Last week, Michael Harris wrote about the Battle of Brandywine and in his conclusion mentioned his excellent history on this important battle in the American Revolution.
While reading his work, I came across the account of Captain Patrick Ferguson.
Harris describes it as one of the most “potentially momentous” non-incidents of the entire American Revolution.
I agree with him.
After reading the following, would you? Continue reading ““Potentially Momentous””
Emerging Revolutionary War and Revolutionary War Wednesday is pleased to welcome guest historian and author Michael C. Harris this week.
The Battle of Brandywine was fought on September 11, 1777. Visiting the battlefield to commemorate what took place there began just three years later. On his way to Virginia in 1780, the Marquis de Lafayette made a point of stopping for day at the battlefield where he was wounded and giving a tour to the officers that were travelling with him. An older Lafayette returned in 1825 during his celebrated 15-month tour of America.
However, it would not be until after the American Civil War during the golden age of preservation that any kind of markers or monuments began to appear around the ten-square-mile landscape. During the 1877 centennial, artillery pieces were placed to mark the fighting near Sandy Hollow. Eighteen years later, a monument was dedicated along Birmingham Road supposedly marking the spot where Lafayette was wounded. Had Lafayette been alive, he would have been able to put out the error in location.
Continue reading “ERW Weekender: The Brandywine Battlefield: A History & Visiting the Field”
The final part in a four-part series
“The field of knowledge,” said Thomas Jefferson, “is the common prosperity of all mankind.”
Jefferson’s words are inscribed in big bold letters in the entryway of Monticello’s visitor center. They’re written in architectural perpetuity in Jefferson’s “academical village,” the University of Virginia. They’re enshrined in the very concept of democracy.
“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” Jefferson said. Knowledge enables self-determination. Continue reading “Jefferson: Self-governance and “the field of knowledge””
This is part two in the series by guest historian Drew Gruber. For part one, click here.
On the morning of October 3, 1781, British Colonels Tarleton and Thomas Dundas led another expedition north towards Gloucester Courthouse and away from the protection of their fortifications at Gloucester Point. Their command that day included some of the most renowned fighting men then in service. Cavalry and mounted infantry from Tarleton’s own British Legion, combined with a detachment of Colonel Simcoe’s Queen’s Rangers, elements of the 17th Dragoons, men from the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers), German Jaegers and part of the 80th Regiment of Foot provided an impressive host for their American and French adversaries. Captain Johann Ewald, commander of the Jaegers commented after the war that he was sent out with “one hundred horse of Simcoe’s and the remainder of the jagers and rangers, which amounted to only sixty man in order to take a position between Seawell’s planatation and Seawall’s Ordinary. I was to form a chain there to protect a foraging of Indian corn.”[1]
Emerging Revolutionary War and Revolutionary War Wednesday is pleased to welcome back guest historian Drew Gruber.
Part 1
When we think about American militia during the Revolutionary War, the image of an untrained rifle-toting citizen turned soldier comes to mind. This stereotype of the American soldier, popularized by movies like The Patriot is not completely false but such generalizations should give us pause and inspire us to investigate the roll of American militia, independent companies, and ‘irregular’ troops a bit closer. For example, how was it that on October 3, 1781 a group of Virginia militiamen defeated an elite British force? The story of Lieutenant Colonel John Mercer’s Grenadier Militia during the battle at Seawell’s Ordinary has been told and retold since 1781, however the formation of this illustrious group is often ignored and deserves a closer look. Continue reading “Mercer’s Grenadier Militia”
Revolutionary War Wednesday and Emerging Revolutionary War is pleased to welcome guest historian Mark Maloy this week.
African-Americans fought for the Americans during the Revolutionary War, right? Many of us remember learning about Crispus Attucks dying during the Boston Massacre or have heard the oft-repeated saying that the Continental Army was the last integrated American army until the Korean War.
Continue reading ““They Fought Because They Would Not Be Slaves””
Rev War Wednesday and Emerging Revolutionary War is pleased to welcome guest historian Kate Gruber.
Let me guess– you are a Rev War Nerd who is the best friend of/dating/married to a Civil War Nut.
I recognize the symptoms. You have often thought that the third person in your relationship might just be Shelby Foote. Hardtack is just not something you can get voluntarily excited about. The idea of blue and grey is not nearly as appealing as red and blue. You have been dragged to Gettysburg when you really wanted to check out Valley Forge.
Friends, you are not alone. I myself am a Nerd married to a Nut, and I am here to tell you that your problems might just be solved by spending some quality time in historic Yorktown, Virginia. Continue reading “ERW Weekender – Yorktown”
Baron Frederich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Steuben or Frederich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben or more simply Baron von Steuben, may be the most recognizable German to serve with the American army during the American Revolution.*
His merits, pedigree, and how he came to America has been questioned and studied by many scholars and historians.
Another German has not fared so well in terms of recognition of his invaluable services to the American cause.
This post is about that other German-speaking military officer. He did something von Steuben did not.
Baron Johann von Robais de Kalb not only offered his services to the fledgling American Continental Army, he also gallantly gave his life for his adopted-cause.
Born June 19, 1721 in Huttendorf, near Erlangen in Bavaria, de Kalb led a life of privilege, learning multiple languages before earning a commission in the French army in the Loewendal Regiment. He served admirably in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, in the later, he won the Order of Military Merit and gained his baronetcy.
Part three in a four-part series
“I cannot live without books,” Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams in June of 1815. The former president had just packed his personal library—some 6,700 volumes—into a wagon train and shipped it north to the nation’s capital. He’d sold the collection to Congress for $23,950 to replace the collection burned by the British during the War of 1812.
His collection was, Jefferson rightly believed, “the choicest collection of books in the United States.”
And now he was left virtually bookless. Continue reading “Mr. Jefferson’s library: “a necessity of life””
With the visit of the L’Hermione to the east coast of the United States this summer, there has been a heightened interest in the Franco-American alliance that won the American Revolution. The French rebuilt the L’Hermione not only for its beauty but also its historical significance. Most importantly, its mission and the passenger it contained when it arrived in Boston in the fall of 1780.
The spring of 1780 was a low point in the American cause of independence. Stagnation in the north between Washington and British commander General Sir Henry Clinton combined with devastating defeats in the Southern Theater caused low morale among the patriots. Cornwallis had complete control over the Southern colonies and no standing American force seemed to be able to stop his movements. Continue reading ““Our clocks are slow” L’Hermione, Lafayette and the Franco-American Alliance”
Emerging Revolutionary War Era 