Sunday, July 31, 2011

The Battle of Great Brewster Island

On this day in 1775,

Maj. Benjamin Tupper leads a force of 300 men in whaleboats to stop British repair work on the island's lighthouse damaged during the Battle of Great Brewster Island 10 days earlier. Tupper's force kills or captures the entire British detachment and work crew.

And in 1777,

19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette is commissioned a Major General by Congress and is assigned to Washington's staff.
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Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Battle of Fort Edward

On this day in 1777,

Brig. Gen. Philip Schuyler abandons Ft. Edward and marches down the Hudson to Saratoga. His delaying tactic slows Gen. John Burgoyne forces to a crawl, taking 24 days to travel 23 miles. As Burgoyne approaches the fort, the retreating Americans torch crops and grasslands to deny the British forage, horses, and meat at the Battle of Fort Edward.
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Friday, July 29, 2011

JAG

On this day in 1775,

Congress creates the Chaplains and Judge Advocate General Corps. Col. William Tudor is appointed as the first JAG.
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Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Battle of Monmouth, NJ

On this day in 1778,

Mary Lugwig Hays McCauly, the wife of an artillery officer, is generally believed to be Molly Pitcher. She is remembered for bringing water to the patriots, not for drinking, but for swabbing cannon, during the Battle of Monmouth, NJ.
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The Battle of Monmouth, NJ

On this day in 1778,

Mary Lugwig Hays McCauly, the wife of an artillery officer, is generally believed to be Molly Pitcher. She is remembered for bringing water to the patriots, not for drinking, but for swabbing cannon, during the Battle of Monmouth, NJ.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Dr. Benjamin Church

On this day in 1775,

Congress creates the Army Medical Corps. Dr. Benjamin Church is appointed the first Director General and Chief Physician (today's Surgeon General).

Church was later discovered as a British spy. Congress resolved to jail him in Connecticut until 1777. He was then permitted to leave the country never to be heard from again presumed lost in the West Indies.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

United States Post Office

No major battles occurred on this date.

But in 1775, Congress establishes the United States Post Office and names Benjamin Franklin the first United States postmaster general.
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Monday, July 25, 2011

The Battle of Mars Bluff, SC

On this day in 1780,

British flatboats carrying sick soldiers are heading towards Charlestown on the Pee Dee River. Having learned of the movement, Maj. Tristram Thomas gathers troops to make an attack. Not having real cannon, they fashion fake "Quaker cannons". When the British approach the "battery," the Patriots rush out and pretend to load the cannons. The Loyalist militia quickly mutiny and surrender to Thomas at The Battle of Mars Bluff, SC.
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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Congressional President John Hancock

No major battles occurred on this date.

But in 1776, Congressional President John Hancock accuses Maj. Gen. Phillip Schuyler of tolerating discord among soldiers from different states under his command. Disappointed, Hancock told Schuyler that Congress was "concerned to find there should be a necessity of recommending harmony to the officers and troops of different States under his command.
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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Roger Sherman

No major battles occurred on this date.

But in 1793, Roger Sherman, a Connecticut Patriot and member of the Committee of Five selected to draft the Declaration of Independence, dies of typhoid in New Haven, Connecticut, at age 72.
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Friday, July 22, 2011

The Battle of Oconee River

On this day in 1777,

After a party of Creek Indians steal horses from Long Creek camp commanded by Capt. Thomas Dooly, he and nine Georgians give chase. Dooly enters an ambush site and is attacked. Dooly was one of the seven men who are killed at the Battle of Oconee River.
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Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Battle of Bull's Ferry, NJ

On this day in 1780,

Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne on orders from Washington, begins the bombardment of a stockaded blockhouse used to supply the British. The Americans try to force their way inside the building but could not achieve this suffering heavy casualties and withdraw from The Battle of Bull's Ferry, NJ.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Battle of Great Brewster Island

On this day in 1775,

American soldiers, led by Maj. Joseph Vose, set out in whaleboats for Nantasket Point. When they reached their destination, they drove off the British guard and destroyed the lighthouse during the Battle of Great Brewster Island.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Battle of Penobscot Peninsula

On this day in 1779,

Massachusetts, without consulting either Continental political or military authorities, launch an ill-fated, 4,000-man naval expedition commanded by Cmdre. Dudley Saltonstall, Adj. Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, Brig. Gen. Solomon Lovell and Lt. Col. Paul Revere. The expedition, consisting of several warships, has an objective to capture a 750-man British garrison at Castine during The Battle of Penobscot Peninsula.
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Monday, July 18, 2011

Cmdre. John Paul Jones

No major battles occurred on this date.

But in 1792, Cmdre. John Paul Jones dies in his Paris apartment, where he was still awaiting a commission as the United States consul to Algiers.
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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Capt. Moses Kirkland

On this day in 1775,

Capt. Moses Kirkland, commander of Ft. Ninety-Six, changes his loyalty and permits a raid on the fort essentially negating the gains of a week earlier at Ft. Charlotte.
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Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Battle of Fisher Summit, PA

On this day in 1780,

A British raiding party that also included some Indians manage to surprise a group of Patriot rangers, commanded by Capt. William Phillips. The patriots are soon beaten by the British. Phillips is captured by the raiding party and taken prisoner to Niagara after The Battle of Fisher Summit, PA.
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The Battle of Fisher Summit, PA

On this day in 1780,

A British raiding party that also included some Indians manage to surprise a group of Patriot rangers, commanded by Capt. William Phillips. The patriots are soon beaten by the British. Phillips is captured by the raiding party and taken prisoner to Niagara after The Battle of Fisher Summit, PA.
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Friday, July 15, 2011

The Battle of Earle's Ford, SC

On this day in 1780,

Col. Zacharias Gibbs sends a spy to infiltrate the Patriot camp commanded by Col. Charles McDowell. Successful, the spy returns with the information. Capt. James Dunlap and a Loyalist force is sent to attack the camp. Dunlap is spotted by a sentry, who alerts McDowell. The Loyalists charge the camp and are met with a counterattack which manages to drive away the Loyalists from The Battle of Earle's Ford, SC.
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Thursday, July 14, 2011

The French Revolution

On this day in 1789,

The French Revolution began. The Bastille, perceived to be a symbol of monarchist tyranny, is stormed by insurgents. After several hours of combat, the prison fell. Despite ordering a cease fire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Battle of Cedar Springs, SC

On this day in 1780,

Col. John Thomas, commanding the SC Patriot militia, after having been warned of an impending Loyalist attack by his mother prepares an ambush. The Tories quickly retreat from The Battle of Cedar Springs, SC.
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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

South Carolina

On this day in 1775,

Two companies of mounted South Carolina Rangers seize Ft. Charlotte, just west of Ft. Ninety-six across the Savannah River. The Rangers succeed without resistance from the small contingent of British on garrison.

The action is the first by colonial troops in the royal colony South Carolina.
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Monday, July 11, 2011

Norwalk Burns

On this day in 1779,

The coastal village raids on Connecticut from Long Island continue at Norwalk which is plundered, looted and burned.
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Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Battle at Bloody Point, SC

On this day in 1775,

Expecting a shipment to re-supply local Indians with gunpowder and shot, Capts. John Joyner and John Barnwell, commanded vessels that intercepted the armed escort, which was commanded by Capt. Richard Maitland, capturing 16,000 lbs. of gunpowder and shot that was on board at the Battle at Bloody Point, SC.

And in 1780,
Gen. Comte de Rochambeau arrives at Rhode Island with 6000 French troops.
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Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Battle of Newport.

On this day in 1777,

Lt. Col. William Barton and 40 militia capture British Maj. Gen. Richard Prescott and his aide-de-camp during a night time raid. Prescott is the commanding general of Royal forces in the colony of Rhode Island and is used for a prisoner exchange for Maj. Gen. Charles Lee after the Battle of Newport.
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Friday, July 8, 2011

The Battle of Boston Neck.

On this day in 1775,

Continental volunteers led by Maj. Benjamin Tupper and Capt. John Crane attack a British outpost routing the British guard, and burned down the guardhouse and the Battle of Boston Neck.

And in 1779,

Maj. Gen. Clinton's raiders burn the entire town of Fairfield, CT to the ground.
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Thursday, July 7, 2011

The Battle of Hubbardton

On this day in 1777,

British and Patriot forces in the Saratoga campaign engage in the only battle fought in Vermont territory during the War for Independence, at The Battle of Hubbardton.
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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Battle of Skenesborough

On this day in 1777,

Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne’s British navy shoot their way through the port defenses at the site where small US Naval ships were assembled for the Lake Champlain campaign. American defenders attempt to destroy their poorly maintained fortifications and depart for Fort Anne to the south. A small party pursues the fleeing rebels and the remainder awaited the arrival of Burgoyne at the Battle of Skenesborough.
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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Battle a Day - The Colonial Years

On this day in 1779,

Fed up with the constant harassment his troops on Long Island were enduring from across the sound in Connecticut, Maj. Gen. Sir Henry Clinton launches an attack on New Haven. The local militia and students from Yale were no match for the British who plundered the town at The Battle of New Haven.
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Monday, July 4, 2011

The Battle of Vincennes

On this day in 1776,

The Continental Congress approves the Declaration of Independence.

And in 1778,

Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark, fresh from his victorious campaign against the Kaskaskia and Cahokia settlements on the Illinois, captures Vincennes, a settlement of about seven hundred inhabitants on the Wabash River at The Battle of Vincennes.
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Sunday, July 3, 2011

Battle of Wyoming, PA

On this day in 1778,

Settlers, led by Col. Nathan Denison, were greatly out numbered by the combined British and Indian forces that attacked and then massacred them near Forty Fort at the Battle of Wyoming, PA.
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Saturday, July 2, 2011

Battle of Ft. Ticonderoga

On this day in 1776,

The second Continental Congress declares it's independence from Great Britain.

And in 1777,

Brig. Gen. Simon Fraser's light infantry and Brig. Gen. Baron von Riedesel's advancing units exchange volleys at the marshy banks of Eagle Creek at the foot of Mount Independence. When the smoke cleared, no one had been injured at another Battle of Ft. Ticonderoga.
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Friday, July 1, 2011

Indian nations

No major battles occurred on this date.

But in 1775, the Continental Congress resolves to recruit Indian nations to the American side in their dispute with the British, should the British take native allies of their own. Few “such Indians Nations” saw any advantage to joining the Patriot cause. Rather, they saw Great Britain as their last defense against the encroaching land-hungry European settlers into their ancestral territory.
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