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In 1817, as popular sentiment finally forced Connecticut to adopt a new constitution separating church and state, Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams: “I…
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Jonathan Trumbull, Senior is the most important governor in Connecticut’s long history. This is not only because of the many key contributions he made…
On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews Director of Education for Slater Memorial Museum and JAR contributor Dayne Rugh on his recent article about…
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The role of Connecticut’s Sons of Liberty is one that exemplifies the state’s rich history of self-governance and fiercely independent spirit. Their swift reaction…
On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews history teacher and JAR contributor Matthew Reardon on the Loyalist raid up the Connecticut River in 1782 when…
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This story is the unfortunate flip side of “Top Ten Revolutionary War Patriot Homes in Connecticut”: the most significant Connecticut houses demolished in the…
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Queens County of Long Island, New York, had an overwhelming Loyalist population throughout the Revolutionary War period. After the war many Loyalists remained on…
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In the May 30, 2016 issue of this Journal, Todd W. Braisted introduced us to General Enoch Poor of New Hampshire, his death, and…
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“Connecticut: Still Revolutionary,” is the official slogan of Connecticut’s tourism program since about 2014. As a historian who worked in architecture as the son…
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The old man stepped out into the sun, shut his door, and turned north, leaving his home in Gainesville, New York, for the county…
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David Wooster’s part in the American Revolution began in a slightly embarrassing manner. Wooster commanded the militia at New Haven, Connecticut. On April 22,…
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Brigadier General Jedediah Huntington is an overlooked yet very interesting patriot leader from Connecticut who grew up with Benedict Arnold, fought in several battles,…
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During the Revolutionary War, there were numerous attempts to entice leaders of the American rebels to return to their British heritage. Members of Congress…
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On the 1st of December 1777 Colonel Samuel B. Webb noted in his journal,[1] … At Horseneck [Greenwich, CT]. This day my Regiment marched…
In the spring of 1841, a correspondent from the Hartford Courant went to East Windsor, Connecticut looking for an elderly man who was a…
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In May 1665, the separate colonies of New Haven and Connecticut joined to form the colony that later became the State of Connecticut. Each…
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Newspapers are among our favorite things at Journal of the American Revolution, providing endless information and insight about America’s Revolutionary era. In addition to…
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New London’s harbor was the center of Connecticut’s wartime naval activity for the duration of the eight-year American Revolution. Because of its recognized importance,…
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It is considered the oldest, continuously serving military unit in the United States. The 1st Company, Governors Foot Guard has as much a storied…
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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…
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Following their victory at the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn) on August 27 1776, the British established their headquarters in New York City where…
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In early September 1781, General Sir Henry Clinton, the British Commander in Chief in America, found himself facing a combined Franco-American force poised to…
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In 1662, Charles II, the restored monarch of Great Britain, issued a charter for the founding of Connecticut. The colony’s borders were delineated as…
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After the Americans’ stunning victory at Saratoga on October 17, 1777, King Louis XVI ordered his ministers to negotiate a formal alliance between France…
Danger, secrets, intrigue and revenge were all part of the Culper spy ring, and the new AMC series “Turn,” premiering April 6 (Sundays 9/8…
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“Living on the frontier is easy!” said no one, ever. Case in point, on July 3, 1778, over 100 loyalist rangers under the command…
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On December 8, 1776, British soldiers, supported by a large fleet, easily invaded and occupied Newport, Rhode Island, and the rest of Aquidneck Island. …
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Even as late as the spring of 1783, there was still a war on. A substantial number of British troops were in New York…
In April 1775 the Fairfield, Connecticut, mansion of the Honorable Thaddeus and Eunice Burr was a-bustle. Preparations were being made to welcome a contingent…
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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…
During the winter of 1778-1779 General Israel Putnam and about 3,000 troops of the Continental Army encamped in Redding, Connecticut. The harsh winter brought…
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“I never Emplored my pen in writing more Disagreeable News than at this time,” wrote Samuel Smedley, captain of the Connecticut state ship Defence,…
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The crevices and stony outcroppings of Devil’s Den, a 1,756-acre nature preserve in Weston and Redding, Connecticut, can provide shelter for hikers during an…
In January I made a list of the 10 best, in my opinion, Revolutionary War films. I neglected to include a film that deserves…
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Sometime around midnight on May 1, 1779, British soldiers smashed through the wooden door of General Gold Selleck Silliman’s Fairfield, Connecticut home. They snatched…
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To be a Tory in the northern colonies was to understand and fear the consequences of confinement at the infamous copper mine of Simsbury,…
After sleeping in a bit, today’s first stop is “Ye Most Ancient Towne” in Connecticut – Wethersfield (see video below), which was founded in…
Dear Mr. History: What’s the story on Nathan Hale? Like countless American schoolchildren, I was taught that he was executed for spying and said…
