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BOOK REVIEW: Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America by Jordan E. Taylor (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022) Almost…
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BOOK REVIEW: The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet (New York: Henry Holt and Company,…
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“In war, as in medicine, natural causes not under our control, do much.” Gen. Horatio Gates wrote this about the terrain that so heavily…
We expect writers for the Journal of the American Revolution to use primary sources—things written as close as possible to the time of the events…
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“Dear Brother,” wrote Thomas Plumb from Newport, Rhode Island, on February 22, 1777, “this comes with my kind Love to you and hope these…
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During the night of April 18-19, 1775, a force of roughly 700 British soldiers left Boston on a mission to find and destroy rebel…
Three pounds was a lot money for a working man in Scotland in the mid-1770s. More than two months’ pay for a laborer, it…
When British soldiers arrived in Boston in 1768 as part of the British government’s efforts to maintain peace in the colony of Massachusetts, local…
The pandemic of 2020 caused disruption and delays in the publishing industry just as it did to so many other facets of the global…
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John Marshall Deane was a soldier in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, among the oldest established regiments of the British army, in March…
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From 1952 until 1967, a popular American television show featured a panel of celebrities trying to guess a secret about a non-celebrity guest. The…
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“The number of sick increasing every day, in all the different Camps of the army,” wrote Capt. John Peebles in his diary on September…
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Congratulations! You’ve been commissioned as an officer in the Continental Army, and General Washington has given you command of an important position near the…
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A Redcoat in America: The Diaries of Lieutenant William Bamford, 1757-1765 and 1776 edited by John B. Hattendorf (Helion & Company, 2019) Writings of…
Martha Bradley lived in an age when a prosperous household often brewed its own beer, culturing and storing it in large wooden vessels in…
In her recipes for November, Martha Bradley included only three for “Confectionary,” all of them jellies or custards. Her pies were savory, and her…
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To accompany our roast, Martha Bradley in her 1756 work The British Housewife: or, the Cook, Housekeeper’s, and Gardiner’s Companion included recipes for stews, savory…
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Yesterday, Martha Bradley, in her 1756 publication The British Housewife: or, the Cook, Housekeeper’s, and Gardiner’s Companion, explained to us the various poultry available in…
Autumn is when many North Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a tradition that dates back to the Reformation in England in the sixteenth century. Journal of…
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John Sutherland had intended only to visit his brother, and now he sat in confinement, awaiting a death sentence. It was not a likely…
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During the era of the American Revolution, cannons did not fire exploding projectiles, so the image of explosions on the battlefield doesn’t apply. Mortars…
“About five weeks after he made his escape from Prospect hill,” Augustine Barrett told the board of inquiry, “he was confined in the Prison…
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Quarters: The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution by John Gilbert McCurdy (Cornell University Press, 2019) Question: “Why did…
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In March and April of 1780, there was a string of home invasions and robberies around the villages of Jamaica and Flushing on Long…
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John Row was a British officer in the 9th Regiment of Foot, and he was in love with Jane Innes. For six years their…
In today’s trial, see if you agree with the court’s verdict and sentence. In determining guilt, the court considered several factors: was the man…
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Desertion was a capital crime, but it was up to a general court martial, a board of thirteen officers, to determine the defendant’s guilt…
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If a British soldier was absent without leave, he might be charged with desertion; if caught, he could be tried by a general court…
In this second trial, see if you agree with the court’s verdict and sentence. In determining guilt, the officers of the general court martial…
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This week JAR Editor Don N. Hagist presents the testimony from five British desertion trials held during the American Revolution. For each trial, see…
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The American Revolution’s armies got their horsepower from horses. These animals carried cavalrymen into battle, pulled cannons, carts and wagons of all description, hauled…
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The 38th Regiment of Foot disembarked in Boston in the summer of 1774, and spent the next nine years in America involved in some…
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George Washington is credited with being a great spy master, and the feats of his Culper spy ring have become famous. How did he…
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Wives of British soldiers were allowed to accompany their husbands overseas, much like spouses of military personnel often do today. Unlike modern militaries, however,…
A chapter in Henrietta Overing Auchmuty’s life has been overlooked by history. Perhaps she would’ve wanted it that way, for it is a story…
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Book Review: The Dog Head Sword of Succasunna: Forgotten Family Patriots and Loyalists in the Revolutionary War by John Lawrence Brasher (Shelby Printing, 2016) [BUY NOW…
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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]…
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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…
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Duncan Grant was proud of his wife. She was someone to write home about, and that’s exactly what he did. In a letter to…