Tag «American Revolution»

Plum Tree Massacre and the “Bloodiest Day”

Oneida warrior firing musket.

June 10, 1778, has been referred to as the ‘bloodiest day,’ in the history of Lycoming County; a span of settlements along the west branch of the Susquehanna River of northcentral Pennsylvania. The Plum Tree Massacre was one of three separate attacks in one day on settlers by a war party of Iroquois and Loyalists. …

Cherry Valley Massacre

Native American firing musket.

The Cherry Valley Massacre, November 11, 1778, was one of three major attacks in 1778 on American ‘rebel’ wilderness settlements and military outposts. British Loyalists and Native American forces, particularly four tribes of the Iroquois Nation Confederation; Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga ascended on the New York settlement, destroying it while killing and capturing many …

Siege of Vincennes: Dedication, Sacrifice, and Bloody Murder

The Siege of Fort Vincennes, February 22 – 24, 1779, was a desperate attack by approximately 200 Virginia militia and French Volunteers to maintain the American momentum established in 1778; capturing British forts and settlements in the far western regions from Kentucky to the upper Mississippi River Valley. Colonel George Rogers Clark, older brother of …

General John Sullivan Soldier and Congressman

General John Sullivan of New Hampshire commanded troops in most of the American Revolution’s major battles. An ardent loyalist turned patriot; he was a member of the First New Hampshire Provincial Congress. He was voted to represent his state at the First and Second Continental Congress where he was commissioned as a Brigadier General, even …

Battle of Rhode Island

The Battle of Rhode Island began on August 9, 1778 with an American siege of the British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island. It ending twenty days later on August 29th with the Americans in full retreat and a British attack on their rear-guard. America and France’s first joint effort in the American Revolution had ended …

Battle of Lenud’s Ferry

Colonel Washington and Lt. Col. Tarleton battle it out.

The Battle of Lenud’s Ferry, South Carolina, May 6, 1780, also known as Lanneau’s Ferry, was a sounding patriot loss and further blow to American cavalry in the south.  It was a continuation of the sudden and vicious attacks on patriot dragoons and militia by Banastre Tarleton’s Loyalist Legion of Dragoons and Mounted Infantry. At …

African American Jordan Freeman Dies Defending Fort Griswold

Fort Griswold

The Battle of Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut, was fought on September 6, 1781, between Connecticut militia and British Regulars under turncoat traitor Benedict Arnold. Jordan Freeman, African American patriot, stood firm before the onslaught of enraged redcoats pouring over the fort’s walls. Just as British Major William Montgomery mounted the rampart, Jorden grabbed a 10-foot …

The Continental Army’s Virginia Line Marches 800 Miles to Save Charleston: Just in Time to be Surrendered

Siege of Charleston by Alonzo Chappel

BY MARK MALOY FIRST POSTED ON EMERGING REVOLUTIONARY ERA ON APRIL 7, 2021 It is a pleasure to feature Mark Maloy;s scholarly work on Revolutionary War Journal. Mark is a historian currently working for the National Park Service in Virginia. He is the author of Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776 …

Battle of Moores Creek Bridge

In the predawn fog of February 27, 1776, battle-crazed Scots, like warrior clad berserks of old, shattered the night in a sudden roar. As many had done at Culloden, they charged with claymores (35-inch double-edged broadswords) and dirks. The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, 18 miles northwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, had begun. Scot Tories, …

Battle of Moncks Corner

British Legion charge with saber.

On April 14, 1780, at 3 AM, Banastre Tarleton’s Partisan Legion, a loyalist mixture of dragoons and mounted infantry, thundered out of the dead of the night in a terrifying charge. Sabers slashed downward on startled Americans torn from their sleep. The surprise attack on mainly patriot light dragoons, both Continental troopers and South Carolina …

American Revolution Photos Recap-2022 by Ken Bohrer

British advance.

It is always a privilege to share with my readers the prodigious photography of Ken Bohrer. This is his American Revolution Photos Recap 2022 that he published on his blog on January 1, 2023. A true talent behind the lens, Ken has spent decades attending countless reenactment events. As such, he has collected what I …