Author Archives: Eric J. Wittenberg
The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781: The Fort Griswold Massacre
Part Three Click here for parts one and two. With British soldiers pouring into the fort, Colonel Ledyard ordered a ceasefire, and prepared to surrender Fort Griswold to the victorious British. However, the British disregarded the ceasefire and continuing pouring … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, British Leadership, Campaigns, Common Soldier, Continental Leadership, Memory, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Monuments, Northern Theater, Personalities, Photography, Preservation, Revolutionary War
Tagged American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Battle of Groton Heights, Benedict Arnold, British, Bunker Hill, Connecticut State Parks, Continental, Eric D. Lehman, Eric Wittenberg, Fort Griswold, General Henry Clinton, Lambo Latham, Lord Charles Cornwallis, Major Stephen Bromfield, militia, New London, Philadelphia, Wesleyan University Press, William Ledyard, Yorktown
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Part Two: The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781: The Fort Griswold Massacre
For Part One, click here. Lt. Col. Edmund Eyre’s battalion of 800 Regulars and Loyalists landed on the east bank of the Thames River, facing tangled woodlands and swamps. The New Jersey Loyalists, in fact, had so much difficulty moving … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, British Leadership, Continental Leadership, Memory, Monuments, Preservation, Revolutionary War
Tagged 40th Regiment of Foot, American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Battle of Groton Heights, Benedict Arnold, British, British Regulars, Continental, Eric Wittenberg, Fort Griswold, Loyalist, Lt. Col. Edmund Eyre, New Jersey Loyalist, William Montgomery
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The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781: The Fort Griswold Massacre
Part One After turning coat, Benedict Arnold received a commission as a brigadier general in the British army as part of the deal that he made in order to betray his country. In August 1781, George Washington decided to shift … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, British Leadership, Campaigns, Northern Theater, Personalities, Revolutionary War
Tagged 1775, 1778, 1781, 38th Regiment of Foot, 54th Regiment of Foot, American Revolutionary War, Arnold's American Legion, Battle of Groton Heights, Benedict Arnold, British Army, British Regulars, Connecticut, Continental Army, Cortland Skinner's New Jersey Volunteers, Eric Wittenberg, Fort Griswold, Governor John Trumbull, Hessian, Hessian Jagers, Loyal American Regiment, Loyalist, militia, New London, New York City, Rufus Avery, Sir Henry Clinton, Thames River, William Ledyard
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Defense in Depth as a Revolutionary War Battlefield Tactic
Part 4 (click here for first three parts) As we have seen, two untrained, amateur, but very effective soldiers perfected the concept of the defense in depth during the campaigns of 1781. Morgan was the first to experiment with the … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Common Soldier, Memory, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Monuments, National Park Service, Southern Theater
Tagged Banastre Tarleton, Battle of Cowpens, Battle of Guilford Court House, Daniel Morgan, Eric Wittenberg, William Hardee
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Defense in Depth as a Revolutionary War Battlefield Tactic
Part Three (click here for first two installments) Determined to avenge his embarrassing defeat at Cowpens, Lt. Gen. Charles Lord Cornwallis set his army out in a determined pursuit of the American army. Knowing that he was too weak to … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, British Leadership, Common Soldier, Continental Leadership, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, National Park Service, Personalities, Revolutionary War, Southern Theater
Tagged American Revolution, Banastre Tarleton, Battle of Guilford Court House, Daniel Morgan, Defense in Depth, Eric Wittenberg, Lord Charles Cornwallis, Lord George Germain, Nathanael Greene, Road to Yorktown, southern campaign, Southern Theater, William Washington
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Part 2: The Defense in Depth as a Revolutionary War Battlefield Tactic
For part one, click here. Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan, the “Old Wagoner,” as he was known, commanded a light infantry corps assigned to Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s southern army. Morgan met with Greene in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 3, … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, British Leadership, Campaigns, Continental Leadership, Memory, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, National Park Service, Revolutionary War, Southern Theater, Uncategorized
Tagged American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Andrew Pickens, Banastre Tarleton, Battle of Cowpens, British, Cowpens National Battlefield, Daniel Morgan, Fabian, Fabian Strategy, Lord Charles Cornwallis, militia, Nathanael Greene, National Park Service, Patriot, Southern Theater, William Washington
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The Defense in Depth as a Revolutionary Battlefield Tactic
Part One of Four As a general statement, most people don’t think of the Revolutionary War as a testing ground for battlefield tactics. That assumption would not be correct. In fact, the Revolutionary War proved beyond doubt that traditional European … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, British Leadership, Campaigns, Continental Leadership, National Park Service, Personalities, Revolutionary War, Southern Theater
Tagged American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Battle of Cowpens, Battle of Guilford Court House, Concord, Cowpens, Daniel Morgan, Fabian Strategy, Guilford Court House, Nathanael Greene, Native Americans, southern campaign, southern campaigns of the american revolution, Southern Theater
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Hessian Camp, Reading, Pennsylvania: A Childhood Mystery Solved
I grew up in a suburb of Reading, Pennsylvania. Reading is the county seat of Berks County, and is located about sixty miles northwest of Philadelphia. Reading is an old town; Richard and Thomas Penn, the sons of William Penn, … Continue reading
Lord Dunmore’s War: The Opening of the American Revolution
PART FOUR OF FOUR Visiting the Point Pleasant Battlefield Today, little of the Point Pleasant battlefield remains. A small park, of about four acres, at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers is the only preserved portion of the … Continue reading
Lord Dunmore’s War: The Opening of the American Revolution
PART THREE OF FOUR The Historic Significance of Lord Dunmore’s War After defeating Cornstalk, Lewis and his command crossed the Ohio River and advanced to within eight miles of the Shawnee villages at Pickaway Plains (near present-day Circleville, Ohio) on … Continue reading
Posted in Campaigns
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Emerging Revolutionary War Era 