History of the American Revolution
In April, 1777, former British Royal Governor William Tryon, newly commissioned major general, led a strong detachment in a raid against an American military depot at Danbury, Connecticut. The Americans were caught off guard and could not bring enough troops to counter the destruction of much needed ammunition and provisions. Within three weeks of the …
We envision what it must have been like to illuminate one’s home before electricity. The evening’s gloom thickened and the room’s furnishings cast their long shadows from the dying light seeping in through pane glass windows. Candles were lit and a soft glow continued to play with the shadows, now shimmering in a flickering light. …
The Battle of Hubbardton was unique in that a proud, obstinate officer of the British army, General Simon Fraser, was confident that his highly trained and disciplined regular troops would easily defeat and capture a band of hapless rebels who called themselves Green Mountain Boys. On the morning of July 7, 1777, the proud Highlander …
The wounded guardsmen and Tory prisoners were “laid upon the floor, weltering in their blood… the faithful Sheldon [guardsman] sat on a bench, his body bent forward, and a bayonet dripping with blood lying before him which he had just drawn out of his breast…” So describes the aftermath of one of the many prisoner …
For centuries, the redoubt was a well-established type of military fortification, however throughout 18th century America, it often became the stand-alone fortress. In North America, where military fortifications were frequently constructed in relatively remote and inaccessible locations, works built from readily available materials (typically stone, lumber and earth) tended to be more common than the …
Deborah Sampson (Dec. 17, 1760 – April 29, 1827) enlisted as a soldier, saw action in heated skirmishes, was wounded, and during her seventeen months in her disguise as a man, had won the “applause” of her officers and fellow soldiers in arms. From the time Deborah Sampson’s memoirs were printed in 1797 and rewritten, …
Boyrereau Brinch, also known as Jeffrey Brace, left an account of his experiences and exploits as a light infantryman in General George Washington’s army. In this incredible excerpt of his memoirs, Brinch was confronted by a British Dragoon or horse-soldier. A desperate hand to hand struggle ensued in which he parleyed saber strokes with the …
Kip’s Bay, mid-Manhattan Island, New York, September 15, 1776. American militia, including New England brigades of Continental Soldiers, among the best in the American army, ran for their lives before invading British steel. What occurred next, occasionally seen by General George Washington’s inner family of staff, was rarely if ever experienced by the rank and …
One year after the famed Boston Tea Party, an American company of militia, during a raging snowstorm, attacked a British Fort. Cannon and shots were fired while farmers and sailors stormed the fortification. They came to blows with the defenders and wounded the English commander and another soldier. This clash between armed British subjects firing …
September 27, 1778. “It appears that very few, or none of the British Officers [who] entered the quarters of our Troops on this occasion, that no stop might be put to the Rage and Barbarity of their Bloodhounds…Southward Cullency has 12 wounds, 10 of which are in his breast, belly, and back. He says, that, …