Heroes and Generals - Revolutionary War

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Colorful and forgotten founding fathers - Most of the signers unrecognized today
There were 56 men who put quill to Independence parchment in 1776. On July 2, the Continental Congress voted to declare American independence. On July 4, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. August 2 the delegates started to sign the official document. Most of the signers are forgotten now, but in their time they were prominent patriots. --- Carter Braxton (Virginia) was one of the few signers from Virginia whose name wasn't Jefferson or Lee - and he had 18 children, qualifying him as a founding father by anyone's standards. --- Button Gwinnett (Georgia) practiced extreme politics, even by the standards of the revolutionary era.
by cnn.com :: 2008-07-20 :: Heroes and Generals

Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution
Here is a portrait of the Revolutionary War general whose skills as an engineer and artilleryman played a central role in all of George Washington's battles, like the Siege of Boston (where his use of cannons at Dorchester Heights won back the city). Knox became an major advocate of the American Constitution and served as the first Secretary of War. He was co-founder of the U.S. Navy, laid the basis for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and managed treaties with Native Americans. With patriotism and solid grasp of his subject, Mark Puls breathes new life into the American Revolution and sets Knox to his deserved place in American history.
by boonebridgebooks :: 2008-02-19 :: Heroes and Generals

Ceremony will be held to honor General Clark, Battle of Kettle Creek
Elijah Clark State Park will host a program honoring General Clark, in conjunction with ceremonies marking the 228th anniversary of the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilkes County. On Feb. 14, 1779, at the Kettle Creek Battlefield, 10 miles southwest of Washington, colonists ambushed a unit of British soldiers twice their size, which checked the British attack and subsequent domination of Georgia. The colonists were led by Elijah Clark, Andrew Pickens and John Dooly. The Battle was a turning point for the American Revolution in the South, described "the severest check and chastisement the Tories ever received in South Carolina or Georgia."
by lincolnjournalonline :: 2008-02-11 :: Heroes and Generals

My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams
He was her "Lysander" after the Spartan hero. She was his "Diana" after the Roman goddess of the moon. He was John Adams, the brilliant Revolutionary patriot and the second president of the US. She was Abigail, his spirited and brilliant wife. They were well-matched partners who shared a dedication to the Revolutionary movement, a love of books and history, and deep affection for each other. Because John Adams's feats in the War of Independence took him away from home, his correspondence with Abigail (1,160 letters survived) provides a vivid account of the era, and the chaotic circumstances during the birth of the nation and the hardships of daily life.
by iht :: 2008-01-12 :: Heroes and Generals

French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington's America
He is a French aristocrat who created a stir in America as a teenager, and then returned decades later to the US. The Marquis de Lafayette? Yes, but this time it is his great-great-great grandson. Arnaud Meunier du Houssoy arrived to mark a series of Lafayette commemorations. It is the 250th anniversary year of the birth of the Revolutionary War general, and an exhibition: "French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington's America" - opened at the New-York Historical Society. Soon there will be a auction of a historic gold medal: an enameled patriotic badge created for George Washington that was awarded to Lafayette in 1824.
by nytimes :: 2007-11-29 ::

When marquis de Lafayette Landed
In 1777, a French aristocrat disobeyed his king. The young man, who had socialized at Versailles, bought a ship on which to cross the Atlantic to fight with the Continental Army that had risen up against British Colonial rule. Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the marquis de Lafayette, became an aide-de-camp to Washington. In 1779 he returned to France to persuade the king to send official French forces. Lafayette returned in 1780 in command of French troops, and the next year led American soldiers against General Cornwallis. The British were pinned down at Yorktown with Lafayette on one side of them and Admiral de Grasse's French fleet on the other.
by nysun.com :: 2007-11-16 ::

General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2007 - Proclamation by President
More than 200 years after the death of General Casimir Pulaski, we honor the life and legacy of a Polish patriot and American Revolutionary War soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. ... Pulaski joined General George Washington in the American Revolution in 1777 and was soon commissioned as a Brigadier General. General Pulaski recruited and trained a special corps of American, Polish, Irish, French, and German troops, and he became known as "the Father of the American Cavalry." Although he was mortally wounded at the siege of Savannah in 1779, his legacy lives on. As we celebrate General Pulaski Memorial Day, we honor a son of Poland who stood with our country at the dawn of our independence.
by whitehouse :: 2007-10-15 :: Heroes and Generals

Town seeks recognization for Revolutionary War hero Timothy Murphy
The shot Timothy Murphy supposedly pulled off 230 years ago helped change history. He was a frontiersman who moved to New York's Schoharie Valley during the Revolutionary War, when he joined a company of Virginia sharpshooters serving in the Continental Army. Some historians credit Murphy with firing the shot that killed a British general during a critical moment of the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. The general's death helped the Americans win the battle - considered the turning point of the Revolutionary war. Murphy descendants say that a monument and recreation of the original fort would honor him - and help attract tourists.
by wcax :: 2007-10-06 :: Heroes and Generals

Remember Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, was born 250 years ago. Those who become national heroes in more than one country are rare indeed. But Lafayette is remembered not only in France, where he played a major role in the Revolution and in politics after the fall of Napoleon, but in America as well. No fewer than 15 states have counties named for him, and towns named Lafayette, Fayette, and Fayetteville dot the American landscape. He was serving as a captain in the French army when the American Revolution began. Despite his aristocratic background, he welcomed the principles for which it was fought.
by americanheritage :: 2007-09-08 :: Heroes and Generals

Exhibition: Overlooked Hero: John Glover and American Revolution
St. Paul's Church National Historic Site in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., is hosting an exhibition "Overlooked Hero: John Glover and the American Revolution." David Osborn said that Glover is well known around the area, having used the church grounds as a staging area during the Battle of Pell's Point, aka the Battle of Pelham. During the Battle of Pell's Point Glover and his regiment, though outnumbered, warded off British and Hessian troops, saving George Washington's main army from defeat. The exhibit contains historic prints and images, artifacts, models and audio files. "There is a letter to Glover from Washington, and we also have Glover's actual uniform from 1776."
by wickedlocal.com :: 2007-07-13 :: Heroes and Generals

Favorite Founding Fathers and their top three accomplishments
Benjamin Franklin - one of the most colorful of the Founding Fathers. Even though he did not become president, he made many contributions still important to us today. His most important contribution is being a Founding Father. He was the only Founding Father who signed all 3 of the major documents that led to our independence from Great Britain and formed our government - the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris and the U.S. Constitution. --- James Madison: best known as the Father of the Constitution. He was one of three authors of The Federalist, the essays that argued for adoption of the Constitution and that are still cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
by register-mail :: 2007-07-07 :: Heroes and Generals

Marquis de Lafayette: 19 years-old general helps birth America
If any one of the main commanders in the American Revolution could qualify as a knight, it was the French general the Marquis de Lafayette. For one thing, differing from other French officers who offered their services, he was of noble birth. Lafayette sailed to these shores in 1778 as an unpaid volunteer, outfitting a ship with military supplies at his own expense. As an aristocrat, he fought for the rights to the common man. In America, he trekked from Massachusetts to South Carolina, suffering a wound in Pennsylvania: all in pursuit of liberty for a people not his own. He was a brilliant tactician, admired by George Washington and respected by his men.
by jg-tc :: 2007-06-18 :: Heroes and Generals

Baron Von Steuben: A German general drills American troops
Baron von Steuben, patriot commander during America's Revolutionary War, was a fraud. In order to be hired by the Continental Congress he passed himself off as a person of noble birth; in truth he was the son of a farmer. Then he claimed he had served in the Prussian army as a lieutenant general, when he had never risen in ranks higher than a captaincy. And he informed Congress that he was drawn to the Continental army because of America's struggle for independence; in fact he applied for the job only after he had been dismissed from the Prussian army and was unable to get a similar position with any European power.
by jg-tc :: 2007-05-05 :: Heroes and Generals

John Stark: Maverick General - military leaders in the Revolution
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams are heroes of the American Revolution. Ben Z. Rose would like to see another name on that list: John Stark. With the French and Indian War raging, he fought alongside the British with Roger's Rangers. His the commando-style tactics he learned would later serve him well. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, he commanded the largest regiment of rebel soldiers. Stark's victory at Bennington was overshadowed a month later by the American Army's outstanding success at Saratoga. Unlike many other generals throughout American history he never made the transition from military to political leadership.
by unionleader :: 2007-04-08 :: Heroes and Generals

Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard
Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard made his name in the American Revolution, gaining recognition for military prowess and courage. In the 1781 Battle of Cowpens, lieutenant colonel Howard was "credited with turning the apparent British triumph into an American victory" in South Carolina, according to "John Eager Howard: Patriot and Public Servant," a Maryland Historical Magazine article by Cary Howard. 1781 Battle of Cowpens "became the beginning of the end of the British hold on America," George F. Scheer wrote in a prologue to Cowpens: "Downright Fighting."
by baltimoresun :: 2007-03-19 :: Heroes and Generals

Finally, a Colonial artillery hotshot Henry Knox gets his due
In Colonial Boston, Henry Knox's bookstore was a gathering place for British Army officers. Knox developed an interest in the tactics of artillery that he furthered by reading the books he imported from England. That knowledge would be turned against his customers in the military surprise that led to the events celebrated on Evacuation Day. Knox joined the Colonial artillery and convinced General George Washington that he could haul cannons from captured Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. On March 4, 1776, the cannons were mounted on Dorchester Heights, bringing the British garrison and fleet within range of their fire. Within 2 weeks the British evacuation was underway.
by boston :: 2007-03-09 :: Heroes and Generals

The General s Wild Ride - General Putnam
Article no longer available from the original source.
In late Feb 1779, a column of British troops marched on Greenwich with the intention of looting the town, and destroying a salt-works that supplied the Continental Army. The day would become legendary. General Putnam was in Greenwich inspecting garrisons of Continental troops stationed in the area. Putnam was staying in Knapp s Tavern and spotted the advancing column of British. Hastily, he tried to muster a defense of the town, but found that his 150 men were hardly a match for the 1,500-man British force. Putnam decided to gather reinforcements. When British dragoons spotted Putnam galloping down the Boston Post Road, they gave chase.
by greenwichcitizen :: 2007-03-03 :: Heroes and Generals

Revolutionary War spy - a slave James Armistead
Wars are rarely fought without the use of spies and the American Revolution was no exception. Arguably, the most important spy was a slave James Armistead. Born around 1748, he was given permission to join the revolutionary cause. Armistead, however, was used by both sides, making him a double-agent. In 1781, he joined the army and was put in service under the Marquis de Lafayette, who was trying to fight the chaos caused by turncoat soldier Benedict Arnold. His forces diminished by British General Charles Cornwallis' troops, Lafayette needed reliable information about enemy movements.
by time :: 2007-02-07 :: Heroes and Generals

Our Founding War Profiteers
In 1776 Pierre de Beaumarchais was a fan of the American revolution - and was also a secret agent of the French Crown. While spying in England, he met an Arthur Lee, who at the time was Benjamin Franklin's representative. After talking about America's situation with Lee, Beaumarchais reported to French King Louis XVI's foreign minister that it would be in France's interest to give England's rebellious colony 5 million livre (half a billion dollars today) because France had just lost the Seven Years War to England and wanted to make Britain pay through the nose to hang on to the US.
by counterpunch :: 2007-02-02 :: Heroes and Generals

Revolutionary warrior Thomas Cole
His name rarely appears in town records or state histories. But just weeks after British troops marched on Lexington and Concord, Thomas Cole left his Wickford to join America's war for independence. In 1775 he swapped his hammer for a musket. He planned to spend seven months as a lieutenant in the newly formed 9th Company, made up of men from Washington and Kent Counties. Instead, he fought for nearly eight years, won nine battle stars and, at a crucial point in the fighting, rode to Rhode Island to enlist slaves for the state's first "Black Regiment."
by projo :: 2006-12-04 :: Heroes and Generals

He was a patriot, not a redcoat -- accurate town flags
"Better Dead than Red" was true back in Revolutionary-era Boston, when the sight of a British redcoat was likely to trigger musket fire. So how can it be that the character in Norwood's town seal is wearing a red jacket? Legendary Minuteman Aaron Guild in red, marching off to Lexington in 1775 to fight the crown's forces. "Wearing red probably would have gotten him shot. He's one of our first and most famous veterans, and we should make sure the color of his uniform is right." Some argue it is historically inaccurate and should be changed, and as the town wants to order new flags anyway, and changing the color wouldn't cost any extra.
by boston :: 2006-10-05 :: Heroes and Generals

Archaeologist follows Revolutionary War hero Swamp Fox
Archaeologist Steve Smith is trying to find sites in the Pee Dee associated with Francis Marion to help create a Francis Marion Trail. Smith has spent the past months in the heart of Marion's early campaigns. He is working with the Francis Marion Trail Commission to determine which sites need further work for development for the new trail being created to honor the Revolutionary War hero nicknamed the Swamp Fox. Smith has been in the Port's Ferry area, where he said he has found several artifacts, including a side plate from a British Brown Bess Musket, buttons, a colonial period horseshoe and a buckle.
by dailycomet :: 2006-08-25 :: Heroes and Generals

Revolutionary War News is an edited review of hand-picked news and articles related to American War of Independence 1775-1783.