American Revolution
Patriots’ Great Day: The Battle of Sullivan’s Island
By Earl EchelberryBy the early 1770s, with a full century of settlement already behind it, Charleston, S.C., had come into its own as a thriving urban center. Read more
American Revolution
American Revolution
The History of the U.S. Coast Guard
By Blaine TaylorOn August 4, 1790, at the urging of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the United States Congress authorized the construction of 10 armed revenue cutters. Read more
American Revolution
David Bushnell’s Turtle: The World’s First Submarine
By Brandt HeatheringtonThe world’s first combat submarine was something of an afterthought on the part of its creator. The revolutionary craft, known as the Turtle for its odd profile, was the progeny of David Bushnell, who was born in 1742 in West Saybrook, Conn. Read more
American Revolution
The Pen & the Sword: A Brief History of War Correspondents
By Roy Morris Jr.Men have been reporting their wars almost as long as they have fighting them. The first prehistoric cave drawings depicted hunters bringing down wild animals, and spoken accounts of battles, large and small, formed the starting point for the oral tradition of history. Read more
American Revolution
The Hessians Are Coming!
By Joseph C. Salamida“He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny,” Thomas Jefferson said of King George III in the Declaration of Independence. Read more
American Revolution
Benedict Arnold’s Invasion of Canada
By Earl EchelberryFresh from his capture of Fort Ticonderoga, Colonel Benedict Arnold in the summer of 1775 lobbied hard to the Continental Congress for authorization to lead an expedition to the lower St. Read more
American Revolution
George Washington’s Counterpunch at Germantown
By Chuck LyonsOn 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
By David A. NorrisSergeant 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
By Mike PhiferKings 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
By Christopher MiskimonComing 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
By David A. NorrisGreat 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
By Peter KrossAlmost 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
By Neil CosgroveMost 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
By William McPeakThe 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
“Give Them One Fire and I’ll Charge Them”
By Daniel MurphyLieutenant 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
By Christopher MiskimonFrancis 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
Casimir Pulaski: American Revolutionary
By Joshua ShepherdA 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
By James K. SwisherAt 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 Mike HaskewBy 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
By Brooke C. StoddardThe 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
