Tag: Loyalist

“Rev War Revelry” Ladies Night & Loyalist Women

On By erwguestIn Emerging Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, Uncategorized, WomenLeave a comment

Earlier this year, three great historians, in their words, “took over” the “Rev War Revelry” in a discussion that they dubbed “Ladies Night.” That particular Sunday night historian happy hour was well received, so Emerging Revolutionary War historians Kate Gruber and Vanessa Smiley have decided to have another “Ladies Night” but this time discuss the role of Loyalist women during and after the American Revolution.

Joining this dynamic duo will be Dr. Stephanie Seal Walters, who is currently the Digital Liaison in the Humanities for the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned her bachelor’s and graduate degrees in history from the University of Southern Mississippi and a doctorate in United States History from George Mason University. You may also recognize her from the first annual Emerging Revolutionary War Symposium held in Historic Alexandria, Virginia in September 2019.

We hope that you can tune in, on Sunday night, at 7pm EDT, to catch the next installment of “Rev War Revelry” on our Facebook page.

The British Perspective….Best Book?

On By Phill GreenwaltIn British Leadership, Civilian, Emerging Revolutionary War, Memory, Revolutionary War9 Comments

I recently needed to look up a quote from a British politician in the House of Commons during the American Revolutionary War. I went to my personal library (like to call it a study but since I have not found a desk to “study” on in there, I’ll continue to call it my library).

I grabbed Don Cook’s book The Long Fuse, How England Lost the American Colonies. A great read about the opposing side in the American Revolution. I found what I needed, but, as many of you probably do, that took me down a reading tangent.

Disclaimer; those of us under stay-at-home orders have some additional free time to explore more of our personal libraries. Those who can relate know what I am talking about. You pick up a book looking for something specific, which leads you to finish that book, then find one in the same genre or another micro-study of the same topic, until you have consumed multiple tomes within a matter of days, weeks.

Cook’s book led me to The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire. I gained a different appreciation for King George III, Lord Frederick North, and other British leaders from their perspective, filling in the gaps of historical scholarship that more America-centric volumes do not have the word count or inclination to fill.

I then went deeper down the proverbial rabbit-hole. Delving into With Zeal and With Bayonets Only: The British Army on Campaign in North America, 1775-1783, I went on a reading campaign with the British in the colonies.

Which now leads me to this blog post, what else would you recommend? What are your go-to books on the British perspective in the American Revolution?

Side note, I may delve into the loyalist viewpoint histories next, as I came across an interesting fact; the largest diaspora in the 18th century was American citizens that chose loyalty to the British crown who left or were forced to evacuate during and after the end of the American Revolution. So, as any history enthusiast will do, I will do more research….reading I mean.

“Rev War Revelry” Discusses Militia & Continentals

On By erwpostIn Common Soldier, Continental Leadership, Emerging Revolutionary War, Militia (Loyalist) Leadership, Militia (Patriot) Leadership, Revolutionary WarLeave a comment

This Sunday, May 10th, at 7 p.m. EST, Emerging Revolutionary War returns with the “Rev War Roundtable with ERW” for another installment of “Rev War Revelry.”

This week ERW welcomes guest historian Gabe Neville, historian and founder of the blog, 8th Virginia Regiment, and ERW historians Mark Maloy, Mark Wilcox, Billy Griffith, and Travis Shaw for a chat about militia (both Patriot and Loyalist) and Continental units. Click here to see Gabe’s blog.

Join the panel of historians as they debate, discuss, and share their favorite units, the differences between militia and Continental units, regiments or companies that deserve more recognition, or all of the above. Questions and comments are welcomed and encouraged.

Just head on over to Emerging Revolutionary War’s Facebook page Sunday evening, for our weekly happy hour historical discussion. We’ll be there sharing our insight, but not our favorite brews! See you Sunday!

militia | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica

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” →

The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 5

On By Eric SternerIn Civilian, Personalities, Uncategorized3 Comments

Escape from America

Finally, in the spring of 1777, Cresswell again decided to try returning to England.  Thomson Mason, who had already intervened with two Committees of Safety to protect the Englishman, offered to help with Virginia authorities once more, provided that Cresswell swear not to join the British Army.  Cresswell did.  The best plan was to leave Leesburg, travel overland to Alexandria, then take a schooner down the Potomac and Chesapeake for Williamsburg and Hampton, where it might be possible go aboard a ship bound for British-occupied New York.  As he made his preparations, the local Committee of Safety arrived on April 16 to search his possessions for treasonable items.  They seized a shot pouch, powder horn, and bearskin he acquired from the Delaware Indians.  Cresswell decided not to contest the seizure lest it complicate his departure.

Continue reading “The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 5” →

The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 4

On By Eric SternerIn Civilian, Personalities, Uncategorized3 Comments

A Loyalist under House Arrest

Having failed to reach the British Army in New York, Cresswell spent a miserable autumn and winter of 1776/1777 in northern Virginia, often arguing with his host, James Kirk, a Patriot and the only man who had ensured the Englishman could keep clothes on his back and a roof over his head.  Cresswell’s loyalist proclivities and extensive travels were widely known and on November 28, three men of the Committee of Safety in Alexandria “waited on me and informed me that the committee did not think it prudent to let me go out of the Country at this time and hoped that I would give  my word of honour not to depart this Colony for three months.  Otherwise they would confine me.  I was obliged to do the first as the lesser evil of the two.  They were polite enough not to search my chest.”[i]  Depressed as ever and suspecting Kirk of arranging the entire affair in order to keep him in Virginia, Cresswell did what he usually did when he was unhappy.  He got drunk.

Continue reading “The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 4” →

The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 3

On By Eric SternerIn Civilian, Personalities, Uncategorized4 Comments

A Loyal Englishman in a Hostile Country

Part 2 click here.

When he arrived in Alexandria, Virginia in October 1775, Nicholas Cresswell, an Englishman visiting the colonies in search opportunity, found himself in dire straits.  The war had cut off his father’s money, while his loyalist principles strained his acquaintances and put him in an awkward position.  He summed it up: “if I enter into any sort of business I must be obliged to enter into the service of these rascals and fight against my Friends and Country if called upon.  On the other hand, I am not permitted to depart the Continent and have nothing if I am fortunate enough to escape the jail.  I will live as cheap as I can and hope for better times.”[i]

Continue reading “The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 3” →

The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 2

On By Eric SternerIn Civilian, Personalities, Uncategorized, Western Frontier5 Comments

An Englishman on the Frontier

Part 1 click here.

Nicholas Cresswell left Alexandria for the Illinois Country on March 16, 1775, his correspondence as yet unknown to the local Committee of Safety.  The Ohio River served as a highway to the west, so he headed for its origin at Pittsburgh.  Along the way, he stopped to visit the battlefield where French and Indian forces defeated Major General Edward Braddock in July, 1755.  Cresswell and his traveling companions found “great numbers of bones, both men and horses.  The trees are injured, I suppose by the Artillery…the greatest slaughter seems to have been made within 400 yards of the River…We could not find one whole skull, all of them broke to pieces in the upper part, some of them had holes broken in them about an inch diameter, suppose it to be done with a Pipe Tomahawk.”[i]

Monongaela Battle (Library of Congress)
Initial Dispositions of the Battle of the Monongahela.  Cresswell walked the battlefield on his way to Pittsburgh in 1775.  (Library of Congress)

Continue reading “The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 2” →

The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 1

On By Eric SternerIn Civilian, Memory, Personalities, Uncategorized6 Comments

 

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Nicholas Cresswell from the Frontispiece of his Memoir (Library of Congress)

For some Englishman, the political conflict between the United Kingdom and its American colonies was an afterthought that should not interfere with their plans to build a future based on American wealth.  Nicholas Cresswell was one such person.  He traveled to the colonies on the eve of the American Revolution and returned home in 1777, having kept an extensive diary of his travels, experiences, thoughts, and conditions in America during the war’s first years.  Along the way, he met some of the most colorful and interesting people who played prominent roles in the war: George Rogers Clark, Delaware Indian leaders White Eyes and Killbuck, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, William Howe, Robert Rogers, and Charles Lee to name a few.  Since its publication, Cresswell’s journal has become a touchstone for historians looking for insight into those people, how a loyal Englishman like Cresswell saw the world and the Americans around him interpreted events.  In particular, he recounts the feelings and treatment of loyalists trapped in America during the war.  With that in mind, reviewing Cresswell’s diary might help spread the word about a worthwhile primary resource.

Continue reading “The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 1” →

Southside Revolutionary Virginia 1775 Tour – October 12, 2019

On 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
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” →