Non-Profit Dedicated to Historical Education of the American Revolution and the Colonial Period
The Battle of Barbados, March 7, 1778, was one of the largest joint Continental and State Navy operations of the war. The frigate USS Randolph, under Captain Nicholas Biddle, former British naval officer, was besting a double decker ship-of-the-line, when the American tragically exploded after a spark entered the powder magazine. Three Hundred and one …
Bomb Ketch, galiote a bombe, or simply Bomb, were men-of-war sailing vessels that were in use for approximately 150 years (circa 1680 – 1835). The main armament was not cannon and therefore they did not take their place in line of battle during major sea battles. Their design, the brainchild of mathematician and Inspector General …
Military literature was of little or no value to the early colonists. There were no vast spreads of farmlands and meadows where massive armies could deploy. The terrain was wilderness and their forces small. Militias of farmers and merchants, properly armed to protect themselves from the “savages,” adopted the same methods of fighting as their …