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The Secrets of Samuel Dyer
byAs recounted in a previous article, in October 1774 a sailor named Samuel Dyer returned to Boston, accusing high officers of the British army…
John Montresor
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The Return of Samuel Dyer: An Attempted Assassination in Revolutionary Boston
byOn October 10, 1774, the brigantine Charlotte arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, from London. On board was a sailor named Samuel Dyer, and he told a…
This Week on Dispatches: David M. Griffin on the Brooklyn Line Forts of 1776
byOn this week’s Dispatches, host Brady Crytzer interviews architect and JAR contributor David M. Griffin on his research to determine the possible appearance and…
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What Were the Brooklyn Line of Forts in 1776?
byThe planned capture of New York City in 1776 by British forces set the stage for what was to become the largest battle of…
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The Feint That Never Happened: Unheralded Turning Point of the Philadelphia Campaign
byBy noon on Saturday, September 20, 1777, Gen. William Howe watched his window of opportunity to cross the shallowing upper fords of the Philadelphia…
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A Visit to Fort Mifflin on the Delaware
byThe walls grew weak; and fast and hot Against them pour’d the ceaseless shot With unabating fury sent, From battery to battlement; And thunder-like…
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Aggressive-Minded Gamblers: Washington, Howe, and the Days Between Battles, September 12–16, 1777
byOn Tuesday afternoon, September 16, 1777—five days after the Battle of Brandywine—George Washington and most of his 11,000-member Continental army stood atop the South…
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Fiasco: The Disastrous Raid on Montresor’s Island
byBy the evening of September 30, 1776, George Washington was, as he put it, “bereft of every peaceful moment.” During the previous month, his…
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Rediscovering British Surveyor John Hills
byWhile conducting research for my essay on General Washington’s plight in the New Jersey short hills in the spring of 1777, I was fortunate to…
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Fortifying Philadelphia: A Chain of Redoubts and Floating Bridges
byOn August 25, 1777 General William Howe with 17,000 men landed at Head of Elk, Maryland; he was 57 miles south of the city…