Summer, 1777 – all along New York’s pristine Mohawk River Valley, a cauldron of simmering violence that flamed in sporadic brutality erupted in savage warfare. On August 6th, an American militia of settlers and Oneida warriors, over 800 men ages 16 to 60, from throughout Tryon County, New York, answered the call to arms. With …
Revolutonary War Journal is published by Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. It is a continued pleasure to offer my good friend Ken Bohrer, University Educator and Renowned Photographer of American Revolution Reenactments, this platform to help share his incredible photographs. They are truly …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. We all have seen the pictures and portrayals of Continental soldiers struggling with disease and malnutrition during the severe winter at Valley Forge – sacrificing all for liberty.And always, it is a white army that gazes up …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. Scholars have agreed that 18th century regular troops, the private and non-commissioned soldiers who stood firmly while massed musketry tore through their ranks, expected to be led by officers of society’s gentry. It was believed that these …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. Twice, General George Washington had led his reduced forces across the Delaware River. The first time occurred on December 8, 1776. He was a beaten man. His army was in tatters. And of his army, less than …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. “A thick cloud of darkness and gloom covered the land and despair was seen in almost every countenance…” an officer in the Continental Army, December, 1776. Another wrote, “…strong apprehensions are entertained that the British will soon …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. Once Fort Washington fell on November 16, 1776, Washington’s army was still divided into three sections. General Charles Lee, second in command, remained at North Castle, New York, Westchester County, where the main army had withdrawn nine …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. Fought on November 16, 1776 on the island of Manhattan, just north of New York City, the Battle of Fort Washington almost became the next to last chapter in what might have been a failed rebellion in …
By Harry Schenawolf, author of the Shades of Liberty Series about African American soldiers in the American Revolution. Whenever there existed the possibility that artillery pieces could fall into the hands of the enemy, the weapons were rendered useless, even if only temporarily. The method most common was called spiking. Spiking involved jamming some metal …
Colonel Mordecai Gist actively recruited some of the finest young men from good Maryland families to form a regiment which, like the famed Highlanders of the Black Watch, were to forge its own legend in a war of rebellion that gave birth to a new nation. In the very first contest of the American Revolution …