American Revolution

American Revolution

Fort Necessity: George Washington’s First Defeat

George Washington looked down at the surrender documents. They were soaked from pouring rain and the ink was splotched. Read more

American Revolution

To Field an Army: A Short History of the Draft

The call of a nation on its civilian population either to create a military force or to augment a standing army is virtually as old as civilization itself. Read more

American Revolution

George Washington’s Counterpunch at Germantown

On the morning of September 11, 1777, 19-year-old Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, calmly sat on his horse next to George Washington, commander in chief of America’s revolutionary forces. Read more

American Revolution

George Washington’s Daring Gamble at Yorktown

Sergeant Joseph Plumb Martin, a sapper in the Continental Army, waited for the signal that would begin the night attack on two enemy-held redoubts. Read more

American Revolution

Pivotal Victory at Kings Mountain

Kings Mountain was a battle of militia–American Patriots against American Loyalists. Short and intense, it was the last desperate stand of British Major Patrick Ferguson and a turning point in the American Revolution. Read more

American Revolution

The Short-range Shotgun

Coming upon the enemy’s rear guard outside the western Kentucky village of Sacramento, four days after Christmas 1861, Confederate Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest ordered his cavalry to advance. Read more

American Revolution

Grand Assault On Gibraltar

Great Britain’s war with her rebellious American colonies was about to conclude as diplomats crafted a peace treaty. Read more

American Revolution

The Florida Annexation

Almost a decade after winning the Revolutionary War against Great Britain, the youthful United States was determined to expand its territorial boundaries and become a truly continental nation. Read more

American Revolution

Commodore John Barry: Naval Hero of the American Revolution

Most histories of the American Revolution give the fledgling Patriot navy only one hero: John Paul Jones. While not begrudging Jones’s recognition, it seems unfair to represent the Continental Navy with a single fighting captain. Read more

American Revolution

The Battle-Ax

The shafted ax has been around since 6000 bc, in both peaceful and warlike uses. The so-called battle-ax cultures (3200 to 1800 bc) extended over much of northern Europe from the late Stone Age through the early Bronze Age. Read more

American Revolution

British Disaster at Saratoga

Four months earlier Major General John Burgoyne had left Canada with a large army. He intended to deliver a fatal blow to the colonial revolt that had begun on April 19, 1775. Read more

American Revolution

“Give Them One Fire and I’ll Charge Them”

Lieutenant Colonel William Washington of the Continental 3rd Light Dragoons stood in his stirrups and looked out over the open drover’s field stretching before him. Read more

American Revolution

Why Francis Marion Became the Father of Guerrilla Warfare

Francis Marion did not cut an impressive figure when he joined the Patriot army of Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates in July 1780. Read more

American Revolution

Soldiers: Casimir Pulaski

A major fight was in the offing when the first streaks of dawn appeared over Savannah, Georgia, on the morning of October 9, 1779. Read more

American Revolution

Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens

At last, students of American military history have recently been accorded some measure of respect to the tactical genius of Daniel Morgan. Read more

American Revolution

Benjamin Franklin in the American Revolution

By the time the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, Benjamin Franklin was 70 years old. Read more

American Revolution

Benedict Arnold: American Traitor and Patriot

The struggle of the Americans to free themselves of British rule and to establish self-government on their own continent was never in greater peril than in the year 1776, and it was still three years before Benedict Arnold would change sides. Read more

American Revolution

African American Revolutionary War Heroes: Seymour Burr

There were several African American Revolutionary War heroes that made major contributions on and off the battlefield, but not all of them fought for the Colonists. Read more

American Revolution

African American Revolutionary War Heroes: Crispus Attucks

There were many African Americans in the Revolutionary War, and although some of them fought for the Colonists and others for the British, freedom was usually their motivation. Read more

American Revolution

Female Revolutionary War Heroes: Margaret Corbin

One of the more prominent female Revolutionary War heroes was Margaret Corbin.

Corbin’s parents were both killed by Indian raiders when she was only five. Read more