On this day in 1780, a force led by Benjamin Tallmadge silently crosses the Long Island Sound. You might know Tallmadge for his association with the Culper Spy Ring, but on this occasion, he was on a different sort of mission: George Washington had authorized him to attack a British fort.   The attack came mere weeks after Benedict Arnold’s treason, and Tallmadge would write that “my former scheme of annoying the enemy on Long Island came fresh upon my mind” in the wake of Ar

On this day in 1751, Revolutionary War patriot Margaret Cochran Corbin is born. Margaret is one of the patriotic women behind the folk hero “Molly Pitcher.”   “[Molly Pitcher] has held a revered place in the patriotic lore of the American Revolution,” one National Archives article concludes, “right next to Betsy Ross.” Yet no one is sure if one woman inspired the legend or if “Molly Pitcher is merely a persona created from numerous sources.”   Whether she was the true inspira

On this day in 1781, George Washington’s stepson passes away. It had been less than three weeks since Washington’s victory over British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. What an odd mixture of emotions? Washington had been celebrating America’s miraculous victory after a long, brutal war. Now he was mourning the death of his only stepson. George Washington never had any children of his own. Historians speculate that an early case of smallpox, apparently followed by tub

On this day in 1732, a baby boy is born. While that boy was born into slavery, he would go on to become a free man and a hero of our American Revolution.   Relatively little is known about Jordan Freeman’s early life, but we do know that he was born into the household of Richard Lord of Old Lyme, Connecticut. At some point, Jordan was sold to Groton merchant John Ledyard. John, in turn, gave Jordan to his son William to be his “man-servant.”   The two became friends, and Will

On this day in 1776, George Washington’s army loses the Battle of White Plains, but it is one of those losses that doesn’t feel like a defeat: General Sir William Howe missed his chance to completely crush the American army. And, on a humorous note, he’d perhaps learned a thing or two about the tenacity of the upstart colonists who now took on the powerful British Army. The Battle of White Plains came not long after Washington’s men had been forced out of first Brooklyn, then

On this day in 1781, George Washington’s aide-de-camp continues a multi-day ride from Yorktown to Philadelphia. You might know about Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride, but do you know about Tench Tilghman’s? Paul Revere’s service earned him a poem, and he’s endured in American memory ever since. By contrast, Tilghman’s ride has gone mostly unnoticed—but the effort took so much out of him that he was sick for days afterwards. Tilghman didn’t mind. He’d been entrusted with the

On this day in 1746, Esther de Berdt Reed is born. Some say that she worked so hard to support the Revolution that she literally worked herself into an early grave. She was just shy of 34 years old when she passed away. Esther was the wife of Joseph Reed, the military secretary to George Washington. Esther had moved to America with her new husband only a few years before the war began. You can imagine that she initially felt torn between loyalty to the country of her birth an

On this day in 1778, the Affair at Little Egg Harbor occurs near the coast of New Jersey. Unfortunately, “affair” is too kind of a word. It was more like a massacre.   Little Egg Harbor was a base for American privateers during the Revolution. These privateers would capture British transport ships, then take the captured cargoes inland. Some cargo was sold. At times, supplies intended for the British army made their way to Washington’s troops instead.   British Sir Henry Clin

On this day in 1780, a band of Loyalists is defeated at the lesser-known Battle of Shallow Ford.  It was the second Patriot victory...

On or around this day in 1777, George Washington’s spy ring in Pennsylvania gets to work. Maybe you’ve heard of Revolutionary-era spies...

On this day in 1780, a group of Patriots crosses the Pee Dee River and camps in the swamps of eastern South Carolina. They’d just routed...

On this day in 1740, a future Revolutionary War hero is born. Hercules Mulligan was once a little-known Patriot, but the Broadway musical...

On or around this day in 1778, the “Paul Revere of the Mohawk Valley” makes his famous run.  Unlike Revere, Adam Helmer didn’t have a...

On this day in 1780, George Washington writes a letter, imparting some sad news. A well-respected Brigadier General, Enoch Poor, had...

On this day in 1786, George Washington writes a letter on a difficult topic. His views on slavery had been changing for many years.  ...

On this day in 1765, the Sons of Liberty destroy Massachusetts Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s home. The move came mere months after the Br

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence is signed. If you’re surprised to hear that it wasn’t signed on July 4, then you’re...

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence is proclaimed to the public from the Old State House in Boston. That building had...

On this day in 1755, a young George Washington becomes the “hero of the Monongahela.” Only one year earlier, he’d been given an early...

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence is formally read in public for the first time. Philadelphia’s city bells toll,...