This Week on Dispatches: Colin Zimmerman on the Prelude to Trenton
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Colin Zimmerman on the strategic contest for Burlington, New Jersey, in the run up to…
Battle of Trenton
3
Prelude to Trenton: The Strategic Contest for Burlington County
byCount Carl Emil von Donop was at the pinnacle of his military career as his corps of Hessians marched victoriously south into New Jersey…
7
Ten Crucial Days, Five Crucial Factors
byThe “Ten Crucial Days” winter campaign of 1776-1777 reversed the tide of war just when Washington’s army appeared near collapse. Beginning with the Christmas…
2
A Study in Sustainability: The Continental Encampment in Bucks County, December 1776
byThe standard interpretation of the Continental Army in the dark and waning months of 1776 often features ragged soldiers, devoid of clothing and basic…
4
Burlington 1776: The Forgotten Opportunity
byThe 1776 campaign season had ended badly for General George Washington and the Continental Army as the dejected Patriots struggled through foul weather over…
7
Perspectives on the Ten Crucial Days of the Revolution
byThe “Ten Crucial Days” winter campaign of 1776-1777 reversed the momentum of the War for Independence at a moment when what George Washington termed…
This Week on Dispatches: James M. Deitch on Johann Rall at the Battle of Trenton
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor James M. Deitch on whether Hessian commander Johann Rall’s failure at Trenton was due to…
8
Johann Gottlieb Rall: Tactical Negligence or Personal Negligence at Trenton?
by“When a man chooses a calling, he must do everything that can be done in that calling so that he can never suffer reproach…
6
The Significance of John Cadwalader
byIn 1776, John Cadwalader was a thirty-four-year-old merchant and prominent member of the Philadelphia gentry who had risen to command the volunteer militia known…
5
Top Ten Weather Interventions
by“In war, as in medicine, natural causes not under our control, do much.” Gen. Horatio Gates wrote this about the terrain that so heavily…
4
“A Mere Youth:” James Monroe’s Revolutionary War
byLate in his life, after retiring the presidency, James Monroe drafted his own history. He was still struck, five decades after the War for…
2
When War Came to the Thompson-Neely Farmstead
byGen. George Washington did not sleep here but many of his soldiers did—that is, on the grounds or nearby. The historic site known today…
Thomas Read of Delaware, Part 3: Continental Navy Commander
byThomas Read (1740-1788) began his seafaring career as a merchant captain, sailing for the Philadelphia firm of Willing and Morris in the ship Aurora,…
Nineteenth-Century Remembrances of Black Revolutionary Veterans: Jacob Francis, Massachusetts Continental and New Jersey Militia
byPhiladelphia Blacks, under the leadership of well-to-do Robert Purvis, organized the Vigilance Committee to aid and assist fugitive slaves in 1837. Purvis’s wife, Harriett…
24
Christmas Night, 1776: How Did They Cross?
byEditors Note: We first published this article on this date two years ago, but because it is such a good piece and we have…
1
John Haslet’s World: An Ardent Patriot, the Delaware Blues, and the Spirit of 1776
byJohn Haslet’s World: An Ardent Patriot, the Delaware Blues, and the Spirit of 1776 by David Price. (Nashville, TN: Knox Press, 2020) “‘Noted for his…
Memorial Day: Recovering the Service of William Tiller, American Soldier
byEvery now and then, one comes across a pension application of an old soldier that includes extraordinary detail. Occasionally the application includes a journal…
12
The Engagement at Woodlane: Precursor to the Battle of Iron Works Hill, a Key to the American Victory at Trenton
byTheir feet were leaving noticeable imprints in the grassy field. It was another two hundred yards to the hedgerow, and then a steep climb…
9
Uplifting Moments in American Revolution History
byFor every historian, there’s an event that makes them feel good every time they read about it. We asked our contributors: What event from…
4
7
Ten Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds
byTen Crucial Days: Washington’s Vision for Victory Unfolds by William L. Kidder (Lawrence Township, NJ: Knox Press, 2018) Gen. George Washington’s granite composure in Emanuel…
2
This Week on Dispatches: Rick Atkinson on The British Are Coming
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Pulitzer-prize winning author Rick Atkinson about his latest book, the best-selling The British are Coming: The War…
13
Historic Structures and Sites Worth Preserving?
byA recent article mentioned Sidman’s Tavern in New Jersey, a building with strong connections to the American Revolution that is under threat of destruction….
3
Delaware’s Colonel John Haslet (1727–1777)
byBorn in Straw Dungiven, County Londonderry, Ireland,[1] thirty-year-old John Haslet was the young, widowed minister of Ballykelly Presbyterian Church. Arriving in America in 1757, he…
8
“Be A King George”
by“Be a King George.” Four simple, but oft repeated words drilled into the Prince of Wales from childhood by his mother, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha….
5
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…
The Hessians Who Escaped Washington’s Trap at Trenton
byThe year 1776 opened with the overall promises of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet seemingly coming to fruition; however, the ensuing months were anything…
4
7
Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776-January 3, 1777
byBook Review: Mark Maloy. Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776-January 3, 1777. Emerging Revolutionary War Series. (El Dorado…
3
The American Revolution of Private Jacob Francis
byWhen Jacob Francis[1] began life on January 15, 1754 in western New Jersey’s Amwell Township in Hunterdon County, free black people in a state…
The James McMichael Journal, November 1, 1776–June 3, 1777
byEditor’s Note: This is part two of a five-part series. Part one. Part three. The portion of James McMichael’s journal covering November 1, 1776…
Washington Heeds Jeney, Takes Trenton
byAttacking at night, during a snowstorm: genius or folly? For Gen. Richard Montgomery at Quebec on December 31, 1775, it was a fatal disaster,…
8
The American Crisis Before Crossing the Delaware?
byDoes saying so make it so? Perhaps, if said convincingly and repeatedly. But sometimes it’s fair to ask: Who says so? And how do…
9
Alexander Hamilton, Dangerous Man
byDear Mr. History: Everyone knows Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury, and let’s be honest, this nation is more of his…
James Monroe: Bona Fide Hero of the American Revolution
by“It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting…