Tag: William Howe

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The Delcastle Cannonball

Several years ago, I set out to understand the movements of the British army through Delaware and into Pennsylvania in early September 1777. It was a small piece of the Philadelphia campaign of Gen, Sir William Howe, who led a combined army of about 16,000 that landed on Elk Neck on August 25 and captured […]

by Walter A. Chiquoine
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HMS Roebuck on the Delaware

The Royal Navy was designed not just protect the island of Britain and its commerce, but to project Great Britain’s power across the seas. Britain’s success as a sea power led to the creation of a large overseas empire and, by the latter half of the eighteenth century, naval dominance of the Atlantic world. One […]

by Robert N. Fanelli
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The Significance of John Cadwalader

In 1776, John Cadwalader was a thirty-four-year-old merchant and prominent member of the Philadelphia gentry who had risen to command the volunteer militia known as the Philadelphia Associators. In his capacity as a militia colonel, he would play a distinctive—and today largely unappreciated—role in what historians have termed the “Ten Crucial Days” of the Revolutionary […]

by David Price
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Terrain and Tactics: Detailed Perspectives From William Howe’s War Plan of 1776

The objective of the 1776 British campaign was straightforward: capture New York and crush the American rebellion. The plan was the brainchild of British commander-in-chief Gen. William Howe and the Secretary of State for the American Department George Germain. Howe had every reason to think he would make quick work of it. His invasion was […]

by Ronald S. Gibbs, Courtney Spikes, and Thomas Paper
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The Howe Dynasty

BOOK REVIEW: The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain’s Wars for America by Julie Flavell (Liveright, 2021) In The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain’s Wars for America, Julie Flavell offers fresh insight into the Howe family as told from a […]

by Kelly Mielke
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Morale Manipulation as the Central Strategic Imperative in the American Revolutionary War

Most people think of wartime propaganda as atrocity stories about the enemy. But commanders also disseminate false and true information in hopes of boosting their own soldiers’ morale and sapping the enemy’s. Even more persuasive than words are actions, and manipulating morale often dictates how commanders deploy their troops. Witness the American War of Independence. […]

by Woody Holton
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James Lovell: Schoolteacher, Prisoner, Patriot

James Lovell, delegate from Massachusetts to the Second Continental Congress and the Confederation Congress from 1777 to 1782, the only member of Congress to be continuously present during those years,[1] is known for being the Secretary for the Committee for Foreign Affairs; for his expertise in cryptography, earning him Edmund Burnett’s description of “decipherer extraordinary to […]

by Jean C. O'Connor
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The Feint That Never Happened: Unheralded Turning Point of the Philadelphia Campaign

By noon on Saturday, September 20, 1777, Gen. William Howe watched his window of opportunity to cross the shallowing upper fords of the Philadelphia sector of the Schuylkill River slam shut upon his 14,000-man army. Gen. George Washington and 9,000 Continentals and militia blocked the seven closest river crossings to Howe’s forces which had been […]

by Gary Ecelbarger
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What Killed Prisoners of War?—A Medical Investigation

Editor’s Note: This article contains graphic medical descriptions. Throughout the Revolutionary War, prisoners learned that dysentery accompanied starvation. Confined to the prison ship Jersey in 1781, Christopher Hawkins described rations “not sufficient to satisfy the calls of hunger.” In the next two sentences, Hawkins mentioned that “the bloody flux or dyssenterry” prevailed on the Jersey, from […]

by Brian Patrick O'Malley
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A Visit to Fort Mifflin on the Delaware

The 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 the pealing din Rose from each heated culverin Lord Byron, “The Siege of Corinth,” VI The enthusiast in search of the storied Revolutionary War bastion on the west bank of the […]

by Rand Mirante
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Aggressive-Minded Gamblers: Washington, Howe, and the Days Between Battles, September 12–16, 1777

On 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 Valley Hills in Chester County, Pennsylvania, ill-prepared to repel the approach of 14,000 British, Hessians and Loyalists composing Sir William Howe’s Crown Forces. Aside from skirmishing on the flanks, a fierce, […]

by Gary Ecelbarger
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Smoking the Smallpox Sufferers

At about midnight on September 29, 1792, Ashley Bowen and his young assistant, Tucker Huy, heard a carriage clatter up the Boston Road and arrive at the Marblehead gate. Upon learning the “coach-full of men” had come from Boston, Bowen brooked no complaints when he approached the carriage and informed the passengers, “You must be […]

by Katie Turner Getty
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This Week on Dispatches: Gabriel Neville on the Historic Clove Road and Its Role during the Revolution

On this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Gabriel “Gabe” Neville on the Clove Road between northern New Jersey and New York and its strategic importance during the American Revolution. Thousands of readers like you enjoy the articles published by the Journal of the American Revolution. Dispatches is a free podcast that puts a […]

by Editors
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The Last Vestige of the Clove Road

With no actionable intelligence, General Washington had to guess where British Maj. Gen. William Howe was taking his army. So in July 1777, he led the Continental Army north from New Jersey into what was then a rough, dangerous, and little-known pass through New York’s Ramapo Mountains. He had guessed incorrectly, however, and they were […]

by Gabriel Neville
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Caught Between the Lines: Eastchester, New York, During the American Revolution

When one thinks of the American Revolution, the places that most quickly come to mind are Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Yorktown. Yet during the War for Independence, Eastchester, New York, located only a few miles north of Manhattan, experienced with few exceptions calamitous depredations more constant and severe than any other area of […]

by Edna Gabler
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1776—The Horror Show

The British Army held New York City from 1776 to November 25, 1783. In prisoner exchanges, royal forces in New York periodically released prisoners of war who were “sickly and emaciated.” Sometimes the prisoners numbered a few dozen, sometimes a few hundred. In 1776, however, British military commander Lt. Gen. Sir William Howe released more […]

by Brian Patrick O'Malley
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Revolutionary Rookies

Performing as a general atop an independent command is the most difficult military assignment and for which prior experience critically fosters improved strategic and tactical decision-making. Many people think that the Revolutionary War British generals were highly experienced while the Rebel generals, although possessing battle proficiency as junior officers, principally gained their military strategy and […]

by Gene Procknow
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The Three Guides

In November 1776, a British army under Lieutenant-General Sir William Howe was on the offensive, having successfully driven American forces off of Manhattan island and the surrounding regions east and north of New York City. The remnants of General George Washington’s defeated army had retreated across the Hudson River to the apparent safety of Bergen […]

by Todd W. Braisted
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Top 10 British Losers

The American Revolutionary War was a war Britain seemingly should have won.  Its failure is popularly blamed upon the incompetence of the political and military leaders who have consequently become objects of satire.  This is particularly true of portrayals in the movies and media which of course have a greater impact on perceptions than books.  […]

by Andrew O’Shaughnessy
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10 Fateful Hits and Misses

Military leaders since Alexander the Great have often preferred to command their battle formations from the most forward ranks.  “Leading from the front,” as the practice is often known, puts officers in outstanding positions to observe the action and inspire their soldiers.  It also puts them in excellent positions to end up dead. Many officers […]

by Michael Schellhammer