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Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Gen. Washington courageously attempting to rallyfleeing militia at Kip's Bay, Manhattan MOUNT VERNON, Va. — Say goodbye to the stern and remote George Washington, the boring one who wore a powdered wig, had wooden teeth and always told the truth. Embrace instead the action hero of the 18th century, a swashbuckling warrior who survived wild adventures, led brilliant military campaigns, directed spy rings and fell in love with his best friend's wife. That is the new message from the people who run Mount Vernon, the estate where Washington spent much of his life and where more than one million people...

It is no secret that many of us who reject Obama's neo-communist agenda have turned to the Founding Fathers for guidance; when you think your country's founding principles are under attack, it's natural to re-acquaint yourself with the writings of the extraordinary group of men who wrote our founding documents.   When we examine this genius cluster, George Washington is perhaps the best loved.  Last week Glenn Beck recommended the four-year old, 1208-page tome, George Washington's Sacred Fire, which discusses pop culture fave topics like the religious beliefs of our first President.  The book shot to number one on Amazon's bestseller...

The father of our nation knew how to throw a Christmas party. I’m talking thousands of pounds of bacon, gallons of homemade rye whiskey, a massive “great cake” and what he called an “attack of Christmas pies.” Everyone got four days off to celebrate at his Mount Vernon plantation and while there was no regular scheduled appearance by Santa, there was at least one recorded visit by a camel. But the abundant Christmas feasts of Washington’s later years were preceded by some years that were lean on Christmas cheer. When young George was 8 years old in 1740, his home...

Today, in 1799, George Washington died at his Mount Vernon home. He was remembered by Congressman Henry Lee with these famous words: "First in war—first in peace—and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and enduring scenes of private life; pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting...." Today also marks the statehood of Alabama, the 23rd state to join the Union.

ALEXANDER ROSE: Thankfully, this isn’t a chicken-and-egg question, so the answer is a simple one: Washington’s spies, otherwise known as the Culper Ring. There were five primary members. First in seniority was Benjamin Tallmadge, a dragoons officer who acted as the Ring’s manager in American-held Connecticut and made sure their intelligence was passed on to Washington back at headquarters. The agent who sailed back and forth across Long Island Sound (I prefer the more colorful contemporary description of it, “the Devil’s Belt”), tussling with freebooters and dodging patrol-boats, was Caleb Brewster, a former whaleboatman who really, really liked fighting. Brewster’s...

I thought this sounded good. It starts this Sunday on AMC. Has anyone heard anything about it yet?

The new AMC series Turn, which premieres April 6, is bewildering at first. We’re dropped smack in the middle of British-occupied New York. The year is 1776, and Abraham Woodhull (Jamie Bell) is scraping by as a cabbage farmer and sometime innkeeper in Setauket, Long Island. He’s husband to Mary (Meegan Warner), and father to a young child. His father, Richard (Kevin McNally), is a local magistrate loyal to George III. Then the scene shifts. We’re now in New Jersey. A stunning overhead shot reveals a sprawling field of bluecoat rebel bodies lying next to a pool dyed red with...

It looks really, really good from the previews/website. I don't want to go beyond crazy here, but it seems to have a slant that Freepers would like. We can only hope...From their website:"Based on Alexander Rose’s book Washington’s Spies, AMC’s TURN tells the untold story of America’s first spy ring. A historical thriller set during the Revolutionary War, TURN centers on Abe Woodhull (Jamie Bell), a farmer living in British-occupied Long Island who bands together with his childhood friends to form the Culper Ring -- an unlikely team of secret agents who not only went on to help George Washington...

Looking to buy a book or books that accurately and honestly cover the life of George Washington. Something I can find on Amazon. Any comments why you liked the book would be appreciated. Thanks

Sometimes I recoil a little when somebody declares that there can be an American president greater than George Washington. Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee declared Washington, “First in the hearts of his countrymen.” Washington is great for many things, but perhaps he is greatest for the manner in which he surrendered power not once but twice. One of the best recent commentaries written on Washington is David Boaz’s, “The Man Who Would Not Be King.” In the piece from 2006, Boaz wonderfully sums up the depth of Washington’s immense character and what that means for liberty and America. The entire commentary...

Friends and Citizens: The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg...

Today marks the anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens in 1781, a victory for the Continental Army in South Carolina. To mark the day, we raise the Cowpens Flag, the United States flag which was flown during the battle, designed much like the Betsy Ross 13-star flag except for the one star in the middle of the circle. Independence Forever!

Consider George Washington. Led the Continental Army. Presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Elected unanimously to serve as the first President of the United States. Elected unanimously to serve a second term. Endearingly titled “father of his country” even during his own lifetime. Like many leaders, George Washington was a powerful man. A great man. A popular man. Ultimately, though, he knew how to do something that so many revolutionary leaders do not. He knew how to relinquish power. He did so twice, both after his leadership of the Continental Army and after his second presidential term, the latter...

The Continental Congress's "Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms" on July 6, 1775

It was lying in a drawer in the attic, a 12-page document that was not just forgotten but misfiled. Somehow it had made its way into a folder with colonial-era doctor’s bills that someone in the 1970s decreed was worthless and should be thrown away. Luckily, no one did. For when Emilie Gruchow opened the folder last summer and separated it from the doctor’s bills, she recognized it as a one-of-a-kind document. Ms. Gruchow, an archivist at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, was an intern at the museum in Upper Manhattan when she made her discovery. The mansion served as George Washington’s...

This is part three of a 6-part 1997 PBS documentary on the Revolutionary War. The episode is titled "The Times That Try Men's Souls" (1776-1777). In addition to the Delaware River crossing and Hessian camp attack it also covers the British invasion of New York and subsequent Battle of Brooklyn, aka, The Battle of Long Island. "Days after the Declaration of Independence is signed, a British force arrives in New York harbor. Washington and his troops are driven to New Jersey. With only a few days of enlistment left for many of his volunteers, a desperate Washington leads his army...

As many of you know, there was an hiatus between Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown (October 19, 1781) and the Treaty of Paris (September 3, 1783). Washington stayed with his army and did not return to his beloved Mount Vernon until word of the treaty’s signing reached him, and he would see the British Army and Navy depart NYC on Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783. New Yorkers had made up a rhyme, “From Kip’s Bay to Evacuation Day” that had much meaning to them since Kip’s Bay (near present day First Avenue and 30th St. on the East River) was the...

The Boston Tea Party (initially referred to by John Adams as "the Destruction of the Tea in Boston"[2]) was a nonviolent political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. Disguised as American Indians, the demonstrators destroyed the entire supply of tea sent by the East India Company in defiance of the American boycott of tea carrying a tax the Americans had not authorized. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution.

Since Franklin Roosevelt, every modern U.S. president has opened his own presidential library. On Friday, President George Washington, the nation’s first, finally will get his turn, as a state-of-the-art presidential library is christened in his honor. Washington’s beloved Mount Vernon steps into a bold new era with the formal opening of The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. Some 800 dignitaries, officials, and VIPs will be on hand to witness the unveiling of a library purpose-built to preserve the original books and papers from Gen. Washington’s personal collection. Noted historian and best-selling author David McCullough...