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,…
Continental Navy
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Thomas Read of Delaware, Part 1: The Creation of the Continental Navy
byThomas Read (1740-1788) was the middle son of the Read family of New Castle, Delaware. His older brother George was a delegate to the…
This Week on Dispatches: Louis Arthur Norton on the Plight of the Seamen
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews historian and JAR contributor Louis Arthur Norton on what happened to captured Continental Navy, states’ navies,…
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Plight of the Seamen: Incarceration, Escape, or Secured Freedom
byDuring the Revolutionary War, the British were particularly sensitive to challenges to their maritime sovereignty. Members of the Continental Navy, states’ navy sailors or…
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The Revolutionary War Origin of the Whistleblower Law
byThe so called “whistleblower law” had a salty source. It did not emanate from the shrill sound of a boatswain’s pipe, but rather a…
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This Week on Dispatches: Louis Arthur Norton on the battle between the Bonhomme Richard and Serapis
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews maritime historian and long-time JAR contributor Louis Arthur Norton on the celebrated battle between the Bonhomme Richard and…
1
Joshua Barney, the Hyder-Ally‘s Triumph, and its Aftermath
byOne of the most colorful men to seek and earn an officer’s commission in the Continental Navy was Joshua Barney. He was a man…
3
Benoni Simmons: Long-Serving Hero of the American Revolution
byThe amazing story of Benoni Simmons’s military service in the American Revolution spans some fourteen years, perhaps the longest term of service by anyone…
4
The Battle between Bonhomme Richard and Serapis
byAuthor’s note: Continental Navy midshipman Nathaniel Fanning’s eyewitness account of the American Revolution’s most famous naval battle is among the most detailed available. This…
3
The Penobscot Expedition of 1779
byFor much of the Revolutionary War, the relative obscurity and isolation of the three Massachusetts counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln along the coast…
3
Jacob Jones: The Revolutionary Making of a Naval Hero
byToday, Jacob Jones’s portrait as a naval officer hangs in the assembly room of the Old State House in Dover, Delaware. It honors his…
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Gunpowder, the Bahamas, and the First Marine Killed in Action
byIn the summer of 1775, George Washington assumed command of the Continental Army outside Boston and immediately began the process of organizing his forces….
Johan Joachim Zubly: The Other Georgia Delegate
byWhen reading the excellent JAR article “The Dark and Heroic Histories of Georgia’s Signers,” I happened to recall another Georgia delegate to the Second…
This Week on Dispatches: Richard Werther on Lambert Wickes, Continental Navy Captain
byIn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer and JAR contributor Richard J. Werther discuss the life of Captain Lambert Wickes, the differences between “piracy” and…
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Captain Lambert Wickes and “Gunboat Diplomacy, American Revolution Style”
byThe Continental Navy. Words that didn’t exactly strike fear into the heart of the mighty British Royal Navy. For most Americans, knowledge of the…
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The Constitutional Debate over a Standing National Navy
byThere is a gap in most histories of the United States Navy. The blank space lies between the end of the American Revolution and…
2
Armed and Equipped at Continental Expense: The Birth of the Continental Navy
byGeorge Washington realized early in the Revolutionary War that the British Navy provided the King’s army with an advantage in mobility. Not long after…
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The Revolutionary War’s Most Enigmatic Naval Captain: Pierre Landais
byOne American Revolutionary War naval captain, Pierre Landais, appeared paranoid and somewhat deranged. Landais was a French merchantman lieutenant who trafficked arms to America…
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Captain Gustavus Conynham: America’s Successful Naval Captain or Accidental Pirate?
byShortly after the onset of the Revolutionary War, Americans started to harass British commercial shipping close-to-home. One ship captain who engaged in this type…