Non-Profit Dedicated to Historical Education of the American Revolution and the Colonial Period
DESCRIBING STATEN AND LONG ISLAND 1776 The following was taken from a letter written by Lieutenant Johann von Hinrichs (later Captain) of a company of Hessian Jaeger riflemen or chasseurs (taken from the French which literally means ‘hunter’) to Professor Schlozer. Hinrichs (1752-1834) briefly describes his travels from Bremerlehe to the American colonies via Portsmouth …
Revolutionary War Captain 2nd New York Theodosius participated in several major battles of the Revolutionary War. He fought in the Battle of Long Island, his unit, the 4th Battalion of New York, was among the last to leave the field. Shortly after the defeat on Long Island, his regiment was sent north and joined General …
The summer of 1777 saw General Howe transporting a substantial part of his army south from New York to the Chesapeake Bay. His goal was to capture Philadelphia. After the Battle of Brandywine Creek, Sept. 11th, 1777, the Americans abandoned Philadelphia and General Cornwallis’ troops occupied the city on Sept. 26th. On Oct. 3rd, Washington …
Very little has been recorded about Benjamin ‘Daddy Ben’ Scott Mayes. He was an ‘outlandish’ (colloquial term for those born in Africa) who remained a slave until death. He made his mark on history during the American Revolution when he had accompanied his master, then Captain John Scott, to war. According to written accounts, Benjamin …
Foreign Soldier in America’s Continental Army It is April 20th, 1777. The morning sun shimmers through the lifting fog as the fifty five year old battle scarred German warrior stands along the stone promenade of an ancient wharf in the small Spanish Port of Passage. He gazes out at the French ship Victoire as she …
1775 – 1776 In February, 1775, the 40th Regiment of Foot was stationed in Dublin, Ireland. Because of developing hostilities in America, they were ordered to hold themselves in readiness. In accordance, they marched to Cork and on May 8, 1775, under the command of Major James Grant, departed the British Isles for Boston. The …
October 4th, 1777 The Continental Army was licking its wounds after their defeat at Brandywine Creek on September 11, 1777. However, with the arrival of militia from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, including Wayne’s six hundred men who had rejoined the army after trailing the British, his army was larger than what he had at …
Ill-armed, still worse clothed, mostly unshod, scantily fed, discipline lacking, and poorly officered; these and more were accurate descriptions of the American Army that fled to the outskirts of Philadelphia in the fall of 1777 after their disastrous defeat at Brandywine Creek, Maryland. However, many saw evidence of hope among all this despair, especially those …
Always to the front in a fight and the last in a retreat, Lord Rawdon proved himself a brilliant and successful partisan leader. Sir George Otto Trevelyan Francis, Lord Rawdon[1] epitomized the perfect British officer in the eyes of those fine gentlemen who sat smugly in their distinguished seats in the House of Lords. …
Throughout the eighteenth century, upper and lower classes both shared the same woes when it came to decaying teeth and the somewhat primitive, even barbaric means of dental care. Diseases like smallpox, malaria, scurvy, and syphilis (to name a few) were rampant. So too were the diets heavy on sugar, sweetened teas, fortified wines, and …
Then did we see old Bonner rise, and borrowing Spite from Hell, They stride along with magic eyes, where Sons of Freedom dwell Lemuel Haynes Oliver Cromwell was an African American soldier who participated in nearly every major battle of the Revolutionary War’s northern campaign. He spent six years and nine months in the New …
Should African Americans Serve in the Continental Army? Washington and a new nation struggle with their convictions, morals, and necessity O’er the raging billows borne. Men, call’d Christians, bought & sold me, Paid my price in paltry gold; But though their’s they have enroll’d me, Minds are never to be sold. W. Cowper, Esq. 1774. Humanity was not ready to bestow …
Welcome my friends, from every land. Where freedom doth not reign; Oh! Hither fly from every clime, Sweet liberty to gain – John Mason Harlem Heights, ten miles north of New York City as the crow flies; September 16th 1776 – one hour before dawn. The Continental Army is entrenched on the high ground facing the British army, …
Two gentlemen called upon Captain Wilson and asked him to sign the agreement which a number of colonists had entered into to resist the mother country England to the last. This Captain Wilson positively refused to do. “I am an Englishman,” he said, “and my sympathies are wholly with my country. I do not say …
Captured at battle of Kip’s Bay and died in captivity on Oct. 11, 1776 Rouse the People to see their Danger. Stir them up by all that is dear in this life. Our Wives, our Children, our property, our Liberty is at Stake… Colonel Samuel Selden Colonel Samuel Selden [1] During the Revolutionary War many men paid an …