Author: Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.

Douglas J. Dorney, Jr. is a licensed Architect specializing in Science and Technology projects. When not designing buildings, he is researching the Revolutionary War in the South. He is the author of Revolutionary War Soldiers of the Southern States: A Demographic View (Westholme, 2026). Currently, he is researching and writing a companion piece to his book focusing on the demographics of soldiers of the middle states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.

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Reviews Posted on

Georgia’s First Elected Governor: John Adam Treutlen and the American Revolution

BOOK REVIEW: Georgia’s First Elected Governor: John Adam Treutlen and the American Revolution by W. Wright Mitchell (Independently Published, 2026) $25.00 paperback. The colonial and Revolutionary War histories of Georgia have received comparatively little historical attention. This is also true for many of Georgia’s Patriot and Loyalist political and military leaders. W. Wright Mitchell’s biography […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

The Sieges of Fort Morris, Georgia

The two sieges of Fort Morris have remained comparatively obscure events in the historiography of the 1778 British invasion of Georgia. Overshadowed by the larger-scale capture of Savannah, the sieges were nonetheless impactful events in the intensifying war in the southern states. With the eventual surrender of the fort, the British army and navy consolidated […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
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War at Sea and Waterways (1775–1783) Posted on

The Deadliest Seconds of the War

On March 7, 1778, one of the deadliest naval battles of the Revolutionary War occurred off the coast of Barbados between the British ship Yarmouth and an American squadron led by the Continental frigate Randolph. The five-ship American contingent which sailed from Charlestown, South Carolina, led by Capt. Nicholas Biddle, was the largest joint Continental […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
Arts & Literature Posted on

Major Peter Charles L’Enfant: Artist and Engineer of the Revolution

Major Peter L’Enfant is most well-known for his 1791 “wholly new” plan for the Federal City that would become Washington, DC. Fewer are aware of his previous experience during the Revolutionary War where he served as an aide-de-camp, engineer, and sometimes as an artist and light infantry officer. This military service, coupled with his fine […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
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Critical Thinking Posted on

A Demographic View of South Carolina Revolutionary War Soldiers, 1775–1783

Over the past few years, three demographic studies of North Carolina and Georgia Revolutionary War pension applicants have been completed (North Carolina militia, North Carolina Line, Georgia). A similar study of South Carolina soldiers who served in the Continental Line, state troops, and militia provides compiled demographic data of those who served in that state, […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
Critical Thinking Posted on

A Demographic View of the Georgia Continental Line and Militia: 1775–1783

To complement my two studies of the North Carolina Continental Line and militia/state troops, I’ve researched the demographics of the Georgia Continental Line and militia using Federal pension applications.[1] The colony of Georgia at the beginning of the Revolutionary War consisted only of a series of counties along the Savannah River running from the Atlantic coast […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
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Critical Thinking Posted on

A Demographic View of the North Carolina Continental Line, 1775–1783

Many North Carolina soldiers served in both the North Carolina militia/state troops and one of the state’s Continental regiments. To complement my study of the demographics of the militia and state troops, this article presents a detailed look at North Carolina Continental soldiers who served only in the North Carolina Continental Line. The North Carolina […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
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Critical Thinking Posted on

A Demographic View of North Carolina Militia and State Troops, 1775–1783

After nearly a quarter of a millennium, what do we really know about the militia and state troops that served during the Revolutionary War? Historians and researchers over the past century have dedicated entire volumes to addressing this question with numerous publications of militia rosters. While this research has proven invaluable, what does it really […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.
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Espionage and Cryptography Posted on

Captain John De Treville: Continental Officer and British Spy

In late June 1780 a messenger arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, with intelligence for Lt. Gen. Charles, Earl Cornwallis. The messenger, Capt. John La Boularderie De Treville, was a South Carolina Continental artillery officer and prisoner of war on parole. He was also a British spy. On at least four occasions, from June 1780 to January […]

by Douglas R. Dorney, Jr.