History Blog - Blog of Revolutionary War History Trivia

Revolutionary War and Benjamin Franklin

2007-08-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin
... (with pictures) of Benjamin Franklin from the beginnings of the American Revolutionary war to the Treaty of ... personal triumph and gained critical French ...www.americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/FRANKLIN.HTM - 24k - Cached

TheHistoryNet | American History | Benjamin Franklin: Revolutionary ...
... leap into revolution, Benjamin Franklin was the target ... AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. NAPOLEONIC WARS. AMERICAN INDIAN WARS. AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. WORLD WAR I ...historynet.com/ah/bl-benjamin-franklin-spymaster - 57k - Cached

Benjamin Franklin: Scientist and Statesman... [Paperback] | Target.com
Shop for Benjamin Franklin: Scientist and Statesman (Signature Lives: Revolutionary War Era) at Target. Choose from a wide range of Books. Expect More, Pay Less atwww.target.com/gp/product/0756510724

Benjamin Franklin: Scientist and Statesman... | Smarter.com Books
Find the lowest price for Benjamin Franklin: Scientist and Statesman (Signature Lives: Revolutionary War Era) Author: Brenda Haugen - (Paperback), ISBN 9780756510725...smarter.com/benjamin_franklin_scientist_and_statesman_signature_liv...

Benjamin Franklin: Biography and Much More from Answers.com
Benjamin Franklin , Revolutionary War Figure / Inventor / Writer Born: 17 January 1706 Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts Died: 17 April 1790 (pleurisywww.answers.com/topic/benjamin-franklin - 365k - Cached

Benjamin Franklin Biography (Revolutionary War Figure/Inventor/Writer ...
Biography of Benjamin Franklin, The Founding Father who wrote Poor Richard's Almanac ... and write the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, and ...www.infoplease.com/biography/var/benjaminfranklin.html - 21k - Cached

Biography of Benjamin Franklin
... History Wars and Diplomacy Historical Figures Government and ... negotiations that ended the Revolutionary War which resulted in the Treaty of Paris (1783) ...americanhistory.about.com/od/colonialamerica/p/bio_franklin.htm - 27k - Cached

1849 book BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEMOIRS revolutionary war - (item ...
eBay: Find 1849 book BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEMOIRS revolutionary war in the Books , Antiquarian ... to show that Benjamin Franklin carried the industry and ...cgi.ebay.com/1849-book-BENJAMIN-FRANKLIN-MEMOIRS-revolutionary-war_... - 85k - Cached

revolutionary war revolution benjamin franklin at ...
frederick douglass john locke paul revere thomas paine life insurance ... Revolutionary War. Revolution. Benjamin Franklin. Jamestown Settlement. Thomas Jefferson ...www.loudounrevolutionarywarmemorialcommittee.org - 15k - Cached

Benjamin Franklin
... of Paris that officially ended the Revolutionary War, and was a signer of the final document. ... French and Indian Wars. Benjamin Franklin Commemorative ...robinsonlibrary.com/america/unitedstates/1783/biography/franklin.htm

Revolutionary War Weapons

2007-08-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

NPS Museum Collections 'American Revolutionary War: Guilford Courthouse'
During the American Revolutionary War, weapons and equipment were often in short ... The flintlock musket was the most important weapon of the Revolutionary War. ...www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/revwar/guco/gucoweapons.html - 31k - Cached

Weapons of the Revolutionary War
Weapons of the Revolutionary War. Revolutionary War Weapons ... French Musket. Revolutionary War Links. Grade Five Home Page. Copper Hill School Home Page ...frsd.k12.nj.us/newman/socialstudies/revolutionarywar/warweapons.htm - 2k - Cached

The Revolutionary War
... site on all aspects of the American Revolutionary War, including Causes, Battles, People, Land, Indian Relations ... Weapons Used. Revolutionary War Weapons ...members.aol.com/TeacherNet/Revolutionarywar.html - 60k - Cached
Weapons of the revolutionary war
The main weapons of the Revolutionary War were the MUSKET, ... THE MOST COMMONLY USED WEAPON WAS THE MUSKET. THE MUSKET WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A RIFLE. ...members.tripod.com/rlane10/revolutionary.html - 5k - Cached
Revolutionary War
Revolutionary-War.info is the best resource for Revolutionary War information ... Revolutionary War Weapons. Revolutionary War Battles. Revolutionary War Veterans ...www.revolutionary-war.info - 22k - Cached

Revolutionary War Edged Weapons
Site Navigation. Revolutionary War. Edged Weapons Page 1 of 2. Home. Contact Us. Freight Pricing ... Italian Stiletto (Brescia twist hand. Price-$10.80 ...www.historyshopping.com/rev/EdgedWeapons.html - 6k - Cached

Revolutionary War - Historical Articles Index
... on the Revolutionary War including battles, events, weapons, uniforms, month-by ... on the Revolutionary War including battles, events, weapons, and biographies of ...www.revolutionarywararchives.org - 4k - Cached

Revolutionary War Flags
Revolutionary-War.info is the best resource for Revolutionary War information ... Revolutionary War Weapons. Revolutionary War Battles. Revolutionary War Veterans ...www.revolutionary-war.info/flags - 24k - Cached

American Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Protests led to a powerful new weapon, the systemic boycott of British goods. ... Military leadership in the American Revolutionary War ...
Quick Links: Origins - Taxation without Representation - 1765: Stamp Act unites the Colonies in protest
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution - 111k - Cached

French Cannon - Revolutionary War Weapons
Replica Cannon from revolutionary war era ... French Revolutionary War Cannon. This Revolutionary Style French Cannon is 1/14 scale to the original. ...www.a2armory.com/louisxivcannon.html

Revolutionary War Pictures

2007-08-23T20:26:00.002-07:00

Research - Pictures of the Revolutionary War
Information about holdings of and use of the Research Rooms of the United States National Archives and Records Administrationwww.archives.gov/research/american-revolution/pictures - 50k - Cached

Revolutionary War Photos
Revolutionary War. Photos. Early American Photos. Early American Digital Image Library ... Boston Massacre Photo. Great Revolutionary Photos. People of the ...www.suelebeau.com/revwarphotos.htm - 2k - Cached

Revolutionary War Days pictures
Park Event. April 2-3, 2005. Revolutionary War Days ... Paintings | The Mine | Candlelight Tour | Revolutionary War Days pictures ...www.nps.gov/archive/nisi/home/Revolutionaryx.html - 16k - Cached

Pictures of the Revolutionary War
Other National Archives Picture CDs: Pictures of Indians in the United States ... Pictures of the Revolutionary War. Price: $50.00. Order number: ...www.ntis.gov/products/pics-rev-war.asp - 12k - Cached

Research - Main Page
Main introductory page for Researchers to the National Archiveswww.archives.gov/research - 23k - Cached

Revolutionary War
Revolutionary-War.info is the best resource for Revolutionary War information ... Revolutionary War Quotes. Revolutionary War Poems. Revolutionary War Pictures ...www.revolutionary-war.info - 22k - Cached

History Place - American Revolution
Collection of detailed timelines of American colonial history to 1790.www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution - 9k - Cached

Revolutionary War Sites
... page contains information and pictures of the structures at ... 19, 1775 the Revolutionary War Began - site has picture of the Lexington Minuteman
Statue ...www.cets.sfasu.edu/History/RevWarSites.html - 14k - Cached

Amazon.com: Revolutionary War Digital Pictures: Software
Revolutionary War Digital Pictures. Other products by Finley-Holiday Film Corp. ... it were needed - that the megapixel war is far from over comes today in ...amazon.com/Finley-Holiday-Film-Corp-CDS-224-Revolutionary/dp/... - 167k - Cached

Revolutionary War Flags
Revolutionary-War.info is the best resource for Revolutionary War information ... Revolutionary War Quotes. Revolutionary War Poems. Revolutionary War Pictures ...www.revolutionary-war.info/flags

Revolutionary War Timeline

2007-08-23T20:26:00.001-07:00

Revolutionary War Timeline
REVOLUTIONARY WAR TIMELINE. Dr. Christine Swager researched this timeline and based it on Lumpkin, Henry. ... and a turning point in the Revolutionary War. ...www.nps.gov/archive/cowp/Timeline.htm - 40k - Cached

Timeline of the American Revolutionary War
Virtual Marching Tour: A History of the American Revolutionary War ... Timeline of the American Revolutionary War. Events leading up to the War ...www.ushistory.org/march/timeline.htm - 19k - Cached

The American Revolution
+ Timeline of Events + Revolution Day by Day + Revolutionary Stories + Revolutionary People ... The costs of the war and maintaining an army will lead the ...www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/timeline_of_events.html - 21k - Cached

The American Revolutionary War: A Timeline of Major Events
socialstudiesforkids.com/.../ushistory/revolutionarywartimeline.htm - 38k - Cached

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional ...
A timeline of America during the age of revolution, 1764-1775. ... The Library of Congress > American Memory Home > Browse Collections > Collection ...memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/timeline.html - 10k - Cached
LIBERTY! . Chronicle of the Revolution . Timeline of the Revolution | PBS
Treaty signed between England and France ending the French and Indian War. ... alliance with the United States and the American Revolution becomes a world war. ...www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_timeline.html - 41k - Cached

Web Directory: Revolutionary War
Links to maps, documents, timelines, people, and other information related to the Revolutionary War.www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4393/rev_war.html - 13k - Cached

Timeline Leading to Valley Forge
Historic Valley Forge, from the Valley Forge Historical Society. ... Timeline Leading to Valley Forge. May 1777. Sir William Howe's forces, comprising 18,000 ...www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/history/timeline.html - 3k - Cached

Revolutionary War Time-Line
Time-Line of the United States Revolution, presenting the benchmark events of the America ... Thumbnail sketches of leading Revolutionary War figures. ...members.aol.com/ntgen/hrtg/revtmln.html - 31k - Cached

The American Revolution
... Revolution, also known as the revolutionary war, was one of the most significant ... History of the United States Timeline. Books on the American Revolution ...kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm

Revolutionary War Battles

2007-08-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Major Battles of the Revolutionary War
The Major Battles of the Revolutionary War from Bunkder Hill to Yorktown ... Battle of Camden. Battles of New York. Arnold a Traitor. Battle of Valcour Bay ...www.multied.com/revolt/battles.html - 24k - Cached

Revolutionary War: Birth of a Nation
The Revolutionary WarIts Causes and Major Battles,Biographies, important documentswww.multied.com/revolt - 20k - Cached

Revolutionary War: Battles | eThemes | eMINTS
These sites are about the battles of the Revolutionary War. ... Revolutionary War battles, and read about the parks that exist at these battle sites today. ...www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001420.shtml - 15k - Cached

Revolutionary War Sites - Battlefield Sites
A guide to Revolutionary War Battlefields arranged by state ... battle fought on August 6, 1777 is described as one of the bloodiest battles of the war ...www.nps.gov/thst/battle.htm - 23k - Cached
Revolutionary War
... shoulder in line of battle and founded a nation with ... Revolutionary War Battles. List of some Aides-de-Camp & secretaries to General George Washington ...www.digupyourroots.com/revolutionary_war.html - 26k - Cached

Revoloutionary War Battle Site Tour Webquest
... competing for a grant that will allow you to tour Revolutionary War Battle Sites. ... about the battles and the important people who were involved in the battles. ...fcps.k12.va.us/LondonTowneES/.../rw/rwtourwebquest/tourwebquest.htm - 6k - Cached

NAMED CAMPAIGNS - REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Opening hostilities of the Revolutionary War occurred at Lexington and Concord ... In the ensuing battle, incorrectly named after Bunker Hill which stands nearby, ...www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/rwcmp.htm - 30k - Cached
The Revolutionary War
... on all aspects of the American Revolutionary War, including Causes, Battles, People, Land, Indian Relations and more. ... on red dots for battle stories ...members.aol.com/TeacherNet/Revolutionarywar.html - 60k - Cached

List of American Revolutionary War battles - Wikipedia, the free ...
(Redirected from Battles of the American Revolutionary War) Jump to: navigation, search ... Battle of Ile Aux Noix – September 5, 1775 ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_the_American_Revolutionary_War - 62k - Cached

Revolutionary War Battles Lesson Plan
Description: Students will work in pairs and select a Revolutionary War battle. ... Identify the significance of the major battles of the Revolutionary War. ...www.mcps.k12.md.us/departments/isa/elit/mid/geodocs/revbattles.htm

The Battle of Bunker Hill Sources

2007-08-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Battle of Bunker Hill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill by John Trumbull ..... Elting, John R.: The Battle of Bunker's Hill ; 1975, Phillip Freneau Pres ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bunker_Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill. By Aaron D. and Justin S. - Click here to see battle map. This battle was one of the earliest in the American Revolution. ...
darter.ocps.net/classroom/revolution/bunker.htm

The Decisive Day is Come: The Battle of Bunker Hill | IntroductionOnline exhibit of the Massachusetts Historical Society, providing essay, timeline, battle accounts, biographical sketches, maps and views and a research ...
www.masshist.org/bh/

The Decisive Day is Come | Letter from John Burgoyne to Lord ...The following Description of the Action near Boston, on the 17th of June, is taken from a Letter written by General Burgoyne to his Nephew Lord Stanley. ...
www.masshist.org/bh/burgoynep1text.html

The Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 part of the American Revolution / war of independence, this battle was between British troops of the Boston garrison ...
www.britishbattles.com/bunker-hill.htm

The Battle of Bunker Hill: Now We Are at War Use this classroom-ready lesson plan to discover how the Battle of Bunker Hill spurred colonial unity and acted as a catalyst to the formation of the ...
www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/42bunker/42bunker.htm

Today in History: June 17On June 17, 1775, American troops displayed their mettle in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the siege of Boston, inflicting casualties on nearly half of ...
memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun17.html

Battle for Bunker HillBattle for Bunker Hill. June 17, 1775. In Massachusettts, the patriot army was growing. Thousands of rebels poured into England ready to drive the British ...
www.dcn.davis.ca.us/vme/vo/4.html

The Battle of Bunker HillA misnamed engagement of the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought between British regulars under Gen. William Howe and New England ...
www.americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/BUNKER.HTM

The Battle of Bunker Hill | Early America Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes! was the order to the Amerians at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/maps/bunkerhill/

Department of Military Science - Battle of Breed's Hill / Bunker Hill Availability of Sources: Very Good; Availability of Logistic Support:Very Good. The Battle of Bunker's Hill Staff Ride Packages: ...
www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/MilSci/Resources/bhill.html

Battle of Bunker HillThe story of the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution. Part of an e-text on the history of the United States.
www.usahistory.info/Revolutionary-War/Bunker-Hill.html

A Journey Towards Freedom The Battle of Bunker Hill. The sun rose slowly over the city of Charlestown on June 17, 1775, waking the British soldiers from their sleep. ...
library.thinkquest.org/10966/data/bunker.shtml

American Revolution: Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill or Breed's Hill was one of the first major battles of the American Revolution. The commander for the American Casualties was ...
library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/bofbh.htm

Battle of Bunker HillThe Battle of Bunker's Hill actually took place on Breed's Hill. ... The second Marine battalion took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, ...
www.winthrop.dk/majpit6.html

Amazon.com: Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill: Books ...The only account of this battle that I believe is superior is that done by John Elting, The Battle of Bunker Hill. Both sides are given their due, ...
www.amazon.com/Decisive-Day-Battle-Bunker-Hill/dp/0805060995

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, only days after George Washington was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. ...
www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/BunkerHillBattle.htm

The American Revolution (Bunker Hill)On June 17, 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. .... So it came to be that the Battle of Bunker Hill would be the foundation that the colonists would ...
www.theamericanrevolution.org/battles/bat_bhil.asp

The Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill including first had accounts and visuals.
www.multied.com/revolt/Bunker.html

The Battle of Bunker Hill really did take place on Bunker Hill ...The Battle of Bunker Hill really did take place on Bunker Hill. Submitted by adamg on Fri, 06/15/2007 - 7:46am. J.L. Bell sets us straight here, ...
www.universalhub.com/node/9163

Battle of Breed's Hill Sources

2007-08-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Battle of Breed's Hill / Bunker Hill Boston, MA Boston ...Battle of Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, American troops displayed their mettle in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the siege of Boston, ...
www.bostoncitylinks.com/bunker_hill.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

The Battle of Breed's Hill A contemporary British account of the Battle of Breed's Hill as published in Rivington's Gazetteer on July 13th, 1775.
www.historycarper.com/resources/battles/breedshill.htm - 11k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

The Battle of Hog Island The Battle of Breed's Hill. The Battle of Hog Island. May 27, 1775. Excerpted from Diary of the American Revolution, Vol I compiled by Frank Moore ...
www.historycarper.com/resources/battles/hogisland.htm - 11k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Putnam and the Battle of Breed's HillStatue of Israel Putnam in Bushnell Park, in front of the Connecticut State Capitol (Designed by J.Q.A. Ward, 1874). At this hour- nearly three o'clock in ...
members.tripod.com/~compmast/putnam/breeds.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

American Revolution - Revolutionary War Battles - Bunker Hill ...A Brief History American Revolution - Revolutionary War Battles - Bunker Hill - The Battle of Breed's Hill June. After retreating from Lexington in April, ...
www.americanrevolution.com/BreedsHill.htm - 22k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

American Revolution - Revolutionary War Battles The Battle of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775. "The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga", May 11, 1775. "The Battle of Breed's Hill", June 16, 1775 ...
www.americanrevolution.com/RevolutionaryWarBattlesIndex.htm - 28k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
[ More results from www.americanrevolution.com ]

The Battle of Breed's Hill - Fun Facts, Questions, Answers ...Special Sub-Topic: The Battle of Breed's Hill. Authored by: Ben41 Sub-topic of: American Revolution. Two days before the battle the Massachusetts Committee ...
www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/The-Battle-of-Breeds-Hill-92374.html - Similar pages - Note this

Paul Revere and the mystery on Breed's Hill: the Battle of Breed's ...Paul Revere and the mystery on Breed's Hill: the Battle of Breed's Hill took place on June 17, 1775. The mystery was solved ten months later. ...
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb140/is_200406/ai_n13240382 - 27k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Amazon.com: Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill: Books ...Good treatment of the Battle of Breed's Hill "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett Fischer for me is a better book about the start of the Revolution but ...
www.amazon.com/Decisive-Day-Battle-Bunker-Hill/dp/0805060995 - 179k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Amazon.com: Reviews for Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill ...Good treatment of the Battle of Breed's Hill, March 8, 2001. Reviewer: A reader. "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett Fischer for me is a better book about ...
www.amazon.com/Decisive-Day-Battle-Bunker-Hill/dp/customer-reviews/0805060995 - 103k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
[ More results from www.amazon.com ]

Teddy DispatchWhat is most striking about the battle of Breed's hill (misnamed Bunker Hill often) is the harsh punishment the British army suffered at the hands of a ...
www.ustrek.org/odyssey/semester1/102100/102100tedbunk.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

231 years later, family still fighting Battle for Breed's Hill ...Nonetheless, he asserted that the battle "should properly be called the battle of Breed's Hill, for there the great events of the day occurred." ...
www.boston.com/.../articles/2006/06/16/231_years_later_family_still_fighting_battle_for_breeds_hill/ - Similar pages - Note this

The Battle of Bunker Hill - June 17, 1775The Battle of Bunker Hill (The Battle of Breed's Hill). June 17, 1775. The Battle at Breed's Hill, which is usually incorrectly called the Battle at Bunker ...
www.hobart.k12.in.us/cside/American%20Revolution/revwar/bunkhill.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Find in a Library: History of the battle of Breed's Hill | English ...History of the battle of Breed's Hill,. By:, Charles Coffin; William Heath; Henry Dearborn; Henry Lee; James Wilkinson. Type:, English : Book : Non-fiction ...
www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/1184076 - Similar pages - Note this

The Battle of Bunker Hill--Supplementary Resources The WPI web site provides detailed military information about Revolutionary War battles, including the Battle of Breed's Hill/Bunker Hill. ...
www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/42bunker/42lrnmore.htm - 7k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge The Battle of Bunker Hill · Bunker Hill Monument Address by Daniel Webster · The Battle of Breed's Hill/Bunker Hill A Brief History ...
www.leonardpzakimbunkerhillbridge.org/ - 14k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

John Stark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thus began the Battle of Bunker Hill (which should have been called the battle of Breed's Hill). American Col. William Prescott held the hill throughout the ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stark - 43k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

brggenjohnstark: Oh my sweet goodnessThe Battle of Breed's Hill wasn't the example of British Stupidity that it is often presented as (unlike, for example, the War of 1812's Battle of New ...
www.livejournal.com/go.bml?journal=brggenjohnstark&itemid=4993&dir=next - 28k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

DESSAR - The Sacrifice of Delaware Fort Ticonderoga was overwhelmed in May and the battle of Breed's Hill (later named for Bunker Hill) occurred in June. In July American forces from New York ...
www.sar.org/dessar/camden96.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

spokesmanreview.com -- Online Book Club... the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Breed's Hill (which is often, if mistakenly, thought of as having been fought on Bunker Hill). ...
www.spokesmanreview.com/interactive/bookclub/reviews/staff_review.asp?RevID=30 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga Sources 2

2007-08-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

Fort Ticonderoga Collections Ethan Allen’s blunderbuss, which he lent to Benedict Arnold before the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775 is on display. Two cannon that Henry Knox ...
www.fort-ticonderoga.org/collections/default.htm

Good Stories for Independence Day - Fort Ticonderoga The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga. S ome bold spirits in Connecticut conceived the project of surprising the old forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, ...
www.worldwideschool.org/.../goodstoriesforholidays/GoodStoriesforHolidays-Independence/chap5.html

Alternative History: Benedict Arnold - PART I The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga. Arnold became involved in the revolution in 1775 when he was chosen Captain of the Second Company of Connecticut Guards. ...
unmuseum.mus.pa.us/barnold1.htm

Benedict Arnold's Navy TourIt was at this tavern, meeting place of the Green Mountain Boys, that plans were made for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May of 1775 ...
www.jameslnelson.com/BAN.htm

Revolutionary War These original "citizen soldiers", along with Benedict Arnold, were best known for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga early in the War. ...
www.vtguard.com/museum/revolutionary.html

MtHistory.html Upon the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in May, 1775, Fort "Ty" was in a state of disrepair and Mount Independence ...
community.middlebury.edu/~mtindep/MtHistory.html

HistoryHe is best known for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and his leadership of the Green Mountain Boys. ...
www.ethanallenhomestead.org/2.html - 36k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

BENEDICT ARNOLD Benedict Arnold was a crucial person in the revolutionary war, one of his many famous battles is the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. On April 29, 1775, ...
middle.usm.k12.wi.us/Faculty/markwald/Rev.WarWebs2006/3rd%20period/Michael%20Tao/index.htm

Amazon.com: Comment on this review From the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, through the Canadian invasion and finally the building of the American fleet on Lake Champlain which forced the ...
www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/discussions/start-thread.html?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0071468064&authorID...

No More Compromising May 10, 1775—The capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys was a major victory for America during the early part of the ...
www.vermonthistory.org/freedom_and_unity/new_frontier/rev_tl.html

Battles 1775 -- www.rsar.org The capture of Fort Ticonderoga NY in May 1775. Ethan Allen confronts Captain de la Place. Copy of engraving after Alonzo Chappel [U.S. National Archives] ...
www.rsar.org/military/bat-75.htm

Benedict Arnold: The Traitor Who Saved America In the previous issue Flynn dealt with Arnold's early enlistment in the Revolution and his key roles in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point as ...
www.magweb.com/sample/scry/sch23ben.htm

Benedict Arnold The Traitor Who Saved America Part 5: The Battle ...The Grand Strategy called for his army to sail down the entire length of Lake George after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. Then a relatively simple portage ...
www.magweb.com/sample/amr/ch28bene.htm

[PPT] Slide 1File Format: Microsoft Powerpoint - View as HTML
Why was the capture of FORT TICONDEROGA so important to the colonists? The colonists needed cannons badly. They began to drag the cannons down to Boston to ...
www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/notes/1.5notes.ppt

Benedict Arnold - January 14, 1741 to 1801 After the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, Colonel Easton was sent back to Massachusetts to report on the victory. Arnold and Allen stayed behind and planned to ...
www.hobart.k12.in.us/cside/American%20Revolution/revbio/benedict.htm

Historic Rutland, Vermont - A Site on a Revolutionary War Road Trip The force marched through Rutland on their way to Castleton to make plans for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. On July 8, 1777, Rutland was a temporary ...
www.revolutionaryday.com/usroute7/rutland/default.htm

Order a Revolutionary War Road Trip Book... MA to Burlington, VT, 152 pages) traces the development of the first overt military action of the American Revolution – the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. ...
www.cyhaus.com/order.htm

Free-ResearchPapers.com - Benedict Arnold: Life In The American ...(B Arnold) The Green Mountain Boys and Allen basically ignored Arnold during and after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. (B Arnold) Benedict went to Colonel ...
www.free-researchpapers.com/dbs/a1/aky58.shtml

The History Place - An Unlikely Victory 1777-1783 Burgoyne's troops stun the Americans with the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. Its military supplies are greatly needed by Washington's forces ...
www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/revwar-77.htm

New York's Northwoods: the Southern Adirondacks abound with fun ...The capture of Fort Ticonderoga was the Colonies' first victory of the American Revolution. Consider these day trip ideas: Lake George offers easy access ...
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The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga Sources

2007-08-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Capture of Fort Ticonderogaa On this Page:. The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga; Books about the American Revolution; Links to other sites on the American Revolution ...
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Capture of Fort Ticonderoga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The capture of Fort Ticonderoga was an event early in the American Revolutionary War. On May 10, 1775, Colonels Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold surprised ...
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David Wooster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wooster was the mastermind for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in New York on May 10, 1775. Although Wooster was the mastermind, ...
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American Revolution - Revolutionary War Battles - The Capture of ..."The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga" May 11, 1775. American Revolution - Revolutionary War Battles - "The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga" ...
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The American Revolution - The Making of America and Her IndependenceA History | Revolutionary War Battles | The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga - May 11, 1775 The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga - May 11, 1775 ...
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The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga (1911)The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more...
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ETHAN ALLEN at Capture of FORT TICONDEROGA... is a steel engraving published in 1858 (DATED, not a repro), showing EthanAllen leading the CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA early in the Revolutionary War. ...
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The Baldwin Project: Good Stories for Great Holidays by Frances ...The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga from Good Stories for Great Holidays by Frances Jenkins ... THE CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA. BY WASHINGTON IRVING (ADAPTED) ...
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The Capture of Fort TiconderogaThe Capture of Fort Ticonderoga. Next Story. By Washington Irving (Adapted). Some bold spirits in Connecticut conceived the project of surprising the old ...
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A Children's story about Independence Day - The Capture of Fort ...The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga is an Independence Day short story from Good Stories for Great Holidays - Kids Stories for the 4th of July.
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Tree Farm Communications --(SINGLE AUDIO CD) The Capture of Fort ...(SINGLE AUDIO CD) The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga ~ The Battle of Bunker Hill *. Previous Tape | Next Tape. Speaker(s): Michael Medved ...
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Ethan Allen, The Green Mountain Boys, and the capture of Fort ...Not logged in - login | Register · Perspectives > ACADEMIC/ BUSINESS > History > Ethan Allen, The Green Mountain Boys, and the capture of Fort Ticonderoga ...
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BFI | Film & TV Database | The CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA (1911)Because films inspire... Home >; Film & TV Info >; Film & TV Database >; The CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA. The CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA · Synopses ...
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BFI | Film & TV Database | The CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA (1911)Home >; Film & TV Info >; Film & TV Database >; The CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA ... Credits. The CAPTURE OF FORT TICONDEROGA. Production Company: Edison ...
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Capture of Fort TiconderogaConstitution Bill of Rights Revolutionary War Battles "The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga" May 11, 1775 Fort Ticonderoga lay on the shores of Lake Champlain. ...
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The Capture of Fort TiconderogaThe Capture of. Fort Ticonderoga. The Fort · The Plan · The Capture.
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Silas Deane OnlineBut back to Deane’s work for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. We assume because of his belief that war was inevitable at such an early time, Deane saw the ...
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JSTOR: The Taking of Ticonderoga in 1775: The British Story Ever since 1779, when Ethan Allen wrote his Narrative dramatically describing the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, Americans have been thrill- ed by the answer ...
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US Route 7, Revolutionary War, History-based Travel, Road Trip ...... and James Easton of Pittsfield met here to begin planning the first offensive military action against the British -- the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. ...
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The Black Watch At Ticonderoga And Maj. Duncan Campbell Of ...The capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in 1759during the French and Indian War, is desc.
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Battle of Lexington and Concord Links 2

2007-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

FDC- Battle of Lexington and Concord Lexington Cancel Barnnies' First Day of Issue Covers Making Collecting First Day Covers Both Funand Affordable FDC- Battle of Lexington and Concord Lexington Cancel- 1975 ...
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The Battle of Lexington The Battle of Lexington marked the first military clash in the American Revolution. It was a brief skirmish that took place on April 19, 1775 between some ...
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The Battle of Lexington and Concord: 19 April 1775 The Battle of Lexington and Concord: 19 April 1775. This account of events was written by Ann Hulton, the sister of one of the customs' commissioners, ...
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The Battle of Lexington and Concord: 19 April 1775 The Battle of Lexington and Concord: 19 April 1775. This is the factual account of events written by General Gage. It is very different from the accounts ...
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Mashup.DarwinianWeb.com: Battle of Lexington and Concord mashup Battle of Lexington and Concord mashup. Posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 at 2:08 PM (permalink). The other type of mashup I want to learn about involves ...
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The Battles of Lexington and Concord... northwest of Boston, and was the objective of a British expedition in 1775 that opened the War of Independence with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. ...
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Battle of Lexington and Concord Original documents on a timeline of history. A repository of factual materials relating historical figures and events which led to the discovery and ...
www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/history/lexconcord.html

Battles of Lexington and Concord -- Britannica Student EncyclopediaBattles of Lexington and Concord: The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Some time before, Gen.
www.britannica.com/ebi/article-9275454

Battle of Lexington and Concord@Everything2.com Battle of Lexington and Concord. (thing) by Woundweavr (3 y) (print) ? Sat Nov 13 1999 at 14:26:58. First battle of Revolutionary War. ...
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WikiAnswers - When was the the Battle of Lexington and Concord Redirects : What happend at lexington and concord? When was the the battle of lexington and concord? Who was the leader during the battle of lexington? ...
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The Battle of Lexington and Concord:Triangle History Series - By ...Christianbook.com (CBD): The Battle of Lexington and Concord:Triangle History Series by Lewis K. Parker. From Bunker Hill to Cornwallis' surrender at ...
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Battle of Lexington and Concord Reenactment, Massachusetts Battle of Lexington and Concord Reenactment, Massachusetts, tourist attractions, information, pictures, maps.
www.planetware.com/lexington/battle-of-lexington-and-concord-reenactment-us-ma-blcr.htm

AddALL.com - Battle of Lexington and Concord Synopses: A play-by-play description of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, using atlas-style maps and charts. ...
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Science Forum - Battle of Lexington And Concord and Saratoga Could not get data from ignore table DEBUG MODE SQL Error : 1064 You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL ...
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The Battle of Lexington and Concord: 19 April 1775 The reign of George III; the reign of George IV; the reign of William IV; Bute; Chatham; Grenville; Rockingham; the American War of Independence; ...
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Amazon.com: We Were There at the Battle of Lexington and Concord ...Amazon.com: We Were There at the Battle of Lexington and Concord (We Were There books): Books: Felix Sutton by Felix Sutton.
www.amazon.com/There-Battle-Lexington-Concord-books/dp/B0006AVMU6

Battle Road - Lexington and ConcordSome content on this site is requires use of a PDF reader, such as the FoxIt Reader or the Adobe® Reader®. Site last updated July 8, 2007.
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The battle of Lexington and ConcordThe battle of Lexington and Concord. By. Zach and Tim.
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Untitled DocumentThe Battle of Lexington and Concord is considered the most important of the war, because it was the first one that really started the war.
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Tulsa City-County Library /Kids CatTitle, The Battle of Lexington and Concord / Lewis K. Parker. Published, San Diego, Calif. : Blackbirch Press, c2002. ...
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Battle of Lexington and Concord Links

2007-08-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Battles of Lexington and Concord - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaBattles of Lexington and Concord. Part of the American Revolutionary War. 19th century depiction of Battle of Lexington; contains inaccuracies ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord

Battle of Lexington and Concord The Battle of Lexington and Concord; The British Retreat to Boston; Books about the American Revolution; Links to other sites on the American Revolution ...
www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/LexingtonBattle.htm

American Revolution: The Battle of Lexington and Concord The Battle of Lexington and Concord was made up of two battles that began on April 18th, 1775. British troops were sent to Concord to capture John Hancock ...
library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/boflandc.htm - 8k

A Journey Towards Freedom The Battle of Lexington & Concord. The first engagement between the British and the Americans happened on April 19, 1775 on the grassy fields of ...
library.thinkquest.org/10966/data/lexnton.shtml

Today in History: April 19Each day an event from American history is illustrated by digitized items from the Library of Congress American Memory historic collections.
memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr19.html

Minute Man National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)Preserves and protects the significant historic structures, sites, properties and landscapes associated with the opening battles of the American Revolution.
www.nps.gov/mima/

The American Revolution (Lexington & Concord)Date: April 19th, 1775. Location: Lexington and Concord Massachusetts. Weather: ~55-65`F, winds calm. Casualties:, 95, 273. Leaders:, Capt. Parker/Col. ...
www.theamericanrevolution.org/battles/bat_lex.asp

Lexington and Concord First shots fired between American and British troops, on April 19, 1775. The British chose to march to Concord because it was an arms depot.
www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/lexingtonconcorddef.htm

Department of Military Science - Battle of Lexington and ConcordROTC group looks at the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/MilSci/Resources/lexcon.html

Amazon.com: Lexington and Concord: The Beginning of the War of the ...Amazon.com: Lexington and Concord: The Beginning of the War of the American Revolution: Books: Arthur Bernon Tourtellot by Arthur Bernon Tourtellot.
www.amazon.com/Lexington-Concord-Beginning-American-Revolution/dp/0393320561

From Revolution to Reconstruction: Essays: The battle of lexington ...Part of a hypertext history of the US from the Netherlands.
www.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/lexington/lexingxx.htm

American Experience | Patriots Day | PBS Timeline: Battle of Lexington and Concord chronology · Maps: Historic sites in Lexington and Concord · People & Events: more about the People & Events ...
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/patriotsday/

The History Guy: The Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775)Revolutionary War Battles: Battle of Lexington and Concord--Very good source from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's ROTC. Revolutionary War Events ...
www.historyguy.com/lexington_concord_links.html

The American Revolution Began The American Revolution Began April 19, 1775 By using a system of signals and word-of-mouth communication (the telephone hadn't been invented yet), ...
www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut/revoltn_2

The Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775 Plate I The Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775 Plate I Sidney L. Smith (engraver), after Amos Doolittle (painter) Line engraving, 1775 ...
www.si.umich.edu/spies/print-lexington1.html

The Battle of Lexington and Concord By JonThe Battle of Lexington and Concord was very important since it let Americans start to be free from the British so they could decide whether they wanted to ...
www.ga.k12.pa.us/academics/LS/4/sstudies/Colonial/4R/4r98/jon.htm

The History Place - Conflict and Revolution 1775-1776 Chronology of significant events.
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Battle on Lexington Green The opening of the American Revolutionary War: Lexington Green, 1775.
www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/Our_Country_vol_2/battlelex_ff.html

American Revolution - Revolutionary War Battles - The Battle of ...American Revolution - The Battle of Lexington and Concord. On April 19, 1775, British General Thomas Gage dispatched 700 British troops commanded by Lt. Col ...
www.americanrevolution.com/BattleofLexingtonandConcord.htm

American Revolution - Battle of Lexington and Concord Battle of Lexington and Concord. American Revolution - Battles of Lexington and Concord. On April 18, 1775 British General Thomas Gage in Boston was ordered ...
www.americanrevolution.com/LexingtonandConcord.htm

What was The Battle of Longue-Pointe?

2007-08-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

The Battle of Longue-Pointe was fought on September 24, 1775, during the American Revolutionary War and was a British victory. A detachment of General Montgomery's army under Ethan Allen was defeated by Quebec militia outside the gates of Montreal.

Allen's nominal objective was to secure the bank of the St. Lawrence River and to prevent British General Carleton from attempting a relief of Fort St. Jean, under siege by Montgomery. Acting on poor intelligence, the Americans decided to attack Montreal itself.

They were met in the field by a force of militia and British regulars. Allen's men, struck by musket fire, broke almost immediately. Allen surrendered and was taken prisoner.

This abortive attack on Montreal led to the full mobilization of local militia, which soon counted 2,000 men. But Carleton still refused to organize the relief of Fort St. Jean. Disgusted, the militias eventually disbanded to attend their harvests, and Carleton withdrew to Quebec. In November, Montgomery occupied Montreal without firing a shot.

What was The Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House?

2007-08-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Battle of Mobley’s Meeting House is an engagement that occurred during the American Revolutionary War in the Mobley Settlement, Fairfield County, South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of Lord Cornwallis. On a date between 7 and 11 June, most likely 10 June 1780, a small body of Whig militia numbering between 100 and 200 in total was formed from the commands of Colonel William Bratton, Colonel (Captain) Edward Lacey, Captain (Colonel) John McClure, Colonel Samuel Watson, Colonel Cooper, and Colonel William Hill, with Majors Richard Winn and “Paddy” McGriff as the Field Majors and Adjutant James ‘Jemmy’ Johns(t)on. This group was comprised in large part of the Whig forces that had a few days earlier routed and scattered a Tory gathering at Beckhamville, South Carolina under the command of the Tory Colonel (or Captain) Houseman. Colonel William Bratton was elected overall field commander for the engagement, and this group attacked a formation of Tories who were plundering the greater Fairfield District neighborhood in the aftermath of the fall of Charleston under the active encouragement of Lord Cornwallis at Camden and British Colonel Turnbull at Rocky Mount.

The Tories had formed at a well-known rendezvous location called Mobley’s Meeting House in the Mobley Settlement, located on a high embankment on a branch of the Little River in Fairfield District. They were under the general command of Tory Colonel Robert Coleman of Fairfield District, Tory Colonel Joseph Fleuquinyan and Tory Captain William Nichols. This group had plundered many of the possessions of Whigs in the area, in particular members of the Hampton family and had sent John and Henry Hampton prisoner to Lord Cornwallis at Camden. Thus laden down with booty and awaiting British assistance, the Tories were hit by the combined Whig force more or less by surprise and, like at Beckhamville, scattered in retreat in short order. The attack occurred at daybreak with an assault on the Church and a nearby strong/block house or fortified building. The Whig forces attacked from three sides, leaving the fourth uncovered as it was thought that the embankment was too hazardous to climb for an attack or to descend in a retreat. However, during the confusion and panic, a number of Tories attempted just that and were injured in the process. Few casualties were noted on either side other than those resulting from falls down the embankment. Much of the plunder was recovered and restored to the owners, and a significant number of prisoners were taken and sent to North Carolina. After the battle, some of the Whigs immediately left for North Carolina while others stayed on. In the immediate aftermath, Colonel Turnbull, the regional British commander at Rocky Mount, sent the New York Provincials (the Green Coats Tories) under Captain Christian Huck in reprisal. They in turn destroyed the home and parsonage of the Reverend John Simpson and attacked the remaining Whigs at the Iron Works of Colonel William Hill. After the destruction of the Iron Works, the remaining Whigs were forced to withdraw into North Carolina and assist in Sumter’s rise and their vengeance on Huck in July.

The location of the meeting house is about 6 miles west of present-day Winnsboro on the waters of the Little River. A marker has been placed nearby, on SSR 18 at a point approximately 1.5 miles west of the site. At one time, there was a road or pathway that went past the meeting house, but it is inaccessible today. At the 16 August 1786 session of the County Court for Fairfield District (County), the inhabitants on Little River petitioned for a road from Mobley’s Meeting House to Winnsboro leading by James Rogers’ house. This order was granted, and a commission of Burr Harrison, Esquire, Thomas Shannon and Thomas Addison was empowered to view the road. Surveyors (maintainers) for the road were also ordered at this session as a Mr. Butler for the leg from the meeting house to Mr. Harrison’s on Little River, and for Benjamin Harrison for the leg from Harrison’s to the Winnsboro Road. It would appear that in the two centuries hence, this road has been discontinued at least in the part near the meeting house site.

While minor in scope, this engagement and others like it represented important symbolic victories for the Whigs. Mobley’s Meeting House and the Battle of Beckhamville were the first two Whig successes against a string of defeats at Monck’s Corner, the Waxhaws, Lenud’s Ferry, and the demoralizing fall of Charleston. Other setbacks at Brandon’s Defeat and Hill’s Iron Works after the Beckhamville and Mobley’s Meeting House successes continued to press the Whigs, but rallies at Huck’s Defeat (Williamson’s Plantation) and Ramsour’s Mill continued to provide strategically small, but much needed morale and spiritual, victories to keep the Patriots going through these dark days, especially after the whippings delivered on them by the British at Camden and Fishing Creek only two months later on 16 and 18 August 1780. It wasn’t until 7 October 1780 that deliverance came, with the decisive Whig victory at King’s Mountain that was, in retrospect, the turning point of Cornwallis’ Southern Campaign.

For a list of participants, see: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/s/h/e/Kenneth-Shelton-VA/FILE/0028page.html

Source: Shelton, Kenneth, "All That Dare Oppose Them: The Whig Victory at Mobley's Meeting House, June 1780", (2005)

Who was William Grayson?

2007-08-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

William Grayson (1740 - 12 March 1790) was an American politician of the Anti-Federalist faction.

Grayson was born in Virginia. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Oxford University, studying classics. He practiced law in Dumfries, Virginia until the American Revolutionary War began. Serving as an aide-de-camp to George Washington, Grayson rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1777, he recruited a regiment for the Continental Army known as Grayson's Regiment, and served as its colonel through the Philadelphia campaign. In 1778, he served on a commission dealing with war prisoners, and in 1779 he resigned his military commission to serve on the Congressional Board of War. In 1781 he returned to Dumfries to practice law.

He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1787. He was then appointed to the United States Senate, and served from 4 March 1789 until his death on 12 March 1790. He was also an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati.[citation needed]

His wife was Eleanor Smallwood, a sister of Maryland Governor William Smallwood. Grayson was the grandfather of William Grayson Carter, Kentucky state senator, and Confederate General John Breckinridge Grayson (General J.B. Grayson was also the grandson of Virginia/Kentucky Senator John Breckinridge (1760-1806) of the Breckinridge political family and related to Senators Henry Clay and Thomas Hart Benton (senator)).

Grayson is interred within a concrete covered vault on private property in Woodbridge, VA.

Who was John Chavis?

2007-08-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

John Chavis (c. 1763-1838) was a black educator and Presbyterian minister in the American South during the early 19th century.

The exact date of Chavis' birth is not known. It is believed that he was born in either 1762 or 1763. One source claims he was born on October 18, 1763, but with no evidence given.

Information about Chavis' early life is scant as well, with few records to document it. It is believed that he may have been the 'John Chavis' who was employed as an indentured servant by a Halifax lawyer named James Milner. A 1773 inventory of Milner's estate does list an "indentured servant named John Chavis." Since Milner possessed a large library, it is likely that Chavis received some schooling during his period of service.

Chavis served as a soldier during the American Revolution. He enlisted in December 1778 and served in the Fifth Regiment of Virginia for three years. Captain Mayo Carrington of the Fifth Regiment of Virginia, wrote in a bounty warrant dated March 1783, that Chavis had "faithfully fulfilled [his duties] and is thereby entitled to all immunities granted to three year soldiers."

A 1789 tax list of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, shows that he was listed as a free black man owning one horse. He had married a woman named Sarah Frances Anderson, and they had one son, Anderson Chavis. In 1789, he was employed by Robert Greenwood's estate as tutor to Greenwood's orphans.

Chavis arrived at the Liberty Hall Academy in Lexington, Virginia in 1795, one year prior to George Washington's gift of 100 shares of James River Company Stock. He was still a student when the institution changed its name to Washington Academy. (Washington Academy would change its name a third time long after Chavis left the school, becoming Washington and Lee University.)

Prior to 1795, Chavis had resided in New Jersey, where he had taken private classes under John Witherspoon in preparation for entering the Presbyterian ministry. In the recorded minutes of the meeting of the trustees of the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University) dated September 26, 1792, there is a recommendation by Reverend John Blair that "Mr. Todd Henry, a Virginian, and John Chavis, a free black man of that state, ... be received" on the school's Leslie Fund. Chavis transferred to Liberty Hall Academy after Witherspoon's death in 1794.

On November 19, 1800 Chavis completed with high honors a rigorous theological examination that began on June 11, 1800. On this date, he was also granted a license to preach by the Presbytery of Lexington in Virginia.

Six months later, with high character recommendations from the Presbytery of Lexington, Chavis was transferred to work under the Hanover Presbytery.

In April 1802, Chavis had applied for freedmen's papers and received them from Rockbridge County Court. It was recorded that "said [John] Chavis has been known to the Court for several years ... and that he has always ... been considered as a freeman, and they believe him to be such, and that he has always while in the county conducted himself in a decent orderly and respectable manner, and also that he has been a student at Washington Academy [sic] where they believe he whent [sic] through a regular course of academical [sic] studies."

Between 1801 and 1807, Chavis served as a circuit riding missionary for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to slaves and free blacks in the states of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. He also converted whites as well.

Chavis came to Raleigh, North Carolina sometime between 1807 and 1809, where he was licensed to preach the Christian Gospel by the Orange Presbytery. While he was not given a parish, he continued to preach to Black and White congregations in Granville, Orange, and Wake Counties. Some of the white congregations included slaveholders.

In 1808, Chavis opened a school in his home where he taught both white and black children. He placed ads in the Raleigh Register to encourage enrollment. At first he taught both races together, but after some white parents objected, he taught white children during the day and black children in the evenings. He charged white students $2.50 per quarter, and black students $1.75 per quarter. As an educator, Chavis taught full time and instructed his college bound white students in Latin and Greek, which were required study in the colleges and universities of that time.

His school was described as one of the best in the state. Students from some of the most prominent white families in the South studied at Chavis' school. His students includes Priestly H. Mangum, brother of Senator Willie P. Mangum; Archibald E. Henderson and John L. Henderson, sons of Chief Justice Henderson; Governor Charles Manly; The Reverend William Harris; Dr. James L. Wortham; the Edwardses, Enlows (Enloes), Hargroves, and Horners; and Abraham Rencher, Minister of Portugal and Territorial Governor of New Mexico.

Chavis maintained a friendship with one of his white students, Senator Willie P. Mangum. For many years, they conducted a correspondence where Chavis often criticized the senator's political positions. Chavis, it seems, was opposed to the abolition of slavery, had a great dislike for President Andrew Jackson and was opposed to the states' rights advocacy of Mangum and his colleagues. In 1837, Chavis published "An Essay on the Atonement," though no copies are known to have survived.

After Nat Turner, an educated slave and preacher in southern Virginia, led a bloody rebellion in 1831 that saw the murder of dozens of white men, women and children, slave-holding states quickly passed laws that forbade all blacks to preach. Although Chavis was forced to give up preaching and teaching school, the presbytery continued to pay Chavis $50 a year until his death to support him and his wife. The presbytery even continued payments to his wife after his death until 1842.

Receiving charity was not a new experience for Chavis. In the past he had received financial assistance from his friend and former student, Senator Mangum. In 1825, Mangum helped him secure renewal on a bank loan for $270. Later Chavis asked Mangum to pay the interest of $30. Chavis was always able to turn to prominent friends when he was in need, and usually they were generous to him.

Chavis died in June of 1838. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.

Both Chavis Heights apartments and Chavis Park in Raleigh, North Carolina are named after him.

Who was Mary Willing Byrd?

2007-08-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Mary Willing Byrd (September 10, 1740-March 1814) was the second wife of Colonel William Byrd III, a colonial American military officer at the time of the American Revolution and son of the founder of Richmond, Virginia. Her father, Charles Willing, was the mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1748 to 1754, and her great-grandfather, Edward Shippen, was the second mayor of Philadelphia from 1701 to 1703.

After her husband committed suicide in January 1777, leaving considerable debts, she managed his plantations, including Westover Plantation, in Charles City County.

Although Byrd had many ties to the British and Loyalists during the American Revolution, she tried to remain neutral and to preserve her children's inheritance. After trying to recover property that had been seized by the British, she was charged in 1781 with trading with the enemy. Byrd defended herself eloquently in a letter to Governor Thomas Jefferson: "I wish well to all mankind, to America in particular. What am I but an American? All my friends and connexions are in America; my whole property is here—could I wish ill to everything I have an interest in?" Her trial was first postponed and ultimately never held.

Mary Willing Byrd had ten children: Maria Horsmanden Byrd, Evelyn Taylor Byrd, Charles Willing Byrd (died as child), Abby Byrd, Anne Willing Byrd, William Boyd Byrd, Charles Willing Byrd, Dorothy Byrd (died as child), Jane Byrd and Richard Willing Byrd.

Who was Abraham Buford?

2007-08-17T18:28:00.002-07:00

Abraham Buford (July 21, 1747-June 30, 1833) was a Continental Army officer during the American Revolutionary War, most known as commanding officer during the "Waxhaw Massacre".

Born in Culpeper County, Virginia, Buford quickly organized a company of minutemen upon the outbreak of war in 1775, eventually rising to the rank of colonel by May 1778. Assuming command of the 11th Virginia Regiment in September, he would be assigned to the 3rd Virginia Regiment in April 1780 and sent south to relieve the British siege of Charleston, South Carolina.

Forced to withdraw following the surrender of Charleston on May 12, the 3rd Virginia Continentals were trapped on May 29 by British and American Loyalist forces under Col. Banastre Tarleton who demanded Buford's surrender. When Buford refused, Tarleton ordered an assault in which Buford's forces suffered casualties so severe, American forces were forced to surrender. However, British/Loyalist forces continued their attack against the routed American force as many soldiers were bayoneted to death as they attempted to surrender (resulting in the incident known as the "Waxhaw Massacre" or "Buford's Massacre"). From that time onward, "Tarleton's Quarter" (meaning give no quarter) was an American battle cry in the Southern Theatre.

The British claimed that an American militiaman fired at Tarleton after the Americans had signalled surrender, using that as an excuse for the ensuing slaughter. Escaping on horseback with his remaining men, Buford was not found culpable for the action and continued to serve as an officer in the Continental Army through the Battle of Yorktown. He eventually settle in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky on military bounty lands in excess of several thousand acres where he helped found that state's race-horsing industry and where he lived until his death at his home which he called "Richland" (National Register of Historic Places) in Scott County, Kentucky on June 30, 1833.

On Flag Day, June 14, 2006, descendants of Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton returned Col. Buford's regimental flags taken at the Waxhaw Massacre to the United States and sold them at Sotheby's New York for over $5,000,000 (US).

His relations were US Generals John Buford; Napoleon Bonoparte Buford; and CS General Abraham Buford

Who was Samuel Barton?

2007-08-17T18:28:00.001-07:00

Colonel Samuel Barton (May 1749-January 1810) was a pioneer and Patriot of the American Revolution (1775-1783) but is remembered more for the exploration and settlement of what was to become Nashville, Tennessee. Little is known of his early youth. Family tradition holds that Samuel, born in Virginia, was left bound as an apprentice while his father returned to England for business only to be lost at sea. Recent y-DNA testing of a male descendent of Samuel Barton has shown that this branch of Barton’s are part of a lineage whose earliest known member in America was Lewis Barton of Maryland.

Barton may have first explored the Cumberland region as a teenager with the Scraggins Party of 1765. This is supported by the fact that biographical sources put him in Nashville “…when there were but four families residing in the place, and when it was necessary to take every precaution to guard against the Indians”. Regardless of the chronology it is evident that he vacillated between his native Virginia and the wilds of Tennessee. In 1774 he fought as a ranger against Indians in Lord Dunmore’s War. With the onset of the American Revolution he mustered in Virginia in June of 1775. He served as Sergeant in Morgan's Rifles of the 7th Virginia Regiment, the acclaimed snipers. As an explorer, hunter and frontiersman Barton proved an ideal soldier. Botetourt County, Virginia court records log his marriage to Martha Robertson on March 10, 1778.

With the advantages of military training and leadership he returned to Tennessee and contributed to the settling and development of Fort Nashborough, what was to become Nashville. As a testament to the American faith in written law Barton, General (early American)|James Robertson and other prominent men of the area drafted and signed the Cumberland Compact in May 1780. This document served as constitution until Tennessee became the 16th state of the Union in 1796. In 1846, historian Albigence Waldo Putnam found the original document in a truck that had belonged to Barton. The settlement was governed by the “Tribunal of Notables”, Barton being one of the twelve. In April 1781, a few days before the “Battle of the Bluffs” he suffered a shot in the wrist defending pioneers from Indians.

On January 7, 1783, a second Cumberland Compact was created and signed by Barton and nine other founders. Upon the creation of Davidson County in April of that year Barton was appointed as Justice of the Peace and Judge of the County Court. In October of 1783 he was elected as Court Entry-Taker and was sworn in as 2nd Major of the Militia. In 1784 Samuel Barton was designated as one of the five Directors as well as Treasurer of the fledgling city. He was later selected as a Colonel of the Militia.

In 1798, not yet 50 years of age, Samuel Barton resigned from civic life and moved his large family to what would the next year become Wilson County, Tennessee. For the last 12 years of life he farmed his extensive land holdings, having been granted more than 1000 acres. His large plantation was on Jenning’s Fork of Round Lick Creek. He took up the vocation of surveying and appraising land. His burial site is unknown.

Who was James Armistead?

2007-08-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

James Armistead, and occasionally also referred to as James L. Armistead (c. December 10, 1748–August 9, 1830) was an African American slave to William Armistead in Virginia during the American Revolution. After getting consent of his master, Marquis de Lafayette, he volunteered in 1781 to join the army under General Lafayette. He was stationed as a spy, acting as a slave in Lord Cornwallis' camp. He relayed much information about the British plans for troop deployment and about their arms. His intelligence reports espionage were instrumental in helping to defeat the British at the surrender at Yorktown. Most sources indicate that James was born in 1748 in NEW KENT COUNTY,VIRGINIA as a slave for William Armistead; other sources put his birth around 1760 in Elizabeth City, Virginia. He died on August 9, 1830 as a freed slave turned farmer. Because he was an intelligence agent and not technically a soldier, James could not qualify for emancipation under the Act of 1783, so with the support of William Armistead, he petitioned the Virginia State Legislature for his freedom. He received a letter of commendation dated November 21, 1784 from the Marquis de Lafayette;the facsimile of the letter of commendation can be viewed on the Lafayette College website [1]. On January 9, 1786, the Virginia State Legislature granted the slave known only as "James" his freedom for services rendered and bravery as a spy during the siege of Yorktown. It was at that time that he chose the name Armistead for his middle name and Lafayette for his surname, to honor the general.

He continued to live in New Kent County with his new wife, one son and several other children. He became a farmer and he at one point owned three slaves. By 1818 he applied to the state legislature for financial aid. He was granted $60.00 for present relief and $40 annual pension for his services in the Revolutionary War. In 1824, he was recognized and embraced by General Lafayette during his tour of Yorktown, the story of the event was reported by the Richmond Enquirer. It was also about this time that the artist John Blennerhassett Martin (1797-1857) painted an oil on canvas of James Armistead Lafayette. This painting is owned by the Valentine Museum. The artist also created a broadside including both the painted likeness and the facsimile of Lafayette’s testimonial.

Another possible likeness is John-Baptiste Paon’s 1783 portrait of Lafayette at Yorktown with James Armistead holding his horse. This portrait is owned by Layfayette College and can be viewed on their website [2] A discussion on the images of Armistead may be found on the Common-place website [3]

By 1828, James Armistead Lafayette was also featured as the general’s aide and sidekick in the novel Edge- Hill or the Family of the Fitzroyals by James Ewell Heath.

It has been suggested that some historians have tried to twist his full name to protect the Armistead families of Virginia from scandals. William Armistead, his owner, was the purser and chief financer of the Revolutionary War, and was secretly connected to the royal families of Prussia, who helped finance the war with English payments to mercenary Prussian troops, who surrendered upon command. William Armistead's only (white) daughter married Fairfax Washington, the son of Gen. Washington, after the Revolution and is believed to be a descendant of Shakespeare or King William I (The Silent) of Orange via John Armistead, The Councilor of Williamsburg. Some black Americans with the last name of Armistead are suspected of being descendants of James Armistead Lafayette as he is said to have had a number of children after the Revolution. Also it is possible that James was an illegitimate son of William Armistead, The Purser of the Virginia Troops.

Regardless of his birth, he is remembered as an American patriot. His intelligence contributions to Lafayette and Washington aided in the capture Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va. with few shots fired.

Who was Benjamin Taliaferro?

2007-08-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Taliaferro (1750 - September 3, 1821) was a United States Representative from Georgia. He was born in Virginia in 1750 from an English-Italian family, the Taliaferros, who settled in Virginia in the early 17th century. He completed preparatory studies and served in the American Revolutionary War as a lieutenant in the rifle corps commanded by General Daniel Morgan. He was promoted to captain and then captured by the British at Charleston in 1780.

Taliaferro settled in Georgia in 1785. He was a member of the Georgia Senate and its president. He was a delegate to the Georgia State Constitutional Convention in 1798. He was elected as a Federalist to the 6th United States Congress and then reelected as a Republican to the 7th Congress and served from March 4, 1799, until his resignation in 1802. He was later judge of the Georgia Superior Court and a trustee for the University of Georgia. He died in Wilkes County, Georgia on September 3, 1821.

Taliaferro County, Georgia was named in his honor.

Who was Joshua Sands?

2007-08-17T18:13:00.002-07:00

Joshua Sands was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He was born on October 12, 1757 in Cow Neck (now Sands Point), Queens County, Long Island, New York. He received a limited schooling, served as a captain in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1792 to 1799. In 1797, he was a collector of customs at the port of New York.

He was elected as a Federalist to the Eighth Congress, which met from March 4, 1803 to March 3, 1805, but he was not a candidate for renomination. He was president of the board of trustees of the village of Brooklyn in 1824. He was also elected to the Nineteenth Congress, which met from March 4, 1825 to March 3, 1827. He died in Brooklyn, New York on September 13, 1835. He was interred in St. Paul's Church Cemetery in Eastchester, New York. He was later reinterred in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York in 1852.

Who was Peter Pumyea II?

2007-08-17T18:13:00.001-07:00

Peter Pumyea (March 27, 1739 – September 21, 1802) was a Captain in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

He was born in Six Mile Run, Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey.

He married Ida Rycken Suydam (1744-1824) on June 10, 1762. Ida was the daughter of Ryck Suydam. Ryck's father, Hendrick Rychen was from Suydam, Holland. Peter and Ida had a child: Peter Pumyea III (1768-1826) who married Sarah Addis. Sarah was the daughter of Simon Addis. In the Census of 1765-1772, Peter is recorded as "Peter Pommieeje" with his wife and children and two slaves: Caesar and Sam.

As "Peter Pommieeje", he served in the Revolutionary War as Captain of the 2nd Battalion, Somerset County, New Jersey Militia. Both he and his wife lived and died at Six Mile Run in Somerset County, New Jersey.

Who was John Pugh?

2007-08-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

John Pugh (June 2, 1761 – July 13, 1842) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

John Pugh was born in Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania. He served in the Revolutionary Army as a private, ensign, and captain. He engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits, and served as justice of the peace. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1800 to 1804.

Pugh was elected as a Republican to the Ninth and Tenth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1808. He served as register of wills and recorder of deeds of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from 1810 to 1821, and died in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in 1842. Interment in the Presbyterian Churchyard.

Who was Archibald Bulloch?

2007-08-17T18:11:00.002-07:00

Archibald Bulloch (c.1730– February 22, 1777) was a lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Georgia during the American Revolution.

Bulloch was born and educated in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of James Bulloch and Jean Stobo Bulloch. He began to practice law in South Carolina and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the South Carolina militia. His family moved to Georgia in 1758, and Bulloch moved to Savannah, Georgia, in 1764. He was elected to the Commons House of Assembly of Georgia in 1768 as a member of the Liberty Party. His fellow assembly members appointed him as a delegate for Georgia to the Continental Congress in 1775. In the Continental Congress, he was a member of the Secret Committee, which was responsible for gathering war supplies. Bulloch is also recorded as having been a Freemason in Georgia. His name is listed on the 1779 Masonic roles of Solomon's Lodge No. 1 at Savannah along with George Walton, John Adam Treutlen, James Jackson, Nathaniel Pendelton, and General Samuel Elbert.

Bulloch would have been a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but decided to return to Georgia to aid the revolution there. In 1776, he fought under the command of Colonel Lachlan McIntosh in the Battle of the Rice Boats and the Battle of Tybee Island. On June 20, 1776, he was chosen to be the first President and Commander-in-Chief of Georgia under the state's temporary republican government. When he signed the state constitution on February 20, 1777, his position transferred from president to governor of Georgia. He died in Savannah while preparing against British invasion of Georgia in 1777. There is some speculation that he was poisoned, though this has never been proven.

His son William Bellinger Bulloch later represented Georgia in the United States Senate. Archibald's great-great-grandson was President Theodore Roosevelt. His great-great-great granddaughter was First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt's son Archibald was named after Bulloch. Bulloch County, Georgia was named in his honor.

What was The Battle of Alligator Bridge?

2007-08-17T18:11:00.001-07:00

The Battle of Alligator Bridge took place on June 30, 1778, and was the major engagement in Colonel Elijah Clarke's third and final unsuccessful campaign to conquer East Florida. In a disastrous battle, Clarke's 300 Georgia militiamen went up against a far larger force composed of British regulars, Tories, and Indians. His defeat left the area firmly under British control.

As with previous failures in the region, Southern politicians refused to grant Continental Army officers full command of their militias. So, while General Robert Howe waited with about 400 regular troops at Fort Tonyn to the north for Georgia Governor John Houstoun and South Carolina General Andrew Williamson to arrive with their militias, Clarke pursued an enemy detachment that had just been routed from an outpost to the west of the fort. He and his men were stopped at Alligator Bridge, where Major Marc Prevost had established hasty field fortifications.

In the fortifications were 500 British regulars, along with 200 more outside of them; also outside were around 100 Rangers. Clarke took a detachment of mounted men and attacked what he saw as a weak point in the British line. He expected to break the line and pour the rest of his men into the breach. But the horses had trouble getting through the tangle of brush and logs that had been set up specifically as an obstacle course; when they cleared this, they reached a ditch that was designed for the same purpose. The ditch was too wide for the horses to clear with one jump, and this was the moment the British chose to begin shooting and shouting. Clarke was wounded and nearly captured, after which he ordered a recall. Some say he was spurred on by a counterattack of British troops posted outside of their earthworks.[citation needed] Whatever the reason, Clarke withdrew, having lost nine men killed in action. He lost more to hunger and sickness, leading to the collapse of the 1778 invasion.

The site of the bridge has long been supposed to have been in central Callahan, where a marker has been placed, but some historians believe that the actual site of the bridge was somewhat farther east.

What was The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill?

2007-08-17T18:10:00.001-07:00

The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill (sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Camden) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on April 25, 1781, near Camden, South Carolina.

The British were outnumbered 900 to General Nathanael Greene's 1,500. This was Lord Francis Rawdon's first independent commanding battle, and, despite being outnumbered, he did not want to make his first commanding battle a retreating one. He tried to attack Greene's army by surprise, but Greene made a battle strategy quickly. Rawdon countered Greene's first moves, and Greene was forced to withdraw to the old battlefield of Camden when his advancing line faltered at one point in the battle.

This left Rawdon in control of Hobkirk's Hill. Though Rawdon had won, he was forced to retreat to Charleston soon afterwards since he had too few troops remaining to hold the hill.

Who was Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings?

2007-08-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 1754 - 28 November 1826) was a British politician and military officer who served as Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823.

Hastings was born in County Down, the son of John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira and Elizabeth Rawdon, 13th Baroness Hastings. He joined the British army in 1771 and served in the American Revolutionary War. There he served at the battles of Bunker Hill, Brooklyn, White Plains, Monmouth and Camden, at the attacks on Forts Washington and Clinton, and at the siege of Charleston. Perhaps his most noted achievement was the raising of a corps at Philadelphia, called the Irish Volunteers, who under him became famous for their fighting qualities, and the victory of Hobkirk's Hill, which, in command of only a small force, he gained by superior military skill and determination against a much larger body of Americans. He succeeded his father as the 2nd Earl of Moira in 1793.

Becoming a Whig in politics, he entered government as part of the Ministry of all The Talents in 1806 as Master-General of the Ordnance, but resigned upon the fall of the ministry the next year. Being a close associate of the Prince-Regent, Moira was asked by him to try to form a Whig government after the assassination of Spencer Perceval in 1812 ended that ministry. Both of Moira's attempts to create a governing coalition failed, and the Tories returned to power under the Earl of Liverpool.

Through the influence of the Prince-Regent, Moira was appointed Governor-General of India in 1813. His tenure as Governor-General was a memorable one, overseeing the victory in the Gurkha War (1814 - 1816); the final conquest of the Marathas in 1818; and the purchase of the island of Singapore in 1819. His domestic policy in India was also largely successful, seeing the repair of the Mogul canal system in Delhi as well as educational and administrative reforms. He was raised to the rank of Marquess of Hastings in 1817.

Hastings' tenure in India ended due to a financial scandal in 1823, and he returned to England, being appointed Governor-General of Malta in 1824. He died at sea off Naples two years later.

On July 12, 1804, he married Flora Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun, daughter of Major-General James Campbell, 5th Earl of Loundon and Lady Flora Macleod. They had five children:

*Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings (11 February 1806–5 July 1839), died unmarried.
*George Augustus Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Marquess of Hastings (4 February 1808–13 January 1844)
*Sophia Frederica Christina Rawdon-Hastings (1 February 1809–28 December 1859), married John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute and had issue.
*Selina Constance Rawdon-Hastings (1810–8 November 1867), married Charles Henry and has issue
*Adelaide Augusta Lavinia Rawdon-Hastings (25 February 1812–6 December 1860), married William Murray, 7th Baronet of Octertyre

Where is the Congaree River?

2007-08-17T18:08:00.003-07:00

The Congaree River is a short but wide river in South Carolina in the United States; It flows for only 47 miles (78 km). The river serves an important role as the final outlet channel for the entire Lower Saluda and Lower Broad watersheds, before merging with the Wateree River just north of Lake Marion to form the Santee River.

It is formed in Columbia by the confluence of the Saluda and Broad rivers near the Piedmont fall line. It serves as part of the boundary between Richland, Calhoun, and Lexington counties. The only cities near the river are Columbia on the east, and Cayce and West Columbia on the west.

Despite the vast bottomland swamp below Columbia, the Congaree is navigable along much of its length at high water by barge traffic, which comes upriver from the Port of Charleston (approximately 100 miles (167 km)) through the Santee-Cooper Lakes to within 5 miles (8 km) of the fall line. The Congaree National Park, one of the main recreational attractions of the river, is located about halfway down the river's course. The 22,200 acre park contains some of the last remaining old growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America. Recreational opportunities include hiking, biking, bird watching, botanical interests, and canoeing.

The river's name comes from the Congaree Indians who used to live along it.

What was the Siege of Fort Motte?

2007-08-17T18:08:00.001-07:00

A force of Patriots led by General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and Lt. Colonel "Light Horse" Harry Lee set out to capture the British post at Fort Motte, strategically located at the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree Rivers. The fort was not much more than a mansion owned by the Motte family, but was garrisoned by roughly 175 British soldiers under Lt. Daniel McPherson.

Marion and Lee learned that Lord Rawdon was retreating towards Fort Motte in the aftermath of the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill. The Americans forces invested the place on May 8 and wished to capture the fort before Rawdon arrived. Two days later Marion, called for the British to surrender and McPherson refused. The next day, Colonel Lee informed Mrs. Motte that he intended to burn the mansion down to force the British out. On May 12, the American forces had entrenched close enough to the mansion that flaming arrows were shot onto the roof. Mrs Motte, a Partiot not only accepted Lee's plan, but offered up her own set of bow and arrows. Marion's artillery fire added to the desperation of the British and, by 1:00 that afternoon, Lt. McPherson surrendered the garrison to the Patriots.

What was Fort Motte?

2007-08-17T18:07:00.001-07:00

Fort Motte was a temporary military outpost in what is now South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. Later, it was considered as a possible location for the capitol for the newly-formed state of South Carolina (before Columbia was chosen).

The "fort" was created from a recently-built plantation home of one of the Motte family, whose business was located in Charleston, South Carolina. The site is near a strategic river crossing of the Congaree River used by early traders. The Cherokee Path is nearby. It is also roughly in the area of an early town (1735) known as Amelia Town, South Carolina. There were several other less well-known forts in the area. Before the "forts" were established, there were sites which served as trading posts. Before the trading began, there were hunting grounds.

The South Carolina Department of Archives and History, the South Caroliniana Library, and the University of South Carolina have the earliest extant maps for this area.

In 1781 General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion captured the location after the Siege of Fort Motte

Who was Rebecca Motte?

2007-08-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

Fort Motte, the scene of the occurrence which so strikingly displayed the patriotism of one of South Carolina's daughters, stood on the south side of the Congaree river. The height commands a beautiful view, several miles in extent, of sloping fields, sprinkled with young pines, and green with broom grass or the corn or cotton crops; of sheltered valleys and wooded hills, with the dark pine ridge defined against the sky. The steep overlooks the swamp land through which the river flows; and that may be seen to a great distance, winding, like a bright thread, between the sombre forests.

After the abandonment of Camden to the Americans, Lord Rawdon, anxious to maintain his posts, directed his first effort to relieve Fort Motte, at the time invested by Marion and Lee. This fort, which commanded the river, was the principal depôt of the convoys from Charleston to Camden and the upper districts. It was occupied by a garrison under the command of Captain M'Pherson, of one hundred and sixty-five men, having been increased by a small detachment of dragoons from Charleston, a few hours before the appearance of the Americans. The large new mansion-house belonging to Mrs. Motte, which had been selected for the establishment of the post, was surrounded by a deep trench, along the interior margin of which was raised a strong and lofty parapet. Opposite, and northward, upon another hill, was an old farm-house, to which Mrs. Motte had removed when dismissed from her mansion. On this height Lieutenant Colonel Lee had taken position with his force; while Marion occupied the eastern declivity of the ridge on which the fort stood; the valley running between the two hills permitting the Americans to approach it within four hundred yards.

M'Pherson was unprovided with artillery, but hoped to be relieved by the arrival of Lord Rawdon to dislodge the assailants before they could push their preparations to maturity. He therefore replied to the summons to surrender, which came on the 20th May, about a year after the victorious British had taken possession of Charleston, that he should hold out to the last moment in his power.

The besiegers had carried on their approaches rapidly, by relays of working parties; and aware of the advance of Rawdon with all his force, had every motive for perseverance. In the night a courier arrived from General Greene, to advise them of Rawdon's retreat from Camden, and urge redoubled activity; and Marion persevered through the hours of darkness in pressing the completion of their works. The following night Lord Rawdon encamped on the highest ground in the country opposite Fort Motte; and the despairing garrison saw with joy the illumination of his fires; while the Americans were convinced that no time was to be lost.

The large house in the centre of the encircling trench left but a few yards of ground within the British works uncovered; burning the mansion, therefore, must compel the surrender of the garrison. This expedient was reluctantly resolved upon by Marion and Lee, who, unwilling under any circumstances to destroy private property, felt the duty to be much more painful in the present case. It was the summer residence of the owner, whose deceased husband had been a firm friend to his country, and whose daughter (Mrs. Pinckney) was the wife of a gallant officer, then a prisoner in the hands of the British. Lee had made Mrs. Motte's dwelling his quarters, at her pressing invitation, and with his officers had shared her liberal hospitality. Not satisfied with polite attention to the officers, while they were entertained at her luxurious table, she had attended with active benevolence to the sick and wounded, soothed the infirm with kind sympathy, and animated the desponding to hope. It was thus not without deep regret that the commanders determined on the sacrifice, and the Lieutenant Colonel found himself compelled to inform Mrs. Motte of the unavoidable necessity of the destruction of her property.

The smile with which the communication was received, gave instant relief to the embarrassed officer. Mrs. Motte not only assented, but declared that she was "gratified with the opportunity of contributing to the good of her country, and should view the approaching scene with delight." Shortly after, seeing by accident the bow and arrows which had been prepared to carry combustible matter, she sent for Lee, and presenting him with a bow and its apparatus, which had been imported from India, requested his substitution of them, as better adapted for the object than those provided.

Every thing was now prepared for the concluding scene. The lines were manned, and an additional force stationed at the battery to meet a desperate assault, if such should be made. The American entrenchments being within arrow shot, M'Pherson was once more summoned, and again more confidently - for help was at hand - asserted his determination to resist to the last.

The scorching rays of the noon-day sun had prepared the shingle roof for the conflagration. The return of the flag was immediately followed by the shooting of the arrows, to which balls of blazing rosin and brimstone were attached. Simms tells us the bow was put into the hands of Nathan Savage, a private in Marion's brigade. The first struck, and set fire; also the second and third, in different quarters of the roof. M'Pherson immediately ordered men to repair to the loft of the house, and check the flames by knocking off the shingles; but they were soon driven down by the fire of the six pounder; and no other effort to stop the burning being practicable, the commandant hung out the white flag, and surrendered the garrison at discretion.

If ever a situation in real life afforded a fit subject for poetry, by filling the mind with a sense of moral grandeur, it was that of Mrs. Motte contemplating the spectacle of her home in flames, and rejoicing in the triumph secured to her countrymen, the benefit to her native land by her surrender of her own interest to the public service. I have stood upon the spot, and felt that it was indeed classic ground, and consecrated by memories which should thrill the heart of every American. But the beauty of such memories would be marred by the least attempt at ornament; and the simple narrative of that memorable occurrence has more effect to stir the feelings than could a tale artistically framed and glowing with the richest hues of imagination.

After the captors had taken possession, M'Pherson and his officers accompanied them to Mrs. Motte's dwelling, where they sat down together to a sumptuous dinner. Again, in the softened picture, our heroine is the principal figure. She showed herself prepared, not only to give up her splendid mansion to ensure victory to the American arms, but to do her part towards soothing the agitation of the conflict just ended. Her dignified, courteous, and affable deportment adorned the hospitality of her table; she did the honors with that unaffected politeness which wins esteem as well as admiration; and by her conversation, marked with ease, vivacity and good sense, and the engaging kindness of her manners, endeavored to obliterate the recollection of the loss she had been called upon to sustain, and at the same time to remove from the minds of the prisoners the sense of their misfortune.

To the effect of this grace and gentle kindness, is doubtless due much of the generosity exercised by the victors towards those who, according to strict rule, had no right to expect mercy. While at the table, "it was whispered in Marion's ear that Colonel Lee's men were even then engaged in hanging certain of the tory prisoners. Marion instantly hurried from the table, seized his sword, and running with all haste, reached the place of execution in time to rescue one poor wretch from the gallows. Two were already beyond rescue or recovery. With drawn sword, and a degree of indignation in his countenance that spoke more than words, Marion threatened to kill the first man that made any further attempt in such diabolical proceedings."

Other incidents in the life of Mrs. Motte, illustrate the same rare energy and firmness of character she evinced on this occasion, with the same disinterested devotion to the American cause. When an attack upon Charleston was apprehended, and every man able to render service was summoned to aid in throwing up intrenchments for the defence of the city, Mrs. Motte, who had lost her husband at an early period of the war, and had no son to perform his duty to the country, despatched a messenger to her plantation, and ordered down to Charleston every male slave capable of work. Providing each, at her own expense, with proper implements, and a soldier's rations, she placed them at the disposal of the officer in command. The value of this unexpected aid was enhanced by the spirit which prompted the patriotic offer.

At different times it was her lot to encounter the presence of the enemy. Surprised by the British at one of her country residences on the Santee, her son-in-law, General Pinckney, who happened to be with her at the time, barely escaped capture by taking refuge in the swamps. It was to avoid such annoyances that she removed to "Buckhead," afterwards called Fort Motte, the neighborhood of which in time became the scene of active operations.

When the British took possession of Charleston, the house in which she resided - still one of the finest in the city - was selected as the head-quarters of Colonels Tarleton and Balfour. From this abode she determined not to be driven; and presided daily at the head of her own table, with a company of thirty British officers. The duties forced upon her were discharged with dignity and grace, while she always replied with becoming spirit to the discourteous taunts frequently uttered in her presence, against her "rebel countrymen." In many scenes of danger and disaster was her fortitude put to the test; yet through all, this noble-spirited woman regarded not her own advantage, hesitating at no sacrifice of her convenience or interest, to promote the general good.

One portion of her history, illustrating her singular energy, resolution, and strength of principle should be recorded. During the struggle, her husband had become deeply involved by securities undertaken for his friends. The distracted state of the country - the pursuits of business being for a long time suspended - plunged many into embarrassment; and after the termination of the war, it was found impossible to satisfy these claims. The widow, however, considered the honor of her deceased husband involved in the responsibilities he had assumed. She determined to devote the remainder of her life to the honorable task of paying the debts. Her friends and connections, whose acquaintance with her affairs gave weight to their judgment, warned her of the apparent hopelessness of such an effort. But, steadfast in the principles that governed all her conduct, she persevered; induced a friend to purchase for her, on credit, a valuable body of rice-land, then an uncleared swamp,on the Santee, built houses for the negroes, who constituted nearly all her available property - even that being encumbered with claims - and took up her own abode on the new plantation. Living in an humble dwelling - and relinquishing many of her habitual comforts - she devoted herself with such zeal, untiring industry, and indomitable resolution to the attainment of her object, that her success triumphed over every difficulty, and exceeded the expectations of all who had discouraged her. She not only paid her husband's debts to the full, but secured for her children and descendants a handsome and unincumbered estate. Such an example of perseverance under adverse circumstances, for the accomplishment of a high and noble purpose, exhibits in yet brighter colors the heroism that shone in her country's days of peril !

In the retirement of Mrs. Motte's life after the war, her virtues and usefulness were best appreciated by those who knew her intimately, or lived in her house. By them her society and conversation were felt to be a valued privilege. She was accustomed to amuse and instruct her domestic circle with various interesting anecdotes of persons and events; the recollection of which, however, at this distant period, is too vague to be relied on for a record. The few particulars here mentioned were received from her descendants.

She was the daughter of Robert Brewton, an English gentleman, who emigrated to South Carolina and settled in Charleston before the war. Her mother was a native of Ireland, and married Mr. Brewton after her removal to this country, leaving at her death three children - Miles, Frances, and Rebecca. Miles Brewton took part with the first abettors of resistance to British oppression; and their consultations were held at his house in Charleston. Early in the war he was drowned on his way to England with his family, whom he intended to leave there, while he should return to take part with the patriots.

Rebecca Brewton was born on the 28th June, 1738. She married Jacob Motte in 1758, and was the mother of six children, only three of whom lived to maturity. General Thomas Pinckney married in succession the two elder daughters. The third surviving daughter was married to the late Colonel William Alston, of Charleston. By the children of these, whose families are among the most distinguished in the State, the memory of their ancestor is cherished with pride and affection. Her fame is, indeed, a rich inheritance; for of one like her the land of her birth may well be proud !

Mrs. Motte died in 1815, at her plantation on the Santee. The portrait from which the engraving is taken is said to be an excellent likeness.

Some facts related to Major Garden by Mrs. Brewton, who was an inmate of Mrs. Motte's family at the time of the destruction of her house, are interesting in this connection. She stated that Mrs. Motte and her family had been allowed to occupy an apartment in the mansion while the American forces were at a distance; but when the troops drew near, were ordered to remove immediately. As they were going, Mrs. Brewton took up the quiver of arrows, and said to her friend that she would take those with her, to prevent their being destroyed by the soldiers. She was passing the gate with the quiver in her hands, when M'Pherson asked what she had there, at the same time drawing forth a shaft, and applying the point to his finger. She sportively bade him be careful, "for the arrows were poisoned;" and the ladies then passed on to the farm-house where they were to take up their abode.

On several occasions Mrs. Brewton incurred the enmity of the British officers by her lively sallies, which were sometimes pointed with severity. Before the siege of Fort Motte, a tory ensign had frequently amused himself, and provoked the ladies, by taunts levelled against the whigs, sometimes giving the names of the prominent commanders to pine saplings, while he struck off their heads with his weapon. After the surrender, Mrs. Brewton was cruel enough, meeting this young man on the spot where he had uttered these bravadoes, to request, sportively, another exhibition of his prowess, and regret that the loss of his sword did not permit him to gratify her.

Not long after this, Mrs. Brewton obtained permission to go to Charleston. An officer in the city inquiring the news from the country, she answered "that all nature smiled, for every thing was Greene, down to Monk's Corner." This bon mot was noticed by an order for her immediate departure; she was obliged to leave the city at a late hour, but permitted to return the following day. Her ready wit procured her still further ill will. An officer going into the country offered to take charge of letters to her friends. She replied, "I should like to write, but have no idea of having my letters read at the head of Marion's brigade." The officer returned in a few days on parole, having been taken prisoner by Marion, and called to pay his thanks, as he said, to her for having communicated the intelligence of his movements.

The society of this sprightly and fascinating widow appears to have been much sought by the more cultivated among the British, who enjoyed her brilliant conversation, while they winced under her sarcasm. One day when walking in Broad street, wearing deep mourning, according to the custom of the whig ladies, she was joined by an English officer. They were passing the house of Governor Rutledge, then occupied by Colonel Moncrief, when taking a piece of crape that had been accidently torn from the flounce of her dress, she tied it to the front railing, expressing at the same time her sorrow for the Governor's absence, and her opinion that his house, as well as his friends, ought to wear mourning. It was but a few hours after this act of daring that the patriotic lady was arrested and sent to Philadelphia.

NOTE. - Mrs. Motte's arrows, which have become so famous in history, had been given as a curiosity - being poisoned - by an East India captain to her brother, Miles Brewton. After his loss at sea, they were accidentally put among some household articles belonging to Mrs. Motte, and in her several removals for quiet and security, chanced to be taken to "Buckhead" in the hurried transportation of her effects.

Who was Thomas Pinckney?

2007-08-17T18:05:00.002-07:00

Thomas Pinckney (1750–1828), was an American soldier, politician, and diplomat.

Pinckney was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was educated in Great Britain (at Westminster) and France. He fought in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1781, attaining the rank of Captain of Engineers. Pinckney was governor of South Carolina from 1787 to 1789 and became the U.S. ambassador to Britain in 1792. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1797 to 1801. He was a Major General during the War of 1812.

His brother Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and his cousin Charles Pinckney were signers of the United States Constitution. He arranged the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also known as the Pinckney's Treaty, with Spain in 1795. He ran as a Federalist candidate in the U.S. presidential election, 1796.

Pinckneyville, Georgia, was named after Thomas Pinckney after he traveled through the area. That town no longer exists as its residents left to found the nearby Norcross. Pinckneyville is the name of a Middle School in the Norcross area.

He was married twice to sisters-his second wife was the widow of John Middleton-a cousin of Arthur Middleton. His mother-in-law was [Rebecca Motte] of Fort Motte. Rebecca Motte's niece was named Susannah Smith-daughter of the Speaker of the S.C. Carolina Assembly Benjamin Smith-& wife of Colonel Bernard Elliott of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. A son of Benjamin Smith named William Loughton Smith was married to Charlotte Izard-a daughter of S.C. Congressman Ralph Izard. A son-in-law of Benjamin Smith was Congressman Isaac Motte who was also a brother-in-law of Congressman Thomas Lynch (statesman) and South Carolina Governor William Moultrie. By another wife Isaac Motte was also brother-in-law to a Thomas Middleton-cousin of Congressman Arthur Middleton. Isaac Motte's sister Charlotte was married to Captain John Huger-later Secretary of State of South Carolina-a uncle of Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger. Captain John Huger's brother Major Benjamin Huger {1746-1779} was the father of S.C. Congressman Benjamin Huger (1768-1823) and of Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger.

His son Thomas was married to Elizabeth Izard, a cousin twice removed of South Carolina Congressman Ralph Izard. A daughter of Thomas married to Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger; their son was CS General Benjamin Huger (1805-1877) who was also the grandnephew of Congressman Daniel E. Huger. Congressman Huger was the brother-in-law of Lewis Morris Jr-who was the son of New York Congressman Lewis Morris.

The wife of his first cousin once removed was the sister of Colonel John Laurens-son of Congressional President Henry Laurens. {A sister of John Laurens was the wife of Congressman David Ramsay; Henry-a brother of John Laurens-married Elizabeth daughter of Governor John Rutledge.} Another son of Thomas named Charles Cotesworth Pinckney married to Phoebe Elliott-a daughter of a South Carolina State Represenative William Elliott and Phoebe Waight. Nephews of Phoebe Elliott was South Carolina COngressman [William Elliott] and his brother Confederate General [Stephen Elliott Jr].

Who was Charles Willson Peale?

2007-08-17T18:05:00.001-07:00

Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, soldier and naturalist.

Peale was born in Chester, Queen Anne's County, Maryland the son of Charles Peale and his wife Margaret. In 1749 his brother James Peale (1749-1831) was born. Charles became an apprentice to a saddle maker when he was thirteen years old. Upon reaching maturity, he opened his own saddle shop; however, when his Loyalist creditors discovered he had joined the Sons of Liberty organization, they conspired to bankrupt his business.

Finding that he had a talent for painting, especially portraitures, Peale studied for a time under John Hesselius and John Singleton Copley; eventually friends raised enough money for him to travel to England to take instruction from Benjamin West. Peale studied with West for two years beginning in 1767, afterward returning to America and settling in Annapolis, Maryland. There, he taught painting to his younger brother, James Peale, who in time also became a noted artist.

In 1762, he married Rachel Brewer (1744-1790). They had ten children. The sons included Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825), Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), Rubens Peale (1784-1865), Titian Peale (1799-1885). Among the daughters: Angelica Kauffman Peale married Alexander Robinson, and Priscilla Peale married Dr. Henry Boteler.

Peale's enthusiasm for the nascent national government brought him to the capital, Philadelphia, in 1776 where he painted portraits of American notables and visitors from overseas. His estate, which is on the campus of La Salle University in Philadelphia, can still be visited. He also raised troops for the revolution and eventually gained the rank of captain in 1777, having participated in several battles. While in the field, he continued to paint, doing miniature portraits of various officers in the Continental Army, of which he would develop enlarged versions in later years. He served in the Pennsylvania state assembly in 1779-80, after which he returned to painting full-time.

In 1778, his second son Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860), was born. Rembrandt became one of the most important American painters in his time.

Peale painted in the trompe l'oeil style,[1] and was quite prolific as an artist. While he did portraits of scores of historic figures (such as John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton), he is probably best known for his portraits of George Washington. The first time Washington ever sat for a portrait was with Peale in 1772, and there would be six other sittings; using these seven as models, Peale produced altogether close to 60 portraits of Washington. In January 2005, a full length portrait of "Washington at Princeton" from 1779 sold for $21.3 million dollars -setting a record for the highest price paid for an American portrait.

In 1791, he married Elizabeth de Peyster (d.1804), his second wife, with whom he had another six children. In 1795, they had a son Franklin Peale born on October 15 at Philadelphia. His son Franklin became the Chief Coiner at the Philadelphia Mint. In 1799, Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885), was born, who became an important naturalist and early developer of the science, technique and art of photography.

He also had a great interest in natural history, and organized the first U.S. scientific expedition in 1801. These two major interests combined in his founding of what became the Philadelphia Museum, and was later renamed the Peale Museum. This museum was stocked with artwork supplied by Peale, as well as artifacts of natural history, such as a mastodon skeleton found on the first expedition. After his death, the museum was sold to, and split up by, showmen P. T. Barnum and Moses Kimball.

In 1802, he had a daughter Elizabeth De Peyster Peale (1802-57), who married William Augustus Patterson (1792-1833), in 1820.

In 1804, he married a Quakeress from Philadelphia named Hannah More, who raised the children from his previous two marriages.

Peale could accurately be described as a "renaissance man", having developed a certain level of expertise in such diverse fields as carpentry, dentistry, optometry, shoemaking and taxidermy. He also wrote several books, among which were An Essay on Building Wooden Bridges (1797) and An Epistle to a Friend on the Means of Preserving Health (1803). Each named for artists themselves, Peale taught all of his children to paint, and three of them, Rembrandt, Raphaelle and Titian Ramsay, became noted artists in their own right.

His brother-in-law was Congressman Nathaniel Ramsey

Who was John Ross Key?

2007-08-17T18:04:00.001-07:00

John Ross Key (September 19, 1754 – October 11, 1821) was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key.

Key was born in Redland, Frederick County, Maryland, to English parents Francis Key, whose parents had come to Maryland in 1726, and his wife Ann Arnold (Ross) Key. She was a strong influence on her grandson Francis when he lived with her near Annapolis when he was in school there.

Mustered into service at Frederick on June 21, 1775, Key was commissioned as a second lieutenant in Capt. Thomas Price's Maryland Rifle Company. It was one of the first military forces that came to aid General Washington in Boston, July-August 1775. By 1781 Key was a captain. He commanded a Frederick County Company of Cavalry during the Yorktown Campaign.

He was later a Justice of the Peace, a Judge, and Associate Justice of his Judicial District, which comprised Allegany, Washington and Frederick Counties. His brother Philip Barton Key, also an attorney arranged for his nephew Francis to study law under his friend, Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase in 1800 and with whom he would later be a partner in Georgetown. Francis took the practice over entirely when his uncle ran for Congress.

He married Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy Charlton at the city of Frederick on October 19, 1775. Six children were born to the couple, but only three reached maturity. Francis Scott Key, his sister Anne Arnold Phoebe Charlton Key who would marry Roger Brooke Taney and John Alfred Key who died at Edgefield, South Carolina.

Key died at the age of 67 in Frederick City and was interred there at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Who was Benjamin Hinman?

2007-08-17T18:03:00.001-07:00

Colonel Benjamin Hinman (January 22, 1719 – March 22, 1810) was a US soldier and member of the Connecticut legistature. He was born to Benjamin Hinman (b. 1692) and Sarah Sherman in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut and died in Southbury, New Haven County, Connecticut. He served as quartermaster of a troop in the French and Indian War in 1751 under General Roger Wolcott. He received his commission as captain in 1755 in the regiment of Colonel Elizur Goodrich. There he was charged with defending Crown Point and the surrounding area. He was again promoted in 1767 to lieutenant-colonel, and in 1771 to colonel in the 13th regiment.

With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he was commissioned in May 1775 as a captain of the 4th continental regiment where he served at Fort Ticonderoga and crossed paths with Benedict Arnold. He retired from service as a Colonel in 1777 due to poor health. He represented his home town of Woodbury for 20 sessions of the Connecticut legistature, followed by Southbury (due to its incorporation) for eight more sessions. He also participated in the Connecticut convention to ratify the United States constitution.

What was Kekionga?

2007-08-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Kekionga also known as Kiskakon was the capital of the Miami tribe at the confluence of the Saint Joseph, Saint Marys and Maumee rivers on the western edge of the Great Black Swamp. It became the site of several French, British and American forts and trading posts.

The Miami at first benefited from trade with the Europeans. The French under Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes established a trading post and fort, first at the St. Joseph River, and later at Kekionga. Vincennes and the Miami developed a strong and enduring friendship.

In 1780, Kekionga was sacked by a force of French Americans led by Colonel Augustin de la Balme, who planned to ultimately take Detroit from the British. This force was utterly destroyed by a Miami force led by Chief Little Turtle. In 1790, General Josiah Harmar was defeated by a tribal coalition led by Little Turtle in the Harmar's Defeat. Later, the Miami were gradually forced to give up more and more of their land and eventually lost control of the settlement entirely. The site later became the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Who was Augustin Mottin de la Balme?

2007-08-17T18:01:00.002-07:00

Augustin Mottin de la Balme was a French cavalry officer who served in Europe during the Seven Years War and in the United States during the American Revolution.

Augustin Mottin was born 28 August 1733, in the French Alps near Saint-Antoine, the son of a tanner. He served as a trooper in the distinguished “Scottish” company of the Gendarmerie de France during the Seven Years War.

The French forces were nearly destroyed at the Battle of Minden, but Augustin Mottin was one of the surviving French Cavalry officers. Incidentally, another French officer, Colonel Lafayette, was killed in the battle, leaving his two-year old son Gilbert du Mottier with the title "Marquis de Lafayette". The British forces at Minden were under the command of Lieutenant General Lord George Sackville, who was court-martialed for failing to crush the defeated French. All of these names would become familiar during the American Revolution.

Following the war, Augustin studied horsemanship, eventually becoming master at the Gendarmerie’s Riding School in Lunéville. Mottin was promoted to Fourrier-Major in 1766, and retired with a pension in 1773. Using the assumed name “Mottin de La Balme,” he wrote a book on horsemanship in 1773, followed with a book on cavalry tactics in 1776.

Augustin de La Balme left for the United States to assist in the American Revolution. In 1777, he was appointed as the Colonial Army’s Inspector General of Cavalry. Upon learning that Casimir Pulaski would be in command of the United States Cavalry, La Balme resigned in October of 1777.

In 1780, allegedly under secret orders from General Washington, but as likely acting on his own, he traveled down the Ohio River to Kaskaskia. The success of General Clark’s capture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes inspired La Balme to attempt a similar feat against the British at Fort Detroit. La Balme recruited a militia force from among the French citizens of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes, then started up the Wabash River with the expectation of adding to his force from the French villages of Ouiatenon (present day Lafayette, Indiana) and Kekionga (present day Fort Wayne). La Balme apparently expected French residents at Fort Detroit to join him as well once they arrived.

La Balme's force had little opposition until reaching Kekionga, where they raided British stores for over three days while awaiting reinforcements that never arrived. Upon learning of the return of a Miami hunting party to Kekionga, Le Balme departed to raid another trading post on Eel River. Leaving some twenty men to guard the captured stores at Kekionga, his force marched out over the Eel River trail (the same trail Colonel John Hardin would follow ten years later).

The Miami Indians, learning of the intrusion, destroyed the small group of men left at Kekionga. Chief Little Turtle, who lived in a village along the Eel River, attacked La Balme before he reached the Eel River trading post. La Balme and his men fortified themselves on the banks of the river. There remains some confusion as to the length of the battle; accounts of the siege vary from several days to several weeks. They were eventually defeated by an overwhelming force, and only a few survivors managed to escape.

Who was Jean-Baptiste Hamelin?

2007-08-17T18:01:00.001-07:00

Jean-Baptiste Hamelin (August 9, 1733 – September 23, 1804) was a French Canadian soldier who fought on the U.S. side of the American Revolutionary War, serving in Moses Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army.

Jean-Baptiste Hamelin participated in the battle of the Congress Own Regiment until 1779 where he was sent in the west to help Georges Rogers Clark campaign.

Jean-Baptiste Hamelin was sent by Augustin de la Balme to attack fort Saint-Joseph (Niles, Michigan)(across the lake Michigan in front of Chicago on the east shore).

The attack itself was successful, but his man were caught and many of them killed.

Who was Peterson Goodwyn?

2007-08-17T18:00:00.002-07:00

Peterson Goodwyn (1745 – February 21, 1818) was an eighteenth century and nineteenth century politician and planter from Virginia.

Born at "Martins" near Petersburg, Virginia, Goodwyn was education by private teachers as a child and went on to complete his preparatory studies. He became a planter, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1776, commencing practice in Petersburg and surrounding areas. During the Revolutionary War, Goodwyn equipped his own company and rose the ranks from captain to major and was promoted to colonel for gallantry at the Battles of Smithfield and Great Bridge. After the war, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1789 to 1802. Goodwyn was elected a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1802, serving from 1803 to his death on February 21, 1818 at his estate "Sweden" in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. He was interred in the family cemetery on the estate. Goodwyn also has a cenotaph at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C..

Who was James Duncan?

2007-08-17T18:00:00.001-07:00

James Duncan (1756 - June 24, 1844) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

James Duncan born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the common schools and Princeton College. He served as the first prothonotary of Adams County, Pennsylvania. During the Revolutionary War he was appointed as a lieutenant in Colonel Moses Hazen’s regiment on November 3, 1776, and on March 25, 1778, was promoted to captain.

Duncan was elected as a Republican to the Seventeenth Congress but resigned before Congress assembled. He died in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

Who was Pierre Douville?

2007-08-17T17:59:00.002-07:00

Captain Pierre Douville (1745–1794) was born in Prince Edward Island and survived the 1755 Acadian deportation to France. He joined the French Navy and lived in Rhode Island during the American Revolution serving as French military intelligence officer who provided General George Washington with British ship and troop movements. For this he was decorated after the war. Capt. Douville was killed at sea on board his ship in an armed action.

He also smuggle weapons for the Americans in 1775 from Saint-Pierre and Michelon Island. Enraged, the British burned the island house and farm because of it.

What was Dunmore's War?

2007-08-17T17:59:00.001-07:00

Dunmore's War (or Lord Dunmore's War) was a war from 1773 to 1774 between the Colony of Virginia and the Indian nations of the Shawnee and Mingo. The Colonial legislature was asked by Lord Dunmore, the British Royal Governor of Virginia, to declare a state of war with the hostile Indian nations and order up an elite volunteer militia force for the campaign.

The context of the conflict resulted from escalating violence between British colonists who in accordance with previous treaties were exploring and moving into land south of the Ohio River—modern West Virginia and Kentucky—and American Indians who held treaty rights to hunt there. As a result of successive attacks by Indian hunting and war bands upon the settlers, war was declared to pacify the hostile Indian war bands. The war ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774. As a result of this victory, the Indians lost the right to hunt in the area and agreed to recognize the Ohio River as the boundary between Indian lands and the British colonies. Although the Indian national chieftains signed the treaty, conflict within the Indian nations soon broke out between more radical tribesmen who felt the treaty sold out their claims and tribesmen who felt another war would mean only further losses of territory to the more powerful British colonists. When war broke out between the British colonists and the British government, the war parties of the Indian nations quickly gained power and mobilized the various Indian nations to attack the British colonists during the Revolutionary War.

Who was Daniel Greathouse?

2007-08-17T17:58:00.001-07:00

Daniel Greathouse (c. 1752 to 1775) was a settler in colonial Virginia. His role in the 1774 Yellow Creek Massacre in 1774 was instrumental in starting Dunmore's War.

Greathouse was born in Frederick County, Maryland, one of 11 children of Harmon and Mary Magdalena Stull Greathouse. The Greathouses moved from Maryland to Virginia about 1770 and Daniel owned 400 acres of land at Mingo Bottom in Ohio County, Virginia. Daniel married Mary Morris, and they had two children, Gabriel and John.

In the early 1700s, the Ohio Valley was settled by a multi-cultural group of Indians called the Mingo. They lacked a central government and, like all other Indians within the region at that time, were subject to the control of the Iroquois Confederacy (comprised of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora tribes) headquartered in New York. The Mingo originally lived closer to the Atlantic Coast, but European settlement had pushed them into western Virginia and eastern Ohio. During the French and Indian War, the Mingo sided with the French. When the French lost and subsequently ceeded their holdings to England, intensified settlement of the Ohio valley by their former enemies led to conflicts.

By 1774, tension between the settlers and the Indians tribes had increased; there had been killings on both sides. The rivalry between Pennsylvania and Virgnia over the site of Pittsburgh increased these unsettled circumstances. Scouts returning to Fort Pitt reported that war was inevitable, and word was sent from Wheeling for settlers in outlying settlements to come in.

Yellow Creek is a small tributary of the Ohio River located on the western (Ohio) bank about forty miles above Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) and about 40 miles west northwest of Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh). Joshua Baker lived at the mouth of this creek and operated an inn or tavern of sorts, selling grog to both whites and Indians. Baker had not responded to the message from Wheeling, but he was preparing to do so when an Indian woman told him that Indians were preparing to murder him and his family. Baker got out word that he needed help.

Greathouse, leading a group of 21 men, came to his aid. The group reached Baker's on 30 April 1774 and were concealed by Baker in a back room. Seven Indians came across the river to Baker's place, including the brother of Chief Logan, a prominent warrior of the Mingo tribe, and two women and a child, also related to Logan. The Indians began to drink. When Logan's brother put on a hat and coat belonging to one of the settlers, the settler shot and killed him. Greathouse's men who had been concealed in the back room rushed out and killed all the remaining Indians except for the child. As they left the tavern, they saw two canoes of Indian men painted and armed for war, coming across the river. Greathouse's group fired on them, killing most of the occupants of one of the canoes; the others turned back. It was said that Greathouse took the scalps of his Indian foes and dangled them from his belt, scalping being a declaration of war among the Indians.

This massacre, following a series of incidents, was the final break in relations between the white settlers and the Indians and is considered the immediate cause of Lord Dunsmore's War of 1774. Terrible vengeance was wreaked on the white settlers by the Indians. Chief Logan incorrectly blamed Colonel Cresap for his brother's death and in turn, Cresap despised and hated Greathouse for his part in the affair.

Daniel died of the measles in 1775 in Yohogania County, Virginia at about 23 years of age. Cresap died the same year.

Daniel had a brother Jacob Greathouse. Allan Eckert's "The Frontiersman" claims Jacob Greathouse was captured, tortured and killed by Indians in 1791 for partciapation in the Yellow Creek Massacre. However a website on the Greathouse family-while acknowledging Daniel Greathouse role in the massacre-reports that Jacob Greathouse died prior to April 1780.

Who was Michael Cresap?

2007-08-17T17:57:00.002-07:00

Michael Cresap (April 17, 1742 – October 18, 1775) was a frontiersman born in Maryland. He spent part of his adult years in the Ohio Country as a trader and land developer. He led several raids against Indians whom he believed were hostile to white settlement. Chief Logan of the Mingo Indians accused Cresap of murdering the chief's family. In fact, the killings were almost certainly perpetrated by Daniel Greathouse, yet Cresap was immortalized in Logan's speech (quoted in Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia) as the murderer of Logan's family.

As a result of the murders, Logan waged war on the settlements along the Ohio and in western Pennsylvania, killing, perhaps, nearly thirty men, women and children. Lord John Murray Dunmore, the British Royal Governor of Virginia, raised an army and appointed Cresap to the rank of captain. The decisive battle of Dunmore's War was the Battle of Point Pleasant. Here Dunmore's forces defeated a band of Shawnee Indians led by Cornstalk.

After Lord Dunmore's War, Cresap returned to Maryland and subsequently raised a company of riflemen for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He died from illness in New York City while in the service of the army; he is interred there in Trinity Church Cemetery.

Who was Jeremiah Colegrove?

2007-08-17T17:57:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah Colegrove (31 July 1758-26 August 1836) was born to William Colegrove in Scituate, Rhode Island. A man of giant stature, both physically and in the community, he was a prominent farmer and manufacturer in New England. Jeremiah served in the American Revolution and helped to found the city of North Adams, Massachusetts.

Who was Moses Cleaveland?

2007-08-17T17:56:00.002-07:00

Moses Cleaveland was a surveyor for the Connecticut Land Company. The city of Cleveland, Ohio, United States is named for him.

He was born in Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut on January 29, 1754. In 1777, he graduated Yale where he studied law. He returned to his native town and began his own practice.

In 1779, Moses Cleaveland was commissioned captain of a company of sappers and miners. He served as the captain of the group for several years until he eventually resumed his legal practice.

He was known as a very energetic person with high ability. He was elected to the legislature several times and in 1796 was commissioned brigadier-general of militia. He was a shareholder in the Connecticut Land Company, which had purchased for $1,200,000 from the state government of Connecticut the land in northeastern Ohio reserved to Connecticut by Congress, known at its first settlement as New Connecticut, and in later times as the Western Reserve.

He was approached by the directors of the company in May, 1796 and asked to lead the survey of the tract and the location of purchases. He was also responsible for the negotiations with the Indians living on the land. In June, 1796 he set out from Schenectady, New York. His party included fifty people including six surveyors, a physician, a chaplain, a boatman, thirty-seven employees, a few emigrants and two women who accompanied their husbands. Some journeyed by land with the horses and cattle, while the main body went in boats up the Mohawk, down the Oswego, along the shore of Lake Ontario, and up Niagara River, carrying their boats over the long portage of seven miles at the falls.

At Buffalo a delegation of Mohawk nation and Seneca tribe Indians opposed their entrance into the Western Reserve, claiming it as their territory, but waived their rights on the receipt of goods valued at $1,200. The expedition then coasted along the shore of Lake Erie, and landed, on July 4, 1796, at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, which they named Port Independence. The Indians were propitiated with gifts of beads and whiskey, and allowed the surveys to proceed. General Cleaveland, with a surveying party, coasted along the shore and on July 22nd, 1796, landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. He ascended the bank, and, beholding a beautiful plain covered with a luxuriant forest-growth, divined that the spot where he stood, with the river on the west and Lake Erie on the north, was a favorable site for a city.

He accordingly had it surveyed into town lots, and the employees named the place Cleaveland, in honor of their chief. There were but four settlers the first year, and, on account of the insalubrity of the locality, the growth was at first slow, reaching 150 inhabitants only in 1820.

In 1830, when the first newspaper, the "Cleveland Advertiser," was established, the editor discovered that the head-line was too long for the form, and accordingly left out the letter "a" in the first syllable of "Cleaveland," which spelling was at once adopted by the public.

Moses Cleaveland eventually returned to his hometown and died there on November 16, 1806. Today, a statue of him stands on Public Square in Cleveland.

Great Lakes Brewing Company has created a white ale in his honor dubbed "Holy Moses White Ale".

Who was David Bushnell?

2007-08-17T17:56:00.001-07:00

David Bushnell (1742 - 1824) of Saybrook, Connecticut, was an American inventor during the Revolutionary War. He is credited with creating in 1775, while studying at Yale University, the first submarine ever used in combat, known as the Turtle. His idea of using water as ballast for submerging and raising his submarine is still in use today, as is the screw propeller, which was first used in the Turtle.

While at Yale, he proved that gunpowder exploded under water. With this, he also came up with mine barrage in 1777. He also invented the first time bomb. He combined his ideas in an attempt to attack British ships which were blockading New York Harbor in the summer of 1776 by boring through their hulls and implanting time bombs, but failed every time due to a metal lining in the ships hull to protect against parasites in their previous station, the Caribbean. The Turtle eventually sank.

David Bushnell's Submarine Model is on display in Groton, Connecticut.

Who was Simon Addis?

2007-08-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

Simon Addis (December 30, 1745 – June 23, 1834), was a Captain of the Middlesex County, New Jersey militia of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was born in Northhampton, Bucks County, Pennsylvania on December 30, 1745 to Richard Addis and Maria Wyckoff.

Who was Daniel Shays?

2007-08-17T17:53:00.001-07:00

Daniel Shays (c. 1747 - September 29, 1825) was a captain in the American Revolutionary War. He is mostly known for leading a small army of farmers in Shays' Rebellion, which was a revolt against the state government of Massachusetts from 1786-1787, and a seminal event in the history of the early United States. Many historians see the Rebellion as a major factor in the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation, the adoption of the United States Constitution, and the creation of the Federal government of the United States.

Little is known of his early life; although he was most likely born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Patrick Shay (spelled without the s) and Margaret Dempsey. He married Abigail Gilbert on July 18, 1772 in Brookfield, Massachusetts. In 1777, he was commissioned as a captain in the 5th Massachusetts Regiment and he participated in the battles of Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, Saratoga and Stony Point. His service record was notable, and he was awarded a ceremonial sword by the Marquis de Lafayette at the end of the war for distinguished service.

After resigning from the army in 1780, Shays settled in Pelham, Massachusetts, where he served in several local government positions. Economic conditions in the U.S., especially Western Massachusetts, began a serious decline and, by 1786, Shays became one of several who took command of units of rebels. The uprising soon became known as the "Shays Rebellion" after an encounter between a force of about 800 farmers under Shays, and a private militia unit of roughly the same size, at Springfield on September 26, 1786. Four men were killed[1]- the first casualties of the rebellion - and many were wounded. Shays and his men were trying to prevent the Massachusetts Supreme Court from convening, fearing indictments against farmers in arrears.

By the winter of 1786-1787, there was open fighting between government forces and rebels. After several skirmishes, Shays and his men were defeated at Petersham, Massachusetts on February 2, 1787. Shays then fled to the Vermont Republic. Condemned to death in absentia on a charge of treason, Shays petitioned for amnesty in February 1788, and the petition was granted by John Hancock on June 13. Shays then relocated to New York.

Who were Patriots?

2007-08-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

Patriots (also known as Americans, Whigs, Congress-Men or Rebels) were colonists of British Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against the British control during the American Revolution and declared themselves an independent nation, the United States of America in July 1776. Their rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by pamphleteers such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine.

As a group, Patriots comprised men and women representing the full array of social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. They included college students like Alexander Hamilton, planters like Thomas Jefferson, and plain farmers like Daniel Shays and Joseph Plumb Martin. Their opponents among fellow colonists were the Loyalists or "Tories", who remained loyal to the British Crown. (In addition many people remained neutral or said nothing.)

Many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Who was Mercy Otis Warren?

2007-08-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

Mercy Otis Warren (September 14, 1728 – October 19, 1814) was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts. As a young child, Mercy loved reading, writing, and discussing politics. She would always listen to her brother and father when they discussed politics. She married James Warren in 1754 and moved to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Mercy had five sons. Her favorite color was blue. She wore blue bonnets and blue dresses lined with lace. She felt it was her duty to participate in the Patriot cause during the American Revolution. Her brother was the noted patriot lawyer James Otis, and they were descended from Mayflower passenger Edward Doty. Her husband James was a descendant of fellow Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. Mercy married James in the year 1754, when she was 26.

In 1772, she published her play, The Adulateur. After the war, in 1790, Mrs. Warren published a volume of poetry in her name. In 1805, she wrote History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. Congress had first asked Thomas Paine to write the history of the American Revolution, but he declined. Warren died in Plymouth in 1814.

Mercy Otis Warren has been called one of the most literate American women of the 18th century. Prior to the American Revolution, she hosted political meetings in her home. In addition, she was close to both John Adams and Abigail Adams, until a political difference left them estranged. "Probably under prodding from Abigail, Adams began to repair the damage he had done with Warren, so that by 1814 the friendship was fully reinstated".

Warren was likely responsible for anti-federalist newspaper contributions under the pseudonym "A Columbian Patriot."

Who was Samuel Allyne Otis?

2007-08-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Samuel Allyne Otis (1740-1814) was a politician from Massachusetts who was the Secretary of the United States Senate for its first 17 years. He also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778 and 1787.

He was born to James Otis and Mary Allyne on November 24, 1740 in Barnstable County. While his older brother and sister, James Otis and Mercy Otis Warren were both more prominent in the revolution, Samuel collected supplies for the Continental Army in 1776 and 1777.

From 1789 to 1814, Otis was the first Secretary of the United States Senate.

Samuel Otis was mentioned in an episode of The Simpsons entitled Lisa the Iconoclast.

Who was William Heath?

2007-08-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

William Heath (March 7, 1737 – January 24, 1814) was an American farmer, soldier, and political leader from Massachusetts. He served as a Major General in the Continental Army during the Revolution.

Heath made his home for his entire life at his family’s farm in Roxbury, Massachusetts (present day Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, part of the City of Boston). His family started the farm in 1636, and he was born there on March 7, 1737. He became active in the militia, and was a captain in the Suffolk County militia in 1760. By 1770 he was a colonel and its leader.

In December 1774 the revolutionary government in Massachusetts named him a brigadier general. He commanded Massachusetts forces during the last stage of the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. As the Siege of Boston began, Heath devoted himself to training the militia involved in the siege. In June of that year, Massachusetts named him their Major General, and the Continental Congress made him a Brigadier General in the national army.

In 1776 Heath participated in the defense of New York City, and was one of those who urged General Washington not to abandon the city. He saw action at the Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Harlem Heights, and the Battle of White Plains. In August, he was made a Major General in the Continental Army, and in November he was placed in command of forces in the Hudson River Highlands.

After this, General Heath served in mainly background area commands. He was in charge of the Convention Army of John Burgoyne’s surrendered troops after the Battle of Saratoga. In 1780 he returned to command the Highland Department after Benedict Arnold’s treason.

After the war, Heath was a member of the Massachusetts Convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1788. He served in the state Senate 1791–1792, and as a Probate Court Judge. In 1800 he was elected the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, but declined the office.

He died at home in Roxbury on January 24, 1814, and was buried nearby in Forest Hills Cemetery The town of Heath, Massachusetts, is named in his honor.

Who was Joseph Spencer?

2007-08-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Joseph Spencer (October 3, 1714 – January 13, 1789) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he served both as a delegate to the Continental Congress and as a major general in the Continental Army.

Spencer was born in East Haddam, Connecticut. He was trained as a lawyer and practiced until 1753 when he became a judge. He was active in the militia, serving in King George's War and as a Lieutenant Colonel of the Middlesex militia in the French and Indian War.

By the time the American Revolution began, Spencer had advanced to Brigadier General of Connecticut's militia, and in April 1775 he led them to support the Siege of Boston as the 2nd Connecticut Regiment. In June, when these units were adopted into the national army, he was made a brigadier general in the Continental Army.

In 1776 Spencer was promoted to major general in support of William Heath in the Eastern Department. The following year his military career became difficult. He cancelled a planned attack on British forces in Rhode Island and was censured by the Continental Congress. He demanded a court martial and was exonerated, but when the controversy was resolved, he resigned his commission on June 14, 1778.

Spencer first served on the Connecticut Council (or state senate) in 1776. Free of military responsibility, the state sent him as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1779. In 1780 he was returned to the council, and served there until his death.

Twice married, Spencer had sixteen children. He died in East Haddam and was buried in the Nathan Hale Park of East Haddam.

What was Fort Preble?

2007-08-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Fort Preble is a military fort in South Portland, Maine.

Henry A. S. Dearborn built the fort in 1808 and named it in honor of Commodore Edward Preble. It was designed to guard Portland harbor in Casco Bay, along with Fort Scammel.

Fort Preble was manned by three companies during the War of 1812.

The fort saw action during during the United States Civil War, when Confederate Army raiders entered Portland Harbor aboard a captured ship named Archer on June 26, 1863. The Confederates captured the ship Caleb Cushing the next day, and attempted an escape. Calm seas forced them to set the ship on fire, and they were captured by Union forces. 23 Confederate prisoners were captured and taken to the fort.

The fort remained manned through the United States Civil War, World War I, and World War II. It was decommissioned in 1950.

Spring Point Ledge Light was built near the site in 1897. A 900-foot granite breakwater that extends from the fort and surrounds the lighthouse was later added in 1951.

Where is the Penobscot River?

2007-08-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

The Penobscot River is 350 mi (563 km) long, making it the second longest river in the U.S. state of Maine and the longest river entirely in Maine. Its drainage basin contains 8,610 square miles.

It rises in four branches in several lakes in the central Maine, and flows generally east. After the uniting of the branches, it flows south, past the city of Bangor, where it becomes navigable. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Penobscot Bay. It is home to the Penobscot people that live on Indian Island, Maine.

Panorama of the Penobscot River in Millinocket, Maine.The United States government maintains three river flow gages on the Penobscot river. The first is on the East Branch in Grindstone, Maine ( 45°43′49″N, 68°35′22″W) where the rivershed is 1,086 square miles. Flow here has ranged from 37,000 to 77 cubic feet per second. The second is in West Enfield, Maine ( 45°14′12″N, 68°38′57″W) where the rivershed is 6,671 square miles. Flow here has ranged from 153,000 to 1,630 cubic feet per second. The third is in Eddington, Maine ( 45°14′12″N, 68°38′57″W), 0.4 miles downstream from the Veazie Dam where the rivershed is 7,764 square miles.[1]

The first European known to have explored the river was the English navigator Martin Pring in 1603. The following year in 1604 the French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed up the course of the river. The river has been historically important for hydroelectric power for paper mills, and for the transportation of timber. The wooded areas around the upper reaches of the river are noted for providing recreational hunting, fishing and canoeing. Author Stephen King placed his fictional town of Derry, Maine on the Penobscot. It is also featured in the film adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel,The Hunt for Red October

Who was Dudley Saltonstall?

2007-08-17T17:28:00.002-07:00

Dudley Saltonstall {1738-1796} was commander of the Penobscot Expedition in 1779 against a British army fort in Maine, during the Revolutionary War, which is generally acknowledged as the worst naval defeat in United States history.

Saltonstall's reported inaction and timidity were blamed for the defeat and loss of dozens of Continental Navy and Massachusetts ships, most of which were grounded and burned by soldiers in retreat. Soldiers under separate command launched a successful assault on the British fort at the mouth of the Penobscot River. This occupation of the fort and heights was repulsed by British reinforcements which were landed unharassed by Saltonstall's warships.

Who was Peleg Wadsworth?

2007-08-17T17:28:00.001-07:00

Peleg Wadsworth (May 6, 1748 – July 18, 1829) was an American officer during the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from the District of Maine. He was also grandfather of noted American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Wadsworth was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, to Peleg and Susanna (Sampson) Wadsworth. He graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. (1769) and an A.M. (1772), and taught school for several years in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with his former classmate Alexander Scammel. There he met Elizabeth Bartlett (1753 to 1825), whom he married in 1772. The Wadsworths lived in Kingston, Massachusetts, until 1775, when Wadsworth recruited a company of minutemen, of which he was chosen captain. His company marched to battle April 20, 1775, in response to the alarm of April 19, 1775, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord on that day.

Wadsworth served as aide to Gen. Artemas Ward in March 1776, and as an engineer under Gen. John Thomas in 1776, assisting in laying out the defenses of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was present at the Battle of Long Island on August 1, 1776. He was made brigadier general of militia in 1777 and Adjutant General of Massachusetts in 1778.

Wadsworth's finest military engagement was in one of the worst American military defeats of the war. In 1779 he served as second in command to Paul Revere over a force sent to attack the British at Castine, Maine, in the so-called Penobscot Expedition. This engagement resulted in the destruction of most of the American vessels involved. Wadsworth organized and led the only successful part of the expedition—the retreat. Revere and Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, Commander of the Fleet, faced court-martial charges for their roles in the debacle.

In March 1780, Peleg was given command of all the troops raised for the defense of the Province of Maine. On February 17, 1781, British soldiers overran his headquarters in Thomaston, Maine. Wadsworth was captured and imprisoned in Fort George at Bagaduce (Castine), but he and fellow prisoner Maj. Benjamin Burton eventually escaped by cutting a hole in the ceiling of their jail and crawling out along the joists. Wadsworth then returned to his family in Plymouth, where he remained until the war's end.

In April 1784 Wadsworth returned to Maine, purchased 1.5 acres (6,000 m²) of land on Back Street (now Congress Street in Portland, Maine), engaged in surveying, and opened a store in early 1785. There he also built a house, now the historic Wadsworth-Longfellow House. He headed the committee that organized the first convention to discuss independence for Maine from Massachusetts, held in January 1786. He and his wife had ten children, one of whom later gave birth to poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Although he continued to live in Portland, in 1790 he received 7500 acres from the state in what became the town of Hiram, Maine, settled his son Charles there in 1795, and in 1800 built Wadsworth Hall there for his retirement.

In 1792 Wadsworth was chosen a presidential elector and a member of the Massachusetts Senate, and from 1793-1807 was the first representative in Congress from the region of Massachusetts that later became Maine. In January 1807 he moved to Hiram where incorporated the township (February 27, 1807) and served as selectman, treasurer and magistrate. For the remainder of his life devoted himself to farming and local concerns. He died in Hiram on July 18, 1829, and is buried in the family cemetery at Wadsworth Hall.

Who was Alexander Scammel?

2007-08-17T17:27:00.001-07:00

Alexander Scammel sometimes Scammell (1747-1781) was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was killed in action.

Scammel was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, and, as a young man, graduated from Harvard College in 1769. After graduation, he worked as a teacher, surveyor and, in 1773, as a lawyer with John Sullivan in New Hampshire and was with him during the raid on Fort William and Mary December 14, 1774.

With the start of the American Revolution, Scammel became a major in the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment and was sent with them to reinforce the Continental Army units in the Invasion of Canada.

In November 1776, Alexander Scammel was promoted to Colonel of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment. He would command the regiment at Trenton, Princeton, Saratoga, the Sullivan Expedition and Monmouth.

At Valley Forge, Col. Alexander Scammel would be appointed Adjutant general of the Continental Army by Gen. George Washington. Alexander Scammel was killed on October 1, 1781 during the Siege of Yorktown.

Both Alexander Scammel Wadsworth and Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn were named by his friends Peleg Wadsworth and Henry Dearborn in memory of him. Fort Scammel in Casco Bay, Maine is named after him. Also in 1933, the Alexander Scammell Bridge over the Bellamy River in Durham, New Hampshire, was named after him.

Who was Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn?

2007-08-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn (b. March 3, 1783, Exeter, New Hampshire – d. July 29, 1851, Portland, Maine) was an American lawyer, author, statesman and soldier.

He was the son of Henry Dearborn by his second wife and named for his father's friend Alexander Scammell. He attended the common schools and went to Williams College for two years and then graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1803.

He studied law, was admitted to the bar and practiced in Salem, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine (which was then a part of Massachusetts). In 1808 he oversaw the construction of Fort Preble and Fort Scammel in Portland Harbor. He replaced his father as the collector of customs in Boston from 1812-1829 and served as brigadier general commanding the Volunteers in the defenses of Boston Harbor during the War of 1812.

He was a delegate to the Massachusetts state constitutional convention in 1820. He was a member of the Massachusetts state house of representatives in 1829 and a member of the Massachusetts Senate in 1830. He was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 10th District to the Twenty-second Congress (1831-1833). He was defeated running for reelection in 1832.

He was president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and the author of many books. He died in Portland, Maine and is interred in Forest Hills Cemetery in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Who was Henry Dearborn?

2007-08-17T17:25:00.002-07:00

Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an American physician, statesman and veteran of both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Born in North Hampton, New Hampshire, he spent much of his youth in Epping, where he attended public schools. He studied medicine and opened a practice in Nottingham Square in 1772.

When fighting in the American Revolutionary War began, he organized and led a local militia troop of 60 men to Boston where he fought at Battle of Bunker Hill as a captain in Colonel John Stark’s First New Hampshire Regiment. He then volunteered to serve under Benedict Arnold during the ill-fated American expedition to Quebec. His journal is an important record for that campaign. He was captured on December 31, 1775, during the Battle of Quebec and detained for a year.

He was released on parole in May 1776, but he was not exchanged until March 1777. After fighting at Ticonderoga, Freeman's Farm and Saratoga, Dearborn joined George Washington's main army at Valley Forge as a lieutenant colonel where he spent the winter of 1777–1778. He fought at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, and in 1779, he accompanied Major General John Sullivan on the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois in upstate New York. Dearborn joined Washington’s staff in 1781 as deputy quartermaster general with the rank of colonel, and was present when Cornwallis surrendered after the Battle of Yorktown.

In June 1783, he received his discharge from the army and settled in Gardiner, Maine, then part of Massachusetts, where he worked as a U.S. marshal for the District of Maine. He represented this district as a Republican in the Third and Fourth Congresses (1793-1797). In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Secretary of War, a post he held for eight years until March 7, 1809. During his tenure, he helped plan the removal of Indians beyond the Mississippi River.

He was appointed collector of the port of Boston by President James Madison in 1809, a position he held until January 27, 1812, when he was appointed senior major general in the United States Army in command of the northeast sector from the Niagara River to the New England coast. While Dearborn prepared plans for simultaneous assaults on Montreal, Kingston, Fort Niagara, and Detroit, the execution was imperfect. He did not move quickly enough to provide sufficient troops to defend Detroit and as a result, William Hull surrendered the city to Isaac Brock. Although Dearborn had minor successes at the capture of York (now Toronto) on April 27, 1813, and at the capture of Fort George on May 27, 1813, his command was, for the most part, ineffective. He was recalled from the frontier on July 6, 1813, and reassigned to an administrative command in New York City. He was later appointed president of the court martial which tried and condemned General William Hull, even though Dearborn's own negligence contributed to Hull's defeat. Dearborn was honorably discharged from the army on June 15, 1815.

President James Madison nominated Dearborn for reappointment as Secretary of War, but the Senate rejected the nomination. He was later appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal by President James Monroe and served from May 7, 1822, to June 30, 1824, when, by his own request, he was recalled.

He retired to his home in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he died 5 years later. He is interred in Forest Hills Cemetery, in Jamaica Plains outside of Boston. Dearborn married three times: to Mary Bartlett in 1771, to Dorcas (Osgood) Marble in 1780, and to Sarah Bowdoin, widow of James Bowdoin, in 1813.Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn was his son by his second wife.

Who was William Jordan Graves?

2007-08-17T17:25:00.001-07:00

William Jordan Graves (1805 - September 27, 1848) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

Born in New Castle, Kentucky, Graves pursued an academic course. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar and practiced. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1834.

Graves was elected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and reelected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1835-March 3, 1841). He engaged in a duel on the Marlboro Road in Maryland with Congressman Jonathan Cilley in 1838, in which the latter was killed. This duel prompted passage of a congressional act of February 20, 1839, prohibiting the giving or accepting, within the District of Columbia, of challenges to a duel. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1840. He was again a member of the State house of representatives in 1843. He died in Louisville, Kentucky, September 27, 1848. He was interred in the private burial grounds at his former residence in Henry County, Kentucky.

Who was Jonathan Cilley?

2007-08-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Cilley (July 2, 1802 – February 24, 1838) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine. He served part of one term in the 25th Congress. He died in office after being killed in a duel by Congressman William J. Graves, a colleague from Kentucky. He was challenged to the duel because he claimed a Virginian was responsible for a newspaper article that charged another Congressman with immorality.

Jonathan Cilley was a member of one of the leading families of northern New England. A grandson of Major General Joseph Cilley and nephew of Bradbury Cilley, he was born in Nottingham, New Hampshire, and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825. Deciding to stay in Maine, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1828, practicing in Thomaston, Maine. He edited of the Thomaston Register from 1829-1831 and represented Thomaston in the Maine Legislature in 1831-1836, serving as speaker of the state House in his final two years of service there. He was then elected to the United States Congress, but did not complete his first term.

Jonathan Cilley's brother Joseph Cilley served as a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire in 1846-1847. Jonathan Cilley's successor as speaker of the Maine House in 1837 was Hannibal Hamlin, later Vice President of the United States. Cilley's son, Jonathan Prince Cilley, became a Brevetted Brigadier General in the Union Army during the Civil War.

Who was Joseph Cilley?

2007-08-17T17:23:00.002-07:00

Joseph Cilley (1734-1799) was a New Hampshire state senator and general.

Cilley was born in 1734 at Nottingham, New Hampshire to Captain J. Cilley of the Isles of Shoals and his wife Alice Rawlings. In 1758 Joseph Cilley joined Rogers' Rangers and served in northern New York and Canada. On December 15, 1774 Joseph was with John Langdon and John Sullivan in the raid on Fort William and Mary at New Castle, New Hampshire.

At the start of the American Revolutionary War Joseph was appointed Major of the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment. After the Siege of Boston Joseph Cilley was promoted to Lt. Col. in the 1st New Hampshire Regiment and he and the regiment were sent to reinforce the Continental Army in Canada fighting at the Battle of Trois-Rivières. With the defeat of the Continental Army in Canada the 1st NH was sent to New Jersey and Gen. George Washington's main army. Joseph would take part in the Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton. With the resignation of John Stark, Joseph Cilley took command of the 1st NH and led them during the Saratoga Campaign of 1777, Battle of Monmouth and Battle of Stony Point in 1778. In 1779, Joseph and the 1st NH were with Gen. Sullivan in his Campaign against the Iroquois and Loyalists in western New York.

On March 19, 1779, the N.H. Assembly voted unanimously, "that the worthy Col. Jos. Cilley be presented with a pair of pistols as a token of this State's good intention to reward merit in a brave officer." these pistols are now housed at the Museum of New Hampshire History [1] in Concord, New Hampshire. Joseph Cilley retired from the Continental Army on January 1, 1781.

After the war, he was appointed Major General of the 1st Division of N.H. Militia, June 22, 1786. Joseph Cilley was elected to the New Hampshire Senate and Treasurer, Vice President and President of the Society of the Cincinnati in New Hampshire. Joseph Cilley died on August 25, 1799, at his home in Nottingham.

Cilley married Sarah Longfellow on November 4, 1756. They had ten children, including Greenleaf Cilley, whose sons Joseph Cilley and Jonathan Cilley would become a U. S. Senatorand a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, respectively.

Who was Caleb Stark?

2007-08-17T17:23:00.001-07:00

Caleb Stark (1759-1838) was the eldest son of General John Stark and his wife Molly Stark. He was born December 3, 1759 at Dunbarton, New Hampshire. During the American Revolutionary War Caleb served with his father in the 1st New Hampshire Regiment at the Battle of Bunker Hill, Trenton and Princeton as an Ensign. After his father resigned his commission Caleb remained in the Continental Army, serving the rest of the war and rising to the rank of Major. In 1787 Caleb married Sarah McKinstry. In 1811 Caleb Stark started the first cotton mill in Suncook, New Hampshire. Caleb Stark served in the New Hampshire Senate in 1818-1819. In 1828 he moved to Oxford Township, Ohio and died there on August 28, 1838.

Who was Molly Stark?

2007-08-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

Molly Stark, nee Elizabeth Page, (February 16, 1737 - 1814) was the wife of American Revolutionary War general John Stark.

She was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, moved with her family to Dunbarton, New Hampshire around 1755 and was the daughter of the first postmaster of New Hampshire, Caleb Page and his wife Ruth. She married General Stark on August 20, 1758 together they had eleven children including their eldest son Caleb Stark. The Molly Stark house still stands in Dunbarton, NH at Page's Corner.

Stark gained historical notoriety due to her husband's battle call of "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" before engaging with the British and Hessian armies. Stark is also known for her success as a nurse to her husband's troops during a smallpox epidemic and for opening their home as a hospital during the war.

Stark is honored through Vermont and New Hampshire with many businesses, streets and schools that bear her name as well as the Molly Stark State Park in Wilmington, Vermont. Also named for her is the "Molly Stark Trail", a byway otherwise known as Route 9, which bisects southern Vermont and is thought to be the route used by General Stark on his victory march home from the Battle of Bennington.

There is also a Molly Stark Hospital in Northeastern Ohio. Although now closed (in 1995) it served as a tuberculosis sanitarium in the 1930s, later becoming a state hospital for the mentally ill and the aged. The architect, Charles E. Firestone, used numerous roof top porches and loggia (arched galleries) in this structure originally designed as a tuberculosis sanitarium. As such it included many spaces where patients could sit outside, covered in blankets, to take in the fresh air.

Although the Molly Stark Hospital is closed, and it is private property, many people still visit this site because of paranormal activity. Glowing lights can always be seen from inside, and it is said that there is no power supply to the hospital. Orbs also show up in pictures when they are taken of the hospital.

The Molly Stark cannon, or "Old Molly," bears her name, and is kept by the New Boston Artillery Company in New Boston, New Hampshire.

Who was John Stark?

2007-08-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.

John Stark was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in 1728. When he was eight years old, he and his family moved to Derryfield (now part of Manchester), where he lived for the rest of his long life. Stark was married to Elizabeth "Molly" Page, with whom he had 11 children including his eldest son Caleb Stark.

On April 28, 1752, while on a hunting and trapping trip along the Baker River, a tributary of the Pemigewasset River, he was captured by Abenaki warriors and brought back to Quebec but not before warning his brother William Stark to paddle away in his canoe, though David Stinson was killed. While a prisoner of the Abenaki, he and his fellow prisoner Amos Eastman were made to run a gauntlet of warriors armed with sticks. Stark grabbed the stick from the first warrior's hands and proceeded to attack him, taking the rest of the warriors by surprise. The chief was so impressed by this heroic act that Stark was adopted into the tribe, where he spent the winter. Alternatively, in The Invasion Within, Axtell describes how colonists were often abducted by Indians and inducted into their tribes as members through such a ceremony of running the gauntlet.

The following spring a government agent sent from Massachusetts to work on the exchange of prisoners paid his ransom of $103 Spanish dollars and $60 for Amos Eastman. Stark and Eastman then returned to New Hampshire.

Stark enlisted as a second lieutenant under Maj. Robert Rogers during the French and Indian War. As part of the daring Rogers' Rangers, Stark gained valuable battle experience and knowledge of the Northern frontier of the American colonies. At the end of the war, Stark retired as a captain and returned to Derryfield.

General Jeffrey Amherst, anticipating the conquest of Quebec, ordered Roger’s Rangers to journey from Lake George to the Connecticut River. From Old Fort No. 4, he would then go north and attack and destroy the Indian town of St. Francis. This would put an end to decades of Indian raids into New England. Lt. John Stark, now Roger’s second-in-command of all ranger companies, refused to accompany the attacking force out of respect for his Indian foster-parents residing there. He returned to New Hampshire to his wife, who he had married the previous year. Thomas Saltmarsh Jr. joined him, going home to marry Elizabeth Abbott and settle in Goffstown.

The Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, signalled the start of the American Revolutionary War, and Stark returned to military service. On April 23, 1775, Stark accepted a Colonelcy in the New Hampshire Militia and was given command of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment and James Reed of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, also outside of Boston. As soon as Stark could muster his men, he ferried and marched them south to Boston to support the blockaded rebels there. He made his headquarters in the confiscated Isaac Royall House in Medford, Massachusetts.

On June 16, the rebels, fearing a preemptive British attack on their positions in Cambridge and Roxbury, decided to take and hold the high ground surrounding the city, including Dorchester Heights, Bunker Hill, and Breed's Hill. Holding these positions would allow the rebels to oppose any British landing (at the time, Boston proper was almost an island and the British soldiers garrisoned there would have to travel by sea to attack the outlying towns). The positions could also be used to emplace cannon which could threaten the British ships blockading the harbor (although no cannon were available to the rebels at this time).

When the British awoke on June 17 to find hastily constructed fortifications on Breed's Hill, British Gen. Thomas Gage knew that he would have to drive the rebels out before fortifications were complete. He ordered the HMS Lively, a 20-gun sloop, to begin firing on the rebel positions immediately and ordered Major General William Howe to prepare to land his troops. Thus began the Battle of Bunker Hill (which should have been called the battle of Breed's Hill). American Col. William Prescott held the hill throughout the intense initial bombardment with only a few hundred untrained American militia. Prescott knew that he was sorely outgunned and outnumbered. He sent a desperate request for reinforcements.

Stark and Reed with the New Hampshire minutemen arrived at the scene soon after Prescott's request. The Lively had begun a rain of accurate artillery fire directed at Charlestown Neck, the narrow strip of land connecting Charlestown to the rebel positions. On the Charlestown side, several companies from other regiments were milling around in disarray, afraid to march into range of the artillery fire. Stark ordered the men to stand aside and calmly marched his men to Prescott's positions without taking any casualties.

When the New Hampshire militia arrived, the grateful Colonel Prescott allowed Stark to deploy his men where he saw fit. Stark surveyed the ground and immediately saw that the British would probably try to flank the rebels by landing on the beach of the Mystic River, below and to the left of Breed's Hill. Stark led his men to the low ground between Mystic Beach and the hill and ordered them to "fortify" a two-rail fence by stuffing straw and grass between the rails. Stark also noticed an additional gap in the defense line and ordered Lieutenant Nathaniel Hutchins from his brother William Stark's company and others to follow him down a nine foot high bank to the edge of the Mystic River. They piled rocks across the twelve foot wide beach to form a crude defense line. After this fortification was hastily constructed, Stark deployed his men 3-deep behind the wall. A large contingent of British with the Royal Welch Fusiliers in the lead advanced towards the fortifications. The Minutemen crouched and waited until the advancing British were almost on top of them, and then stood up and fired as one. They unleashed a fierce and unexpected volley directly into the faces of the fusiliers, killing 90 in the blink of an eye and breaking their advance. The fusiliers retreated in panic. A charge of British infantry was next, climbing over their dead comrades to test Stark's line—this charge too was decimated by a withering fusillade by the Minutemen. A third charge was repulsed in a similar fashion, again with heavy losses to the British. The British officers wisely withdrew their men from that landing point and decided to land elsewhere, with the support of artillery.

Later in the battle, as the rebels were forced from the hill, Stark directed the New Hampshire regiment's fire to provide cover for Colonel Prescott's retreating troops. The day's New Hampshire dead were later buried in the Salem Street Burying Ground, Medford, Massachusetts.

While the British did eventually take the hill that day, their losses were so great (especially among the officers) that they could not hold the positions. This allowed General George Washington, who arrived in Boston two weeks after the battle, to place cannon seized at the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga on Dorchester Heights. This placement threatened the British fleet in Boston Harbor and forced General Howe to withdraw all his forces from the Boston garrison and sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia.

As Washington prepared to return south to fight the British there, he knew that he desperately needed experienced men like John Stark to command regiments in the Continental Army.George Washington immediately offered Stark a command in the Continental Army. Stark and his New Hampshire regiment agreed to attach themselves temporarily to the Continental Army. The men of the New Hampshire Line were sent as reinforcements to the Continental Army during the Invasion of Canada in the spring of 1776. With the defeat of the Continental Army in Canada Stark and his men traveled to the New Jersey colony to meet up with Washington and fought bravely in the battles of Princeton and Trenton.

After Trenton, Washington asked Stark to return to New Hampshire to recruit more men for the Continental Army. Stark agreed, but upon returning home, he learned that while he was fighting in New Jersey, a fellow New Hampshire Colonel named Enoch Poor had been promoted to Brigadier General in the Continental Army. In Stark's opinion, Enoch Poor had refused to march his militia regiment to Bunker Hill to join the battle, instead choosing to keep his regiment at home. Stark, an experienced woodsman and a fighting commander, had been passed over by someone with no experience and apparently no will to fight. On March 23, 1777, Stark resigned his commission in disgust, although he pledged his aid to New Hampshire should it be needed.

Four months later, Stark was offered a commission as Brigadier General of the New Hampshire Militia. He accepted on the strict condition that he would not be answerable to Continental Army authority. Soon after receiving his commission, he was ordered by Brigadier General Philip Schuyler to depart from Charlestown, New Hampshire to reinforce the Continental army at Saratoga, New York. Stark refused and instead led his men to meet the Hessians at the Battle of Bennington. Before engaging the Hessian troops, Stark prepared his men to fight to the death, shouting, "There are your enemies, the Red Coats and the Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!"

Stark's men, with some help from Seth Warner's Vermont militia the Green Mountain Boys, routed the Hessian forces there and prevented British General John Burgoyne from resupplying. Stark's action contributed directly to the surrender of Burgoyne's northern army at the Battle of Saratoga some months later. This battle is seen as the turning point in the Revolutionary War, as it was the first major defeat of a British general and it convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. After the Battle of Freeman's Farm Gen. Stark's Brigade moved into a position cutting off Gen. John Burgoyne's path back to Lake George and Lake Champlain.

John Stark was one of the Jury that found John André guilty for spying and in helping in the conspiracy of Benedict Arnold to surrender West Point, New York to the British.

After serving with distinction throughout the rest of the war, Stark retired to his farm in Derryfield. It has been said that of all the Revolutionary War generals, Stark was the only true Cincinnatus because he truly retired from public life at the end of the war. In 1809, a group of Bennington veterans gathered to commemorate the battle. General Stark, then aged 81, was not well enough to travel, but he sent a letter to his comrades, which closed "Live free or die. Death is not the worst of evils." The motto Live Free or Die became the New Hampshire state motto in 1945. Stark and the Battle of Bennington were later commemorated with the 306-foot tall Bennington Battle Monument in Bennington, Vermont.

What were Rogers' Rangers?

2007-08-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

Rogers' Rangers was an independent company of rangers attached to the British Army during the French and Indian War. The unit was informally trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant targets. Their military tactics were so bold and effective that the unit became the chief scouting unit of British Crown forces in the late 1750s. Later, several members of Rogers' Rangers became influential leaders in the American Revolutionary War and a large number of ex-rangers were present as patriot militiamen at the Battle of Concord Bridge.

Rogers' Rangers was a group of colonial militia that fought for the British during the French and Indian War. Commanded by Robert Rogers they operated primarily in the Lake George and Lake Champlain regions of New York. The group was formed during the winter of 1755 by forces entrenched at Fort William Henry. The Rangers employed some of the earlier forms of guerrilla warfare used by European armies, used frequently during winter raids against French towns and emplacements, travelling on snowshoes and on frozen rivers.

Never fully respected by the regular British forces, they were one of the only non-Indian force able to operate in the region due to the harsh winter conditions, and the difficulties of moving regular forces though the region's mountainous terrain.

After the British forces surrendered Fort William Henry, the Rangers were stationed on Rogers Island near Fort Edward. This allowed the Rangers to train and operate with more freedom than the regular forces.

In March 1758 at The Battle of the Snowshoes Rogers' Rangers ambushed a French-Indian force and were in turn ambushed by French-Indian Forces. The Rangers had 52 survivors/8 wounded and 125 lost. Rogers estimated 100 killed and nearly 100 wounded of the French-Indian forces; however the French listed casualites as total of 10 Indians killed/17 wounded and 3 Canadians wounded.

During 1759 the Rangers were involved in one of their most famous operations: the Rangers were ordered to destroy the Indian settlement of Saint-Francis in Quebec from which attacks on British villages were frequently being launched. Rogers led a force of 200 Rangers from Crown Point, New York, deep into French territory. Following the successful destruction of the village, the force ran out of food during their retreat back through northern Vermont. Once the Rangers reached a safe location along the Connecticut River at Fort Wentworth, Rogers left them encamped, and returned a few days later with food, and relief forces from Fort at Number 4 now Charlestown, New Hampshire the nearest English town. In the Raid on St.Francis, Rogers thought 200 were killed, leaving 20 women and children to be taken prisoners, of whom he took 5 children prisoners; however, the French record that only 30 were killed {including 20 women and children}

At the end of the war the Rangers were given the task of taking command of Detroit from the French forces on behalf of the British crown.

After the war most of the Rangers returned to civilian life. In 1763 a unit of the Rogers' Rangers who were formed into the British 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot {1758-1764} were ambushed at the Devil's Hole Massacre during Pontiac's Rebellion. At the outbreak of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord, former Rangers were among the Minutemen firing at the British. After these events, Robert Rogers offered his help to the commander of the Colonial Army, George Washington. Washington refused, fearing that Rogers was a spy because Rogers had just returned from a long stay in England. Rogers was infuriated by this and did indeed join the British--forming the Queen's Rangers {1776} and later the King's Rangers.

The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) of the Canadian Army claim to be descended from Rogers' Rangers. Also claiming descent from Rogers' Rangers is the 1st Battalion 119th Field Artillery of Michigan and the U.S. Army Rangers.

The historical novel Northwest Passage (1937), an American classic, gave great verisimilitude to the events of Rogers' Rangers' raid on the Abenaki town of St. Francis. The first half of the novel was later adapted to film called Northwest Passage (1940).

During the Second World War, the U.S. Army was interested in the tactics of the British Commando units, which by then had a couple of years of experience, and wanted similar special operations forces of their own. Recalling this colonial unit, they took the name "Rangers" as the official title; these units consider Rogers their founding father and distribute copies of Rogers' Rangers Standing Orders to all aspiring Ranger students.

A more recent book, White Devil - A True Story of War, Savagery, and Vengeance in Colonial America, by Steven Brumwell (ISBN 0-306-81389-0, Da Capo Books, 2005), contains an historical analysis of the St. Francois raid and ensuing controversy.

In 2002, Mind Lab Films produced a Documentary about Robert Rogers and his Rangers entitled "The Battle On Snowshoes." The Film is available through Heritage Books.

Who was Moses Hazen?

2007-08-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Moses Hazen (June 1, 1733 – February 5, 1803), was a Brigadier-General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Hazen was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. During the French and Indian War, he served as an officer in Rogers' Rangers at Fortress Louisbourg and Quebec. For his services in the war, Hazen was given a commission as a Lieutenant in the 44th Regiment of Foot in the British Army.

Hazen fought at the Battle of Sainte-Foy where he was severely wounded.

At the start of the Revolutionary War, Hazen was living on half-pay in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, in Canada. He joined the side of the Americans after being arrested by both the United States and later by the British as a spy during 1775.

In 1776 Hazen received a commission as a Colonel of the 2nd Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army. His property in Iberville, Quebec was soon taken by the royal government. Colonel Hazen led his regiment at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.

In 1779 or 1780, Hazen constructed the Bayley-Hazen Military Road from Newbury, Vermont, to Hazen's Notch in northern Vermont. This purpose of this road was to invade Canada. It was never used for that purpose, but was instrumental in the settlement of that area.

Thompson, deceived by Hazen's baptismal name, Moses, thought that he was a Jew. He was, however, of an old New England Puritan family.

On June 29, 1781, Hazen was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned command of a brigade under Lafayette during the Battle of Yorktown.

After the war, General Hazen received a grant of land in northern New York. He died in Troy, New York, where he was buried.

On May 26, 1828, Congress authorized a payment of $3,998.81 to Hazen's legal representatives to recover the 1/2 pay lost to him when he joined the American forces.

What was the Continental Congress?

2007-08-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

The Continental Congress was the first national government of the United States. It comprised two successive bodies of representatives of provinces of the Thirteen Colonies in 18th century British North America:

The First Continental Congress met from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774.

The Second Continental Congress met from May 10, 1775, to the ratification of the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.

Upon the ratification of the Articles, the Continental Congress was succeeded by the first legislative government of the United States:

The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled ran from March 1, 1781, until the government under the Constitution became operative on March 4, 1789. The membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation.

Initially formed to coordinate a common American response to the Intolerable Acts, the Continental Congress rapidly became the governing body of a new nation as the dispute with the British government escalated into the American Revolutionary War. Once the war ended, the members of the Congress served as the governing body of the United States of America, reorganized as a new national legislature.

Who was Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier?

2007-08-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, Lafayette (initially the Marquis de Lafayette till June 1790) (September 6, 1757–May 20, 1834) was a French military officer and former aristocrat who participated in both the American and French revolutions. He permanently renounced the title "Marquis" before the French National Assembly in June, 1790. Even though he was already adopted by George Washington, in 2002, he was posthumously made an Honorary Citizen of the United States; one of only six persons so honored.

Lafayette served in the American Revolutionary War both as a general and as a diplomat, serving entirely without pay in both roles. Later, he was to prove a key figure in the early phases of the French Revolution, serving in the Estates General and the subsequent National Constituent Assembly. He was a leading figure among the Feuillants, who tried and failed to turn France into a constitutional monarchy, and commander of the French National Guard. Accused by Jean-Paul Marat of responsibility for the "Massacre of the Champ de Mars", he subsequently lost his leading role in the Revolution. On August 19, 1792, the Jacobin party seized control of Paris and the National Assembly, ordering Lafayette's arrest. He fled France and was arrested by the Austrian army in Rochefort, Belgium. Thereafter, he spent five years in various Austrian and Prussian prisons. He was released in 1797; however, Napoleon Bonaparte would not allow his return to France for several years. He continued to be active in French and European politics until his death in 1834.

His full name is seldom used in the United States, where he is usually known as "General Lafayette" or simply "Lafayette" (his preferences and as written on his birth certificate), but sometimes is called "the Marquis de Lafayette" (mistakenly or maliciously, in references after 1790 since he permanently renounced the nobility title in 1790). After the Bourbon Restoration, Lafayette's enemies viciously taunted him in the press by continually referring to him as "Marquis" and thereby using this propaganda to give Lafayette's supporters the false impression that he gave up on his life-long belief that "ALL men are created equal". Note that Lafayette may be written as one word or as two; one word is more typical in American usage and Lafayette's preference and as it appears on his grave stone, while the two-word form is preferred in contemporary British and French. Many places in the United States are named Lafayette, Fayette, or Fayetteville in his honor.

He was the father of Georges Washington Motier Lafayette (1779–1849) and grandfather of Oscar Thomas Gilbert Motier Lafayette (1815–1881).