The complete history of the Battle of Yorktown
Beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, the Battle at Yorktown was a historic victory for the Continental Army. So why is this one of the…
A navy of privateers helped win the American Revolution
It’s no secret that the early American revolutionists were up against a serious enemy when it came to the British Navy. Not only was the British Navy, one of the…
Today in military history: American victory at Saratoga
On Oct. 17, 1777, Americans won a major victory at Saratoga. During the American Revolution, the nascent United States needed a large victory to prove to foreign countries that the…
This British marksman could have killed George Washington
It’s difficult to imagine how history would have been altered if George Washington had been killed during the Revolutionary War. Without the father of our country leading its fight for freedom, the war might have been lost and America might still b…
How the British Army trolled the colonists after leaving New York
Before the Civil War, the major holiday that came at the end of November wasn’t Thanksgiving. It has nothing to do with turkey, pilgrims or pumpkin pie. Instead, it had…
3 foreign generals who became honorary U.S. citizens
For many Americans, military service was their pathway to citizenship. For their service during the Revolutionary War, three foreign generals have been declared honorary citizens of the United States. Citizenship…
Why George Washington was nearly impossible to kill
Despite having two horses shot out from under him, history would have been much different if George Washington …
Why this French nobleman’s Paris gravesite is filled with dirt from Massachusetts
The United States owes its success in the Revolutionary War to help from France. The chief architect of that help was Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette. In America,…
This was the Marine Corps’ first amphibious landing
In 1775, Captains Samuel Nicholas and Robert Mullan recruited men in a popular Philadelphia bar, promising them beer and adventure on the high seas. Just a few months after that November gathering at Tun Tavern, some five companies of the finest Mar…
The ‘Virginia Hercules’ was the one-man army of the American Revolution
One day in 1765, a 5-year-old boy wearing fine clothes and speaking no English was found on the docks of City Point, Virginia. No one knew where he came from,…