About Don N. Hagist Don N. Hagist, editor of Journal of the American Revolution, is an independent researcher specializing in the demographics and material culture of the British Army in the American Revolution. He maintains a blog about British common soldiers and has published a number of articles in academic journals. His books includeThe Revolution’s Last […]
Book Review: The Queen’s American Rangers by Donald J. Gara (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2015). There have been very few studies of specific Revolutionary War units, an unusual situation given the number of Civil War unit histories. This is a field where a diligent historian can illuminate particular aspects of a regiment’s service as well as its […]
Glazier, Masters & Co.[1] of Hallowell, Maine, in 1830 published A narrative of some of the adventures, dangers and sufferings of a Revolutionary soldier; interspersed with anecdotes of incidents that occurred within his own observation. Written by himself. Authored anonymously by an impoverished Maine farmer and relic of the Revolution, its author has since been […]
If Samuel Adams was Boston’s “leading agitator” and “engineer of rebellion,” as textbooks and popularizations commonly proclaim, we might assume he engineered the rebellion that swept through Massachusetts in the late summer and fall of 1774. He did in fact play a role in that uprising, but not the one commonly granted him.[i] In 1772, working […]
Walk Where Battles Were Fought and Heroes Were Forged The Ninety Six National Historic site is an area of unique historical significance. There is always curiosity as to the origin of the name Ninety Six. There are several legends surrounding how Ninety Six got its name but the most popular one is a romanticized legend […]
The use of foreign troops in time of war was not an uncommon practice in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Much as we have treaties, like NATO, for mutual support, eighteenth-century countries banded together, particularly along family lines, as royal families intermarried to secure and promote their economic and political interests. When the troubles between […]
We know the familiar figure of King George III, often portrayed by painters in either military uniform or his coronation robes. He is the central villain in the Declaration of Independence, the unhappy victim of the crowd pulling him down, vicariously, as his statue rides a horse in New York City. Dozens of books portray […]
Destruction of Falmouth (modern day Portland, Maine) On October 8, 1775, a British naval squadron of four ships, led by the lightly armed vessel Canceaux, sailed from Boston Harbor.1 The squadron’s commander, Lieutenant Henry Mowat, had orders from Admiral Samuel Graves, to “chastise” a number of coastal settlements north of Boston. Ten towns were identified as […]
Book Review: Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution by Kathleen DuVal (New York: Random House, 2015). Increasingly, historians are interpreting the American Revolution from two wider perspectives. First, it was a global war fought on five continents with major battles outside of the thirteen colonies critical to the war’s outcome. Second, […]
It is considered the oldest, continuously serving military unit in the United States. The 1st Company, Governors Foot Guard has as much a storied history as the state that it serves. It came into existence in 1771, when the Connecticut General Assembly approved a petition that had been submitted by a group of prominent Hartford […]
Everything we know about Brig. Gen. Andrew Williamson leads to one question: Did he become a traitor to the Patriot cause—the “Arnold of the South,” or is he a scapegoat, a victim of powerful men seeking to avoid blame and censure? This is a look at a two week period following the death of Williamson. […]
At the same time that George Washington and the Continental army besieged Thomas Gage and his forces at Boston in November 1775, Britain’s Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the south, John Stuart, sent a letter to Gage. Within, Stuart warned Gage that his situation had grown considerably precarious in the south, as “the competition for […]
In August, Journal of the American Revolution welcomed five new writers: Ken Daigler, Rich Wood, Travis Martin, Janet Wedge and Erin Weinman. Since our launch in January 2013, we’ve published more than 635 articles by 101 expert authors. That’s easily more than 1.5 million words about the American Revolution! Another impressive stat: The site, allthingsliberty.com, has had 1.4 million unique readers […]
One of the things that make human intelligence operations so interesting is that you never know how, and for that matter whether, an operation will work out as planned. Lt. Lewis J. Costigin’s mission as a spy for George Washington did eventually work out. But, not the first time he tried in early 1777. In […]
You have sent General Gage, who is a man of great abilities, to quell the disturbances in that country, which I am sure he never will do, unless, at the same time that you give him the sword in one hand, you give him the olive branch in the other; and I think you will […]
Perhaps you’ve seen this mythbuster: “WHO WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? I suspect George Washington was your best guess. After all, who else comes to mind? But think back to your history books – The United States declared its independence in 1776, yet George Washington did not take office until […]
A great deal of the American Revolution took place in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley. The region was home to a number of forts, skirmishes, battles, and encampments; one site, King’s Ferry, can lay claim to having hosted all of the above. Actually two sites separated by the Hudson River, Stony Point and Verplanck Point […]
When people think about Thomas Jefferson, they think of a founding father, an advocate of liberty, and an American Patriot. But what people don’t normally think about is Thomas Jefferson’s scientific mind. Jefferson was a man who explored anything and everything that attracted his interest. He took it upon himself to value knowledge above almost […]
Among other communicable diseases, the itch was common in military installations of the eighteenth century. Unlike smallpox and typhus, the itch was not in itself fatal, but was stressful and debilitating to soldiers and sailors on both sides of the conflict in the American Revolution. Today the distressing malady is known as scabies, “a disease […]
Most professional and amateur historians of the American Revolutionary period are very aware of George Washington’s prowess as a military commander of the Continental Army, his role at the Constitutional Convention and his performance as the United States’ first chief executive. Unfortunately, many have overlooked Washington’s significant role, while he was still commander of the […]
Niagara Falls, known to Indians, explorers, missionaries, and fur traders in the seventeenth century, became a waystop in the eighteenth century for settlers and government officials as Upper Canada was developed, as well as a familiar landmark to loyalist refugees who migrated to the area from the warring colonies. American travelers were drawn to this […]
About Michael Barbieri: A life-long Vermonter, Mike has spent forty years researching and interpreting the Revolution with a concentration on the northern theater. He has taught history at high school and college levels and has given innumerable presentations on the 18th century. In 1974, Mike helped form Whitcomb’s Rangers and subsequently based his master’s thesis […]
The Shakers reached their heyday in the nineteenth century, when they lived in orderly communities, membership swelled to five thousand believers, and many non-Shakers visited them and praised their modesty, neatness, and productivity. But Shakerism in America began against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War, and during that time the group of celibate and intensely […]
Isaac Barré was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1726. He was educated at Trinity College and following graduation in 1745 enrolled at the Inns of Court. Within a year he lost interest in the law and decided to enter the military. He served as an infantry officer, becoming a captain in the 32nd Regiment of […]
About John L. Smith, Jr. John L. Smith, Jr. is a retired corporate communications manager for a Florida energy company. He is a state certified social sciences instructor and a former board member of the Tampa Bay History Center. His family lineage holds membership numbers with Sons of the American Revolution. Smith is a Vietnam-era […]
There isn’t a doubt that Oliver Reed was just like any other soldier who had gone away to fight in the American Revolution, writing home to his wife and four young children in Pomfret, Connecticut as he was stationed many miles away in New York during April 1776. “I want to se you very much […]
For Sir Henry Clinton, the capitulation of Charleston, South Carolina constituted not only the most stunning British victory of the war, but something of a personal vindication as well. In truth, the May 12, 1780 surrender of the vital southern port was a staggering blow to the Patriot war effort. Clinton enthusiastically claimed to have […]
There’s nothing like the murder of a young, innocent woman to get patriotic fervor in an uproar. The death of Jane McCrea in 1777, supposedly at the hands of Indians commissioned by British Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne, outraged Patriots and led to a huge surge of recruiting in New York. The story then went down […]
A browse through the eighteenth century newspapers turns up more than just political news, op-eds and want ads. Sometimes there’s marital mud-slinging of the sort that we’ve come to expect only from television and the internet. Although we’re tempted to think of our forebears as more refined and moralistic than today, there was no shortage […]
Thanks to everyone for making July a spectacular month at Journal of the American Revolution. We welcomed 125,000 readers and four new writers: T. J. Johnson, Michael Tuosto, Jason R. Wickersty and Steven Park. We also tweaked our logo to add a little more pizazz. Looking forward, the pipeline is filled with an impressive range of articles. […]
About Michael Cecere Michael Cecere teaches U.S. History at Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County, Virginia and at Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge, Virginia. He was recognized by the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution as their 2005 Outstanding Teacher of the Year, is a former president of the […]
Book Review: General Washington’s Commando: Benjamin Tallmadge in the Revolutionary War by Richard F. Welch. Jefferson (McFarland & Company, 2014). While most historians agree that American victory in the Revolutionary War would not have been possible without George Washington’s military leadership, it is less frequently noted that Washington could not have exercised effective command without […]
The Traditional Narrative of the Gaspee Affair Patriot fervor seemed to have cooled in the months and years following the Boston Massacre in 1770. All of the taxes of the 1760s had been repealed, save on tea, and the famous Boston Tea Party was still more than one year off. The Admiralty had purchased several […]
No, I have not lost my mind. Of course, the Americans won their freedom from British rule. However, what started in 1775, as an American rebellion against British rule in the thirteen colonies evolved into a far-reaching global war among world’s most powerful nations. Fighting between Britain and American allies including France, Spain and The […]
About Thomas Verenna Thomas Verenna is a member of the Valley Forge Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, an Associate Board Member of the Moore Township Historical Commission, and a History student at Columbia College, MO. He is an alumnus of Valley Forge Military Academy—about five miles away from the site of 1777-1778 encampment—which he […]
The British defeat at Yorktown in October 1781 did little to convince those fighting that peace was near. Gen. George Washington pleaded with his French naval ally, Admiral de Grasse, for a campaign against other British strongholds, perhaps in the Carolinas. When Grasse, instead, returned to the Caribbean, Washington began planning for his 1782 campaign […]
Almost every student of the Revolutionary War has heard of Deborah Sampson, the Massachusetts woman who disguised herself as a man and served for over a year as a Continental soldier.[1] As fascinating as her case is, it was exceedingly unusual; although some historians have attempted to prove that many women served in the ranks […]
Before a single British soldier set foot on New Jersey soil, Deputy Adjutant-General of the British Army in North America Stephen Kemble was concerned for his native colony. “Shudder for Jersey,” he confided in his journal on November 7, 1776, “the Army being thought to move there Shortly.”[1] Once the invasion and occupation of the […]
On June 12, 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to prepare a plan of confederation for the young colonies. The articles directed the states to supply whatever requisitions Congress requested. Article VIII stated that expenses “Shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states, in proportion to […]
