Category «Biographical»

Interview with African American Reenactor Noah “Ned Hector” Lewis: Part One

It is a pleasure to present my good friend and American Revolution Photographer Ken Bohrer’s interview with American Revolution reenactor Noah “Ned Hector” Lewis – Black Revolutionary War Hero. This is the first interview of a three part series. Ken Bohrer’s website American Revolution Photos has over eight thousand outstanding photos and dozens of videos of …

Oneida Iroquois: America’s Ally and Polly Cooper who Helped Feed Washington’s Army at Valley Forge

Polly Cooper’s generosity and courage have long been honored by the Oneida Native American people over the generations as exemplar of the indomitable spirt of the Oneida. With the unveiling of the Oneida memorial at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC that honors Polly and her people’s contribution to the American Revolution, the United States …

Colonel Christopher Greene: Commanded the Rhode Island 1st of African American Continental Soldiers

Christopher Greene was leading the Rhode Island 1st, the first African American Regiment in the Continental Army [the first black regiment of the war was British – Virginia Royal Governor Dunmore’s Ethiopian Brigade in 1775], when he was killed and mutilated at the Battle of Pines Bridge in a vicious attack by British Loyalist ‘Cowboys’, …

Seth Pomeroy: Forgotten Founder and the First Brigadier General of the Continental Army

Blacksmith, politician, and soldier, Seth Pomeroy never lived long enough to see the country he helped forge. But perhaps more lasting than what he did, is what he gave us. He yet stands alongside a rail fence on an immortal hill amidst hell’s fury. Before a wall of British steel, he turns his face from …

Road to Bunker Hill and General Artemas Ward – America’s First Commander-in-Chief

“Who?”… is the most common response when mentioning Artemas Ward. With the popularity of sixties iconic TV shows, another’s reply might be, “Don’t you mean Artemas Gordon?”…referencing Ross Martin’s sidekick role on the Wild Wild West TV series that ran four seasons starting in 1965. Of course there might be the more smug response, “Oh, …

James Madison Champion of Democracy and Dolley Madison, the True First Lady

If we advert to the nature of republican government, we shall find that the censorial power is in the people over the government, and not in the government over the people. James Madison, 1793 According to University of Virginia Professor John Stagg, James Madison, our fourth president, was “from the early days of the American …

Margaret Corbin: Manned the Cannon When Her Husband Fell at the Battle of Fort Washington

By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751 – January 16, 1800), nicknamed ‘Captain Molly’ by the troops in her husband’s company, like her counterpart Mary Ludwig Hays, aka ‘Molly Pitcher’, was an incredibly brave person who had history …

British General Charles Cornwallis Was America’s Best Friend Before Becoming Her Fiercest Enemy

British retreat at Battle of Lexington and Concord

By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. In the spring of 1776, Lt. General Charles Cornwallis sailed from England with his beloved 33rd Regiment of Foot, labeled England’s Immortals, and landed near Charleston, South Carolina. On June 28th, he took part in the year’s …

General Moses Hazen of The Infernals: Ruthless and Fierce, He Was Just the Man Washington Needed

Marylanders and Morgan rifle continue to fight

Colonel Moses Hazen demanded respect and total commitment from his men and he got it. He also expected them to fight like demons and so too, they never let him down. His regiment, a Foreign Legion of Canadians, Americans, Rangers, and hodgepodge of foreign fighters, for seven long years, suffered among the highest casualties of …

General Mordecai Gist and the Maryland Line Were Among the Best Troops in Washington’s Army

Gowanus Creek. General Stirling and Marylanders held off British under General Cornwallis, allowing many rebel soldiers to escape.

Colonel Mordecai Gist actively recruited some of the finest young men from good Maryland families to form a regiment which, like the famed Highlanders of the Black Watch, were to forge its own legend in a war of rebellion that gave birth to a new nation. In the very first contest of the American Revolution …