After two years of publishing at a vigorous pace, we are finally taking a short vacation. Although it won’t be much of a vacation as we’ll be busy working on our Annual Volume 2015, selecting our Book of the Year Award winner(s) and editing new article submissions. While we’re away, we have two important assignments […]
Milestones Westholme Publishing Partnership Announced (Volume 2015 publishing in May) Book of the Year Award Unveiled (winner being announced in January 2015) Volume 1 Earns 17 Five-Star Reviews on Amazon “What an adventure to enjoy the articles in this fabulous treasure trove…” (C. Weatherhead) “This book is a no brainer for anyone with even the […]
Who was the biggest oddball of the founders? Why? Every Founder had his “foibles,” as Washington acknowledged about himself, but Charles Lee was hands down the most eccentric of the bunch. But his eccentricity did not diminish his military talents. He made mistakes (what general didn’t), but at times his presence and leadership were […]
Of all the disputed topics, events, reputations or battles of the Revolution, which is the greatest? Explain. Militarily, Howe’s failure to pursue Washington’s beleaguered force trapped on the tip of Long Island remains something of a puzzle, despite attempts to reconstruct an answer. On a different note, this question intrigues me. I think we […]
Revolutionary person known for one thing who should be known for something else? And the winner is Benedict Arnold, almost universally known as one of the greatest traitors of them all while Horatio Gates keeps getting credit as the “hero of Saratoga.” In reality, Arnold was the true hero of Saratoga, if field leadership […]
Which one event of the Revolution is incorrectly interpreted most often? Explain. The battle of Saratoga. There is a group who are determined to prove Horatio Gates deserves most of the credit. I don’t agree. I have a low opinion of “Granny” Gates. His flight to the rear at Camden (after demonstrating his total […]
Which American Revolution book do you refer to most often (not to be confused with “favorite book”)? Why? The single volume that I access most often is Mark M. Boatner’s Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. In it, I can generally find something about almost any topic pertaining to the American Revolution that either answers […]
In early September 1781, General Sir Henry Clinton, the British Commander in Chief in America, found himself facing a combined Franco-American force poised to attack his stronghold in New York. Or so he believed. Purposely deceived by the allies that an attack was forthcoming, he eventually decided that his only option was to make a […]
On July 10, 1780, a French fleet of seven ships of the line and four frigates under Admiral Chevalier de Ternay, along with thirty-six transport vessels carrying about 6,000 French soldiers commanded by Lieutenant General Comte de Rochambeau and their supplies, arrived off of Newport, Rhode Island. The plan was to use the port town […]
On March 9, 1764, George Grenville proposed a stamp tax in a speech to Parliament; its purpose was to reduce the cost of maintaining 10,000 garrisoned soldiers in North America. Grenville claimed it would be similar to the one administered in England in 1694.[1] Eleven months later, on February 17, the Act was passed in […]
Had he made it through the war, John McClure’s name would likely draw equal fame and respect as the nation’s most celebrated southern patriots. Indeed, not only can John be considered the first officer in the field against British occupation after the disaster at Charleston in June 1780 but, without his courage and leadership, the […]
Book Review: For Fear of an Elective King: George Washington and the Presidential Title Controversy of 1789 by Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon (Cornell University Press, 2014) The debate that erupted in the Congress in the spring of 1789 as to whether the delegates should address the president as “His Majesty the President” or “His Highness the President […]
On the 5th of March, 1770, Newton Prince heard Boston’s church bells start to ring. He ran to the door of his house and heard “the cry of fire.” Putting on his shoes, Prince went out to help fight the blaze, as town inhabitants were supposed to do. On the streets he asked other men […]
With the recent popularity of spies in the Revolutionary War, led by AMC’s TURN cable television series and the bestselling book George Washington’s Secret Six: the Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution, the impact that spies had on the outcome of campaigns and other aspects of the war has sometimes been exaggerated. I focus […]
As we begin to slow down for the holiday season, we wish all our writers and readers cheerful memories and happy celebrations. This November, we welcomed Carol Sue Humphrey to our roster of contributors and saw John L. Smith, Jr.’s article about Washington’s wooden teeth featured by Smithsonian.com. We also welcomed our latest advertiser, America’s […]
How did you know today was Thanksgiving Day? Well, it is a national holiday and all, but besides that, how did you know? Odds are you just, well, knew, because everyone’s been talking about it for at least a few weeks, if for no other reason. But even months ago, if you wanted to know, […]
The must-attend American Revolution conference of 2015 is being hosted by America’s History, LLC, one of the nation’s leading history tour and conference companies. The conference will take place the weekend of March 20-22, 2015, at the Colonial Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel in Williamsburg, Virginia. Friday, March 20 (7 pm) – Sunday, March 22 (Noon) Colonial […]
It probably started out as a good party, but as sometimes happens when merriment is mixed with a little too much alcohol, it ended badly. The one redeeming factor was that key events went on record, leaving us with valuable insights into the lives of soldiers and their wives during the American Revolution. By November […]
In 1775, the tension between the American colonies and Great Britain escalated into armed conflict at then-little-known places such as Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. As a result, throughout the spring and into the summer American colonial legislatures and the military were scrambling to secure supplies of every kind. Until that time much of the […]
It’s that time of year again – time to find the perfect holiday gift for the history lover in your life, even if that person is you! Sharpen up your quill, mix up some ink powder, smooth out a new sheet of laid paper and start making out that list. The Editors here at Journal […]
On June 23, 1775, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to write a declaration that would explain the military conflict with England to the American people. The members of the committee were John Jay, Thomas Johnson, John Rutledge, Benjamin Franklin, and William Livingston. On June 26, after a draft was submitted to Congress and sent […]
An essential part of a gentleman’s possessions was a good library, containing books on a variety of subjects to reinforce a well-rounded classical education. Besides books on agriculture, literature, history, geography and arts, a selection of military books were a likely part of this library. In an era of militias officered by the gentleman class, […]
According to some local sources, “Long island was the Thermopylae of the Revolution and the Pennsylvania Germans were its Spartans.”[1] While laden with hyperbole and bias, this is the claim made about the Northampton County Flying Camp battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Kichline.[2] Kichline’s battalion, made up of four companies—two of which […]
We often see books which boast of an “unknown story” or “secret history” of an era, and the American Revolution remains ripe fodder for this claim. A quick look on Amazon shows dozens of recently published books, revealing the “untold” story of King’s Mountain, Saratoga, women, prisoners, African Americans, spies, George Washington’s marriage, and a […]
“The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only know how to use it,” said the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.[1] Benjamin Franklin had a lifetime of experience with the Press and knew well how to use it. In the spring of 1782, five months after Yorktown, Franklin was in Paris working on the […]
For Americans in the Revolutionary era, newspapers provided a major source of information about events related to the conflict with Great Britain. The people who produced these publications played a key role in getting the news out because they believed it was important for people to know what was happening. They also strongly supported their […]
George Washington did not chop down a cherry tree and carve wooden teeth from it. Maybe one of the most enduring myths in American history is that George Washington had wooden teeth. It seems to never go away, generation after generation. Well, not only did the first president not have wooden teeth, you could also […]
At the war’s outset, there was a dearth of proven military leadership within the thirteen colonies severely limiting the Continental Army’s ability to engage the British on equal terms. This paucity of military leadership was especially pronounced in the technical aspects of war including engineering, artillery and cavalry. To fill the void, the Continental Congress […]
In the spring of 1777, Washington and the Continental Army were encamped in the Blue Hills, now known as the Watchung Mountains, above the Scotch Plains at Morristown. Gen. Howe and the British army were stationed in New York City, on Staten Island, and at posts throughout New Jersey. The armies’ foraging parties skirmished in […]
First and foremost, thank you for making October 2014 our best traffic month ever. More than 94,000 visits by 54,000 unique visitors! Another major milestone was reached in October: Our one-millionth pageview since launch in January 2013. ONE MILLION PAGEVIEWS! Second, a hearty welcome to our newest authors: Steven M. Richman, Kim Burdick, and Will […]
In 1662, Charles II, the restored monarch of Great Britain, issued a charter for the founding of Connecticut. The colony’s borders were delineated as spreading from Narragansett Bay in the east to the “South Sea on the West.” Later the colony of New York took exception to this clause, and the two colonies battled over […]
Some time ago we saw the story of Mrs. Middleton, the wife of a British soldier, who took several Americans prisoner at the battle of Trois Rivieres in 1776.[1] Mrs. Middleton was one of several thousand wives who accompanied their British soldier husbands to America, or married them in America, and experienced the hardships and […]
When British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton began operations against Charleston in March 1780, he decided not to call upon the Loyalists in the South Carolina backcountry to assist him. Although employing Loyalists to aid the regular army was a key element of British strategy in the South, Clinton believed that they would be endangered […]
A frequent discovery when reading 18th Century newspapers is the runaway ads. In an era when people could be owned by or contractually bound to others, individuals who absconded were often advertised by their masters. These ads give us amazing descriptions of individuals and show the society’s remarkable diversity of physical attributes, demographics, personalities, situations […]
Some twelve years ago, as I was walking along Boston’s Freedom Trail with my family, I noticed an obelisk and monument in the front yard of King’s Chapel. As I peered closer at it, I read the title to the inscription: In Memory of THE CHEVALIER DE SAINT SAUVEUR first Chamberlin of his Royal Highness, […]
The Battle of Millstone in central New Jersey on 20 January 1777,[1] is a “local interest” battle, the kind that is often known only to locals and specialists, but on closer examination permits greater insight into other facets of the American Revolution. By one account, there were 1,331 military engagements in the war throughout the […]
On June 4, 1766, the New York Sons of Liberty gathered in a field, later known as the Commons, to celebrate the birthday of the King and the repeal of the Stamp Act. They erected a large mast with twelve tar barrels at its top and twenty-five cords of wood at its base.[1] The crowd […]
Book Review: The New Nation: The Creation of the United States in Paintings and Eyewitness Accounts The art of Mort Künstler, text by Edward G. Lengel. Sterling Publishing, 2014, ISBN: 1-4549-0773-8, ISBN13: 9781454907732, 9×10 hardcover, 208 color pages. We learn history through documents, but pictures make it come alive. It is unfortunate that relatively few […]
On November 6, 1779, Virginia major Henry Lee, commander of the Continental Army’s 2nd Partisan Corps, addressed a letter to British lieutenant colonel John Graves Simcoe, who eleven days before he had been trying to defeat in battle. “I am happy to hear by your polite reply to an offer dictated by the feelings of […]
