In 1779, three years into the British occupation of New York during the American Revolution, a man returned to the city to “attend the usual hours of business at [Merchants’] Coffee House.”[1] He must have been destined to pursue his particular trade, for his name was “William Tongue, Licensed Auctioneer.”[2] The institution to which the […]
In the spring of 1781, Washington’s army was small (he would report on July 15 that he had only 5,835 rank and file); “the civil departments [were] totally destitute of money,” and with no money supplies could not be secured. Washington knew that France was not going to continue to support the United States with […]
Deep in South Carolina’s back country the Loyalist world came apart in the fall of 1781. British occupation ended with their retreat into the Charleston area and proclamations concerning safety of the loyalist families had been largely ignored by local Patriots. Vengeance and plunder were the priorities for far too many. The time of oppression […]
Thomas Paine’s close associations with famous Freemasons in America, England, and France have not only frequently been taken as evidence that he was a Freemason himself, but have also been seen as explaining his sudden rise to literary and political prominence after arriving in the American colonies from England. His writing of an essay “On […]
Book review: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton and Company, 2016). [BUY BOOK ON AMAZON] Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale of a young Englishman seeking the favor of his wealthy relation in colonial America opens Alan Taylor’s new book on the American Revolution.[1] Instead of encountering his prosperous relation presiding peacefully over his […]
The American War for Independence, like any great historical episode, has its share of legends and mythology. The period from 1775 to 1783, perhaps more than any other period in our short history, went through the wringer of nineteenth century romanticism perhaps a little worse for the wear. Students of the period too often find […]
The study of ancient Greece and Rome was a significant part of upper class education in Colonial and Revolutionary America. The founders were familiar with spread of Greek democracy, the fall of the Roman Republic, concepts of citizenship, and the rise of tyrants and dictators. They drew cautionary lessons, particularly about the vulnerabilities of democracies […]
Six months of struggle shaped into twenty-six characters. A – Arrival The Continental Army under Gen. George Washington trudged into Valley Forge on December 19, 1777. About 14,000 soldiers and hundreds of women and children came to this winter encampment, the third of the Revolutionary War. The army left Valley Forge six months later, on […]
JAR had another busy few weeks welcoming three new writers — Gregory J. W. Urwin, Alex Colvin, C. E. Pippenger —and making great progress on our 2017 Annual Volume (the cover art is featured here for the first time). The annual hardback will publish in spring and feature about four dozen articles by scores of JAR contributors, including […]
Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.[1] Valley Forge. For most Americans, the very name of the Pennsylvania winter encampment conjures up images of destitute soldiers woefully lacking the basic necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter. It would seem, however, that there was a good bit of liquor to […]
Book review: Hector Maclean: The Writings of a Loyalist-Era Military Settler in Nova Scotia by Jo Currie, Keith Mercer, John G. Reid (Gaspereau Press, 2015) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Recent scholarship has placed more focus on the plight of Loyalists who were displaced from their homes and livelihoods in the United States, and the struggles they […]
With the clash of arms that began the American Revolution, Capt. Barent J. Ten Eyck, of the Albany County Militia, served as courier for the Committee of Safety, Correspondence, and Protection in Albany, NY. The first week of May 1775, the “worthy” Ten Eyck delivered a letter of solidarity to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety […]
Attacking at night, during a snowstorm: genius or folly? For Gen. Richard Montgomery at Quebec on December 31, 1775, it was a fatal disaster, but for Gen. George Washington at Trenton, New Jersey on December 26, 1776, it was a stroke of tactical brilliance that resulted in a complete and game-changing victory. There were many […]
Gen. George Washington, from the point of view of Americans being trapped at “York,”[1] wrote these prophetic words- These by being upon a narrow neck of land, would be in danger of being cut off. The enemy might very easily throw up a few ships into York and James’ river, as far as Queens Creek; […]
There was certainly no love lost between two of the three Virginia gentlemen from Prince William County who stood for office in the county’s 1761 election for the House of Burgesses. Five years earlier, in 1756, Henry Peyton’s petition to the House of Burgess accusing Henry Lee II of electoral misconduct (specifically that “he had […]
In the spring of 1841, a correspondent from the Hartford Courant went to East Windsor, Connecticut looking for an elderly man who was a bit of a local celebrity. The Courant, which had originated as a weekly newspaper in 1764, played a large influential role in affecting the opinions of many within Connecticut during the […]
The American War of Independence produced many dramatic episodes, but none surpassed the campaign that Lt. Gen. Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis, conducted in North Carolina during the first three months of 1781 for hair-raising suspense and heartbreak. Things got off to a bad start for the British on January 17, 1781, at the Battle of […]
On the pages of the Journal of the American Revolution there have been articles on the best and worst generals of the Revolutionary War. It is not a question of the best or worst but rather how could a group of amateur generals leading a force of civilians abruptly turned into fighting men defeat a […]
Virginia’s role in helping to spearhead disestablishment and religious freedom has not received the treatment it deserves although it was, itself, a moving force behind Virginia’s entrée into the revolution. It was, in fact, Virginia which ultimately spearheaded and codified separation of church and state, after a reform movement which itself played a significant role […]
The Battle of Valcour Island was, in many ways, a waterborne version of the Battle of Bunker Hill: a greatly superior British force rushed, with little forethought or planning, into a fight against Americans making a stand on ground (or water) of their choosing. After a long and bloody battle, the British drove the American […]
Even under the strange, somewhat inept leadership of Loyalist Col. John Moore, the task of hampering Spartanburg’s Fair Forest role as a Patriot stronghold should have been straightforward. What could not have been known is what would happen when the frontier’s best sharpshooter teamed up with three lovely, most remarkable of women along with a […]
In July 1776, two hundred and forty years ago this year, the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring the United Colonies to be the United States. Three months later, on the waters of Lake Champlain, a naval battle took place that would, as much as any event in the war, make that declaration […]
A re-evaluation from a British perspective in the light of The Cornwallis Papers Relying mostly on inferences drawn from my commentary in The Cornwallis Papers,[1] I shall seek to demonstrate that Britain’s grand strategy for reducing the southern colonies was at least in part sound and it may well have achieved a lasting measure of success […]
Book review: George Washington’s Secret Spy War: The Making of America’s First Spymaster by John A. Nagy (St. Martin’s Press, September 2016) [BUY NOW ON AMAZON] Revolutionary War era spying has received a great deal of attention over the past decade. The “Culper Ring,” which provided George Washington with intelligence operating out of New York City […]
Did George Washington grow hemp? Yes. Hemp was a well-known, multi-purpose crop. Did George Washington smoke hemp? There’s absolutely zero evidence that he grew it or used it for recreational purposes. Now that we have the essentials out of the way, we can have a thoughtful look at this subject once and for all. In […]
Best known in this country for his role in the in the Yorktown Campaign of the American Revolution, the Duc de Lauzun (April 13, 1747 –December 31, 1793) has often been dismissed as a man who loved the ladies and grumbled about Rochambeau. Lauzun deserves a much closer look. He was a dedicated and (usually) […]
On July 15, 1775, less than two weeks after he arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take command of the Continental Army, Gen. George Washington penned this entry in his expense notebook: To 333 1/3 Dollars give to —— ——* to enduce him to go into the Town of Boston; to establish a secret correspondence for […]
Historians today strive to interpret the past with a fresh, hip outlook. Long before there was talk about making history accessible and fun, Major John André of the British Army was chronicling events of the American Revolution in a style that provided mass market appeal. Affair of Honor Between the summers of 1777 and 1778, […]
What a month! Fresh off one of our busiest months ever, Journal of the American Revolution welcomed nine new writers: Ian Saberton, Dennis Ness, Philip D. Weaver, Roger Smith, Phillip R. Giffin, Kelly Mielke, Charles H. Lagerbom, C. L. Bragg and Zachary Brown. We also began work on our 2017 hardcover edition—stay tuned for details next month. And last call […]
The Fourth Amendment The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to […]
A re-evaluation from a British perspective in the light of The Cornwallis Papers It was in 1975, when I was researching the American Revolution, that I came upon the Cornwallis papers in the UK National Archives. I was much surprised that, despite the passage of almost 200 years and the vast extent of literature on the […]
“Pennies make dollars” is a phrase that has been around a long time and we all know what it means. But, how many pennies does it take to make a dollar? Silly question you may say—it’s one-hundred, of course. That’s the right answer for today’s America, but that would not necessarily be the right answer […]
By the end of the war, James McKay had earned quite a reputation for severity against the Loyalists. So much so that, even in Georgia, site of the most vicious private fighting, McKay was sanctioned for brutality. Even with the sanction, many of the people defended his actions as appropriate while others agreed the vengeful […]
Mr. Duncan McDougall, a merchant from German Flats area of New York’s Mohawk Valley, joined Capt. Joseph Bloomfield’s company of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment on June 27, 1776, as a volunteer (with the pseudo rank of “cadet”).[1] This was well into the campaign year, so he was walking into an already functioning unit. McDougall […]
Prior to the end of 1776, there was no militia or minuteman company established in Colonial Pennsylvania. The Provincial government was ruled by the Quakers under the William Penn family in Pennsylvania, since its land grant in the 1600’s. [1] The Quaker religion, being pacifist, would not allow a person to bear arms or provide […]
One of the most enjoyable aspects of researching the history of the American Revolution is the process of looking beneath and/or beyond those events and factoids that survive simply because they are a “given.” “Givens” are the greatest indicators of opportunities to search for missing pieces to any historical puzzle and new questions are the […]
Young Samuel Webb was a legend in his time, a hero of the American Revolution.[1] Some said he was “raised with three silver spoons” engraved with the initials of his three prominent Connecticut families (Webb, Deane, and Saltonstall). Others said he was a good friend, an active, gregarious, and literate young man who wrote engaging […]
