History of the American Revolution
Generations of Americans have recalled with pride these words that were supposedly spoken during the American Revolution. They conger stouthearted citizen soldiers standing firm before the power of oppression. Farmers and merchants answering the call to arms and grabbing their family muskets to defy what they believed to be an authoritarian government in a David …
General George Washington had arrived at Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 3, 1775 to take command of the Continental Army. He had his work cut out for him for he faced a force of unruly and undisciplined amateurs in its infancy. Up against the British army, the finest military machine of its time, this mob of …
Towards the end of 1776, Washington formed what became known as Light Dragoons and Partisan Corps or Legions. Light Dragoons were specifically units of mounted cavalry or horse. Partisan Corps were unique, for unlike dragoons of horse, they were elite units consisting of both cavalry and light infantry of foot. Highly mobile, by the summer …
Was Captain Allan McLane (Aug. 8 1746 – May 27, 1829) the stuff of mythological tales, whose heroic feats clashed with British steel and titans of oppression? Did his covert operations save the American Army from a surprise attack and later General Lafayette from capture? Did he charge upon British dragoons with flashing saber and …
Two hundred years ago, in 1818, a shocking claim by a distinguished veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill rocked America. A popular patriot hero and legendary symbol of the battle was questioned – one whose characterization had defined America’s struggle for independence. The evidence was overwhelming; General Israel Putnam did not stand proud before …
If you were an unemployed colonial who wished to learn a trade that guaranteed work, enough to give your family a decent livelihood, than learning the trade of cooper was the way to go. A cooper is one who fashions wooden vessels of shaped boards, called staves, held together by wooden or metal hoops with …
Lieutenant John Mansfield (1748 – 1823) was one of the faceless thousands who valiantly served his country from the first to last shots of the American Revolution. It is difficult to encapsulate, in a couple of thousand words, eight years of hardships – the struggle, the bitterly cold winter camps, the hunger and the fear, …
Colonial America’s social positions were not so rigidly fixed as they were in England. It is not to say the wealthy land owners and rich merchants of the new world did not take on aristocratic airs. In many respects, then as now, they expected to be treated like royalty, if not more so than in …
An American army emerged from a militia system of self-protection. For decades these militias had been supplied and nourished by the British, only to turn on its mother country in an act of violent defiance. By 1776, patriots proved they could gather in mass and were willing to fight and die for a cause they …
In a normal life, Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs would have remained in obscurity, his name only appearing in town listings. A hatter’s son, he carried on the family tradition, filling the shoes of his father while leading a quiet, unnoticed, humble life in Middletown Connecticut. But he lived during tumultuous times and as such, made …