Free Republic

On the morning of October 19, 1781, General Charles Cornwallis was ashamed of himself. Equestrian Washington The prior week had begun with General Cornwallis finding himself – along with his 8000 British, Loyalist American, and Hessian troops – hemmed in at Yorktown. He had consciously settled in there that spring, erecting fortifications, seemingly declaring the site permanently “British-held ground.” But gradually, things went against him. The American Commander in Chief, General George Washington, and French General Rochambeau moved in with their American and French troops… The great British Navy under Admiral Thomas Graves was unable to offer support, as French...

A digital sonar image of a different vessel on the floor of the York River. Shipwreck may date to 1781 siege YORK — Two years ago a sonar company in Gloucester was testing equipment in the York River when the crew hit the jackpot: an uncharted shipwreck on the river bottom. “That was quite a surprise,” said David Hazzard, an archaeologist with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The area where the ship was found is well-documented. There have previously been nine documented shipwrecks in the York River associated with the Revolutionary War and the Siege at Yorktown. Seven ships...

A replica of an 18th century French warship has set sail from France for the United States.

General George Washington embraced each of his military officers before stepping down from his commission Angelica George Washington gave a final goodbye to his soldiers at the close of the Revolutionary War on this day in history, Dec. 4, 1783. Washington, then-commanding general of the Continental Army, rallied his military officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City, according to History.com. He then informed his troops that he would be stepping down from his commission to return to civilian life. The future first president of the United States led his army through six years of warfare against the British ahead...

A replica of the French navy frigate Hermione that brought General Lafayette to America to rally rebels fighting Britain in the US war of independence, will set sail for the United States again on Saturday, 235 years after the original crossing.

Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were gay, says a new book by a gay activist and award winning writer. Larry Kramer, 79, says he believes what's written in his history book is true though he is selling it as fiction to avoid legal troubles. In Volume One of his two part book 'The American People,' Kramer says that Abraham Lincoln was gay and his killer John Wilkes Booth was actually Lincoln's spurned gay lover. 'We know that Abraham Lincoln was gay,' Kramer told CBS in an interview about the book which came out this month.

August 16, 2014 College Board Erases the Founding Fathers. By Patrick Jakeway The classic novel Brave New World describes a future in which people have lost all of their liberty and in which they have become drugged robots obedient to a central authority. It also details how this control was first established. First, the rulers had to erase all history and all the people’s memory of a time before their bondage. Today, the history of George Washington's leadership has been erased in the new Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History test/curriculum, taking effect in the fall of 2014. The College Board,...

The father of our nation knew how to throw a Christmas party. I’m talking thousands of pounds of bacon, gallons of homemade rye whiskey, a massive “great cake” and what he called an “attack of Christmas pies.” Everyone got four days off to celebrate at his Mount Vernon plantation and while there was no regular scheduled appearance by Santa, there was at least one recorded visit by a camel. But the abundant Christmas feasts of Washington’s later years were preceded by some years that were lean on Christmas cheer. When young George was 8 years old in 1740, his home...

This is part three of a 6-part 1997 PBS documentary on the Revolutionary War. The episode is titled "The Times That Try Men's Souls" (1776-1777). In addition to the Delaware River crossing and Hessian camp attack it also covers the British invasion of New York and subsequent Battle of Brooklyn, aka, The Battle of Long Island. "Days after the Declaration of Independence is signed, a British force arrives in New York harbor. Washington and his troops are driven to New Jersey. With only a few days of enlistment left for many of his volunteers, a desperate Washington leads his army...

As many of you know, there was an hiatus between Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown (October 19, 1781) and the Treaty of Paris (September 3, 1783). Washington stayed with his army and did not return to his beloved Mount Vernon until word of the treaty’s signing reached him, and he would see the British Army and Navy depart NYC on Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783. New Yorkers had made up a rhyme, “From Kip’s Bay to Evacuation Day” that had much meaning to them since Kip’s Bay (near present day First Avenue and 30th St. on the East River) was the...

ALEXANDER ROSE: Thankfully, this isn’t a chicken-and-egg question, so the answer is a simple one: Washington’s spies, otherwise known as the Culper Ring. There were five primary members. First in seniority was Benjamin Tallmadge, a dragoons officer who acted as the Ring’s manager in American-held Connecticut and made sure their intelligence was passed on to Washington back at headquarters. The agent who sailed back and forth across Long Island Sound (I prefer the more colorful contemporary description of it, “the Devil’s Belt”), tussling with freebooters and dodging patrol-boats, was Caleb Brewster, a former whaleboatman who really, really liked fighting. Brewster’s...

If you know the musical “1776,” you know the plot of Joseph J. Ellis’s breezy new book. It’s a stirring and conventional story. A handful of famous men struggle to create a republic against insurmountable odds. In the long run, their greatest challenge is the problem of slavery. But the most immediate threat is the military might of Britain. Toward the end of June 1776, as the Continental Congress nears a vote on American independence, the first of 427 royal ships carrying 1,200 cannons, 32,000 soldiers and 10,000 sailors appears off Long Island. Things look dire, a point made repeatedly...

The Historic Arkansas Museum will have two of George Washington's Bibles on display beginning Feb. 8. According to the museum's website, the Bible from the first president's inauguration will be on display for only two days, Feb. 8 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 9 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The George Washington Family Bible will also be exhibited, but will be on display for a longer period of time.

The Princeton Battlefield Society has filed an appeal of the Princeton Regional Planning Board’s decision to allow the Institute for Advanced Study to build faculty housing on a part of the battlefield known as Maxwell’s Field on Friday, and is also seeking funds to support the society’s fight. According to the society, the proposed development area of the battlefield is believed to be the site of a winning counterattack lead by George Washington during the Battle of Princeton. The appeal includes 12 counts that challenge the Planning Board’s decision. ”The Planning Board failed numerous times to properly support its decision...

After Decade, Message of Tolerance Comes to Jewish Museum After a decade hidden from view, one of the most important documents in American history is set to burst back onto public display, the Forward has learned. George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, in which the first president vowed that America would give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,” will form the centerpiece of a special show at the National Museum of American Jewish History, opening on June 29. Ivy Barsky, the NMAJH’s director and chief operating officer, said she was “absolutely thrilled”...

In the spirit of authenticity, a home-brewer attempts to recreate a founding father's beer recipe. It was last Thanksgiving. I had my heirloom turkey, local yams and organic cranberries. I had donned my waxed-canvas apron and consulted vintage recipe books. I was ready to eat. But on this, the most heritage-chic of holidays, what should one drink? Wine felt too stuffy; a six-pack not ceremonial enough. I was stumped. Then I discovered George Washington's beer. Or, more precisely, a recipe for it, referenced in a few old home-brewing books. Scribbled on the last page of one of Washington's journals is...

Seven are buried in unmarked graves near Old St. Peter’s Church, which was used as military hospital during fight for American independence. Memorial stone in front of Old St. Peter's Church honors the eight French soldiers who died in Van Cortlandtville during the Revolutionary War.Credit Jeff Canning Photos France sent 44,000 soldiers and sailors across the Atlantic Ocean to help the infant United States win its independence from British rule during the Revolutionary War. Five thousand of them died during the conflict, eight of them in Van Cortlandtville. The body of one, an officer who was a member of the...

Before devoting his time to defeating the British in the Revolutionary War and being the first president of the United States, George Washington enjoyed brewing his own beer. A handwritten recipe for "small beer" created by Washington in 1757, while serving in the Virginia militia, has been published by the New York Public Library. The recipe, which was found in Washington's "Notebook as a Virginia Colonel", lists the ingredients as bran hops, yeast and molasses –... "Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste," Washington instructed. "Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall into a...

A callow youngster's thirst for honor triggered the Seven Years' War. Unlike many of his fellow Founding Fathers, George Washington never wrote an autobiography...His sole effort at memoir emerged from notes he wrote clarifying points for a proposed biography by a former aide and trusted friend, David Humphreys. These "Remarks" were written in 1787-88, when Washington was in his mid-50s and pondering the daunting prospect of becoming the first president....Washington chose to reminisce about the five years when he had labored as a loyal subject of the British Empire to thwart French designs on the Ohio Valley. In late 1753,...

By DIANE CARDWELL It may be almost a year later than originally expected, but Fraunces Tavern, where Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his officers at the end of the Revolutionary War and where patrons have been eating and drinking on and off since 1762, has finally taken a big leap forward in its reincarnation. The bar, operated by an Irish outfit called the Porterhouse Group, opened last night for the first time since closing in February, attracting a mellow crowd of industry insiders, people who worked on the project and longtime patrons drawn to the place’s sense of history...