The James McMichael Journal, May 27, 1776–October 29, 1776
byEditor’s Note: This is part one of a five-part series. Part two. Part three. The “Diary” of Lieutenant James McMichael first appeared in 1890…
Editor’s Note: This is part one of a five-part series. Part two. Part three. The “Diary” of Lieutenant James McMichael first appeared in 1890…
Outmaneuvering and overwhelming the Patriots during the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn, the British won a huge victory by executing a daring night march around…
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…
If you are a theatre fan who is interested the American Revolution, you may have realized how few shows exist on the subject. While…
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…
In Hershel Parker’s excellent article in the October 2014 Journal of the American Revolution (“Fanning Outfoxes Marion”) he makes reference to an important research…
Put a large army in a rural community overseas, and some problems are bound to occur. Such was the case when thousands of British…
1. On July 4, 1776, the United States declared itself an independent nation. This is almost true, but the timing is a tad off….
Washington’s desperate situation in December 1776 and the critical victories at Trenton and Princeton have been described often and in great detail. His lack…
Lying between Vermont and New York, astride the border between the United States and Canada, accessible via canals from the St. Lawrence and Hudson…
It was an unfortunate expedient, but one that had grown unavoidable. On September 8, 1776, George Washington penned a lengthy report to Congress in…
After a British fleet of seventy-one warships and transports entered Narragansett Bay on December 7, 1776, and the next day landed soldiers that occupied…
This article was originally published in Journal of the American Revolution, Vol. 1 (Ertel Publishing, 2013). By Ray Raphael and Benjamin H. Irvin If…
It was January 1776. In a bold plan hatched in London to end this rebellion, General Sir Henry Clinton was to sail from New…
Until the early decades of the 20th century saw wide-spread construction of roads in North America, water provided ready-made highways. Lake Champlain formed 125…
THE TRIAL THAT GRIPPED THE NEW NATION The Grand Jury in Richmond determined that there was ample evidence of George Wythe Sweeney’s guilt. Virginia…
George Wythe was about the last person anybody would ever want to murder. At age 80, Wythe was an exceedingly kind and generous man…
In the autumn of 1776 loyalists from East Florida under Thomas “Burntfoot” Brown and Daniel McGirth frequently raided the southern parishes of Georgia keeping…
Until the capture of Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright in World War II, the highest-ranking American generals taken prisoner were Major Generals Benjamin Lincoln and…
Signers of the Declaration of Independence are treated with particular reverence in American historical memory. Caesar Rodney, Delaware’s delegate to the Second Continental Congress,…
When the Continental Congress first commissioned the use of private ships and boats of war in April 1776, they specified that each vessel’s commander…
In September 1776[1] there occurred an incident of long distance marksmanship, or luck, that deserves a close look. The eyewitness, Private Joseph Plumb Martin[2]…
At what point during the American Revolution is it most acceptable to classify colonists as either Patriots or Loyalists? 1776. Before this, many…
Yes and no. I do not believe British efforts to create a true empire could have worked. The colonies had for many years been…
Each year, more than a million people walk through the cold, dark Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington DC to glimpse the U.S….
It’s a simple question — perhaps so basic that it’s been overlooked. How old were the key participants of the American Revolution? Authors often…
“The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations…
Myth: “In 1776, when Maryland instructed its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote against independence, Chase launched a successful campaign to persuade the…
Questions about the validity of the Molly Pitcher legend bring up a broader gap in our understanding of military affairs during the era of…
To be a Tory in the northern colonies was to understand and fear the consequences of confinement at the infamous copper mine of Simsbury,…
Throughout time men have cringed at the notion of being thought a coward. A reputation for lack of courage can be and always has…
Myth: Within months of its publication, 120,000 copies (or 100,000 or 150,000 or 500,000) of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense were sold in the rebellious…
Myth: Americans did not formally resolve for independence until 1776. Busted: On October 4, 1774, the town meeting of Worcester, Massachusetts, declared that British…
When researching the biography of Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren, I had the unexpected pleasure of becoming acquainted with his fiancée Miss Mercy…
The American Revolution is quite obviously a very broad topic. It would require a huge quantity of books, even watered down to the “essentials,”…
“It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting…
When Congress, in late June 1775, authorized the raising of six rifle companies from Pennsylvania and Virginia, George Merchant enlisted as a private. He…