Two important books in the twenty-first century have focused on the impact of terrifying smallpox contagions on the American Revolutionary War.[1] Understandably, most of their stories are about smallpox infecting soldiers on land. As the two books relate, smallpox wrought havoc on Benedict Arnold’s small army outside Quebec in 1775 and 1776, and likely killed […]
The day following the legendary taking of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, Lt. Col. Ethan Allen reported the successful mission to New York’s Albany County Committee of Safety, as well as plead for their immediate assistance: I have the inexpressible satisfaction to acquaint you that at day-break of the tenth instant, pursuant to my […]
In 1812 when the British attacked the United States for the second time, Captain James Morris of the South Farms District of Litchfield, Connecticut, took quill to parchment to capture his six years of experiences during the Revolutionary War as an officer in Connecticut’s Light Infantry.[1] The light infantry was the battle-hardened, elite fighting force […]
James Thacher’s contribution to the history of smallpox and to the Revolutionary War has not been fully appreciated. In the historical scholarship, his tireless efforts against the disease have been acknowledged but only in passing.[1] Under extremely trying conditions, Thacher and his colleagues cared for those stricken with the virus and inoculated both combatants and […]
On this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Richard Werther talks about his recent article about how small pox threatened to derail the American cause by depleting troops strengths and George Washington’s realization that ordering universal inoculation for his army was necessary to prosecute the war. New episodes of Dispatches are available for […]
The debate over mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 has led to many articles referring to how George Washington handled a similar issue, this one involving smallpox, with the Continental Army early in the American Revolution. With the advantage of hindsight, the decision Washington made to fully inoculate (not vaccinate) his army may today seem obvious, but […]
During the American War of Independence, the British Army officer corps routinely relegated its surgeons and physicians to a secondary status among its ranks. A few regimental surgeons made contributions to medical science, but the vast majority were relatively unknown both in their time and today.[1] American military doctors fared a bit better, but are mostly […]
Alexandria, Virginia, is well known as George Washington’s hometown, but its role during the American Revolution is not widely understood. Like the rest of Northern Virginia, Alexandria was largely spared the fierce warfare that raged across the country. Nonetheless, the Revolution profoundly affected the community. Founded in 1749 along the Potomac River, Alexandria was a […]
In January 1764, a “speckled monster” struck Boston, forcing businesses to shutter and residents to isolate themselves in their homes or flee the city for months. Not until summer did the threat lift enough to allow Bostonians to resume some semblance of normalcy. So what was this “monster” that disrupted the lives, work and routines […]
On January 20, 1781, near New Windsor in the Hudson Highlands of New York, Dr. Samuel Adams wrote a brief entry in the diary he had kept throughout his service as a surgeon attached to the Continental Army’s artillery: “inoculated my waiter and three children of Mr. Smith for the smallpox.”[1] Adams did not seem […]
We asked our contributors what seemed like a simple question: What scene from the American Revolution or the Founding Era (1765–1805, approximately) do you wish had been depicted accurately by an artist? Quite unintentionally, the wording was ambiguous. Some described scenes that they’d like to see an artist render, while others offered events that they […]
Continued from yesterday. Read A to Z first. M is for mobilization. Revolutionary authorities became masters of mobilizing resources at a local level to fight the war. The war debts for the Continental Congress and the various states were massive, but it is impressive just how many men the revolutionaries managed to put into the […]
One of the great ideals of the American Revolution was the notion that political authority derives from the will of the governed. Of the key principles expressed by American revolutionaries, popular sovereignty – the idea that government should be an expression of the collective will and aspirations of the people – was paramount. What is […]
