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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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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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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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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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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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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