Non-Profit Dedicated to Historical Education of the American Revolution and the Colonial Period
The onset was violent, and the conflict carried on principally with the broad sword. By John Pezzola. John formerly served in the United States Army. He received a master’s degree in Military History and Civil War Studies. He presently teaches 7th-grade US history and military history at American Military University. Encamped at an outpost in …
Capture of the British outpost Fort Galphin, May 21, 1781, by Continental troops and South Carolina militia under Lt. Colonel Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee was more akin to an episode from the 1960’s western comedy sitcom ‘F-Troop.’ Lee had sent a small diversionary force to assault the fort, serving as bait to draw out the …
The Second Battle of Cedar Springs, also known as the Battle of Wofford’s Iron Works, or Battle of Peach Trees, August 8, 1780, [some accounts give the 7th with one stating it occurred a month later] is best described as a draw. The American militia, 600 strong under Colonels Isaac Shelby of North Carolina and …
The Battle of Hammond’s Store, American victory, December 30, 1780 (some sources give Nov. 29th), was one of the more brutal and savage encounters of the war. Tory loyalists, mainly from Georgia, were raiding patriot settlements in South Carolina when Continental dragoons with mounted militia, under the commanded of Colonel William Washington, pursued and attacked. …
The Battle of Wahab’s Plantation (September 21, 1780) pitted a fast moving, aggressive rebel leader, Colonel William Richardson, against the British Legion’s Cavalry. Outnumbered three to one, the newly promoted militia leader was undaunted by the odds, ordering the early morning surprise attack that took the partisan cavalrymen by surprise. Swift and brutal, the tables …
The Battle of Charlotte (September 26, 1780) deservedly marked its place in the annuals of the American Revolution. A small rebel militia, led by able-bodied commander, Colonel William Richardson Davie, defiantly stood firm and faced British General Lord Charles Cornwallis’ army, sixteen times greater than their number. After fending off three assaults and driving the …
My Lord Hook was shot from his horse –James Collins sixteen-year-old rebel militiaman July 12, 1780, Huck’s Defeat, or the Battle of Williamson’s Plantation, was a vengeful sudden strike by patriot backcountry militiamen against a strong, well-trained foe. Though small in scale by comparison, it was considered a gamechanger for patriot militia. It was the …
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 …
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 …
To call the fight there a battle would lend it a formality it did not possess. It was a clash of two armed mobs. Toward the end the fighting resembled an old-fashioned Pier 6 brawl between longshoremen and strikebreakers. Historian/Author John Buchanan The Battle of Ramsour’s Mill, also spelt Ramseur, and Ramsaur, for Derick Ramsaur, …
February 24, 1781. Lt. Col. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Virginia patriot leader of cavalry and light infantry, rode before four hundred North Carolina loyalists. The militia, eager to join British Lt. General Charles Cornwallis’ army, had lined up for review. With Lee’s cavalry by his side, the Continental Army commander was enthusiastically greeted by …
Revolutonary War Journal is published by Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. John Redman was no different than any other farmer who enlisted in the Continental Army. He was among thousands who fought for what he believed in. For over three years, he and others 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 …