This Week on Dispatches: Mike Matheny on Remembering Horatio Gates
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Mike Matheny on the highs and lows of General Horatio Gates’s career and reputation. New…
Battle of Saratoga
Victory at Saratoga: Getting the Word Out
byIt is axiomatic that the American victory at Saratoga was, aside from events at Yorktown, the pivotal military event of the American Revolution. The…
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Hero to Zero? Remembering Horatio Gates
byBetween heroes like George Washington and villains like Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War was full of historical actors of all stripes. But one man…
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The Unimportance of John Brown’s Raid on Ticonderoga
byA lesser-known action during Gen. John Burgoyne’s 1777 campaign occurred at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence in the days surrounding the first battle at Saratoga…
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Emergence of the French Alliance: The Beginning and Final Phases
byIt is widely acknowledged that the military alliance between the United States and France, established in 1778, was responsible not only for a number…
Black Drummers in a Redcoat Regiment
byWhen British soldiers arrived in Boston in 1768 as part of the British government’s efforts to maintain peace in the colony of Massachusetts, local…
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Brown’s Raid on Ticonderoga and Mount Independence
byThis story begins five weeks after Gen. John Burgoyne’s army forced the Americans to abandon positions on Lake Champlain in July 1777. On August…
Thaddeus Kosciuszko: “Patron Saint of West Point”
byIn Douglas S. Freeman’s biography of Robert E. Lee, he noted: Corps activities took a certain amount of Lee’s time that winter. Kosciuszko was…
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This Week on Dispatches: Dean Snow on Continental and Militia Cavalry at the Battle of Saratoga
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews emeritus professor and JAR contributor Dean Snow on his research into the Continental and militia cavalry…
Continental and Militia Cavalry Compared: A Case Study from Saratoga, 1777
byGeorge Washington and various of his generals had their doubts about the effectiveness of volunteer militia units as the Revolutionary War intensified. The solution…
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Sir Henry Clinton’s Generalship
by“My fate is hard,” Sir Henry Clinton remarked after learning that he had been named commander of the British army in May 1778, adding…
This Week on Dispatches: John E. Happ on the Role of Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais in American Independence
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor John E. Happ on the enigmatic Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais. Best known today for his plays, The…
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William Dickens, John Rose, and William Turnbull: Soldiers of the 2nd New York Regiment
byIt is often believed or reported that the 2nd New York Regiment of 1775, commanded by Col. Goose Van Schaick, morphed into the 1st…
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Rutland’s Rebellion: Defending Local Governance during the Revolution
byTypically, countries at war do not detain enemy prisoners in the backyards of their citizens. During the Revolutionary War Britain’s soon-to-be independent North American…
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Monuments to the American Revolution
byAlong with the Civil War, the American Revolution is one of the two most iconic events in American history. The Revolution has inspired countless…
Augustine Barrett, Escaped British Prisoner of War, Pleads his Case
by“About five weeks after he made his escape from Prospect hill,” Augustine Barrett told the board of inquiry, “he was confined in the Prison…
This Week on Dispatches: Michael Gadue on Naval Strategies of the Saratoga Campaign
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews law professor and US Army officer Michael Gadue about naval strategies during the Saratoga campaign, including the construction of…
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Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life
byDaniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life by Albert Louis Zambone (Westholme Publishing, 2018) Few figures in the American Revolution contributed more towards victory over Great…
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Daniel Granger, Thirteen-Year-Old Soldier
byDuring the American Revolution children were no strangers to the realities of war, but some would find themselves in the very center of the…
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John Row and Jenny Innes
byJohn Row was a British officer in the 9th Regiment of Foot, and he was in love with Jane Innes. For six years their…
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Happy Fourth of July! . . . and a Question
byFor something special this Independence Day, we asked JAR contributors a simple but thought-provoking question. Their answers are insightful and remind us of the…
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Born at Ticonderoga; Died at Waterloo
byOn July 4, 1777, as Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne’s expedition on Lake Champlain prepared for a siege of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, camp follower…