Free Republic

On January 13, 1776, General Washington sat down to write a letter to the Massachusetts state legislature, reporting how dire their situation was. Such letters were unfortunately to become the norm throughout America’s long War of Independence; the General felt that the civilian legislature needed to be kept apprised of the state of the fight, and in particular, they needed to know how much more material support the troops required from their government. In January of 1776, the Continental Army had been conducting the Siege of Boston for eight months. That’s eight months of sitting, encamped outside the most important...

A veteran returned a sword he stole from a statue of a Revolutionary War general 40 years ago, telling the head of the Massachusetts town's historical commission that he regretted taking it. Cindy P. Gaylord, the chair of Westfield's Historical Commission, said a man contacted the city hall saying he had the sword stolen from the town's statue of Gen. William Shepard in 1980, the Springfield Republican reported on Sunday. Gaylord agreed to give the man anonymity if he returned the bronze sword and arranged for him and his wife to drop it off at her home, she said.

"Once in Royal David's city..." As the pure, crystalline voice of one boy soprano rings out from King's College in Cambridge, England singing the traditional opening carol of The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, for millions listening live on the radio worldwide, Christmas has truly begun. The Festival grew out of a need to bind up the wounds of World War I and has continued every year from 1918 unstopped by war, unrest or even a plandemic. They say that during World War II, listeners to the Festival could hear the tar paper flapping in the wind as the...

The Sons of Liberty flag is very meaningful to us, as it’s the flag that inspired the backdrop of our logo. Its origins go back to 1765, when a secretive group of patriots known as “the Loyal Nine” was formed – the group behind the original Boston Tea Party. The flag was then known as “the Rebellious Stripes” and it was banned by the British king, the highest endorsement the Crown could give. The Sons of Liberty: “No Taxation Without Representation” The Sons of Liberty were perhaps the most radical group of American patriots during the pre-Revolutionary period, but the...

In June of 1775, citizens acting as merchant mariners captured the British schooner HMS Margaretta around Machias, Massachusetts (present-day Maine). That same month, General George Washington, with the help of merchant ship owner Colonel John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts, chartered and outfitted several ships to interrupt the British supplies. The marker at the base of John Glover's statue in Boston states: "John Glover of Marblehead - A Soldier of the Revolution. He commanded a regiment of one thousand men raised in that town known as the marine regiment, and enlisted to serve throughout the war. He joined the camp at...

He intentionally fired into the air, but his political rival, the sitting Vice-President Aaron Burr, took deadly aim and fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel JULY 11, 1804. Alexander Hamilton was born in the British West Indies on the Island of Nevis, either in the year 1755 or 1757, and grew up on the Island of St. Croix. Just a few years earlier, in 1751, 19-year-old George Washington had accompanied his older half-brother Lawrence on a trip to the not too distant Island of Barbados. Since Alexander Hamilton's parents were not legally married, he was not permitted to attend...

Just after his sixteenth birthday in June of 1776, Private Joshua Meade, the educated son of a successful surgeon, eagerly presented himself to fulfill his civic duty with the militia of Westchester County, New York. In the not-too-distant past, before his constitution failed him, Joshua's father served in the militia as a lieutenant and some of the older men recalled him as a competent and dedicated officer. On the morning of Joshua's arrival, the regiment's 459 men were preparing to make the day-long march down the Hudson River Valley to New York City to join General Washington’s Continental Army. Joshua...

"Don't Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!" commanded Colonel William Prescott, repeating the order of General Israel Putnam, JUNE 17, 1775. Colonel William Prescott's men were in the center redoubt located on Breed's Hill, adjacent Bunker Hill, guarding the north entrance to Boston Harbor. Samuel Swett wrote in his History of Bunker Hill, that as the 2,300 British soldiers advanced: "The American marksmen are with difficulty restrained from firing. Putnam rode through the line, and ordered that no one should fire till they arrived within eight rods ... Powder was scarce and must not be wasted. They...

The New York Times’ 1619 Project — a curriculum that makes the fantastical claim that a primary cause of the Revolutionary War was the colonists’ desire to protect slavery — has been adopted in 3,500 classrooms across all 50 states.For this reason, some of the nation’s most renowned historians have called for The Times to correct this and other factual errors.The Pulitzer Center, which is partnering with The Times to promote The 1619 Project, recounted in its 2019 annual report, “Good journalism, innovative educational resources, and deep community engagement are absolutely essential to bridging the divisions that threaten to rip our democracy apart. It...

Catherine the Great of Russia (1729-1796) rebuffed King George III's requests and bribes to have Russia side with Britain during the Revolutionary War. Instead, Russia continued trading with the American colonies, providing much needed supplies. Catherine even attempted to negotiate a peace with France and Britain to bring an early end to the war in America's favor. Catherine the Great had earlier deposed her husband, Tsar Peter III, in a coup. She then fought the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774), against the Muslim Ottoman Turkish Empire. Her General, Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov destroyed the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Chesma, July 5-7,...

Americans won the Battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780. Where the Americans had 29 killed, the British suffered 668 captured, 163 wounded and 290 killed, including the feared British sharp shooter Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson, earlier at the Battle of Brandywine, had the opportunity to sharp shoot in the back General Washington and Count Casimir Pulaski, "father of the American cavalry," but declined due to his code of honor. The Battle of Kings Mountain was described by Thomas Jefferson as "the turn of the tide of success" in the War for Independence. Theodore Roosevelt wrote of the Battle of...

In June of 1777, British General "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne was marching from Quebec, Canada toward Albany, New York, with an army of 7,000 British and Hessian troops. British General William Howe was supposed to be marching north, up the Hudson River Valley, from New York City to Albany in a "divide and conquer" entrapment plan. Instead, without telling Burgoyne, General Howe abandoned the plan and left to capture Philadelphia - the capital of the new United States. This was in accordance with European warfare, that when an enemy's capital was captured, the war would immediately end. British General Burgoyne first...

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven," preached Rev. John Peter Muhlenberg, from the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1. He closed his message by saying: "In the language of the Holy Writ, there is a time for all things. There is a time to preach and a time to fight. And now is the time to fight." John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was a 30 year old member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, who was also a pastor. At the end of his sermon, January 21, 1776, John Peter Muhlenberg threw off his clerical...

Samuel Adams, born SEPTEMBER 27, 1722, was known as "The Father of the American Revolution." Spreading the slogan "No taxation without representation," Sam Adams instigated the Stamp Act Riots in 1765. In 1770, after the Boston Massacre, where British soldiers fired into a crowd, killing 5 and wounding 6, Sam Adams spread Revolutionary sentiment with his network of Committees of Correspondence. In 1772, Sam Adams wrote in The Rights of the Colonists, section "The Rights of the Colonist as Subjects": "Government has no right to absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people; nor can mortals assume...

"I have not yet begun to fight!" shouted John Paul Jones when the captain of the 50-gun British frigate HMS Serapis taunted him to surrender. Their ships were so close their cannons scraped and masts entangled, yet his American ship Bonhomme Richard, named for Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, refused to give up. When two cannons exploded and his ship began sinking, John Paul Jones lashed his ship to the enemy's to keep it afloat. After 3 more hours of fighting, the British surrendered. This battle took place SEPTEMBER 23, 1779. John Paul Jones is called the "Father of the...

The British approach to its American colony in 1775 offers valuable lessons for historians and military professionals in the synthesis between the levels of wartime leadership and their effect on direct action at the tactical level. As such, it is worthwhile to reflect on the British experience in 1775, and how guidance from strategic and operational leaders had a dramatic impact on the opening stages of the conflict. A misalignment of desired objectives, a desire to exercise control down to the lowest echelon, and poorly executed direct leadership defined the British approach concerning the events surrounding Lexington and Concord on...

Port Angeles mayor wants to remove colonial solider images from fence The mayor of Port Angeles is reportedly taking aim at a fence in front of Veterans Memorial Park in Port Angeles depicting Revolutionary War-era soldiers with muskets. The city decided to put the fence in place after the park’s replica of the Liberty Bell was vandalized. Money for the fence was raised exclusively through donations. Now, however, Port Angeles Mayor Sissi Bruch wants the city to remove the silhouettes from the fence because they depict guns. At this Wednesday’s Port Angeles City Council meeting, the council will deliberate on...

The oath of military enlistment states: "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Who were some of the most famous "domestic" enemies? In July of 1775, General Washington appointed Dr. Benjamin Church as the first surgeon general of the Continental Army. Three months later, Washington discovered Dr. Benjamin Church had been spying for the British. He wrote coded messages of the Continental Army's plans and leaked them to British officer, Major Crane . When Dr. Church was exposed as the leaker, Washington...

The Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, written by Jared Diamond (1997), documented that throughout human history, hunter-gathers were always subdued by people groups who had transitioned to agriculture. The first plants to be cultivated were: wheat, barley, rye, oats, lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans, almonds, and olives. Flax was cultivated as a source for linseed oil and fiber for clothes, ropes, rugs, bedding, curtains, and sails. Agricultural domestication of plants led to the domestication of animals, such as: donkey, horse, camel, pig, chicken, cattle and oxen. Harvests led to storage techniques, methods of...

King George III's British army was forced to evacuate Boston. They headed to New York. General George Washington responded by moving American troops to Long Island, New York and fortifying Brooklyn Heights. Enthusiasm was high as Washington's ranks swelled to nearly 20,000. Before long, hundreds of British ships filled New York's harbor, carrying 32,000 troops. It was one of the largest invasion forces in history to that date. The thousands of wooden masts of the British ships were described as looking like a forest of trees. Washington wrote to his younger brother John Augustine Washington, May 31, 1776: "We expect...