Category: Battles

“Rev. War Roundtable with ERW” Continues this Sunday!

On By erwpostIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

This Sunday, April 26, at 7 p.m. EST, Emerging Revolutionary War invites you to click on and listen to the next installment of our “Rev War Revelry.” This week’s happy hour will focus on the most over-looked battle or engagement from the American Revolution. Each of the historians slated to participate will bring their pick for that category.

Feel free to chime in with yours in the comments here or on the Zoom call on Sunday. The feed will be live on ERW’s Facebook page. So, grab your favorite beverage and join us for a free-flowing conversation to toast off the weekend with.

Delaware Regiment at the Battle of Long Island (Wikipedia)

“Rev. War Roundtable with ERW” Introducing Guest Historian….

On By erwpostIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Revolutionary War1 Comment

Emerging Revolutionary War invites you to attend our “Rev War Revelry” tonight at 7 p.m. EST as we discuss the beginning of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775, 245 years ago today.

Yet, not only will Emerging Revolutionary War historians be on the call but we have a special guest historian joining us as well.

Stacey Fraser

Stacey Fraser is the Collections and Outreach Coordinator for the Lexington Historical Society. She has overseen new exhibits in the town and has assisted with the annual Patriots Day events. She will be on to share her expertise in this momentous day in American history and about what is happening, both virtually, and in the future with the Lexington Historical Society.

ERW looks forward to welcoming Stacey and all of you to our inaugural Zoom history call tonight!

Lafayette at Brandywine

On By Bert DunkerlyIn Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Campaigns, Continental Leadership, Emerging Revolutionary War, ERW Weekender, Monuments, Northern Theater, Personalities, Photography, Revolutionary War4 Comments

Marquis de Lafayette was a French aristocrat serving in the French army, and recently married, when the Revolution broke out in America.  He followed events with interst, and was motivated to come and fight with the Americans.

He arrived in March, 1777, nineteen years old and eager.  He immediately formed a friendship with Washington, and was an aide on his staff.  In the meantime British forces had invaded Pennsylvania, intent on capturing Philadelphia.  Washington’s army took a position behind Brandywine Creek, and the British attacked on September 11, 1777.  British troops had flanked the Americans, and reinforcements were rushed to the threatened sector, making a stand on Birmingham Hill.

Eager to get to the fighting, Lafayette and a group of French officers rode to the unfolding battle at Birmingham Hill, arriving as the action was at its hottest.  Approaching from the south, they rode up the Birmingham Road, and turned to the left, coming in behind the brown-coated troops of General Thomas Conway’s Pennsylvania brigade.

Continue reading “Lafayette at Brandywine” →

The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 6

On By Eric SternerIn Battles, Civilian, Personalities, Uncategorized1 Comment

 

Vale of Edale (Photo by Atomviz, Wikimedia Commons)
Vale of Edale, Cresswell’s Home, the Beginning and End of His Adventures.  (Photo by Atomviz, Wikimedia Commons)

Skirmish in New Jersey

Cresswell found cheap lodging in New York and reunited with Joseph Brewer, who had fled Philadelphia himself, leaving his wife behind.  “The persecution against the friends of Gorvernment was too violent for a man of his warm temper to stay any longer amongst them with safety either of person or property.”[1]  While in New York, he watched the buildup of forces that Howe would later take on the Philadelphia campaign, but his focus remained on securing passage home.  It would take months, but Cresswell found ways to kill time, including watching a skirmish with the Americans he had so frequently cursed.

Continue reading “The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 6” →

ERW Weekender: Ninety Six, The Site That Has It All

On By erwguestIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Civilian, Common Soldier, Emerging Revolutionary War, National Park Service, Southern TheaterLeave a comment

Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes historian Vanessa Smiley to the blog.

The thing about Ninety Six National Historic Site is that it’s unassuming exterior hides a wealth of history. It’s also nowhere near a major highway, meaning you have to want to get there if you’re thinking of visiting. And when you do get there, you will realize that there’s more history per acre than its demur entrance lets on. Located in the back country of South Carolina, Ninety Six has a history that speaks to the stories of Native Americans, the American frontier of the 18th century, and the American Revolution.

Entrance to the park
(courtesy of Ninety Six NHS, NPS)

The site at Ninety Six holds a treasure trove of study on these subjects. Native American, mostly Cherokee, activity was heavy in the area long before European settlers arrived. One of the earliest backcountry trading posts, established by Robert Gouedy in 1759, made Ninety Six a hotbed of trading activity thanks to its location at the crossroads of twelve different roads and paths, linking the area to nearly all parts of the colonies.

Continue reading “ERW Weekender: Ninety Six, The Site That Has It All” →

ERW Weekender: Wheeling

On By erwguestIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Emerging Revolutionary War, ERW Weekender, Memory, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Native American, Revolutionary War, Western Frontier2 Comments

Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes guest historian Jon-Erik Gilot. A short bio is attached at the bottom of this post.

Though perhaps more widely known as the birthplace of West Virginia during the Civil War, Wheeling and its environs retains several significant sites associated with the Revolutionary War. The name itself is translated from the Delaware language meaning “place of the skull,” legend having that the severed head of a white settler was placed on a pole by local Native Americans as a warning to others to stay away.

Betty Zane’s Run for Gunpowder during Second Battle of Fort Henry–1782
(image courtesy of Library of Congress)

Wheeling was founded in 1769 by Colonel Ebenezer Zane and his brothers Jonathan and Silas. Five years later in 1774 Fort Henry (originally called Fort Fincastle) was built overlooking the Ohio River to protect the growing numbers of settlers from attack. The fort was twice attacked during the Revolutionary War, first in 1777 and again on September 11 – 13, 1782, when a force of British loyalists (Butler’s Rangers) and Native Americans (under the command of outlaw Simon Girty) attacked the fort’s 47 defenders. The fort was besieged over two days, culminating in Betty Zane’s heroic run for gunpowder in a nearby cabin. The British and natives broke off the battle with the arrival of Virginia militia reinforcements. Fort Henry is acknowledged as one of the final battles of the Revolutionary War.

Continue reading “ERW Weekender: Wheeling” →

62nd Foot at Freeman’s Farm

On By erwguestIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, British Leadership, Common Soldier, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Northern Theater, Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes guest historian Kevin Pawlak. A short bio follows the post below.

On May 25, 1775, the 62nd Regiment of Foot stood for review. The line of men, clad in their redcoats with buff facings, did not impress the reviewing officer. He called the regiment “very much drafted” and “very indifferent.” Despite the disparaging grade, in just over two years, the 62nd Foot commendably fought in one of the fiercest actions of the War for Independence.

John Anstruther
courtesy of 62ndregiment.org

Scottish military man Lt. Col. John Anstruther led the 62nd Foot in the campaign of 1777. Anstruther faced no easy task; the 62nd was the junior British regiment in John Burgoyne’s army and most of its men were inexperienced in campaigning and battle. To make the situation even worse, roughly one-quarter of the 62nd Foot’s soldiers were German. Language barriers likely prevented complete cohesion within the unit. However, with a war on, nothing could be done to rectify the regiment’s defects as it marched south into New York.

Anstruther’s regiment was present for the operations around Fort Ticonderoga in early July 1777. After American forces abandoned the fort, the conglomerate and inexperienced 62nd remained behind to man Mount Independence overlooking Lake Champlain. As the rest of Burgoyne’s army continued campaigning, the men of the 62nd Foot spent time guarding themselves against rattlesnakes rather than the enemy. Their time came to rejoin the main army before the Battle of Saratoga commenced.

Continue reading “62nd Foot at Freeman’s Farm” →

War on the Pennsylvania Frontier: Part 4 of 5: Hanna’s Town

On By Bert DunkerlyIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Civilian, Native American, Uncategorized1 Comment

Just north of Greensburg, PA, about twenty five miles from Pittsburgh, is the site of the Westmoreland County Courthouse at Hanna’s Town. The settlement included a few log buildings and was a gathering point for militia throughout the Revolution.

Robert Hanna settled here in 1773 and the first county court for Westmoreland County met here that April. It is thought to be the first courthouse west of the Allegheny Mountains. The village that sprung up straddled the 1758 Forbes Road, built by British troops during the French and Indian War and now a major route for settlers to the region.

Continue reading “War on the Pennsylvania Frontier: Part 4 of 5: Hanna’s Town” →

ERW Weekender: Remember Paoli!

On By Mark WilcoxIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Emerging Revolutionary War, Northern Theater, Revolutionary War3 Comments

On the night of September 20, 1777, while encamped in Chester County, PA just outside Philadelphia, a division of American soldiers was defeated in a swift surprise attack by a slightly smaller British force. American propagandists, in an effort to galvanize Patriot support, would make the most of this encounter to show the British Army as overly brutal and bloodthirsty. On the foggy morning of December 9, 2019, members of the ERW paid a call on this battle site; Paoli Battlefield Historical Park.

American Camp
Paoli Battlefield Historical Park

Continue reading “ERW Weekender: Remember Paoli!” →