Philip van Cortlandt’s Roadside Monument

On By Chris MackowskiIn Monuments1 Comment

Route 15 Marker-Painted PostI’m sure the men who’d embarked on the 1779 Sullivan-Clinton Campaign weren’t traveling along New York’s Southern Tier Expressway as they moved through the lands of the Iroquois Confederation. In the “Tory-Indian Town of Painted Post,” I’m sure members of the expedition didn’t decide on a detour down U.S. Rt. 15 south toward the Pennsylvania state line.

But that’s how I came across a monument to the expedition during recent travels, located at a parking area along Rt. 15 south. Continue reading “Philip van Cortlandt’s Roadside Monument” →

Online Historical Resource Deals That You Can Use During COVID-19

On By vsmileyIn Emerging Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War4 Comments

After hearing about a few research deals thanks to the COVID-19, I decided to search for those deals and more to compile into a list for safe keeping. It can be tough as a 

researcher to not be able to physically go to an archive or library in order to get the resources we need to do our work. This is also a great time for amateur researchers to whet their whistle! Maybe the resources below will help fill some gaps during our stay-at-home orders.

book-club

JSTOR has expanded their free read-online access from the usual six articles per month to 100 articles per month through June 30, as well as additional expanded access for those who have paid accounts (such as through an academic institution). Learn more at this link. 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has opened some of their resources for families and teachers for free. It includes study guides, lesson plans, and lectures but also includes access to 70,000+ primary source documents from their collection. Learn more at this link. 

Smithsonian did not seem to have additional free resources but they still have a great online archive collection for research purposes, as well as additional resources for researchers in general. Learn more at this link.

National Archives has a great variety of free resources. For example, they have listed some virtual programs in a newsletter to help folks take advantage of available resources right from home. Meanwhile, the NA’s social media has stated that behind the scenes, staff have been working on digitizing more of their collection to make it available during their closures. Learn more at this link and follow them on Facebook here.

Ancestry – Whether you have a paid or free Ancestry account, you can take advantage of their free access to a plethora of National Archives records, plus they have roughly two dozen research guides.

Project MUSE has worked with participating publishers to provide content for free temporarily. Most of the resources are available through the end of June. Definitely check it out. 

Looking for additional generic resources? Check these out too:

Constitution.org (great for 18th century!)

Hathi Trust Digital Library

Naval History and Heritage Command 

UVAWise’s Doing Historical Research on the Web

Be Washington Intro Slide

And lastly, looking for just something fun and still Rev War related? Mount Vernon has an online game where you get to 

be George Washington and tackle some of the challenges he faced during the war and as president. 

Have a resource that I missed that you consider a MUST right now? Share it in the comments!

“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)

Book Review: The Indian World of George Washington by Colin G. Calloway

On By Phill GreenwaltIn Book Review, Emerging Revolutionary WarLeave a comment
Indian World of GW - Calloway

Multiple tomes grace bookshelves in libraries, book stores, and personal residences that depict various aspects of George Washington’s life and legacy. Historian Colin G. Calloway’s “The Indian World of George Washington”  deserves a space on that bookshelf.

Long overdue, this volume about Washington fills a void, as “nothing was more central than the relationship between the first president and the first Americans” (pg. 4). From his first appearances in the greater colonial world in the early 1750s to the last years of his presidency, “a thick Indian strand runs through the life of George Washington as surely as it runs through the history of early America” (pg. 4).

Continue reading “Book Review: The Indian World of George Washington by Colin G. Calloway” →

The Post Script

On By Kate GruberIn British Leadership, Continental Leadership, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Politics, Southern Theater3 Comments

At 3:00 in the afternoon on April 21, 1781 Virginia militia Colonel James Innes sat down to write a letter near Hickory Neck Church, just shy of the halfway point between Virginia’s old colonial capitol at Williamsburg and its new capitol at Richmond. Perhaps with a heavy heart and a weary hand, Innes picked up his pen to scrawl a letter to Governor Thomas Jefferson. The situation in Virginia was bleak. It had only been a year since, in apprehension of a British attack, the Virginia Assembly voted to move the seat of government from the Peninsula west to Richmond, and along with it the public stores for outfitting, equipping, and otherwise supporting Virginia’s patriot forces in the fifth and sixth years of the war with the British. The gamble hadn’t paid off. January 1781 saw Benedict Arnold’s forces sacking Richmond. Everywhere they went, it seems, a new combined force of British, Hessian, and Loyalist forces left destruction in its wake.

he approximate landing site of the the main body of British soldiers with Col. Simcoe’s detachment landing further downstream in an effort to catch the Virginians by surprise. “…On a signal given, they all, except the gun-boat turned and rowed rapidly towards the point where the landing was to take place…” (author collection)
Continue reading “The Post Script” →

“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!

Announcing “Rev War Roundtable with ERW” on Zoom!

On By erwpostIn British Leadership, Emerging Revolutionary War, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Minute Men, Revolutionary War3 Comments

On April 19, 1775, Massachusetts militia and minutemen responded to the call of British Regulars, “redcoats” marching from Boston to the town of Concord. What ensued was the “shot heard around the world” at the North Bridge in that town. What that shot signified was the changing course from words to war, that would define the relationship between 13 British North American colonies and Great Britain.

Now, 245 years later, Emerging Revolutionary War will turn that war back into words with its inaugural Rev War Revelry Zoom series. On Sunday, 7 p.m. EST, tune in to listen and watch historians from Emerging Revolutionary War discuss in an informal setting this momentous day in American history. Other topics are welcomed that pertain to the American Revolutionary War era as well.

As the title of the Zoom series relates, this will be similar to a tavern talk, much like the talks and information sharing rendezvous that went on in the 18th century, in places like Boston, where the road to revolution gained momentum as ales and spirits flowed. Thus, grab your favorite beverage, rest assured that ERW historians will be doing the same and join us, virtually, in our tavern Sunday evening.

Find Your Patriot, Part 2

On By erwguestIn Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Social HistoryLeave a comment

For Part One, click here.

So, you have a relative that fought in the American Revolution and you want to know more… now what? Joining an organization, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), is a lengthy and detail-oriented process. It takes patience and perseverance. Before beginning the process, I attended a research seminar hosted by the local chapter to learn about the specific requirements for applying. If you have any experience with records, the one consistent theme is that records do not consistently capture the same information. Some death records do not list birth-dates, birth records do not always list both parents, and worst-case scenario, many records can be lost, stolen or severely damaged.

As I mentioned in part 1, my grandmother provided me with a box of documents detailing the Bitely heritage. The materials she gave me was helpful for pointing my path forward, but it lacked the necessary vital records for completing the application. Luckily, each chapter has a registrar that guides you through finding the right resources and completing the paperwork accurately. The registrar in my chapter was a seasoned member of DAR and walked me step by step through the process. Together, we reviewed the documents from my box, made a family tree and contacted the Michigan vital records department for appropriate birth, death and marriage certificates for each generation between John and me. Thankfully, both New York and Michigan had the records I needed, in good condition and had the required information on them to meet DAR standards. If you hit a snag in the process, there’s an entire community of DAR women who are trained to help you through this. Reach out, we will help!


Here is a sample of the documents passed down to me in the family history box. This helped start the journey for learning more about my heritage.
Continue reading “Find Your Patriot, Part 2” →

ERW Book Review: Washington’s End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn

On By Phill GreenwaltIn Book Review, Civilian, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory1 Comment

George Washington retired from public life at the end of his second presidential term on March 4, 1797. Twenty months and ten days later he died on December 14, 1799. In between Washington was also the first in the United States to be a former president, first to deal with securing his legacy as both a military hero and political figure, and having to see the country he sacrificed so much to create, lurch forward without him having an active part in it.

Until now, these years have been either excluded, glossed over, or an anti-climatic ending to a Washington biography. Until now. Joseph Horn, a former presidential speechwriter and the author of The Man Who Would Not Be Washington lends his talent to a new biography of Washington, examining those last few years in-depth.

The author has a valid point when he argues that, “for too long, the story of Washington’s last years has been squeezed into the margins of manuscripts, if included at all” (pg. 14). Channeling the method of famed Washington biographer Douglas Southall Freeman, Horn writes this biography in the “fog of war” style that affords the reader the opportunity to read the history “through the eyes of those who made it rather than through the hindsight of historians” (pg. 14).

Continue reading “ERW Book Review: Washington’s End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn” →

Finding Your Patriot

On By erwguestIn Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Revolutionary War, Social History3 Comments

Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes back guest historian Kate Bitely

Part 1

How much do you know about your great-great-great-great-great grandparents? Did your family pass on detailed stories of their past? Perhaps you took a DNA test like ‘23andMe,’ or maybe you know little if anything about your roots. Whatever the case may be, now is a great time to start the journey of learning about your familial past, as it might just lead you to an unexpected destination. For me, I grew up knowing my distant relative, John Biteley Sr., a New Yorker who come to the U.S. from Germany in the 1750’s. His American born son, John Biteley Jr., went on to serve as a patriot in the American Revolution. My grandfather, Ralph Bitely, always told us, “the Bitely’s were at Ticonderoga!”  In 2010, my grandfather passed away. A few years after his death, my grandmother gave me a box filled with documents that detail the history of the Bitelys. This box would be the start of my journey back to the 18th century.

As I dug through the box a few years ago, I recall being filled with excitement as I learned about my family. They were farmers, predominately grape farmers to be exact. (My love for wine is clearly hereditary). As I dug deeper, I found a more modern picture of the “Bitely Homestead,” the home of John Biteley Sr., located in Saratoga County, NY. It was first built before the war around 1770, was burned down by Gen. John Burgoyne in 1777 and was rebuilt in 1779. Nearby remains a family cemetery where many of my relatives remain. While I have not been for a visit yet, I hope to make a trip soon when conditions are safe to do so.

Photo of the “Bitely Homestead” in Moreau, NY rebuilt in 1779 after the British burned down the original structure in 1777 found inside the box from my grandmother.
Continue reading “Finding Your Patriot” →