A Wartime Visit to the Enemy’s Capital
byImagine what it would be like to visit London during the waning days of the American Revolution, to hear about attitudes of British officers…
Siege of Boston
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George Washington and the First Mandatory Immunization
byThe debate over mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 has led to many articles referring to how George Washington handled a similar issue, this one involving…
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Silas Talbot, Continental Army Mariner
bySilas Talbot was a remarkable Revolutionary War notable who was astute and tactically flexible. He was at various times an artisan, entrepreneur, privateer, Rhode…
2
Morale Manipulation as the Central Strategic Imperative in the American Revolutionary War
byMost people think of wartime propaganda as atrocity stories about the enemy. But commanders also disseminate false and true information in hopes of boosting…
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“That a General be Appointed to command”
byAfter the events at Lexington and Concord on April 19, it appeared that military force of some sort might be warranted in dealing with…
2
Riflemen Run Riot: The Mutiny at Prospect Hill
by“They are remarkably stout and hardy men,” thought army surgeon James Thacher, “Dressed in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats.” The robust…
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…
7
Washington’s Councils of War: A Selective Assessment
byA.H. Ritchie’s 1856 engraving entitled “Washington and His Generals” is a creative, imaginary scene, as the dozens of generals shown assembled never congregated in…
Blue Mountain Valley and the Rise of Lord Stirling
by“A Most Dreadful Voyage” was how the captain of British supply ship Blue Mountain Valley described his mission to North America in the fall and…
3
General Charles Lee Imposes Oaths of Allegiance on Newport Tories, 1775
byMajor General Charles Lee visited Newport, Rhode Island, in late December 1775, where he—controversially—insisted that local Loyalists take an oath of allegiance to the…
This Week on Dispatches: Katie Turner Getty on Combating the Spread of Disease Eighteenth-Century Style
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews attorney and JAR associate editor Katie Turner Getty on the use of smoke to fumigate refugees from…
This Week on Dispatches: Alexander R. Cain on Privateering During the Siege of Boston
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews author and maritime historian Alexander R. Cain about his recent article on how New England privateers supported…
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…
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Massachusetts Privateers During the Siege of Boston
byFollowing the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Grand Army surrounded Boston and began to lay siege to it. The Massachusetts Committee of…
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“Monsr Dubuq,” the First French Officer to Serve the American Cause?
byTo historians of the American Revolution, the date of 1775 for French participation in the Patriot cause may seem incredible. The enigmatic “Monsr Dubuq,”…
James McCubbin Lingan, an American Story
byOf the thousands of men and women who contributed to the Patriot cause during the American Revolution, James McCubbin Lingan (1751–1812) stands out with…
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Henry Champion: An Officer Resigns
bySome people are drawn to flame, perhaps just a momentary fascination, but it can get one scolded, especially by the Commander-in-Chief. “I had just…
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Contributor Question: Best Strategic Defeat?
byThis month, we asked our contributors to consider the many changes of fortune that occurred over the tumultuous four decades that transformed thirteen British…
21
Henry Knox’s “Noble Train of Artillery:” No Ox for Knox
byThe best-known scene of Col. Henry Knox’s train of artillery in the winter of 1775-1776 is Tom Lovell’s painting The Noble Train of Artillery….
The Dorchester Heights Memorial, South Boston, and the Celebration of Evacuation Day
byOn my way to Boston’s Logan Airport a while ago a taxi driver pointed towards Boston Harbor and started telling me about a Revolutionary…
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The General, the Corporal, and the Anecdote: Jacob Francis and Israel Putnam
byOn August 18, 1832, a seventy-eight-year-old New Jersey man named Jacob Francis went before Hunterdon County officials and described his military service in the…
17
Displaced: The Donation People of 1775
byIn late November 1775, just as the bone-chilling New England winter started to settle upon Massachusetts, British General Howe loaded three hundred poor, sick…
4
Anxiety and Distress: Civilians Inside the Siege of Boston
byOver the years, historians have written countless works on the military and political aspects of the Siege of Boston. Unfortunately, little attention has been…
9
George Baylor: Spirited, Willing and Wrong for the Job
byGeorge Baylor (1752-1784) was a young Virginia planter in 1775. He was a son of Col. John Baylor, who had been George Washington’s friend…
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Richard Williams Maps the Siege of Boston
byBritish Lieutenant Richard Williams was one of the few artists to document the siege of Boston from 1775 through 1776. He created maps, sketches,…
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Valentine to Miss Mercy Scollay
byWhen researching the biography of Revolutionary War hero Dr. Joseph Warren, I had the unexpected pleasure of becoming acquainted with his fiancée Miss Mercy…