1.
Battle of the Assunpink Creek
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Washington and the council decided to meet this attack in Trenton, and established a defensive position south of the Assunpink Creek. Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis led the British forces southward in the aftermath of the December 26 battle, leaving 1,400 men under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton, Cornwallis advanced on Trenton with about 5,000 men on January 2. His advance was slowed by defensive skirmishing by American riflemen under the command of Edward Hand. After assaulting the American positions three times, and being repulsed each time, Cornwallis decided to wait and finish the battle the next day, Washington moved his army around Cornwalliss camp that night and attacked Mawhood at Princeton the next day. That defeat prompted the British to withdraw from most of New Jersey for the winter, the Hessian garrison was surrounded and quickly defeated. Washington crossed the river again and returned to his camp in Pennsylvania that afternoon, on December 30, Washington moved his army back to Trenton and stationed his men on the south side of the Assunpink Creek. At Trenton, Washington faced a dilemma, all but a handful of his mens enlistments were expiring on December 31, and he knew that the army would collapse unless he convinced them to stay. So, on the 30th, Washington appealed to his men to one month longer for a bounty of ten dollars. He asked any men who wanted to volunteer to poise their firelocks and you have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty. At first no one stepped forward, but then one soldier stepped forward, on January 1,1777, money from the Continental Congress arrived in Trenton and the men were paid. Washington also received a series of resolves from Congress including one that gave Washington powers similar to those of a military dictator. Washington decided that he would stand and fight at Trenton, and ordered General John Cadwalader, on December 31 Washington learned that an army of 8,000 men under the command of General Charles Cornwallis was moving to attack him at Trenton. Washington ordered his men to build earthworks that were parallel to the bank of the Assunpink Creek southeast of Trenton proper. The lines extended about three miles down the end of the stream. However, one of Washingtons aides, Joseph Reed, pointed out there were fords up stream that the British could cross. Washington could not escape across the Delaware because all of his boats were a few miles upstream, Washington told his officers that he planned to move the army and that their current position was only temporary. Cornwallis, who had been planning to return to Britain, had his leave canceled and he rode to Princeton to catch up with General James Grant, who had moved with 1,000 troops to reinforce Princeton
2.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
3.
H. Charles McBarron, Jr.
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Hugh Charles McBarron, Jr. an American commercial artist, is considered by many to be the Dean of American Military Historians and Military Illustrators. McBarron was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he lived all his life and he was born and raised in a family home on the Near North Side of Chicago that was rebuilt by his maternal grandfather after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. He began formal art training at age seven in classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and his favored artists and illustrators included Van Dyck, Winslow Homer, Howard Pyle, NC Wyeth, JC Leyendecker, Maxfield Parrish and John Singer Sargent. While informally researching military uniforms and weapons, McBarron realized that many illustrations of scenes were inaccurate. He became committed to knowledgeable portrayal of detail and historical accuracy, an example is his mature 1975 work Soldiers of the American Revolution, A Sketchbook. To support his studies, McBarron compiled a personal library and collection of arms, armour, uniforms, artifacts. He drew on these and public sources for reference when creating his more than 60-year body of work, McBarron created all his illustrations from his studio in Chicago. Throughout his entire career, he maintained studios in Downtown Chicago. McBarron often drafted and completed his work in non-stop fashion and he embraced and used to his advantage then-contemporary mediums such as Black-and-White photos, Polaroid photos, and Kodak 16-mm movies. His use of photography and other such resources helped him produce illustrations, to go along with his reading and research, McBarron visited and studied many of the major battlefields and historic sights located in the original 13 colonies, the Western Reserve, and Canada. He was known for his ability to comprehend and explain complexities of clothing, McBarron would recreate uniform patterns which he would use to sew replicas to serve as historically accurate models for his work. While attending a luncheon with a historian who was writing about a particular uniform. The fellow historian picked up McBarrons impromptu sketch, and later included its reproduction within a work on military dress. He also consulted with Encyclopædia Britannica and World Book Encyclopedia, McBarron served as a mentor, resource, and guide to many devotees, illustrators, and historians. Marine Corps, Circa 1805-1818 While known for his illustrations, throughout his career he also created illustrations for fashion, advertising. McBarron produced such popular-culture icons as Captain Midnight, the Jolly Green Giant and he portrayed himself as a subject within his works, and can be found in virtually all his military depictions. Illustrator Martin Handford, in a Time Magazine article, cited McBarron as his primary influence, together they had a son, H. Charles McBarron III, and a daughter, Mary Meredith McBarron Wagner. After his death, McBarron was interred next to his wife at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, government Printing Office Twenty-seven paintings for the American Oil Company c
4.
Trenton, New Jersey
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Trenton is the capital city of the U. S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was briefly the capital of the United States, as of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913, making it the states 10th-largest municipality. The Census Bureau estimated that the population was 84,034 in 2014. Trenton dates back at least to June 3,1719, when mention was made of a constable being appointed for Trenton, while the area was still part of Hunterdon County. Boundaries were recorded for Trenton Township as of March 2,1720, a courthouse and jail were constructed in Trenton around 1720, Trenton became New Jerseys capital as of November 25,1790, and the City of Trenton was formed within Trenton Township on November 13,1792. Trenton Township was incorporated as one of New Jerseys initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21,1798, on February 22,1834, portions of Trenton Township were taken to form Ewing Township. The remaining portion of Trenton Township was absorbed by the City of Trenton on April 10,1837, portions of Ewing Township and Hamilton Township were annexed to Trenton on March 23,1900. The first settlement which would become Trenton was established by Quakers in 1679, in the then called the Falls of the Delaware, led by Mahlon Stacy from Handsworth, Sheffield. Quakers were being persecuted in England at this time and North America provided an opportunity to exercise their religious freedom, by 1719, the town adopted the name Trent-towne, after William Trent, one of its leading landholders who purchased much of the surrounding land from Stacys family. This name later was shortened to Trenton, during the American Revolutionary War, the city was the site of the Battle of Trenton, George Washingtons first military victory. On December 26,1776, Washington and his army, after crossing the icy Delaware River to Trenton, after the war, the Confederation Congress briefly met in Trenton in November and December 1784. Trenton became the capital in 1790, but prior to that year the New Jersey Legislature often met here. The city was incorporated in 1792, during the War of 1812, the United States Armys primary hospital was at a site on Broad Street. Throughout the 19th century, Trenton grew steadily, as European immigrants came to work in its pottery, in 1837, with the population now too large for government by council, a new mayoral government was adopted, with by-laws that remain in operation to this day. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had an area of 8.155 square miles. Trenton is located near the geographic center of the state. However, Mercer County constitutes its own metropolitan area, formally known as the Trenton-Ewing MSA. Locals consider Trenton to be a part of an area called Central Jersey
5.
New Jersey
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New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania, New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States. New Jersey lies entirely within the statistical areas of New York City. New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, in the early 17th century, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. New Jersey was the site of decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century. In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Camden, Paterson, Newark, Trenton, around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, New Jersey bordered North Africa. The pressure of the collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains, around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic, as well as rivers, swamps. New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time of contact, scheyichbi is the Lenape name for the land that is now New Jersey. The Lenape society was divided into clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign, Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf and they first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through fur trade. The Dutch became the first Europeans to lay claim to lands in New Jersey, the Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern Middle Atlantic states. Although the European principle of ownership was not recognized by the Lenape. The first to do so was Michiel Pauw who established a patronship called Pavonia in 1630 along the North River which eventually became the Bergen, peter Minuits purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden. During the English Civil War, the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and it was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York, the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony. James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the area was named the Province of New Jersey. Since the states inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic, New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
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His eldest son William IV inherited the northern half and the capital of Kassel. The other sons received the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels, the line of Landgraves was founded by William IV, surnamed the Wise, the eldest son of Philip I. On his fathers death in 1567, he received one half of the Landgraviate of Hesse, with Kassel as his capital, and this formed the Landgraviate. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel expanded in 1604 when Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel inherited the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg from his childless uncle, Louis IV and his younger sons received apanages, which created several cadet lines of the house. The family line of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg survived till 1834, with the aid of the French and Swedes, she held it, together with part of Westphalia. During the Thirty Years War, the Calvinist Hesse-Kassel proved to be Swedens most loyal German ally and they maintained an army, garrisoning many strongholds, including Dorsten, the strongest fortress on the right bank of the Rhine which was subsequently lost as the Siege of Dorsten. Meanwhile, Hesse-Kassel was occupied by Imperial troops, at the Peace of Westphalia, accordingly, Hesse-Kassel was augmented by the larger part of the County of Schaumburg and by the Hersfeld Abbey, secularized as a principality of the Empire. The regent Amalie Elisabeth of Hanau-Münzenberg introduced the rule of primogeniture, William VI, who came of age in 1650, was an enlightened patron of learning and the arts. He was succeeded by his son William VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, then an infant and he was succeeded by his brother Charles I. Frederick I of Sweden, the next landgrave, had become by marriage King of Sweden, on his death, he was succeeded in the landgraviate by his brother William VIII, who fought as an ally of Kingdom of Great Britain during the Seven Years War. This action, often criticized, has in later years found apologists. Historians now argue that the troops were Auxiliaries or mercenaries, Frederick II used the revenue thus derived to develop the economic and intellectual life of the country. Due to their involvement in the American War of Independence, Hessian has become an American slang term for all German soldiers deployed by the British against the American Revolution, one such regiment was the Musketeer Regiment Prinz Carl. Since the early years of the Reformation, the House of Hesse was Protestant, Landgraves Philip I, William V, and Maurice married descendants of King George of Bohemia. From William VI onwards, mothers of the heads of Hesse-Kassel were always descended from William the Silent, William V was succeeded by Landgraves William VI and William VII. Under King Frederick I of Sweden, Hesse-Kassel was in union with Sweden from 1730–51. But the Kings younger brother, Prince William, ruled in Kassel as regent until he succeeded his brother, Hesse-Kassel maintained 7% of its entire population under arms throughout the eighteenth century. This force served as a source of mercenaries for other European states, the principality thus became known as Kurhessen, although still usually referred to as Hesse-Kassel
8.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
9.
Nathanael Greene
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When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible, he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washingtons most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United States are named after him and he suffered financial difficulties in the post-war years and died in 1786. Greene was the son of Nathanael Greene, a Quaker farmer and smith, Nathanael was born on Forge Farm at Potowomut in the township of Warwick, Rhode Island on August 7,1742. His mother Mary Mott was his fathers second wife and his fathers sect discouraged literary accomplishments, so Greene educated himself with a special study of mathematics and law. The Rev. Ezra Stiles, later president of Yale University, was an influence in the young Nathanaels life. In 1770, Greene moved to Coventry, Rhode Island to take charge of the family-owned foundry and he sympathized strongly with the Whig or Patriot element among the colonists. In July 1774, he married Catharine Littlefield, also known as Caty or Kitty and they had six children who survived infancy. He was Quaker by birth, and struggled to reconcile the faiths commitment to pacifism throughout his military career and he continued to serve despite this, as did many other Quakers in the American Revolution. In August 1774, Greene helped organize a militia which was chartered as the Kentish Guards that October. His participation in the group was challenged because he had a pronounced limp, at this time, he began to acquire many expensive volumes on military tactics and began to teach himself the art of war. In December 1774, he was on an appointed by the assembly to revise the militia laws. His zeal in fighting the British and organizing the militia led to his expulsion from the pacifistic Quakers, on May 8,1775, he was promoted from private to major general of the Rhode Island Army of Observation formed in response to the Siege of Boston. He was appointed a brigadier of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress on June 22,1775, George Washington assigned Greene the command of the city of Boston after it was evacuated by the British in March 1776. Severe illness prevented him taking part in the Battle of Long Island. Greene was also a Rhode Island Freemason and bore a masonic jewel, Greene was prominent among those who advised a retreat from New York City. He also advocated the burning of the city so that the British might not use it and he justified this by asserting that the majority of property was owned by Loyalists. While Washington agreed with this, the proposal was rejected by Congress and he was placed in command of Fort Constitution on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. On October 25,1776, he succeeded General Israel Putnam in command of Fort Washington, Greene ordered Colonel Magaw, who was in immediate command, to defend the place until he should hear from him again, and reinforced it to meet General Howes attack
10.
Johann Rall
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Johann Gottlieb Rall was a German colonel, best known for being in command of Hessian troops in Trenton, New Jersey at the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War. Rall was probably born as a so-called soldier child in about 1726 and he was a son of Captain Joachim Rall from Stralsund, who served in the regiment of Major General Donop. The first mention of Johann Rall was as a new cadet of the regiment on March 1,1740. He was promoted to ensign on July 25,1741, to lieutenant on August 28,1745, and to captain on May 10,1753. Rall was promoted to major on May 7,1760, under Major General Bischhausen and transferred, in January 1763, into the Stein garrison regiment, on April 22,1771, he was transferred to the Mansbach Infantry Regiment as a colonel. He became commander of the regiment in January 1772, during this time, Rall fought in the War of the Austrian Succession and participated in campaigns in Bavaria, on the Rhine, in the Netherlands, and served in Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellion. He fought in the Seven Years War and was involved in many battles, from September 1771 until August 1772, he was in Russia and fought for Catherine the Great under Count Orlov in the Fourth Russo-Turkish War. He was at the Battle of Brooklyn at Flatbush, the Battle of White Plains, Battle of Long Island, on the night of December 25–26,1776 General George Washington crossed the Delaware River with his troops on the way to Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessian regiments, camped in and around Trenton, were attacked, the Hessians had supposedly let their guard down to celebrate the Christmas holiday, and Rall himself was misled by John Honeyman, a spy of Washington who convincingly posed as a loyalist. Then after receiving the message, placed it in his pocket without reading it. While leading his troops during the battle, Rall was mortally wounded and he was shot twice in the side and needed to be carried back to his headquarters, where he died that night. The note informing the colonel of the attack was found in his coat pocket. Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption – Site of his headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey General Donald N. Moran, Johann Gottlieb Rall, Trenton Historical Society Rall, Johan Gottlieb. Johann Gottlieb Rall at Find a Grave
11.
New York and New Jersey campaign
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The British held New York harbor for the rest of the war, using it as a base for expeditions against other targets. Washington had New England soldiers as well as regiments from states as far south as Virginia, landing on Long Island in August, Howe defeated Washington in the largest battle of the war, but the Continental Army was able to retreat to Manhattan under cover of darkness and fog. Washington suffered a series of defeats in Manhattan, with the exception of the skirmish at Harlem Heights, at that point Howe returned to Manhattan to capture forces Washington had left in the north of the island. Howe ordered his troops into winter quarters in December, establishing a chain of outposts from New York to Burlington, during the remaining winter months, both sides skirmished frequently as the British sought forage and provisions. Britain maintained control of New York City and some of the territory until the war ended in 1783. Northern New Jersey was the scene of skirmishing between the forces for the rest of the war. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, British troops were under siege in Boston and they defeated Patriot forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill, suffering very high casualties. In January 1776 Washington ordered Charles Lee to raise troops and take command of New Yorks defenses, Lee had made some progress on the citys defenses when word arrived in late March 1776 that the British army had left Boston after Washington threatened them from heights south of the city. At the end of April, Washington dispatched General John Sullivan with six regiments to the north to bolster the faltering Quebec campaign, in June he set sail for New York with the 9,000 men assembled there, before all of the transports arrived. German troops, primarily from Hesse-Kassel, as well as British troops from Henry Clintons ultimately unsuccessful expedition to the Carolinas, were to meet with Howes fleet when it reached New York. General Howes brother, Admiral Lord Howe, arrived at Halifax with further transports after the general sailed, Washington learned from prisoners taken that Howe had landed 10,000 men, but was awaiting the arrival of another 15,000. He consequently split the Continental Army between fortified positions on Long Island, Manhattan and other locations, and also established a Flying Camp in northern New Jersey. This was intended as a force that could support operations anywhere along the Jersey shore of the Hudson. The Howe brothers had been granted authority as peace commissioners by Parliament, king George III was not optimistic about the possibility of a peace, yet I think it right to be attempted, whilst every act of vigour is unremittingly carried on. Their powers were limited to granting of general and special pardons, on July 14, pursuant to these powers, Admiral Howe sent a messenger with a letter addressed to George Washington, Esq. across the harbor. Washingtons adjutant, Joseph Reed, politely informed the messenger that no person with title was in their army. Admiral Howes aide wrote that the Punctilio of an Address should not have prevented the letters delivery, a second request, addressed to George Washington, Esq. etc. was similarly rejected, although the messenger was told that Washington would receive one of Howes adjutants. In that fruitless meeting, held July 20, Washington pointed out that the powers the Howe brothers had been given were not of much use
12.
Battle of Long Island
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The Battle of Long Island is also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights. It was fought on August 27,1776 and was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4,1776. It was a victory for the British Army and the beginning of a campaign that gave them control of the strategically important city of New York. In terms of troop deployment and fighting, it was the largest battle of the entire war, Washington understood that the citys harbor would provide an excellent base for the British Navy during the campaign, so he established defenses there and waited for the British to attack. After five days of waiting, the British attacked American defenses on the Guan Heights, unknown to the Americans, however, Howe had brought his main army around their rear and attacked their flank soon after. The Americans panicked, resulting in twenty percent losses through casualties and captures, the remainder of the army retreated to the main defenses on Brooklyn Heights. The British dug in for a siege but, on the night of August 29–30, Washington and the Continental Army were driven out of New York entirely after several more defeats and forced to retreat through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. In the first stage of the war, the British Army was trapped in the city of Boston and they abandoned it on March 17, setting sail to Halifax. Washington then began to transfer regiments to New York City which he believed the British would next attack because of its strategic importance. Washington left Boston on April 4, arrived at New York on April 13, Washington had sent his second in command Charles Lee ahead to New York the previous February to establish the citys defenses. Lee remained in New York City until March, when the Continental Congress sent him to South Carolina, troops were in limited supply, so Washington found the defenses incomplete, but Lee had concluded that it would be impossible to hold the city with the British commanding the sea. He reasoned that the defenses should be located with the ability to inflict casualties upon the British if any move was made to take. Barricades and redoubts were established in and around the city, Lee also saw that the immediate area was cleared of Loyalists. Washington began moving troops to Brooklyn in early May, and there were several thousand of them there in a short time. Three more forts were under construction on the side of the East River to support Fort Stirling. These new fortifications were Fort Putnam, Fort Greene, and Fort Box and they lay from north to south, with Fort Putnam farthest to the north, Greene slightly to the southwest, and Box slightly farther southwest. Each of these structures was surrounded by a large ditch, all connected by a line of entrenchments. Fort Defiance was also being constructed at this time, located farther southwest, past Fort Box, hulks were sunk at strategic locations to deter the British from entering the East River and other waterways
13.
Turtle (submersible)
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Turtle was the worlds first submersible with a documented record of use in combat. She was built in Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1775 by American David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor, Bushnell designed her for use against British Royal Navy vessels occupying North American harbors during the American Revolutionary War. Several attempts were made using Turtle to affix explosives to the undersides of British warships in New York Harbor in 1776, all failed, and her transport ship was sunk later that year by the British with the submarine aboard. Bushnell claimed eventually to have recovered the machine, but its fate is unknown. In the early 1770s, David Bushnell, a Yale College freshman and Patriot, by 1775, with tensions on the rise between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain, Bushnell had practically perfected these explosives. That year he began work near Old Saybrook, Connecticut on a small manned submersible craft capable of affixing such a charge to the hull of a ship. The charge would then be detonated by a mechanism that released a musket firing mechanism, probably a flintlock. According to Dr. Benjamin Gale, a doctor who taught at Yale and it dived by allowing water into a bilge tank at the bottom of the vessel and ascended by pushing water out through a hand pump. It was propelled vertically and horizontally by hand-cranked propellers and it also had 200 pounds of lead aboard, which could be released in a moment to increase buoyancy. Manned and operated by one person, the vessel contained enough air for thirty minutes and had a speed in calm water of about 3 mph. Six small pieces of glass in the top of the submarine provided natural light. The internal instruments had small pieces of bioluminescent foxfire affixed to the needles to indicate their position in the dark, during trials in November 1775, Bushnell discovered that this illumination failed when the temperature dropped too low. Although repeated requests were made to Benjamin Franklin for possible alternatives, none was forthcoming, Bushnells basic design included some elements present in earlier experimental submersibles. Bushnells work began to more attention in August 1775, when Franklin was informed of it. Despite Bushnells insistence on secrecy surrounding his work, news of it made its way to the British. On November 16,1775, a message to William Tryon. The details of the report were highly inaccurate, implying Turtle was nearly ready to be deployed in Boston harbor against the fleet that was part of the British siege effort there, in fact, Bushnell and his brother Ezra were still testing the machine in the Connecticut River. In the spring of 1776, after the British withdrew from Boston, Washington agreed, and provided some funding to the inventor to prepare the vessel for deployment
14.
Staten Island Peace Conference
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The Staten Island Peace Conference was a brief meeting held in the hope of bringing an end to the American Revolutionary War. The conference took place on September 11,1776, at Billop Manor, the participants were the British Admiral Lord Richard Howe, and members of the Second Continental Congress John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Edward Rutledge. Since Lord Howes authority was, by design, extremely limited, the conference, held in the days after the British capture of Long Island, lasted just three hours and was a failure. The Americans insisted on recognition of their declared independence. After the conference, the British continued their campaign for control of New York City. When British authorities were planning how to deal with their rebellious North American colonies in late 1775 and early 1776, two brothers, Admiral Lord Richard Howe and General William Howe, were given command of the naval and land aspects of the operation respectively. Since they believed it still be possible to end the dispute without further violence. Admiral Howe had previously discussed colonial grievances informally with Benjamin Franklin in 1774 and 1775, General Howe believed that the problem of colonial taxation could be resolved while retaining the supremacy of Parliament. As a consequence, the Howes were only granted the ability to issue pardons and amnesties, no concessions could be made unless hostilities were ended and colonial assemblies made specific admissions of Parliamentary supremacy. After the fleet arrived in July 1776, Admiral Howe made several attempts to open communications with Continental Army General George Washington, two attempts to deliver letters to Washington were rebuffed because Howe refused to recognize Washingtons title. Washington did however agree to meet in person with one of Howes adjutants, Lord Howe then sent a letter to Benjamin Franklin detailing a proposal for a truce and offers of pardons. He also pointed out to the admiral that you gave me expectations that reconciliation might take place. Howe was apparently taken aback by Franklins forceful response. In the Battle of Long Island on August 27,1776, British forces successfully occupied western Long Island, General Howe then paused to consolidate his gains, and the brothers decided to make a diplomatic overture. During the battle they had captured several high-ranking Continental Army officers, the Congress did however agree to send three of its members – Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Edward Rutledge – to a conference with Lord Howe. They were instructed to ask a few Questions and take Answers, when Howe learned of the committees limited authority, he briefly considered calling the meeting off, but decided to proceed after discussion with his brother. None of the believed the conference would amount to anything. Lord Howe initially sought to meet with the men as private citizens, in order that the conference might take place, he agreed to the American demand that they be recognized as official representatives of the Congress
15.
Landing at Kip's Bay
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The Landing at Kips Bay was a British amphibious landing during the New York Campaign in the American Revolutionary War on September 15,1776, occurring on the eastern shore of present-day Manhattan. Heavy advance fire from British naval forces in the East River caused the inexperienced militia guarding the area to flee. Skirmishes in the aftermath of the resulted in the British capture of some of those militia. British maneuvers following the very nearly cut off the escape route of some Continental Army forces stationed further southeast on the island. The flight of American troops was so rapid that George Washington, the operation was a British success, and resulted in the withdrawal of the Continental Army to Harlem Heights, ceding control of New York City on the lower half of the island. However, General Washington established strong positions on Harlem Heights which he proved determined to defend in a skirmish between the two armies the following day. General Howe, unwilling to risk a frontal attack, did not attempt to advance further up the island for another two months. The American Revolutionary War had not gone well for the British military in 1775, at besieged Boston, the arrival of heavy guns for the Continental Army camp prompted General William Howe to withdraw from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia in March 1776. He regrouped there, acquired supplies and reinforcements, and embarked in June on a campaign to control of New York City. On the night of August 29–30, Washington successfully evacuated his army of 9,000 troops to York Island. Despite showing discipline and unity during the evacuation, the army quickly devolved in despair, large numbers of militia, many of whose summertime enlistments ended in August, departed for home. Leadership was questioned in the ranks, with soldiers openly wishing for the return of the colorful and they would derive great conveniences from it, on the one hand, and much property would be destroyed on the other, Washington wrote. York Island was occupied principally on the tip by New York City, on the western tip by Greenwich village. The sparsely-populated center of the featured a few low hills, principally Indianburg. The island was bordered by two rivers, on the west by the Hudson River and on the east by the East River, which separated the island from Long Island. Kips Bay was a cove on the shore of the island, extending roughly from present-day 32nd to 38th Streets. Opposite the bay on Long Island, the mouth of Newtown Creek, also surrounded by meadowlands. He also ordered an attempt to be made on HMS Eagle, Lee was able to escape, although he was forced to release his explosive payload to fend off small boats sent by the British to investigate when he surfaced to orient himself
16.
Battle of Harlem Heights
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The Battle of Harlem Heights was fought during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The action took place in what is now the Morningside Heights, immediately opposite was the vanguard of the British Army totaling around 5,000 men under the command of Major General Henry Clinton. The overconfident British light troops, having advanced too far from their lines without support, had exposed themselves to counter-attack, meeting reinforcements coming from the south with artillery support, the British light infantry turned and made a stand in open fields on Morningside Heights. The Americans, also reinforced, came on in strength and there followed an exchange of fire. After two hours, with ammunition running short, the British force began to back to their lines. Washington cut short the pursuit, unwilling to risk an engagement with the British main force. The battle helped restore the confidence of the Continental Army after suffering several defeats and it was Washingtons first battlefield success of the war. After two defeats Washington retreated west across the Hudson River, on August 27,1776, British troops under the command of General William Howe flanked and defeated the American army at the Battle of Long Island. Howe moved his forces and pinned the Americans down at Brooklyn Heights, on the night of August 29, General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, evacuated his entire army of 9,000 men and their equipment across the water to Manhattan. On September 15, Howe landed his army in an operation at Kips Bay, on the eastern shore of Manhattan. After a bombardment of the American positions on the shore,4,000 British, after scattering the Americans at Kips Bay, Howe landed 9,000 more troops, but did not immediately cut off the American retreat from New York Town in the south of the island. Washington had all of his troops in the city on their way to north along the westside of Manhattan to Harlem Heights by 4,00 pm, early on September 16, Washington received reports, which proved to be unfounded, that the British were advancing. Washington, who had been expecting an attack, had ordered a party of 150 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton to reconnoiter the British lines, at daybreak, Knowltons troops were spotted by the pickets of the British light infantry. The British sent two or three companies to attack the enemy to their front, for more than half an hour the skirmish continued, with fighting in the woods between two farms. The British followed in rapid pursuit, as they advanced, the British light troops signalled with bugle calls, which to Colonel Joseph Reed were reminiscent of a fox hunt, and seemed to him to be intended as an insult. Probably about this time, the Second and Third battalions of British light infantry, Reed, who had met Knowlton, rode to Washington to tell him what was going on and encouraged him to reinforce the rangers. Washington would have some troops make a feint, in order to draw the British down into an area of ground known as The Hollow Way. The feint party was composed of 150 volunteers who ran into the hollow way, after the British were in the hollow way, the 150 volunteers were reinforced by 900 more men
17.
Battle of Pell's Point
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The Battle of Pells Point, also known as the Battle of Pelham, was a skirmish fought between British and American troops during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The conflict took place in what is now part of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, the Americans thwarted the landing, and Gen. Sir William Howe, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, on October 18, he landed 4,000 men at Pelham,3 miles north of Throgs Neck. Inland were 750 men of a brigade under the command of the American Col. John Glover, Glover positioned his troops behind a series of stone walls and attacked the British advance units. As the British overran each position, the American troops fell back, after several such attacks, the British broke off, and the Americans retreated. The battle delayed British movements long enough for Washington to move the army to White Plains. After losing to the British in a battle at White Plains, after a victory at the Battle of Long Island in late August, the commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, Gen. Sir William Howe landed his troops at Kips Bay, on the shore of present-day Manhattan. George Washington and his army retreated to Harlem Heights, a plateau situated on the end of Manhattan Island. The next day, the British attacked the Americans and were defeated at the Battle of Harlem Heights, there was very little action for the next month, while the two forces remained in their fortified positions, each unable to decide upon their next move. The Americans believed Howe would either attack Fort Washington or attempt to flank the Americans with a landing at some point on Long Island Sound. After 26 days of contemplation, Howe decided against an attack on Harlem Heights and Fort Washington. Throgs Neck—originally known as Throckmortons, and also known as Throcks, Frogs Neck, conveniently for Howe, there was a road running from Throgs Neck to Kingsbridge, directly behind the American forces. Howe hoped to use road to flank the Americans and pin them against the Hudson River. Under the cover of fog, a force of 4,000 men under the command of General Henry Clinton was landed on Throgs Neck. To their dismay, they found they were not on a peninsula, but on an island, separated from the mainland by a creek, there were two ways to get to the mainland, a causeway and bridge at the lower end, and a ford at the other. They surprised the British troops, who fell back and made an attempt to cross at the ford, the Americans guarding both positions were quickly reinforced, and the defenders soon numbered over 1,800 men. Howe decided it would be better to retreat and land somewhere else, just after midnight on October 18, Howe embarked his army again and decided to land at Pells Point near the town of Pelham, a few miles to the north
18.
Battle of White Plains
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The Battle of White Plains was a battle in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on October 28,1776, near White Plains, New York. Alerted to this move, Washington retreated farther, establishing a position in the village of White Plains, Howes troops drove Washingtons troops from a hill near the village, following this loss, Washington ordered the Americans to retreat farther north. Later British movements chased Washington across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, Washington then crossed the Delaware and surprised a brigade of Hessian troops in the December 26 Battle of Trenton. British General William Howe, after evacuating Boston in March 1776, regrouped in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the campaign began with an unopposed landing on Staten Island in early July. After losing the Battle of Long Island on August 27, General Washington, General Howe followed up with a landing on Manhattan on September 15, but his advance was checked the next day at Harlem Heights. Howe established a camp at New Rochelle, but advance elements of his army were near Mamaroneck, only 7 miles from White Plains, on October 20, General Washington sent Colonel Rufus Putnam out on a reconnaissance mission from his camp at Harlem Heights. Putnam discovered the general placement of the British troop locations and recognized the danger to the army, when he reported this to Washington that evening, Washington immediately dispatched Putnam with orders to Lord Stirling, whose troops were furthest north, to immediately march to White Plains. They arrived at White Plains at 9 am on October 21, Washington decided to withdraw most of the army to White Plains, leaving a garrison of 1,200 men under Nathanael Greene to defend Fort Washington on Manhattan. General Howes army advanced slowly, with troops from his center and right moving along the road from New Rochelle to White Plains, while a unit of Loyalists occupied Mamaroneck. The latter was attacked that night by a detachment of Lord Stirlings troops under John Haslet, who more than thirty prisoners as well as supplies. As a result, Howe moved elements of his wing to occupy Mamaroneck. On October 22, Howe was reinforced by the landing at New Rochelle of an additional 8,000 troops under the command of Wilhelm von Knyphausen. Washington established his headquarters at the Elijah Miller House in North White Plains on October 23, the trenches were situated on raised terrain, protected on the right by the swampy ground near the Bronx River, with steeper hills further back as a place of retreat. The American defenses were 3 miles long, beyond that, on the right, was Chattertons Hill, which commanded the plain over which the British would have to advance. The hill was occupied by militia companies numbering several hundred. On October 24 and 25, Howes army moved from New Rochelle to Scarsdale and this move was apparently made in the hopes of catching Charles Lees column, which had to alter its route toward White Plains and execute a forced march at night to avoid them. While Washington was inspecting the terrain to determine where it was best to station his troops, messengers alerted him that the British were advancing. Spencers force advanced to a position on the old York road at Harts corners, Ralls troops attempted to gain the hill, but were repelled by fire from Haslets troops and the militia, and retreated to a nearby hilltop on the same side of the river
19.
Battle of Fort Washington
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The Battle of Fort Washington was a battle fought in New York on November 16,1776 during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a British victory that gained the surrender of the remnant of the garrison of Fort Washington near the end of Manhattan Island. It was one of the worst Patriot defeats, General Washington issued a discretionary order to General Nathanael Greene to abandon the fort and remove its garrison – then numbered at 1,200 men but later to grow to 3,000 – to New Jersey. Colonel Robert Magaw, commanding the fort, declined to abandon it as he believed it could be defended from the British, howes forces attacked the fort before Washington reached it to assess the situation. Howe launched his attack on November 16 and he led an assault from three sides, the north, east and south. Tides in the Harlem River prevented some troops from landing and delayed the attack, when the British moved against the defenses, the southern and western American defenses fell quickly. Patriot forces on the north side offered stiff resistance to the Hessian attack, with the fort surrounded by land and sea, Colonel Magaw chose to surrender. A total of 59 Americans were killed and 2,837 were taken as prisoners of war, after this defeat, most of Washingtons army was chased across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, and the British consolidated their control of New York and eastern New Jersey. During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Washington was located at the highest point of the island of Manhattan, along with Fort Lee, located just across the Hudson River atop the New Jersey Palisades, the twin forts were intended to protect the lower Hudson from British warships. Later in June, the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington, inspected the location, shortly after Washingtons survey, troops from Pennsylvania began construction on the fort under the supervision of Rufus Putnam. They first prepared a cheval de frise to prevent British ships from sailing up the Hudson, when the cheval de frise was finished, they began work on the fort. Little soil covered the surface, so men had to haul soil up from the low ground. They were unable to dig the ditches or trenches around the fort. The fort was built in the shape of a pentagon with five bastions, the main walls were made of earth, constructed with ravelins with openings for guns from every angle. The fort enclosed a total of three to four acres, the troops built an abbattis around the fort. After the barracks were finished in September, all the troops in the area were placed under the command of Major General William Heath, Washington established his headquarters near the fort. Supporting the fort were numerous defenses, to the south of the fort were three lines of defense. The lines went through the hills and were made of trenches and foxholes, the first line was supported by a second line about 0.33 mi to the north, and a third line was planned to be built 0.25 mi north of the second
20.
Fort Lee Historic Park
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Fort Lee Historic Park is located atop a bluff of the Hudson Palisades overlooking Burdetts Landing, known as Mount Constitution, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Native Americans appear to have lived in the area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, site of George Washingtons 1776 encampment opposite Fort Washington at the northern end of Manhattan. Fort Lee is named for General Charles Lee, the site is a reconstruction of the encampment including the blockhouse, battery, quarters as well as a visitors center. It is adjacent to Palisades Interstate Park, General George Washington issued orders to General Mercer to summon all available troops and erect a fort on the west side of the Hudson River. Construction commenced in July 1776 on the new fort, to be called Fort Constitution and it was located on the western side of the road that led up the hill from the landing. Concurrently, Fort Washington was being built almost directly across the North River in New York, chevaux-de-frise, south of the Hudson River Chain, were laid between them. These twin forts were intended to protect the lower Hudson from British warships, at first efforts were concentrated close to the water level near Burdetts Landing. Later, fortifications were added atop the bluff under the supervision of Joseph Philips, at the end of September 1776, Fort Constitution was renamed Fort Lee, for General Charles Lee of the Continental Army. George Washington used the stone Bourdette house for his headquarters when he passed time at Fort Lee, at this stage of the war the ferry operated as a supply line and the only link between Forts Lee and Washington. Peter Bourdettes sixteen-year-old son, also named Peter, provided assistance by direct use of the landing, during the week leading up to the evacuation of Fort Lee he rowed back and forth across the river gathering information for General Washington on the anticipated movements of the British forces. On November 16,1776 George Washington witnessed the battle for New York from across the river on the bluff of Fort Lee, Fort Lee was rendered defenseless after Continental Army troops holding Fort Washington were defeated and captured on November 16,1776. The Royal Navy controlled the Hudson River, General William Howe ordered Charles Cornwallis to clear the rebel troops from New Jersey without a major engagement, and to do it quickly before the weather changed. The force included Hessian units commanded by Colonel Carl von Donop, the invasion of New Jersey began the night of November 19–20, when 5,000 British troops ferried across the Hudson on barges and began landing near New Dock Landing. George Washington and Nathanael Greene quickly ordered the evacuation of the fort on the morning of November 20,1776, Fort Lee Museum is located in Monument Park. Which was created by the Daughters of the American Revolution and dedicated in 1908 at ceremony attended by General John Black Jack Pershing, the park was part of the original Fort Constitution of the Continental Army under the leadership of General George Washington. Over 2,600 troops were stationed in and around the Monument Park area, in 2004, the park was reconstructed for the Fort Lee Centennial Celebration. A time capsule was placed at the foot of the monument, Monument Park and Continental Army Plaza in Williamsburg, Brooklyn are the only parks in the United States dedicated to the soldiers of the American Revolution. New Jersey during the American Revolution Battle of Fort Washington Hudson River Chain New Bridge Landing Palisades Interstate Park Adams, Cornwallis and the Conquest of New Jersey
21.
Ambush of Geary
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The Ambush of Geary was a skirmish of the American Revolutionary War fought on 14 December 1776 near Ringoes in Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Cornet Francis Geary, the leader of a company of dragoons, was shot in a set up by local militiamen. After British forces captured New York City in the first part of the New York and New Jersey campaign, Geary, the son of Admiral Sir Francis Geary, was operating from a station at Pennington when he was killed in the ambush. His body was concealed and later buried in a shallow grave, in the 19th century local historical interest led to the confirmation of his graves location, and the establishment of markers at the site and in England. The British and their Hessian allies regularly sent out reconnaissance and foraging parties and these were vulnerable to attack by local Patriot militia companies. Cornet Francis Geary was the eldest son and heir of Admiral Sir Francis Geary and Mary Bartholomew, born in 1752, he was raised in Surrey and educated at Balliol College, Oxford. Purchasing a cornetcy in the 16th Light Dragoons in 1773, Geary was sent to North America in 1776, on 14 December, Cornet Geary and seven other members of the 16th were sent north on a reconnaissance mission. According to this account, Gearys party rode through Amwell Township toward Flemington to verify that a supply of salt beef, when Gearys company rode by, the militia fired a volley of musket fire, killing Geary. A more brief description by a non-participating British officer reporting the event indicated that Geary was alerted to the impending fire, the dragoons returned fire, but were driven off by continuing militia fire. The militiamen appropriated portions of Gearys uniform, including his sword, British troops that had been sent out to meet them and take the supplies questioned the local inhabitants and searched the area, but could not find his body. The militiamen had concealed it, it was buried in a shallow grave the next day and this was crucial when the Americans began massing boats along the Delaware River prior to Washingtons crossing of the Delaware that culminated with the Battle of Trenton on 26 December 1776. Gearys troops were stationed only 5 miles from the river and Malta Island, Hunterdon County traditions claim that Gearys belongings were hidden to prevent their discovery by British troops. His coat is said to have been hidden under a pile of wheat on the floor of a garret, many local residents of Hunterdon County were unaware that Geary had been buried there, and accounts persisted that the British had recovered his body. In 1891 the Hunterdon County Historical Society exhumed a body from a site suspected to contain his body, found in the grave were a skeleton and silver buttons labeled Q. L. D. signifying the Queens Light Dragoons. His family placed a marker on the site in 1907. The St. Nicholas Church in Great Bookham, Surrey, contains a bas-relief depicting Cornet Francis Geary and the incident
22.
Battle of Iron Works Hill
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The Battle of Iron Works Hill, also known as the Battle of Mount Holly, was a series of minor skirmishes that took place on December 22 and 23,1776, during the American War of Independence. In July 1776 forces of Great Britain under the command of General William Howe landed on Staten Island, General Howe established a chain of outposts across New Jersey, and ordered his troops into winter quarters. The southernmost outposts were located at Trenton and Bordentown, Bordentown itself was not large enough to house all of von Donops force. Rall went so far as to order his men to fully dressed like on watch. One militia force that rose in December 1776 was a company under the command of Virginia Colonel Samuel Griffin, Griffin was the adjutant to General Israel Putnam, who was responsible for the defense of Philadelphia. Griffins force, whose composition is uncertain, probably included some Virginia artillerymen, Pennsylvania infantry, and New Jersey militia. By mid-December he had reached Moorestown, about ten miles southwest of Mount Holly, by December 21, Griffin had advanced to Mount Holly and established a rough fortification atop a hill near an iron works, south of the Rancocas Creek and the village center. Von Donop sent a Loyalist to investigate, who reported a force of not above eight hundred, nearly one half boys, when von Donop asked Stirling for advice, he replied, You sir, with the troops at Bordentown, should come here and attack. I am confident we are a match for them, on December 21, about 600 of Griffins troops overwhelmed a guard outpost of the 42nd located about one mile south of Blackhorse at Petticoat Bridge. On the evening of December 22, Washingtons adjutant, Joseph Reed, went to Mount Holly, Griffin was ill, and his men poorly equipped for significant action, but they apparently agreed to some sort of actions the next day. On the morning of December 23, von Donop brought about 3,000 troops to Petticoat Bridge where they overwhelmed Griffins men, Griffins troops retreated to Mount Holly where von Donop reported scattering about 1,000 men near the towns meeting house. Jäger Captain Johann Ewald reported that some 100 men were posted on a hill near the church, Griffin, whose troops had occupied Mount Holly, slowly retreated to their fortified position on the hill, following which the two sides engaged in ineffectual long-range fire. Von Donops forces bivouacked in Mount Holly on the night of December 23, von Donop himself took quarters in the house that Ewald described as belonging to an exceedingly beautiful widow of a doctor, whose identity is uncertain. The next day, December 24, they moved in force to drive the militia from the hill, news of the skirmishes at Mount Holly was often exaggerated. Published accounts of the day varied, including participants in the battle. One Pennsylvanian claimed that sixteen of the enemy were killed, while a New Jersey militiaman reported seven enemy killed, Reed noted in his journal that this manouver, though perfectly accidental, had a happy effect as it drew off Count Donop. The planning for Washingtons crossing of the Delaware did include sending a force to Griffin in an attack on von Donop at Mount Holly. The hill that Griffins militia occupied is located at Iron Works Park in Mount Holly, a Guide to New Jerseys Revolutionary War Trail, For Families and History Buffs
23.
George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River
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Planned in partial secrecy, Washington led a column of Continental Army troops across the icy Delaware River in a logistically challenging and dangerous operation. The army crossed the back to Pennsylvania, this time laden with prisoners. Washingtons army then crossed the river a third time at the end of the year, the unincorporated communities of Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, and Washington Crossing, New Jersey, are named in honor of this event. While 1776 had started well for the American cause with the evacuation of British troops from Boston in March, the main British troops returned to New York for the winter season. They left mainly Hessian troops in New Jersey and these troops were under the command of Colonel Rall and Colonel Von Donop. They were ordered to small outposts in and around Trenton, howe then sent troops under the command of Charles Cornwallis across the Hudson River into New Jersey and chased Washington across New Jersey. Washingtons army was shrinking, due to expiring enlistments and desertions, most of Washingtons army crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania north of Trenton, New Jersey, and destroyed or moved to the western shore all boats for miles in both directions. The British were happy to end the season when they were ordered to winter quarters. This was a time for the generals to regroup, re-supply, Washington encamped the army near McKonkeys Ferry, not far from the crossing site. While Washington at first took quarters across the river from Trenton, when Washingtons army first arrived at McKonkeys Ferry, he had four to six thousand men, although 1,700 soldiers were unfit for duty and needed hospital care. In the retreat across New Jersey Washington had lost precious supplies, General Horatio Gates was in the Hudson River Valley and General Charles Lee was in western New Jersey with 2,000 men. Other problems affected the quantity and quality of his forces, many of his mens enlistments were due to expire before Christmas, and many soldiers were inclined to leave the army when their commission ended. Several deserted before their enlistments were up, the losses at Fort Lee and Washington placed a heavy toll on the Patriots. When they evacuated their forts, they were forced to leave behind critical supplies, many troops had been killed or taken prisoner, and the morale of the remaining troops was low. Few believed that they could win the war and gain independence, but the morale of the Patriot forces was boosted on December 19 when a new pamphlet titled The American Crisis written by Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, was published. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, within a day of its publication in Philadelphia, General Washington ordered it to be read to all of his troops. It encouraged the soldiers and improved their tolerance of their difficult conditions, General Lees division of 2,000 troops arrived in Washingtons camp under the command of General John Sullivan. General Lee had been captured by the British on December 12, later that same day General Gates division arrived in camp, reduced to 600 whose enlistments had ended, and by the need to keep the northern frontier secure
24.
Battle of Princeton
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After defeating the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26,1776, Washington withdrew back to Pennsylvania. He subsequently decided to attack the British forces before going into winter quarters, on December 29, he led his army back into Trenton. On the night of January 2,1777, Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek and that night, he evacuated his position, circled around General Lord Cornwallis army, and went to attack the British garrison at Princeton. On January 3, Brigadier General Hugh Mercer of the Continental Army clashed with two regiments under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood of the British Army, Mercer and his troops were overrun, and Mercer was mortally wounded. Washington sent a brigade of militia under Brigadier General John Cadwalader to help them, the militia, on seeing the flight of Mercers men, also began to flee. Washington rode up with reinforcements and rallied the fleeing militia and he then led the attack on Mawhoods troops, driving them back. Mawhood gave the order to retreat and most of the tried to flee to Cornwallis in Trenton. In Princeton itself, Brigadier General John Sullivan encouraged some British troops who had taken refuge in Nassau Hall to surrender, after the battle, Washington moved his army to Morristown, and with their third defeat in 10 days, the British evacuated southern New Jersey. With the victory at Princeton, morale rose in the American ranks, the battle was the last major action of Washingtons winter New Jersey campaign. Part of the site of the battle is now Princeton Battlefield State Park, on the night of December 25–26,1776, General George Washington, Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, led 2,400 men across the Delaware River. After a nine-mile march, they seized the town of Trenton on the morning of the 26th, killing or wounding over 100 Hessians, soon after capturing the town, Washington led the army back across the Delaware into Pennsylvania. On the 29th, Washington once again led the army across the river, on the 31st, Washington appealed to his men, whose enlistments expired at the end of the year, Stay for just six more weeks for an extra bounty of ten dollars. His appeal worked, and most of the men agreed to stay, also, that day, Washington learned that Congress had voted to give him wide-ranging powers for six months that are often described as dictatorial. In response to the loss at Trenton, General Lord Cornwallis left New York City and reassembled a British force of more than 9,000 at Princeton to oppose Washington. Leaving 1,200 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood at Princeton, Washington sent troops to skirmish with the approaching British to delay their advance. It was almost nightfall by the time the British reached Trenton, after three failed attempts to cross the bridge over the Assunpink Creek, beyond which were the primary American defenses, Cornwallis called off the attack until the next day. During the night, Washington called a council of war and asked his officers whether they should stand and fight, attempt to cross the river somewhere, or take the backroads to attack Princeton. Although the idea had occurred to Washington, he learned from Arthur St. Clair
25.
Forage War
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The British troops wanted to have fresh provisions to consume, and also required fresh forage for their draft animals and horses. While many of these operations were small, in some cases they became quite elaborate, the American operations were so successful that British casualties in New Jersey exceeded those of the entire campaign for New York. In August 1776 the British army began a campaign to control over New York City. Over the next two months, General William Howe quickly gained control of New York, pushing Washington into New Jersey and he then chased Washington south toward Philadelphia. Washington retreated across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, taking him all the boats for miles in each direction. Howe then ordered his army into winter quarters, establishing a chain of outposts across New Jersey, from the Hudson River through New Brunswick to Trenton and Bordentown on the Delaware River. The occupation of New Jersey by British and German troops caused friction with the local communities, on the night of December 25–26,1776, Washington crossed the Delaware and surprised the Trenton outpost the following morning. Over the next two weeks, he went on to win two further battles at Assunpink Creek and Battle of Princeton, leading the British to retreat to northern New Jersey. General Washington established his headquarters at Morristown, separated from the coast by the Watchung Mountains, over the course of January and February, Washingtons Continental Army shrank to about 2,500 regulars after Washingtons incentives for many men to overstay their enlistment periods ran out. A large number of militia from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania bolstered these forces, the British army was initially deployed from posts as far north as Hackensack to New Brunswick. The garrison, numbering about 10,000, was concentrated between New Brunswick and Amboy, with a sizable contingent farther north, from Elizabethtown to Paulus Hook, militia pressure in January led General Cornwallis to withdraw most of the northern troops to the shores of the Hudson. The area had been heavily plundered during the American retreat in the fall, the men subsisted largely on rations such as salt pork, but their draft animals required fresh fodder, for which they sent out raiding expeditions. Early in the winter, Washington sent out detachments of troops to remove any remaining provisions. General Cornwallis sent out small foraging and raiding parties in January and these were met by larger formations of American militia companies, sometimes with Continental Army support, that led on occasion to significant casualties. In one early example, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson mustered 450 militia, Washington gave his commanders wide latitude in how to act, issuing commands that they were to be constantly harassing the enemy, and that they should be aggressive in their tactics. These early successes depended in part on successful intelligence, one British commander reported being met with force notwithstanding the Orders were given and their difficulties led British commanders to change tactics, attempting to lure these militia units into traps involving larger numbers of British regulars. In one encounter in late February, British Colonel Charles Mawhood, thinking he had flanked a party of New Jersey militia, as they were driven back toward Amboy, more and more Americans appeared, ultimately inflicting about 100 casualties. The elite grenadiers of the 42nd Foot, part of Mawhoods vanguard, were badly mauled in the encounter, a British force of 2,000 was repulsed by Maxwell in another well-organized attack a few weeks later
26.
Battle of Millstone
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A British foraging party was flanked and driven off by forces composed mostly of New Jersey militia, depriving the British of their wagons and supplies. Cornwallis and the remaining British and Hessian troops in and around Trenton and Princeton withdrew to New Brunswick to regroup after the battle at Princeton, during this time, militia companies mustered to assist the Continental Army. These movements established the area west of New Brunswick up to the Millstone, following the British retreat, Somerset Court House became one of several outposts garrisoned by Patriot militia companies, with support from the Continental Army. A British foraging party of 500 men, led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby of the 37th Foot, left New Brunswick on January 20, there they seized supplies of all varieties, and prepared to return to New Brunswick. Militia companies to the north were alerted to the British movement early in the day, when reports arrived of the activity at Van Nests mill, they marched for that place. In all about 400 New Jersey militia and 50 Pennsylvania militia formed under Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson to dispute the British action. While detailed accounts of their movements are sketchy, Dickinson apparently divided his forces, sending one force to meet the front of the British wagon train, both of these forces forded one of the rivers, wading in icy water that was waist deep. One successfully surprised the British wagon train in the lane near the mill, before it reached the main road and this stopped the train, scattered the wagon drivers and drove the British to retreat precipitously toward the bridge, leaving their booty behind. When the militiamen reached the bridge, the Hessian rear guard fired grape shot from its artillery to cover the retreat, after an exchange of fire across the river without apparent consequence, the British withdrew. Part of this Corps was attacked by the Rebels, which occasiond such disorder Amongst the Waggon Drivers that 42 Waggons were left behind, one British witness was absolutely certain the attackers were not militia, they were sure that no militia would fight in that way. Casualty figures were extremely variable, but British casualties appear to have been in the low 30s according to press accounts, New Jersey in the American Revolution, 1763-1783, a documentary history. Harvey, Oscar Jewell, Smith, Ernest Gray, history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2. Archibald Robertson, his diaries and sketches in America, 1762-1780, New York, New York Public Library. London, Office of the National Illustrated Library, revolutionary War Battles, The Battle of Millstone
27.
Continental Army
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The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
28.
Hessian (soldiers)
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They took their name from the German state of Hesse-Kassel. The British hired Hessian troops for duty in several eighteenth century conflicts. About 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War and they entered the British service as entire units, fighting under their own German flags, commanded by their usual officers, and wearing their existing uniforms. The largest contingent came from the state of Hesse, which supplied about 40% of the German troops who fought for the British. The large number of troops from Hesse-Kassel led to the use of the term Hessians to refer to all German troops fighting on the British side, the others were rented from other small German states. Patriots presented the soldiers as foreign mercenaries with no stake in America, many of the men were press-ganged into Hessian service. Deserters were summarily executed or beaten by an entire company, Hessian prisoners of war were put to work on local farms. The small German states of the Holy Roman Empire had professional armies, when military conflict broke out, the German states provided a ready supply of trained troops that was ready to go into action immediately. Hesse-Kassel was particularly prominent in this role, Between 1706 and 1707,10,000 Hessians served as a corps in Eugene of Savoys army in Italy before moving to the Spanish Netherlands in 1708. In 1714,6,000 Hessians were rented to Sweden for its war with Russia whilst 12,000 Hessians were hired by George I of Great Britain in 1715 to combat the Jacobite Rebellion. In the midst of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1744,6,000 Hessians were fighting with the British army in Flanders whilst another 6,000 were in the Bavarian army. By 1762,24,000 Hessians were serving with Ferdinand of Brunswicks army in Germany, in most of these wars, Hesse-Kassel never became a belligerent by declaring war on any other country. The troops were rented for service in other armies, and Hesse-Kassel itself had no stake in the outcome of the war. Thus, it was possible for Hessians to serve with the British and Bavarian armies in the War of the Austrian Succession, even though Britain, historian Charles Ingrao says that the local prince had turned Hesse into a mercenary state by renting out his regiments to fund his government. Of 30,067 German troops leased by Great Britain,12,992 were supplied by Hesse-Kassel and they came not as individuals but in entire units with their usual uniforms, flags, equipment, and officers. Hesse-Kassel like most of the other German principalities still had serfdom, once these troops entered British Territory, where serfdom was illegal, they were still bound by the military code. Their officers were for the most part the upper stratum of society, the only ways a Hessian regular soldier could become a free man under these circumstances was desertion or capture. Serfdom was only abolished in Hesse-Kassel in 1806 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Hessian troops included jäger, hussars, three artillery companies, and four battalions of grenadiers
29.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
30.
Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
31.
Delaware River
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The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. Its watershed drains an area of 14,119 square miles in five U. S. states—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, not including Delaware Bay, the rivers length including its two branches is 388 miles. The Delaware River is one of nineteen Great Waters recognized by the Americas Great Waters Coalition, the Delaware River rises in two main branches that descend from the western flank of the Catskill Mountains in New York. The West Branch begins near Mount Jefferson in the Town of Jefferson in Schoharie County, the rivers East Branch begins at Grand Gorge near Roxbury Delaware County. These two branches flow west and merge near Hancock in Delaware County and the waters flow as the Delaware River south. The river meets tide-water at the junction of Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, the rivers navigable, tidal section served as a conduit for shipping and transportation that aided the development of the industrial cities of Trenton, Camden, and Philadelphia. The mean freshwater discharge of the Delaware River into the estuary of Delaware Bay is 11,550 cubic feet per second, in 1609, the river was first visited by a Dutch East India Company expedition led by Henry Hudson. Hudson, an English navigator, was hired to find a route to Cathay. Early Dutch and Swedish settlements were established along the section of river. Both colonial powers called the river the South River, compared to the Hudson River, lord de la Warr waged a punitive campaign to subdue the Powhatan after they had killed the colonys council president, John Ratcliffe, and attacked the colonys fledgling settlements. Lord de la Warr arrived with 150 soldiers in time to prevent colonys original settlers at Jamestown from giving up, the name of barony is pronounced as in the current spelling form Delaware and is thought to derive from French de la Guerre. It has often reported that the river and bay received the name Delaware after English forces under Richard Nicolls expelled the Dutch. However, the river and bay were known by the name Delaware as early as 1641, the state of Delaware was originally part of the William Penns Pennsylvania colony. In 1682, the Duke of York granted Penns request for access to the sea and leased him the territory along the western shore of Delaware Bay which became known as the Lower Counties on the Delaware. The Delaware Rivers watershed drains an area of 14,119 square miles and encompasses 42 counties and 838 municipalities in five U. S. states—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. This total area constitutes approximately 0. 4% of the mass in the United States. In 2001, the watershed was 18% agricultural land, 14% developed land, there are 216 tributary streams and creeks—an estimated 14,057 miles of streams and creeks—in the watershed. The waters of the Delaware Rivers basin are used to fishing, transportation, power, cooling, recreation
32.
Assunpink Creek
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Assunpink Creek is a 22. 9-mile-long tributary of the Delaware River in western New Jersey in the United States. The name Assunpink is from the Lenape Ahsënpink, meaning stony, the Assunpink Creek is born in rural Monmouth County, about a mile north of Clarksburg. Flowing westwards, it enters the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. After an unnamed tributary enters from the south, it enters another reservoir, the two lakes, as well as Stone Tavern Lake on the tributary, are popular fishing spots. Below Assunpink Lake, the creek flows under Old York Road, New Sharon Branch enters the creek from the south at Carsons Mills. The creek now turns northwest, passing under the New Jersey Turnpike and then U. S. Route 130, here, it finally exits the Wildlife Management Area. Still further northwest, the creek enters Mercer County Park, bridegroom Run enters from the north side as the creek turns west and is impounded to form Mercer Lake. A small wildlife management area, the Van Nest Refuge, lies along the stream just below the dam and it then passes under Quaker Bridge Road and Interstate 295 before turning southwest and paralleling the Delaware and Raritan Canal. The creek now enters a heavily built-up area, with the Shabakunk Creek and Miry Run entering just above Whitehead Mill Pond, the now-canalized stream flows past the Trenton Transit Center and finally empties into the Delaware River in Trenton. The American soldiers successfully repelled several charges by British and Hessian soldiers across a bridge over the creek. List of rivers of New Jersey USGS gauging station near Clarksville USGS gauging station at Trenton
33.
John Sullivan (general)
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John Sullivan was an American General in the Revolutionary War, a delegate in the Continental Congress, Governor of New Hampshire and a United States federal judge. Sullivan, the son of Irish settlers, served as a major general in the Continental Army. He commanded the Sullivan Expedition in 1779, a scorched earth campaign against the Iroquois towns that had taken up arms against the American revolutionaries, as a member of Congress, Sullivan worked closely with the French Ambassador the Chevalier de la Luzerne. Born in Somersworth in the Province of New Hampshire, Sullivan was the son of Irish settlers from the Beara Peninsula in County Cork. One of his brothers, James Sullivan, became Governor of Massachusetts, another brother, Benjamin, who served in the Royal Navy died before the American Revolution. A landing party from HMS Allegiance on February 14,1781 kidnapped another brother, Captain David Sullivan, who later died of disease. The father, John Owen OSullivan was the son of Philip OSullivan of Beare of Ardea, minor gentry in Penal Ireland, the Penal Laws reduced them to the status of peasants. After emigrating to York, Maine, in 1723, the elder John became a Protestant, in 1760, Sullivan married Lydia Remick Worster of Kittery, now in Maine. John and Lydia Sullivan had six children, Margery, who died in infancy, Lydia, John, James, George and another Margery, Sullivan read law with Samuel Livermore of Portsmouth, New Hampshire between 1758 and 1760. He began the practice of law in 1763 at Berwick, now in Maine and he annoyed many neighbors in his early career, when he was the only lawyer in town, with numerous suits over foreclosures and was threatened with violence at least twice in 1766. But by 1772, he was established and began work to improve his relations with the community. He also expanded his interests into milling from which he made a substantial income, in 1773 Alexander Scammell joined John Sullivans law practice. Sullivan built a friendship with the governor of New Hampshire, John Wentworth. In November 1772, Wentworth appointed Sullivan a major in the militia, as the American Revolution grew nearer, Sullivan turned away from Wentworth and began to side more with the radicals. On May 28,1773, at the urging of the Virginia House of Burgesses, hoping to thwart the committee, Wentworth adjourned the Assembly the next day. On December 16,1773, colonists in Massachusetts destroyed tea worth 15,000 pounds at the Boston Tea Party to protest taxes under the Tea Act. The British Parliament responded with the Boston Port Act, effective March 21,1774, Wentworth called a new Assembly, which began meeting on April 7,1774. On May 13, news of the Boston Port Act reached the Assembly, on May 27, the Assembly provided for only five men and an officer to guard Fort William and Mary at Portsmouth harbor
34.
Henry Knox
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Henry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, who also served as the first United States Secretary of War from 1789 to 1794. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, he owned and operated a bookstore there, cultivating an interest in military history and joining a local artillery company. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he befriended General George Washington, in this role he accompanied Washington on most of his campaigns, and had some involvement in many major actions of the war. He established training centers for artillerymen and manufacturing facilities for weaponry that were valuable assets to the fledgling nation, following the adoption of the United States Constitution, he became President Washingtons Secretary of War. In this role he oversaw the development of coastal fortifications, worked to improve the preparedness of local militia, Knoxs idealistic views on the subject were frustrated by ongoing illegal settlements and fraudulent land transfers involving Indian lands. He retired to what is now Thomaston, Maine, in 1795 and he died in 1806 from an infection he contracted after swallowing a chicken bone, leaving an estate that was bankrupt. Henry Knoxs parents, William and Mary, were of Scotch-Irish origin and his father was a ship builder who, due to financial reverses, left the family for St Eustatius in the West Indies where he died in 1762 of unknown causes. Henry was admitted to the Boston Latin School, where he studied Greek, Latin, arithmetic, since he was the oldest son still at home when his father died, he left school at the age of 12 and became a clerk in a bookstore to support his mother. The shops owner, Nicholas Bowes, became a father figure for the boy, allowing him to browse the shelves of the store. The inquisitive future war hero, when he was not running errands, taught himself French, learned some philosophy and advanced mathematics and he immersed himself in literature from a tender age. However, Knox was also involved in Bostons street gangs, becoming one of the toughest fighters in his neighborhood, impressed by a military demonstration, at 18 he joined a local artillery company called The Train. On March 5,1770 Knox was a witness to the Boston massacre, according to his affidavit, he attempted to defuse the situation, trying to convince the British soldiers to return to their quarters. He also testified at the trials of the soldiers, in which all, in 1771 he opened his own bookshop, the London Book Store, in Boston opposite Williams Court in Cornhill. The store was, in the words of a contemporary, a resort for the British officers and Tory ladies. Boasting an impressive selection of excellent English products and managed by a friendly proprietor, as a bookseller, Knox built strong business ties with British suppliers and developed relationships with his customers, but he retained his childhood aspirations. Largely self-educated, he stocked books on science, and also questioned soldiers who frequented his shop in military matters. The genial giant initially enjoyed reasonable success, but his profits slumped after the Boston Port Bill. In 1772 he cofounded the Boston Grenadier Corps as an offshoot of The Train, shortly before his 23rd birthday Knox accidentally discharged a shotgun, shooting two fingers off his left hand
35.
Major General
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Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the rank of sergeant major general. In the Commonwealth, major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral. In some countries, including much of Eastern Europe, major general is the lowest of the officer ranks. In the old Austro-Hungarian Army, the general was called a Generalmajor. Todays Austrian Federal Army still uses the same term, see also Rank insignias of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces General de Brigade is the lowest rank amongst general officers in the Brazilian Army. AGeneral de Brigada wears two-stars as this is the level for general officers in the Brazilian Army. In tha Brazilian Air Force, the two-star, three-star and four-star rank are known as Brigadeiro, Major-Brigadeiro, see Military ranks of Brazil and Brigadier for more information. In the Canadian Armed Forces, the rank of major-general is both a Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force rank equivalent to the Royal Canadian Navys rank of rear-admiral, a major-general is a general officer, the equivalent of a naval flag officer. The major-general rank is senior to the ranks of brigadier-general and commodore, prior to 1968, the Air Force used the rank of air vice-marshal, instead. In the Canadian Army, the insignia is a wide braid on the cuff. It is worn on the straps of the service dress tunic. On the visor of the cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Major-generals are initially addressed as general and name, as are all general officers, major-generals are normally entitled to staff cars. In the Estonian military, the general rank is called kindralmajor. The Finnish military equivalent is kenraalimajuri in Finnish, and generalmajor in Swedish and Danish, the French equivalent to the rank of major general is général de division. In the French military, major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of général de corps darmée rank, the position of major général can be considered the equivalent of a deputy chief of staff. In the French Army, Major General is a position and the general is normally of the rank of corps general
36.
James Wolfe
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Major General James Wolfe was a British Army Officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Canada in 1759. The son of a general, Edward Wolfe, he had received his first commission at a young age. His service in Flanders and in Scotland, where he took part in the suppression of the Jacobite Rebellion, the advancement of his career was halted by the Peace Treaty of 1748 and he spent much of the next eight years on garrison duty in the Scottish Highlands. Already a brigade major at the age of eighteen, he was a lieutenant-colonel by the age of twenty-three, the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756 offered Wolfe fresh opportunities for advancement. His part in the raid on Rochefort in 1757 led William Pitt to appoint him second-in-command of an expedition to capture the Fortress of Louisbourg. Following the success of the Siege of Louisbourg he was commander of a force which sailed up the Saint Lawrence River to capture Quebec City. After a long siege Wolfe defeated a French force under Marquis de Montcalm allowing British forces to capture the city, Wolfe was killed at the height of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham due to injuries from three musket balls. Wolfes part in the taking of Quebec in 1759 earned him posthumous fame and he was depicted in the painting The Death of General Wolfe, which became famous around the world. James Wolfe was born at the vicarage on 2 January 1727 at Westerham, Kent. His uncle was Edward Thompson MP, a distinguished politician and his relatively humble birth marked him out from many army officers at the time, who were disproportionately drawn from the aristocracy or gentry. Wolfes childhood home in Westerham, known in his lifetime as Spiers, has preserved in his memory by the National Trust under the name Quebec House. The Wolfes were close to the Warde family, who lived at Squerryes Court in Westerham, Wolfes boyhood friend George Warde would later achieve fame as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland when he crushed the Irish rebellion of 1798, and repelled two attempted French invasions in 1796 and 1798. Around 1738, the moved to Greenwich, in London. From his earliest years, Wolfe was destined for a military career, illness prevented him from taking part in a large expedition against Spanish-held Cartagena in 1740, and his father sent him home a few months later. He was fortunate to miss what proved to be a disaster for the British forces at the Siege of Cartagena during the War of Jenkins Ear with most of the dying from disease. In 1740 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe, James Wolfe was given his first commission as a second lieutenant in his fathers regiment of Marines in 1741. Early in the year he transferred to the 12th Regiment of Foot, a British Army infantry regiment. Here, Wolfe was promoted to Lieutenant and made adjutant of his battalion and his first year on the continent was a frustrating one as, despite rumours of a British attack on Dunkirk, they remained inactive in Flanders
37.
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
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The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years War. The culmination of a siege by the British, the battle lasted about 15 minutes. In the wake of the battle, the French evacuated the city, their military force in Canada. While the French forces continued to fight and prevailed in several battles after Quebec was captured and that tenacity carried over to other areas in North America, within four years, France ceded most of its possessions in eastern North America to Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris. The decisive success of the British forces and the subsequent capture of Quebec City formed part of what became known as the Annus Mirabilis in Great Britain. As the Seven Years War entered its later stages through 1758 and 1759, in 1758 after defeat in July at the Battle of Carillon, the British took Louisbourg in August, causing Atlantic Canada to fall into British hands, and opening the sea route to attack Quebec. Fort Frontenac fell to the British in the month, costing the French supplies for the Ohio Valley campaign. When some of the Indian supporters of the French made peace with the British, French leadership, specifically Governor de Vaudreuil and General Montcalm, were unsettled by the British successes. However, Quebec was still able to protect itself as the British prepared an attack for 1759. James Wolfe expected to lead 12,000 men, but was greeted by only approximately 7,000 regular troops,400 officers, Wolfes troops were supported by a fleet of 49 ships and 140 smaller craft led by Admiral Charles Saunders. In preparation for the approach to Quebec, James Cook surveyed a large portion of the river. Cooks ship was one of the first ships up the river, sounding the channel and guiding the fleet as it moved up, eventually landing Wolfe and his men on the Île dOrléans on 28 June. Despite an air of defeatism among the leadership, the professional French troops, prior to the arrival of the British, a small fleet of supply ships had arrived in Quebec with much needed supplies. Those supplies, along with 500 reinforcements, were likely behind the lengthened siege, in addition, a screen of trees along the Montmorency River made an approach on that route dangerous. On 31 July, the first serious attempt by Wolfes troops to land on the northern shore led to the Battle of Beauport, approximately 3,500 troops, supported by a heavy bombardment, attempted to land, but were caught under fire in the river shallows. Some French officers felt the Montmorency defeat would be the last British attack, Wolfe, I assure you, will make no progress… He contented himself with losing about five hundred of his best soldiers. He predicted another attack would come within days, others in the French camp felt the campaign was over. For the remainder of the summer, Wolfes focus changed, possibly due to frustration with Montcalms tactics and his troops, along with American Rangers, attacked and destroyed small French settlements along the St. Lawrence
38.
John Cadwalader (general)
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John Cadwalader was a commander of Pennsylvania troops during the American Revolutionary War. John Cadwalader was born in Trenton, New Jersey of Quaker parentage, in 1750, the Cadwalader family removed to Philadelphia where John and Lambert Cadwalader, his brother, were merchants. On September 25,1768, John Cadwalader married Elizabeth Lloyd and her brother, Edward Lloyd IV, was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Maryland. Their daughter, Maria Cadwalader, married Samuel Ringgold, who became a congressman representing Maryland, two of their sons, Samuel Ringgold and Cadwalader Ringgold, had distinguished military careers. In 1776, Colonel John Cadwalader was elected senior officer of the Philadelphia Associators, Cadwalader had received orders to send his column across the river on the night of December 25–26 and march to Trenton from the south. Meanwhile, George Washingtons column would cross the river to the north of Trenton, after successfully crossing his light forces, Cadwalader discovered that river ice prevented crossing his artillery. He then returned his column to the Pennsylvania side, leaving Washingtons forces unsupported in New Jersey, Washington was successful in his surprise attack on the morning of December 26 against the Hessian garrison in Trenton. Cadwalader and his column did cross the river the next day, after the Conway Cabal, he fought a duel with Thomas Conway in 1778 in which Cadwalader wounded his opponent with a shot in the mouth. Supposedly Cadawalader, a supporter of Washington throughout the cabal, boasted, John Cadwalader married Williamina Bond, daughter of Dr. Phineas Bond, of Philadelphia and niece of Thomas Bond. Their son, Thomas, like his father, became a general of the Pennsylvania militia and their daughter, Frances, married David Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine, who was the British Ambassador to the United States from 1807 to 1809. In 1779, Cadwalader became a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and returned to his estate on the banks of the Sassafras River at Shrewsbury, Kent County and he became a member of the Maryland State Assembly. John Cadwalader died February 10,1786 and he is buried at Shrewsbury Chapel, Kent County, Maryland. Thomas Paine wrote his epitaph, His early and inflexible patriotism will endear his memory to all true friends of the American Revolution and it may with strictest justice be said of him, that he possessed a heart incapable of deceiving. His manners were formed on the nicest sense of honor and the tenor of his life was governed by this principle. The companions of his youth were the companions of his manhood and he never lost a friend by insincerity nor made one by deception. His domestic virtues were truly exemplary and while they served to endear the remembrances they embitter the loss of him to all his numerous friends, surviving pieces are among the finest and best-documented Philadelphia Chippendale furniture ever made. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Biography of John Cadwalader Fischer, David Hackett, ISBN 0-19-517034-2 Jordan, John W. Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography. New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co, John Cadwalader family history Kent County Heritage Committee
39.
Bordentown, New Jersey
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Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 3,924. The population declined by 45 from the 3,969 counted in the 2000 U. S. Census, Bordentown is located at the confluence of the Delaware River, Blacks Creek and Crosswicks Creek. The latter is the border between Burlington and Mercer Counties, Bordentown is 5.8 miles southeast from Trenton and 25.3 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Bordentown was originally incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on December 9,1825 and it was reincorporated as a city on April 3,1867, and separated from Chesterfield Township c. Thomas Farnsworth, an English Quaker, was credited with being the first European settler in the Bordentown area in 1682 and he made a new home on the windswept bluff overlooking the broad bend in the Delaware River. The Farnsworths cabin was situated near the northwest corner of Park Street and Prince Street, Farnsworth Landing soon became the center of trade for the region. Farnsworth is also the namesake of one of Bordentowns main street, Joseph Borden, for whom the city is named, arrived in 1717, and by May 1740 founded a transportation system to carry people and freight between New York City and Philadelphia. This exploited Bordentowns natural location as the point on the Delaware River that provided the shortest overland route to Perth Amboy, from which cargo, by 1776, Bordentown was full of patriots. Patience Lovell Wright, Americas first female sculptor, was creating wax busts in King Georges court in England, later, however, Bordentown became a rabble-rousing hotbed. In addition to Joseph Bordens son, who became a colonel during the war, patriots Francis Hopkinson, Colonel Kirkbride, Colonel Oakey Hoagland, due to their well-published activity in Bordentown, the British retaliated. Hessians occupied the town in 1776, and the British pillaged and razed the town during May, other notable people who have lived in the city include Clara Barton, who in 1852 started the first free public school in New Jersey and later founded the American Red Cross. A recreation of her stands at the corner of Crosswicks. The Bordentown School operated from 1894 to 1955 and he lived there for 17 years, entertaining guests of great fame such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and the future 6th U. S. President, John Quincy Adams. The residents of Bordentown nicknamed the Count, The Good Mr. Bonaparte and he built a lake near the mouth of Crosswicks Creek that was about 200 yards wide and half a mile long. On the bluff above it he built a new home, Point Breeze, the current Divine Word Mission occupies its former site along Park Street. Today only vestiges of the Bonaparte estate remain, in addition to the rubble of this mansion and some hedges of its elaborate gardens, only the original tunnel to the river and the house of Bonapartes secretary remain. Many descendants of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, also were born or lived in Bordentown, after the Bonaparte dynasty was restored by Napoleon III, they moved back to France and were recognized as princes
40.
James Ewing (Pennsylvania)
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James Ewing was a Pennsylvania soldier, statesman, and politician of the Colonial, Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary eras. He served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly and also as Vice-President of Pennsylvania, James Ewing was born in 1736 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas Ewing and Susanna Howard. Thomas Ewing was an Ulster-Scottish immigrant and had served in the Assembly when James was young, in 1755 young Ewing joined General Edward Braddock’s expedition into western Pennsylvania, and in 1758 he served as a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania militia. On July 4,1776, Ewing was commissioned a general in the Pennsylvania militia. Ewings force, positioned directly across from Trenton, was unable to cross the river because of the ice. Washington did not blame General Ewing, writing that the Quantity of Ice was so great, Ewing represented York County in the General Assembly from 1771 through 1776. In early 1776 he was one of the few Assemblymen calling for a break with Great Britain. It was, in part, his enthusiasm for Independence that led to his general’s commission on July 4, following Independence Ewing aligned himself with wealthy business interests, as a Republican and Anti-Constitutionalist, and later as a Federalist. In 1781 he won a seat on the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, on November 7,1782, Ewing was elected Vice-President of Pennsylvania, earning thirty nine votes to the thirty four won by the incumbent, James Potter. He was unanimously reelected on November 6,1783, and served until November 6,1784, at one day short of two years, his vice-presidential term was one of the longest in the history of that short-lived office. In 1784 Ewing served a term in the General Assembly. As Vice-President of Pennsylvania Ewing served as an ex member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1783 he also served as a trustee of Dickinson College in Carlisle, in 1789 he chaired a committee seeking to improve navigation on the Susquehanna River. In 1795 he returned to elected office, as a Federalist member of the State Senate, James Ewing died at his home near York, Pennsylvania, in 1806
41.
Princeton, New Jersey
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As of the 2010 United States Census, the municipalitys population was 28,572, reflecting the former townships population of 16,265, along with the 12,307 in the former borough. Princeton was founded before the American Revolution and is best known as the location of Princeton University, Princeton is roughly equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia. It is close to major highways that serve both cities, and receives major television and radio broadcasts from each. It is also close to Trenton, New Jerseys capital city, the governor of New Jerseys official residence has been in Princeton since 1945, when Morven in the borough became the first Governors mansion. It was later replaced by the larger Drumthwacket, a mansion located in the former Township. Morven became a property of the New Jersey Historical Society. Princeton was ranked 15th of the top 100 towns in the United States to Live, although residents of Princeton traditionally have a strong community-wide identity, the community had been composed of two separate municipalities, a township and a borough. The central borough was completely surrounded by the township, the Borough contained Nassau Street, the main commercial street, most of the University campus, and incorporated most of the urban area until the postwar suburbanization. The Borough and Township had roughly equal populations, the Lenni Lenape Native Americans were the earliest identifiable inhabitants of the Princeton area. Europeans founded their settlement in the part of the 17th century. The first European to find his home in the boundaries of the town was Henry Greenland. He built his house in 1683 along with a tavern, in this drinking hole representatives of West Jersey and East Jersey met to set boundaries for the location of the township. Originally, Princeton was known only as part of nearby Stony Brook, James Leonard first referred to the town as Princetown, when describing the location of his large estate in his diary. The town bore a variety of names subsequently, including, Princetown, Princes Town, although there is no official documentary backing, the town is considered to be named after King William III, Prince William of Orange of the House of Nassau. Another theory suggests that the name came from a large land-owner named Henry Prince, a royal prince seems a more likely eponym for the settlement, as three nearby towns had similar names, Kingston, Queenstown and Princessville. When Richard Stockton, one of the founders of the township, died in 1709 he left his estate to his sons, who helped to expand property, based on the 1880 United States Census, the population of the town comprised 3,209 persons. Local population has expanded from the nineteenth century, according to the 2010 Census, Princeton Borough had 12,307 inhabitants, while Princeton Township had 16,265. Aside from housing the university of the name, the settlement suffered the revolutionary Battle of Princeton on its soil
42.
New Brunswick, New Jersey
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The City of New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is the county seat of Middlesex County, and the home of Rutgers University, the city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line,27 miles southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. The corporate headquarters and production facilities of several global companies are situated in the city, including Johnson & Johnson. New Brunswick is noted for its ethnic diversity, at one time, one quarter of the Hungarian population of New Jersey resided in the city and in the 1930s one out of three city residents was Hungarian. The Hungarian community continues to exist, alongside growing Asian and Hispanic communities that have developed around French Street near Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and it was first inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. The first European settlement at the site of New Brunswick was made in 1681, the settlement here was called Prigmores Swamp, then known as Inians Ferry. In 1714, the settlement was given the name New Brunswick, after the city of Braunschweig, in state of Lower Saxony, in Germany. Braunschweig was an influential and powerful city in the Hanseatic League, later in the Holy Roman Empire, and was an administrative seat for the Duchy of Hanover. Shortly after the first settlement of New Brunswick in colonial New Jersey, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, alternatively, the city gets its name from King George II of Great Britain, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. New Brunswick was incorporated as a town in 1736 and chartered as a city in 1784 and it was incorporated into a town in 1798 as part of the Township Act of 1798. It was occupied by the British in the winter of 1776–1777 during the Revolutionary War. The Declaration of Independence received one of its first public readings, by Col. John Neilson, in New Brunswick on July 9,1776, in the days following its promulgation by the Continental Congress. The Trustees of Queens College, founded in 1766, voted to locate the college in New Brunswick, selecting the city over Hackensack, in Bergen County. Classes began in 1771 with one instructor, one sophomore, Matthew Leydt, classes were held through the American Revolution in various taverns and boarding houses, and at a building known as College Hall on George Street, until Old Queens was erected in 1808. It remains the oldest building on the Rutgers University campus, the Queens College Grammar School was established also in 1766, and shared facilities with the College until 1830, when it located in a building across College Avenue from Old Queens. The New Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784 in New York, moved to New Brunswick in 1810, New Brunswick was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 1,1784. The existence of an African American community dates back to the late 18th century, the citys Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 39 Morris Street, was originally established in 1825 at 25 Division Street, making it one of the oldest in New Jersey. New Brunswick began attracting a Hungarian immigrant population around the turn of the 20th century, hungarians were primarily attracted to the city by employment at Johnson & Johnson factories located in the city
43.
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
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General William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brothers who had distinguished military careers, having joined the army in 1746, Howe saw extensive service in the War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years War. Howe also participated in the campaigns to take Louisbourg, Belle Île and he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight, a post he would hold until 1795. Howe was sent to North America in March 1775, arriving in May after the American War of Independence broke out. After leading British troops to a victory in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Howes record in North America was marked by the capture of both New York City and Philadelphia. However, poor British campaign planning for 1777 contributed to the failure of John Burgoynes Saratoga campaign, Howes role in developing those plans and the degree to which he was responsible for British failures that year have both been subjects of contemporary and historic debate. He resigned his post as Commander in Chief, North America, in 1778, and returned to England and he served for many years in Parliament, and was knighted after his successes in 1776. He inherited the Viscountcy of Howe upon the death of his brother Richard in 1799 and he married, but had no children, and the viscountcy was extinguished with his death in 1814. His mother was a regular in the courts of George II and this connection with the crown may have improved the careers of all four sons, but all were also very capable officers. His father was a politician, who served as Governor of Barbados where he died in 1735, williams eldest brother, General George Howe, was killed just before the 1758 Battle of Carillon at Fort Ticonderoga. Another brother, Admiral Richard Howe, rose to one of Britains leading naval commanders. A third brother, Thomas, commanded ships for the East India Company, Winchelsea in 1762–4 and Nottingham in 1766, William entered the army when he was 17 by buying a cornets commission in the Duke of Cumberlands Dragoons in 1746. He then served for two years in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession, after the war he was transferred to the 20th Regiment of Foot, where he became a friend of James Wolfe. During the Seven Years War Howes service first brought him to America and he joined the newly formed 58th Regiment of Foot in February 1757, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December of that year. He commanded the regiment at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and this action won the attackers a flanking position and earned Howe a commendation from Wolfe. Howe commanded an infantry battalion under General Wolfe during the 1759 Siege of Quebec. Howe led a brigade in the 1761 Capture of Belle Île, off the French coast and he served as adjutant general of the force that captured Havana in 1762, playing a part in a skirmish at Guanabacoa
44.
Charles Lee (general)
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Charles Lee served as a general of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence. He also served earlier in the British Army during the Seven Years War and he sold his commission after the Seven Years War and served for a time in the Polish army of King Stanislaus II. Lee moved to North America in 1773 and bought an estate in Virginia, when the fighting broke out in the American War of Independence in 1775, he volunteered to serve with rebel forces. Lees ambitions to become Commander in Chief of the Continental Army were thwarted by the appointment of George Washington to that post, during 1776, forces under his command repulsed a British attempt to capture Charleston, which boosted his standing with the army and Congress. Later that year, he was captured by British cavalry under Banastre Tarleton, during the decisive Battle of Monmouth later that year, Lee led an assault on the British that miscarried. He was subsequently court-martialed and his service brought to an end. He died in Philadelphia in 1782, Lee was born on 26 January 1731 in Darnhall, Cheshire, England, the son of Major General John Lee and his wife Isabella Bunbury. He was sent to King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds, a grammar school, and later to Switzerland, where he became proficient in several languages, including Latin, Greek. His father was colonel of the 55th Foot when he purchased a commission on April 9,1747 for Charles as an ensign in the same regiment, after completing his schooling, Lee reported for duty with his regiment in Ireland. Shortly after his fathers death, on 2 May 1751 he received a Lieutenants commission in the 44th and he was with Braddock at his defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755. During this time in America, Lee married the daughter of a Mohawk Indian chief and his wife gave birth to twins. Lee was known to the Mohawk, who were allies of the English, on 11 June 1756 Lee purchased a Captains commission in the 44th for the sum of £900. The following year he took part in an expedition against the French fortress of Louisbourg and he was sent to Long Island to recuperate. A surgeon whom he had earlier rebuked and thrashed attacked him, after recovering, Lee took part in the capture of Fort Niagara in 1759 and Montreal in 1760. This brought the war in the North American theater to an end by completing the Conquest of Canada, Lee went back to Europe, transferred to the 103rd Foot as a major, and served as a lieutenant colonel in the Portuguese army. He fought against the Spanish invasion of Portugal and distinguished himself under John Burgoyne at the Battle of Vila Velha and he returned to England in 1763 following the Peace of Paris, which ended the Seven Years War. His regiment was disbanded and he was retired on pay as a major. In May 1772, although inactive, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel
45.
Fort Ticonderoga
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Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York in the United States. It was of importance during the 18th-century colonial conflicts between Great Britain and France, and again played an important role during the American Revolutionary War. The site controlled a river alongside the mouth of the rapids-infested La Chute River in the 3. The terrain amplified the importance of the site, the name Ticonderoga comes from the Iroquois word tekontaró, ken, meaning it is at the junction of two waterways. During the 1758 Battle of Carillon,4,000 French defenders were able to repel an attack by 16,000 British troops near the fort, in 1759, the British returned and drove a token French garrison from the fort. Cannons captured were transported to Boston where their deployment forced the British to abandon the city in March 1776. The only direct attack on the fort took place in September 1777, the British abandoned the fort after the failure of the Saratoga campaign, and it ceased to be of military value after 1781. It fell into ruin, leading people to strip it of some of its stone, metal. It became a stop on tourist routes of the area in the 19th century and its private owners restored the fort early in the 20th century. A foundation now operates the fort as a tourist attraction, museum, the route was relatively free of obstacles to navigation, with only a few portages. Although the site provides commanding views of the extent of Lake Champlain, Mount Defiance, at 853 ft. Indians had occupied the area for centuries before French explorer Samuel de Champlain first arrived there in 1609, Champlain recounted that the Algonquins, with whom he was traveling, battled a group of Iroquois nearby. In 1642, French missionary Isaac Jogues was the first white man to traverse the portage at Ticonderoga while escaping a battle between the Iroquois and members of the Huron tribe and these colonial conflicts reached their height in the French and Indian War, which began in 1754. The next year saw the building of the four main bastions, work slowed in 1757, when many of the troops prepared for and participated in the attack on Fort William Henry. The barracks and demi-lunes were not completed until spring 1758, the French built the fort to control the south end of Lake Champlain and prevent the British from gaining military access to the lake. The Joannes and Languedoc bastions overlooked the lake to the south, the walls were seven feet high and fourteen feet thick, and the whole works was surrounded by a glacis and a dry moat five feet deep and 15 feet wide. When the walls were first erected in 1756, they were made of squared wooden timbers, the French then began to dress the walls with stone from a quarry about one mile away, although this work was never fully completed. When the main defenses became ready for use, the fort was armed with cannons hauled from Montreal, the fort contained three barracks and four storehouses
46.
Horatio Gates
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Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga – a matter of contemporary, Horatio Gates was christened on April 30,1728, in the Parish of St Nicholas, Deptford, Greenwich borough, in the English county of Kent. His parents were Robert and Dorothea Gates, evidence suggests that Dorothea was the granddaughter of John Hubbock, Sr. postmaster at Fulham, and the daughter of John Hubbock, Jr. listed in 1687 sources as a vintner. She had a marriage, to Thomas Reeve, whose family was well situated in the royal Customs service. Dorothea Reeve was housekeeper for the second Duke of Leeds, Peregrine Osborne, marriage into the Reeve family opened the way for Robert Gates to get into and then up through the Customs service. So too, Dorothea Gatess appointment circa 1729 to housekeeper for the third Duke of Bolton provided Horatio Gates with otherwise off-bounds opportunities for education, through Dorothea Gatess associations and energetic networking, young Horace Walpole was enlisted as Horatios godfather and namesake. In 1745, Horatio Gates obtained a commission with financial help from his parents. Gates served with the 20th Foot in Germany during the War of the Austrian Succession and he arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia under Edward Cornwallis and later was promoted to captain in the 45th Foot the following year. He was participated in engagements against the Mikmaq and Acadians. He married his wife Elizabeth at St. Pauls Church in 1754, leaving Nova Scotia, he sold his commission in 1754 and purchased a captaincy in one of the New York Independent Companies. One of his mentors in his early years was Edward Cornwallis, Gates served under Cornwallis when the latter was governor of Nova Scotia, and also developed a relationship with the lieutenant governor, Robert Monckton. During the French and Indian War, Gates served General Edward Braddock in America, in 1755 he accompanied the ill-fated Braddock Expedition in its attempt to control access to the Ohio Valley. This force included other future Revolutionary War leaders such as Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, Daniel Morgan, Gates didnt see significant combat, since he was severely injured early in the action. His experience in the years of the war was limited to commanding small companies. In 1759 he was brigade major to Brigadier General John Stanwix. Gates served under Monckton in the capture of Martinique in 1762, Monckton bestowed on him the honor of bringing news of the success to England, which brought him a promotion to major. The end of the war brought an end to Gates prospects for advancement, as the army was demobilized. In November 1755, Gates married Elizabeth Phillips and had a son, Robert, Gates military career stalled, as advancement in the British army required money or influence
47.
Carl von Donop
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Count Carl Emil Ulrich von Donop was a Hessian colonel who fought in the American Revolutionary War. The son of a family of Hesse-Kassel, Donop was well connected in the European courts. He served with distinction in the Seven Years War, when the American Revolutionary War began, Donop asked for leave to fight against the revolutionaries. The Landgrave appointed him to four battalions of grenadiers and the prestigious Jäger Corps. A highly ambitious officer, Donop hoped to remain in North America after the war, to pursue dreams of power, wearing a veneer of civility, and deferential to his superiors, Donop was an able officer but was not well liked by his subordinates. To his inferiors he was short-tempered and harsh, and he had a policy that was enforced by severe beatings. Donops troops took part in the initial British landing on Long Island, New York, on August 22,1776 and they also participated in the landing at Kips Bay on Manhattan Island on the night of September 14. Donop distinguished himself at the Battle of Harlem Heights, going to the aid of the British troops involved and his overall commander was Major General James Grant. Donop wanted to absorb Colonel Johann Ralls brigade into his garrison to fortify Trenton, warned by locals of impending attack, Donop warned Grant, who dismissed these cautions. On December 22,1776, Colonial militia under the command of Colonel Samuel Griffin attacked Donops southern outposts at Slabtown and this force of colonials was sent from Philadelphia by General Israel Putnam as a deterrent to further encroachment on the river crossings opposite the colonial capitol at Philadelphia. The colonials numbered about 900 local militia and a few regulars, in response to this attack, Donop moved his entire force south, pushing the colonials through Mount Holly at the Battle of Iron Works Hill and onto the opposite side of the Rancocas Creek. On Christmas Eve, the colonials retreated a few miles to Moorestown, Donops officers wanted him to return to Bordentown, within easy supporting distance for Rall. Donop had nothing but contempt for Rall and decided to spend Christmas in the company of a young widow - as reported by his Captain of Jägers. There is some speculation, but no proof, that the young widow was Betsy Ross. A rider brought news of the disaster at Trenton about mid-day on December 26, out of position, and fearing he would be cut off from the remaining Royal Forces, Donop ordered his corps to move through Crosswicks to Princeton. He left a guard and allowed for baggage wagons, wounded. He abandoned a good bit of plunder in his excitement and urgency, the victory at Trenton was won by Washington, but some credit should be given to the young widow who held Donop out of position a day too long to be of help to Rall. When Howes forces captured Philadelphia in 1777, he acted to open the Delaware River to the navy
