This Week on Dispatches: J. L. Bell on the Secrets of Samuel Dyer, PART I
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR Associate Editor and historian, J. L. Bell on Samuel Dyer, a person few have heard of,…
Battle of Bunker Hill
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The Secrets of Samuel Dyer
byAs recounted in a previous article, in October 1774 a sailor named Samuel Dyer returned to Boston, accusing high officers of the British army…
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A Wartime Visit to the Enemy’s Capital
byImagine what it would be like to visit London during the waning days of the American Revolution, to hear about attitudes of British officers…
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The British Soldiers Who Marched to Concord, April 19, 1775
byDuring the night of April 18-19, 1775, a force of roughly 700 British soldiers left Boston on a mission to find and destroy rebel…
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John Greenwood: Adroit Multi-talented Patriot
byThis historical chronical is about an unusual multifaceted patriot: a musician, soldier, privateer, author, and dentist. On May 17, 1760, John Greenwood was born…
This Week on Dispatches: David M. Griffin on the Brooklyn Line Forts of 1776
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews architect and JAR contributor David M. Griffin on his research to determine the possible appearance and…
Thomas Knowlton’s Revolution
byThe story of Thomas Knowlton in the American Revolution is brief but meaningful. He was only thirty-five at his death, arguably a full-fledged hero…
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Morale Manipulation as the Central Strategic Imperative in the American Revolutionary War
byMost people think of wartime propaganda as atrocity stories about the enemy. But commanders also disseminate false and true information in hopes of boosting…
James Lovell: Schoolteacher, Prisoner, Patriot
byJames Lovell, delegate from Massachusetts to the Second Continental Congress and the Confederation Congress from 1777 to 1782, the only member of Congress to…
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The Fall of Fort Washington: The “Bunker Hill Effect”?
byIt was the one of the worst defeats suffered by the Americans during the War for Independence, certainly the worst over which George Washington…
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Who Said, “Don’t Fire Till You See the Whites of Their Eyes”?
by“Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes!” is one of the most famous quotations to come out of the Revolutionary War. According…
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It’s in the Details: A Recently Identified View of Boston
byThe exceedingly rare mezzotint of His Excellency George Washington Esqr (above) listed by Charles Hart as no. 1 in his Catalogue of the Engraved Portraits of…
This Week on Dispatchers: Frederic C. Detwiller on the Mysterious “Monsr Dubuq”
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews architect and preservationist Frederic C. Detwiller on the enigmatic French engineer, “Monsr Dubuq,” who was one of the…
Giving Thanks: John Gridley’s Prayer Bill
byHoused in the Medfield Historical Society is a rare collection of prayer bills containing the prayers of thanksgiving from Massachusetts soldiers and their families…
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“Monsr Dubuq,” the First French Officer to Serve the American Cause?
byTo historians of the American Revolution, the date of 1775 for French participation in the Patriot cause may seem incredible. The enigmatic “Monsr Dubuq,”…
Catharine Macaulay, England’s First Female Whig Historian: the War Begins, 1775
byBy the end of 1774, Catharine Macaulay had met Benjamin Rush, Arthur Lee, Richard Marchant, and Benjamin Franklin, and had corresponded with John Dickinson, James…
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Henry Champion: An Officer Resigns
bySome people are drawn to flame, perhaps just a momentary fascination, but it can get one scolded, especially by the Commander-in-Chief. “I had just…
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Contributor Question: Best Strategic Defeat?
byThis month, we asked our contributors to consider the many changes of fortune that occurred over the tumultuous four decades that transformed thirteen British…
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The Earl of Dartmouth: Secretary of State for the Colonies, Third Year: August 1774–November 1775
byWhile the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was on holiday in the summer of 1774, his office continued to receive…
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Peter Salem? Salem Poor? Who Killed Major John Pitcairn?
byMaj. John Pitcairn of the British marines became notorious among New Englanders after the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The…
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Before Washington: The Revolution’s First Commander-in-Chief
byOn June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress officially announced the creation of the Continental Army, a military force representing all of the colonies…
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Bunker Hill Monument and Memory
byYesterday marked the 170th anniversary of the commemoration of the Bunker Hill Monument. It took the Bunker Hill Monument Association, thousands of individual donors,…
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The Whites of their Eyes
byMyth: During the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill, Israel Putnam (some say William Prescott) issued a command: “Do not fire till you see the…
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Valentine to Miss Mercy Scollay
byWhen researching the biography of Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren, I had the unexpected pleasure of becoming acquainted with his fiancée Miss Mercy…