“troops will observe the profoundest silence upon the march…” Gen. Gates’ Orders on August 15, 1780

On August 15, 2019August 17, 2019 By Rob OrrisonIn Armies, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Campaigns, Revolutionary War, Southern Theater, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Two hundred and thirty nine years ago today from his camp at Rugeley’s Mill, SC, American General Horatio Gates issued the following orders to his Southern Army to move on to the British post of Camden, SC.

“The sick, the extra artillery stores, the heavy baggage, and such quartermaster’s stores, as are not immediately wanted, to march this evening, under a guard, to Waxaws. To this order the general requests the brigadier generals, to see that those under their command, pay the most exact and scrupulous obedience. Lieutenant Colonel Edmonds, with the remaining guns of the park, will take post and march with the Virginia brigade, under General Stevens; he will direct, as any deficiency happens in the artillery affixed to the other brigades, to supply it immediately; his military staff, and a proportion of his officers, with forty of his men, are to attend him and await his orders. The troops will be ready to march precisely at ten o’clock, in the following order, Continue reading ““troops will observe the profoundest silence upon the march…” Gen. Gates’ Orders on August 15, 1780″ →

Oriskany Battlefield (part two)

On August 13, 2019March 9, 2019 By Chris MackowskiIn Battlefields & Historic Places, PhotographyLeave a comment

part two of two

In my first post, I described my visit to the Oriskany Battlefield near Rome, New York, on a dreary day. Recent rain, mostly dried, still left streaks on the monuments. The denuded trees created deceptively open visibility quite unlike the heavy foliage that would’ve clogged the surrounding forest on August 6, 1777. Still, it was a great little battlefield to see, even in the off season. Today, I follow up with some photos from my visit. (Read part one for a battle summary and additional resources.)

01-Oriskany Open Field — The battlefield monument, dedicated in 1884, on the 107th anniversary of the battle

Continue reading “Oriskany Battlefield (part two)” →

Southside Revolutionary Virginia 1775 Tour – October 12, 2019

On August 8, 2019July 15, 2019 By erwpostIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Campaigns, Emerging Revolutionary War, Preservation, Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

From our friends at the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond

Tour Leader – Dr. Patrick H. (Pat) Hannum, Professor, Joint Forces Staff College, National Defense University, Lt Col USMC (Ret)

Great Bridge Battlefield (courtesy of Great Bridge Battlefield & Waterways History Foundation)

This tour will visit three critically important Revolutionary War sites, in the modern Cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, in order to help inform the important events and explain how the Whig Government ousted the Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, and British military forces from the State of Virginia. These events largely unfolded in the fall of 1775 and culminated with the destruction of the City of Norfolk in early 1776. Strategically important, these events led to near uncontested Whig control of the State of Virginia for three and one-half years. The British defeat at Yorktown in October 1781 traces its roots to the critical decisions and decisive actions of the Whig Governments of Virginia and North Carolina in the fall of 1775. We will visit: Continue reading “Southside Revolutionary Virginia 1775 Tour – October 12, 2019” →

The Oriskany Battlefield (part one)

On August 6, 2019March 9, 2019 By Chris MackowskiIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

part one of two

The rolling hills and dale that make up the Oriskany Battlefield look bleak and washed out on this overcast day. The battle took place in the full flush of August green, but I visit on a dreary off-season day. The battlefield sits next to state route 69, which winds through a rural part of upstate New York that, itself, looks time-forgotten.

The most prominent feature of the battlefield is the tall needle-like obelisk, dedicated on August 6, 1884—the 107th anniversary of the battle. The battlefield received formal protection from the state forty-six years later, in 1927, on the battle’s sesquicentennial. Initially comprised of five acres, the park now includes 70 acres, with the old Erie Canal running along its northern border. Continue reading “The Oriskany Battlefield (part one)” →

August in Lexington, Massachusetts

On August 1, 2019July 15, 2019 By erwpostIn Battlefields & Historic Places, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, National Park Service, Personalities, Revolutionary War, Uncategorized, Women1 Comment

From our friends at the Lexington Historical Society, a few events to mark on your calendar if going to be in that area of the country. Click here for more information about the events below.

On Thursday, August 8th at 7:00 p.m. at the Lexington Depot
I Am An Honest Woman: Female Revolutionary Resistance

Most women had limited opportunities for political action during the American Revolution. While some of the lower classes could take to the streets, “genteel” women had to find more subtle ways to support the Patriot cause, while maintaining the illusion of domestic contentment. Dr. Emily Murphy, National Park Service curator and living historian, will discuss the “Daughters of Liberty” and their political accomplishments. These women were able to take an active role in the Revolution by politicizing traditional female activities, like spinning flax into linen to create homespun fabric in protest of British imports. A group of 50 protesting Bostonian men would incite a riot, but who would cross a crowd of dutiful housewives showing off their domestic skills?

Saturday, August 31, 12:00 – 4:00 p.m., across from Battle Green on Harrington Road
Lexington’s Spinning Protest

On the exact 250th anniversary of the 1769 spinning protest in Lexington, come to a reenactment of that important event! There will be spinners in period dress, interpreters sharing information about the craft of spinning, the political climate of the time and the British goods boycott that sparked the 1769 spinning bee. Plus, a preview of our 2020 Buckman Tavern exhibit on women and political protest. Free and open to the public.

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Symposium Update

On July 31, 2019 By Victoria WanglerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

In our third installment for our build-up to the September 28, 2019 symposium Before They Were Americans, today we are highlighting Phill Greenwalt. Greenwalt is co-founder of Emerging Revolutionary War and also a full-time contributor to Emerging Civil War. He graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University with a B.A. in History and graduated from George Mason University with a M.A. in American History. For the symposium, Phill Greenwalt will be presenting his talk “I wish this cursed place was burned: Boston and the Road to Revolution.”

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Continue reading “Symposium Update” →

ERW Weekender: A Visit to Fort Stanwix

On July 26, 2019March 9, 2019 By Chris MackowskiIn Battlefields & Historic Places, National Park Service, Preservation1 Comment

Fort Stanwix in Rome, New York, has plenty of history to offer, but it’s equally a success story of urban renewal. The fort’s original location was long swallowed up by the city’s expansion in the twentieth century, but it was then reclaimed in advance of the American Bicentennial. City blocks were razed, the fort reconstructed, and American history became a central tourist attraction in the heart of downtown Rome. It’s a “faithful reproduction,” the Park Service says, constructed using “many original plans and documents.”

The site of Fort Stanwix in 1969 and after its reclamation in 1976. (courtesy NPS)

Continue reading “ERW Weekender: A Visit to Fort Stanwix” →

Review: Founding Martyr, The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution’s Lost Hero by Christian Di Spigna

On July 22, 2019July 23, 2019 By Phill GreenwaltIn Book Review, Emerging Revolutionary War, MemoryLeave a comment

ERW Book Reviews (1)

Doctor. Major General. President of the Provincial Congress. Author of political tracts. A true patriot. Forgotten.

41mPwaMUWfL._SX336_BO1,204,203,200_ All these words, plus many more, are titles that depict the life of Dr. Joseph Warren. However, the last term is most synonymous with the Massachusetts doctor who fell in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. That last word, forgotten, is exactly what author and historian Christian Di Spigna is hoping to expunge with his new biography, Founding Martyr.

Di Spigna, an early American history expert and Colonial Williamsburg volunteer, focuses his account of Dr. Warren on not the events immediately surrounding his death at Bunker Hill and subsequent martyrdom but “to fill in the more obscure parts of Warren’s life” which will lead to understanding more of the “key period in the formation of his character, his special networks, and ultimately his medical and political careers” (pg. 7). Continue reading “Review: Founding Martyr, The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution’s Lost Hero by Christian Di Spigna” →

Symposium Update

On July 17, 2019 By Victoria WanglerIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Continuing to our build-up to the September 28, 2019 symposium Before They Were Americans, today we are highlighting Stephanie Seal Walters. Walters is a PhD Candidate at George Mason University. Her dissertation, “As I Glory in the Name of Tory”: Loyalism, Community, and Memory in Revolutionary Virginia, 1760-1794, focuses on loyalism within the different cultural and geographical regions of the colony of Virginia. For the symposium, she will be speaking about the impact of smallpox on the American Revolution during her talk “Smallpox to Revolution.”

Headshot of Steph Seal Walters turning towards the camera with a friendly expression. Continue reading “Symposium Update” →

George Washington’s “Favorite” Charles Lee

On July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 By Rob OrrisonIn Charles Lee, Civilian, Continental Leadership, Personalities, Politics, Uncategorized1 Comment

When you mention the name “Charles Lee” in many Revolutionary War circles, one immediately thinks of Maj. Gen. Charles Lee. Though there was another Charles Lee and it can be argued provided more contributions to the United States than the British born military general.

220px-Charleslee — Charles Lee, *Courtesy of Department of Justice*

Charles Lee was born in 1758 on his father’s plantation Leesylvania in Prince William County, Virginia. The 2,000-acre farm that sat on the Potomac River and neighbored other Potomac River families such as the Fairfaxes, Washingtons and Masons. Charles’ father, Henry Lee II, a political colleague and friend of George Washington, Charles was one of eight siblings and five males that would solidify the Lee family’s role as leaders in politics and society. Continue reading “George Washington’s “Favorite” Charles Lee” →