New Video Series with PragerU

On By Mark MaloyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Check out Emerging Revolutionary War’s latest project done in conjunction with Prager University. PragerU is a 501c3 non-profit that works with multiple school systems across the country. They have a series of history themed 5-minute videos geared towards younger audiences. These videos get hundreds of thousands of views and introduce many “emerging” viewers to many stories from American history. Emerging Revolutionary War historians were invited to narrate multiple videos and they have begun to roll out this week. Be sure to check out Rob Orrison’s video on the Battles of Lexington and Concord and stay tuned on Monday for Mark Maloy’s video on the Battle of Trenton. More will be coming out over the next few weeks as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in July. You can also access their videos on their YouTube page. To learn more about these battles be sure to check out the Emerging Revolutionary War book series!

The Adams Book Club: <i>John Quincy Adams, A Man for the Whole People</i> by Randall B. Woods

On By erwpostIn Adams, John and AbigailLeave a comment

Emerging Revolutionary War is pleased to partner with the Adams Memorial Foundation to share some reading about America’s “Founding Family.” The Foundation holds a monthly book club, hosted by Board President Jackie Cushman. In special arrangement with the Adams Memorial Foundation, ERW is sharing links to the first few conversations from that book club.

The next book highlighted in our series is John Quincy Adams, A Man for the Whole People by Randall Woods (Dutton, 2024).

Randall B. Woods is John A. Cooper Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, where he has taught since 1971. His Fulbright: A Biography won the 1996 Robert H. Ferrell Prize for the Best Book on American Foreign Relations and the Virginia Ledbetter Prize for the Best Book on Southern Studies. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

For more information on the Adams Memorial Foundation, please visit their website. They also maintain a robust Facebook page that’s fun to follow.

The Adams Book Club: The Unexpected Abigail Adams by John L. Smith, Jr.

On By erwpostIn Adams, John and Abigail, America 250, Emerging Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, WomenLeave a comment

Emerging Revolutionary War is pleased to partner with the Adams Memorial Foundation to share some reading about America’s “Founding Family.” The Foundation holds a monthly book club, hosted by Board President Jackie Cushman. Over the next few days, in special arrangement with the Adams Memorial Foundation, ERW will share links to the first few conversations from that book club.

We’ll kick things off with a conversation between Jackie and historian John L. Smith, Jr., about his book The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman ‘Not Apt to be Intimidated’ (Westholme, 2024).

John L. Smith earned a BS degree from the University of South Florida and an MBA from the University of Tampa. A regular contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution, his work has also been featured by Smithsonian Magazine, CNN, Knowledge Quest, and The National Review.

For more information on the Adams Memorial Foundation, please visit their website. They also maintain a robust Facebook page that’s fun to follow.

The Adams Book Club: An Introduction

On By erwpostIn America 250, Emerging Revolutionary War, Personalities, Revolutionary War2 Comments

Emerging Revolutionary War is pleased to partner with the Adams Memorial Foundation to share some reading about America’s “Founding Family.”

The Adams Memorial Commission is the Congressionally approved organization tasked with supporting the creation of a memorial in Washington, D.C., to John Adams and his family. The Adams Memorial Foundation is tasked with assisting with the fund-raising and public education aspects of that effort. As part of the Foundation’s work to raise awareness about the project—and about the Adams family—Board President Jackie Cushman hosts a monthly book club.

As we prepare to kick off our book club series with the Foundation, I spent a few minutes chatting with Jackie about the book club and about the Adams Memorial Foundation in general:

Over the next few days, ERW will share links to the first few conversations from Adams Memorial Foundation’s book club. We hope you’ll enjoy the excellent reading as much as we do!

Reflecting on ERW’s 250th Lexington and Concorgasm One Year Later

On By Kevin PawlakIn 1775, America 250, Battlefields & Historic Places, Emerging Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

Being present at the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the Revolutionary War in Boston, Lexington, and Concord was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Once because there will never be another 250th anniversary ever (and maybe never another such commemoration on this scale in my lifetime) but also once because many of the ERW historians who attended the events did something none of us will likely be fit to do in 25, 50, or more years for the next large commemorative events. We spent 32 hours in the saddle (longer than Paul Revere but with better amenities) visiting countless sites related to the Lexington Alarm of 1775. By the end of April 19, 2025, I had been awake for 40 straight hours. However, I was still on a history high from the experiences of those anniversary events.

Our 250th events began by visiting the graves of some of the first fallen Americans in the Revolution in Acton. We followed that up with a trip to Bedford, another community whose men answered the calls of Paul Revere, William Dawes, and the network of colonial riders. While in Bedford, stop into the Bedford Free Public Library to see the oldest known flag in the United States. Then, onto Lexington we went for the first time this trip to visit the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library which housed a new exhibit displaying artifacts from the start of the Revolutionary War.

Continue reading “Reflecting on ERW’s 250th Lexington and Concorgasm One Year Later” →

“Rev War Revelry” A Discussion with Revolutionary Maryland historian Drew Palmer

On By Phill GreenwaltIn 1776, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Continental Leadership, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Personalities, Rev War Revelry, Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

When you think of Maryland in the American Revolutionary War, what are the first connections that come to mind? Taking a stab at it, probably the Maryland 400 during the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776? Or possibly the 1st Maryland at the Battle of Guilford Court House in 1781? If you are a national park junkie, potentially Thomas Stone National Historic Site, home of one of Maryland’s four Signers of the Declaration of Independence, may come to mind. If you are not familiar with that NPS unit, click here.

To fill in those gaps, Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes historian Drew Palmer. He is the creator of Revolutionary Maryland, which is an online public history blog that is “dedicated to uncovering and sharing all things related to the state’s experience during this transformative period.”

Palmer is a Revolutionary War historian, a U.S. high school history teacher, and the creator of Revolutionary Maryland. Palmer has worked as a public historian at numerous historic sites over the years, including Appomattox Courthouse, Fort Ticonderoga, Adams National Historical Park, and Fort McHenry National Monument and Shrine. Palmer’s research primarily focuses on the Revolutionary War in Maryland and the South. Most recently, he published his research on Fort Whetstone and the Maryland Matrosses during the Revolutionary War. He also worked with Fort McHenry to direct a short documentary on Fort McHenry’s 250 years of history. Palmer earned his B.A. in history from DeSales University in 2023 and his M.A. in applied history from Shippensburg University in 2024. He currently lives outside of Baltimore and is working on multiple research topics involving the Revolutionary War.

Emerging Revolutionary War is proud to welcome a great emerging historian of the Revolutionary War Era to the “Revelry.” We hope you can join us, live, on Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. EDT on our Facebook page.

“The Jeffersons & Alexandria”

On By erwguestIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Civilian, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Personalities, Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

On the anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes back guest historian Madeline Feierstein.

Alexandria, Virginia, is famous for its presidential native son: George Washington. The Old Town has maintained its colonial charm, in spite of raging warfare and demolition waves since its founding in 1749. This port city, however, has hosted numerous other American presidents – especially Thomas Jefferson. Our third president visited and stayed in Alexandria on several occasions, and his connections to this Northern Virginia locale extended past his death in 1826.

While enroute to Philadelphia, Jefferson typically went north of Alexandria to cross the Potomac into Maryland. It was not until after the Revolution, and with his emergent friendship with George Washington, that his visits to Alexandria became regular and expected. But as an Alexandrian, I’ve heard more “town lore” about Washington’s longstanding affiliation with the city than any other president. The following accounts are not exhaustive, but they aim to spotlight the reasons for Jefferson’s presence and his impact on the city itself.

1790 was a critical year for the region. The National Capital Act was hotly debated. Where would America’s main city be located? Mayor William Hunter extended an invitation to Jefferson in March 1790 for dinner in his honor at the Fountain Tavern, which no longer stands, and where he had previously stayed.[1] At this time, his passage through Alexandria coincided with his trip to New York to assume the role of Secretary of State.

Jefferson understood Alexandria’s importance as a thriving commercial and political center, especially since the next nearest urban hubs were days away in Richmond and Baltimore. Mayor Hunter hoped that Alexandria would be in the running for capital selection, and that this dinner would confirm the statesman’s opinion: “You have returned to your native Country [from France]. Permit us the inhabitants of Alexandria to join with the rest of our fellow citizens in the warmest congratulations to you on that happy event. As a commercial town, we feel ourselves particularly indebted to you for the indulgencies which your enlightened representations to the Court of France have secured to our trade. You have freed commerce from its shackles…”[2]

In September of that year, Jefferson met with George Washington back in Alexandria to continue the discussion of where to assign the new capital. He and James Madison, along with notable figures in the Georgetown and Great Falls neighborhoods, negotiated the boundaries of the new federal city. Jefferson and Madison stayed overnight in Alexandria on September 14 before turning homeward bound.[3]

Gadsby’s Tavern is one of the most famous spots in Old Town. Famous for being the site of Washington’s farewell (to the presidency in New York), and a general meeting spot for the city’s elites, it’s no wonder that Jefferson also frequented this establishment! In January 1801, he stayed at the Tavern before his first inauguration. Ten days later, the ceremony, a banquet was held for him at Gadsby’s – and it apparently had the honor of being the “largest event ever given in the city.”[4]

There is no evidence that Jefferson came back to Alexandria after this 1801 visit. Additionally, no business interests here are documented, which is odd considering Alexandria’s reputation for commerce and industry. He appeared to prefer to travel north of the city to and from Monticello at this point, once again taking the ferry across the Potomac from Georgetown and continuing through what is now Loudon County southward. But the Jefferson connection did not end with the President’s change of scenery.

Granddaughter Virginia Jefferson Randolph Trist (1801-1882) and her husband moved to Alexandria in 1874. Her own daughter, Martha Burke, Jefferson’s great-granddaughter, resided in the city with her family. After Virginia’s husband died, she moved in with Martha until her own death.[5] Another granddaughter, Virginia’s sister, Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (1799–1871) joined niece Martha’s home, where she also died.[6]

Extensive family members of Thomas Jefferson are buried in Alexandria’s Ivy Hill Cemetery. Martha Burke’s daughter, Ellen Coolidge Burke, was quite active in the city’s civic causes. A reference and catalogue librarian, she is notable for expanding library services and opening branches in the surrounding neighborhoods.[7] A few miles away from where her great-great-grandfather wined and dined, a library was named in her honor before she died in 1975.

[1] “Washington, D.C.,” Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, n.d., https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/washington-dc.

[2] “Address of Welcome from the Mayor of Alexandria, 11 March 1790,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-16-02-0129.

[3] “Memorandum from Thomas Jefferson, 14 September 1790,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-06-02-0209.

 

[4] “George Taylor to Thomas Jefferson, 9 March 1801,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-33-02-0191.

 

[5] “Virginia Jefferson Randolph Trist,” Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, n.d., https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/virginia-jefferson-randolph-trist.

 

[6] “Cornelia Jefferson Randolph,” Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, n.d., https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/cornelia-jefferson-randolph.

 

[7] “Women’s History in Alexandria,” Office of Historic Alexandria, 19 November 2025, https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic-alexandria/womens-history-in-alexandria.

Bio:

Madeline Feierstein is an Alexandria, VA historian and founder of the educational and historical consulting company Rooted in Place, LLC. A native of Washington, D.C., her work has been showcased across the Capital Region. Madeline is a writer for Emerging Civil War and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. She leads significant projects to document the sick, injured, and imprisoned soldiers that passed through Alexandria and Washington, D.C. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from George Mason University and a Master’s in American History from Southern New Hampshire University. Explore her research at www.madelinefeierstein.com.

“Winning the War” ERW Panel Discussion

On By Chris MackowskiIn America 250, Emerging Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

Join Emerging Revolutionary War LIVE on Monday evening, April 13 for a discussion about “Winning the War.”

Why was American victory in the Revolution so remarkable? It seems inevitable to us now, but at the time and on the battlefields, victory seemed anything but assured. How did America overcome the odds, particularly after several decisive defeats? Historians from Emerging Revolutionary War (ERW) will examine key military moments that kept the dream of independence alive.

We’ve been helping St. Bonaventure University commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution this semester with a series of Monday-evening programs. On April 13 at 7:00 p.m. ERW historians will Zoom in for a panel discussion as part of the series. You can watch at https://sbu.zoom.us/j/98224552407 or on the ERW Facebook page.

Panelist include:

  • Phill Greenwalt, author of The Winter that Won the War: The Winter Encampment at Valley Forge, co-author of A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord, and co-author of the forthcoming A Hard-Bought Victory: The Battle of Bunker Hill
  • Mark Maloy, author of Victory or Death: The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, To the Last Extremity: The Battles for Charleston, and a forthcoming book on the battles for New York City
  • Rob Orrison, co-author of All That Can Be Expected: The Battle of Camden and A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord

Greenwalt and Maloy are both historians with the National Park Service, and Orrison serves as ERW’s chief historian.

ECW’s Chris Mackowski, who teaches at St. Bonaventure, will moderate the discussion. For people on campus or in the community around St. Bonaventure, the program will be available—with refreshments!—in 201 Plassmann Hall.

The program will be simulcast on the ERW Facebook page and on the blog of St. Bonaventure University’s History Department.

Postal Service Unveils Stamp Honoring Rev War-Era Poet Phillis Wheatley

On By Chris MackowskiIn African-American, America 250, Civilian, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Personalities, Rev War Revelry1 Comment

The United States Postal Service has issued a new postage stamp honoring Phillis Wheatley, a Revolution-era poet who was the first author of African descent in the American Colonies to publish a book.

Unveiled at the Old South Meeting House in Boston on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, the Wheatley stamps was the 49th stamp in the Black Heritage series.

For more on Wheatley, I reached out the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum. Cathryn Philippe is a living historian at the museum who portrays Wheatley—who, as it turned out, had an interesting connection to the Boston Tea Party. Cathryn was kind enough to spend some time chatting with me about Wheatley’s story:

(I first met Cathryn several years ago, while doing a virtual field trip in Boston for the American Battlefield Trust. I had the chance to visit the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and see Cathryn’s portrayal for myself. Take a look here.)

For more on the Phillis Wheatley stamp, we quote part of the Postal Service’s press release:

Continue reading “Postal Service Unveils Stamp Honoring Rev War-Era Poet Phillis Wheatley” →

A Coastal Skirmish in Delaware

On By Eric SternerIn 1776, Navy, UncategorizedLeave a comment
Thomas Mitchell, Forcing a Passage on the Hudson. From left to right, Phoenix, Roebuck, and Tartar run forts on the Hudson River later in the war. The smaller vessel on the far left is a tender. Maria or the Lord Howe may have looked like that.

In the spring of 1776, the Sussex County Delaware Committee of Safety sent the schooner Farmer under the command of Nehemiah Field to St. Eustatius for gunpowder, always in short supply in the rebelling colonies.  By then, the little Dutch island in the Caribbean was a well known haven for smugglers to sell and buy embargoed goods.  Indeed, leaders of the rebellion in America had been cruising Caribbean waters for months, always looking to acquire armaments from neutral colonies from under the nose of the Royal Navy, which lacked a sufficient number of ships to stop the practice.  Inevitably, the American smugglers found willing partners, some simply looking to earn a quick profit on high-value goods, others recognizing that islands throughout the area relied on the Americans for bulk foodstuffs.  If the Americans could not trade, some Caribbean colonies might go hungry.

Field successfully acquired a cargo and evaded British patrols between the Caribbean and his destination in the Delaware Bay, but his greatest test would come as he sought to enter the bay and unload his cargo in the lee of Cape Henlopen, near the town of Lewes.  The British fifth-rate Roebuck (44) under Captain Andrew Snape Hamond patrolled the lower bay with various attached small boats.  His chief task was to prevent smuggling, particularly of the kind Field and Farmer represented.  Delaware Bay is a large body of water shaped a bit like a rounded arrowhead.  It narrows at the top where the Delaware River enters and has a wider bottom, closer to the Atlantic Ocean.  But, that wide part starts to curve back on itself, and the mouth of the bay, between Cape Henlopen and Cape May, New Jersey is roughly 17 miles wide with shallows that constrain its navigability for deep-draft ships.  Those shallows limited Roebuck’s mobility and increased the demands on its smaller supporting ships and boats.  So, Captain Hamond relied heavily on his tender, Maria, and boats to intercept smugglers.  

At daybreak on Sunday, April 7, on a clear day, Hamond spied a schooner coming into the bay and already close to the Henlopen light house.  Roebuck set a course to the south in pursuit and dispatched the Maria and two armed boats to venture into the shallower waters.  Hamond was accustomed to chasing ships, but he didn’t know how lucky he was to stumble across the Farmer, originally sent to obtain gunpowder from the Caribbean.  When his prey seemingly ran aground, Hamond must have been delighted.

Read more: A Coastal Skirmish in Delaware

Ashore, guards at the lighthouse sent word to the village of Lewes that a schooner had arrived and was being chased into the bay.  Men were needed to help unload it.  Captain Charles Pope, of the Delaware Continental Battalion, quickly assembled his men and the local militia.  He needed boats to cross a creek, which the townspeople soon produced.  As Pope moved the town militia toward the beaches, the lighthouse guard descended on the Farmer, seven or eight miles south of the cape.  They quickly began unloading cargo: coarse linens.  If Pope was surprised or disappointed, he didn’t mention it.

As the militia arrived, they could see Roebuck’s tender bearing down on the schooner and hear the retort as it loosed a broadside of swivels and muskets at the Farmer and men unloading her.  The Farmer’screw responded by running right up on shore.  The guard returned the tender’s fire with muskets, which Pope’s men quickly augmented as they arrived on the scene.  A gunfight ensued as the militia and crew aboard the tender exchanged shots without doing much damage.  At one point, militiamen even began picking up many of the tender’s musket balls as they rolled on the ground, spent of all energy. But the distance was too great for small arms and eventually the militia laid off firing in order to expedite unloading.  According to Pope, the tender, still standing offshore, dispatched a boat back to the Roebuck, presumably for assistance.  

By the time the frigate rounded the cape, Pope and his men had managed to load two swivels on the Farmer and engage the Maria, which had moved closer and anchored.  As he reported, the exchange of fire between Pope’s men and the tender lasted a solid two hours.  The militia kept up a close fire on the tender to keep her from raising her anchor, probably because they thought they were getting the better of the fight. Pope thought he saw men fall, although Hamond didn’t note any casualties in his log.  Eventually, the Mariasuccessfully hoisted her anchor out of the sand and mud, but then a swivel on the Farmer shot away her halyards and the sail came down, forcing the tender to drop anchor again.  For her part, Roebuck remained in deeper water, visible, but largely out of the fight.  Eventually, she sent over a boat to tow off the Maria.   The boat drew militia fire and Pope thought they inflicted wounds on her crew too, but the boat and Maria eventually drew off, concluding the shoreline skirmish. There were no American casualties and Hamond did not report any from the affair.

Early in the afternoon, Hamond spied another schooner approaching the bay and hauled off to chase her.  He fired one shot at her before identifying her as the Lord Howe, another of his tenders, just arriving from Virginia.  Just another day for the Royal Navy on the American coast.