1.
Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
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Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Located in Woodlawn, Bronx, New York City, it has the character of a rural cemetery, Woodlawn Cemetery opened during the Civil War in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that would be annexed to New York City in 1874. Holly Woodlawn, after changing her name to such, falsely told people she was the heiress to Woodlawn Cemetery, the Cemetery covers more than 400 acres and is the resting place for more than 300,000 people. It is also the site of the Annie Bliss Titanic Memorial, the cemetery contains seven Commonwealth war graves – six British and Canadian servicemen of World War I and an airman of the Royal Canadian Air Force of World War II. As of 2007, plot prices at Woodlawn were reported as $200 per square foot, Woodlawn was the destination for many human remains disinterred from cemeteries in more densely populated parts of New York City, Rutgers Street church graves were also moved to Woodlawn. Most graves were re-interred with a date of December 20,1866 into the Rutgers Plot. West Farms Dutch Reformed Church, at Boone Avenue and 172nd Street in The Bronx, had most of its graves moved to Woodlawn Cemetery in 1867 and interred in the Rutgers Plot, bensonia Cemetery, also known as Morrisania Cemetery, was originally a Native American burial ground. The graves were moved to Woodlawn Cemetery with a date of April 21,1871. Public School #138, in The Bronx, is now on the site, harlem Church Yard cemetery internees were moved to Woodlawn. Most graves were re-interred with a date of August 1,1871 into the Sycamore Plot. Nagle Cemetery remains were moved in November–December 1926 and reinterred in Primrose Plot, Lot 16150, identities of those interred are apparently unknown. The Dyckman-Nagle Burying Ground, West 212th Street at 9th Avenue, in the Borough of Manhattan, was established in 1677. In 1905, the remains, with the exception of Staats Morris Dyckman, by 1927, the Dyckman graves were finally moved to Woodlawn Cemetery. The former Dutch colonial-era cemetery is now a 207th Street subway train yard, the fictional cemetery of the Synagogue in Brooklyn in Once Upon a Time in America is moved here, while naming the place Riverdale Cemetery
2.
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
3.
Massachusetts National Guard
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The Massachusetts National Guard was founded as the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia on December 13,1636, and contains the oldest units in the United States Army. It is currently headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base and commanded by Major General L. Scott Rice, Massachusetts National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army and Air Force, identical ranks and insignias are utilized. National Guardsmen are eligible for all US military awards in addition to state awards, Soldiers and Airmen are held to the same uniform, physical fitness, and marksmanship standards as their Active Duty counterparts. The Massachusetts National Guard is organized into an Army National Guard, officers in the Guard hold two commissions - one from the Governor of Massachusetts and the other from the President of the United States. This emphasizes the Guards dual role as both and state and national military force, in its mission as a state organization, the National Guard can be called on by the Governor to assist in national disasters and public safety emergencies. In its national role, the National Guard can be mobilized for service with the United States Armed Forces. Units of the Massachusetts National Guard have been mobilized during the First World War, Second World War, Korean War, Gulf War, the War in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The National Guard is technically commanded by the Governor who is assisted by the State Adjutant General when not Federalized, National Guard members, as with all other Reserve Components, train one weekend a month and conducts Annual Training. The Massachusetts State Defense Force is state military force which can be mobilized by the governor to augment the National Guard, the MSDF is composed of former members of the United States Armed Forces who live in Massachusetts and serve on a voluntary basis unless called to active duty. The MSDFs three major specialties are administrative support, professional support and medical support, while December 13,1636 is often cited as the birthday of the National Guard, it was on that day that the Massachusetts militia was organized into three regiments. Prior to that date, each town had its own company which was commanded by an officer with the rank of captain. The militia companies were nominally under the command of the colonial governor, the regimental organization did much to improve the organization and leadership of the militia. During King Philips War,25 of New Englands 90 towns were attacked and pillaged by native tribal warriors and this war was the bloodiest, in terms of the percentage of the population that died in it, in American history. More than 10% of the population of New England perished. The economic, social, and political consequences of King Philips War would echo into the following centuries, as time progressed, larger towns would usually have more than one militia company and the companies of adjacent towns would be organized into regiments commanded by colonels. The regiments, in turn, were organized into brigades commanded by brigadier generals, in 1692 Plymouth Colony merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony and its militia became part of the Massachusetts Militia. Prior to the American Revolution, Massachusetts armed citizens were organized into two major elements, in the early morning hours of April 19,1775, the militia company of Lexington, commanded by Captain John Parker, confronted British forces heading to Concord to search for stores of munitions. This led to the shot heard round the world and the beginning of the American Revolution, while the Lexington militia retreated in the face of superior British forces, militiamen continuously engaged the British as they retreated from Concord back to Boston later the same day
4.
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
5.
Siege of Boston
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The Siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army garrisoned in what was then the city of Boston. Both sides had to deal with supply and personnel issues over the course of the siege. British resupply and reinforcement activities were limited to sea access, after eleven months of the siege, the British abandoned Boston by sailing to Nova Scotia. The siege began on April 19 after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Continental Congress formed the Continental Army from the militia, with George Washington as its Commander in Chief. Military actions during the remainder of the siege were limited to raids, minor skirmishes. In November 1775, Washington sent the 25-year-old bookseller-turned-soldier Henry Knox to bring to Boston the heavy artillery that had captured at Fort Ticonderoga. In a technically complex and demanding operation, Knox brought many cannons to the Boston area by January 1776, in March 1776, these artillery fortified Dorchester Heights, thereby threatening the British supply lifeline. The British commander William Howe saw the British position as indefensible and withdrew the British forces in Boston to the British stronghold at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on March 17. Prior to 1775, the British had imposed taxes and import duties on the American colonies, parliament authorized Gage, among other actions, to disband the local provincial government. It was reformed into the Provincial Congress, and continued to meet, the Provincial Congress called for the organization of local militias and coordinated the accumulation of weapons and other military supplies. Under the terms of the Boston Port Act, Gage closed the Boston port, when British forces were sent to seize military supplies from the town of Concord on April 19,1775, militia companies from surrounding towns opposed them in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. At Concord, some of the British forces were routed in a confrontation at the North Bridge, the British troops, on their march back to Boston, were then engaged in a running battle, suffering heavy casualties. All of the New England colonies raised militias in response to this alarm and they particularly blocked the Charlestown Neck, and the Boston Neck, leaving only the harbor and sea access under British control. In the days following the creation of the siege line, the size of the colonial forces grew, as militias from New Hampshire, Rhode Island. General Gage turned his attention to fortifying easily defensible positions, in the south, at Roxbury, Gage ordered lines of defenses with 10 twenty-four pound guns. In Boston proper, four hills were quickly fortified and they were to be the main defense of the city. Over time, each of these hills were strengthened, Gage also decided to abandon Charlestown, removing the beleaguered forces to Boston
6.
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
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Cannons and other armaments from the fort were later transported to Boston and used to fortify Dorchester Heights and break the standoff at the Siege of Boston. After seizing Ticonderoga, a small detachment captured the nearby Fort Crown Point on May 11, seven days later, Arnold and 50 men boldly raided Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River in southern Quebec, seizing military supplies, cannons, and the largest military vessel on Lake Champlain. Although the scope of military action was relatively minor, it had significant strategic importance. It impeded communication between northern and southern units of the British Army, and gave the nascent Continental Army a staging ground for the invasion of Quebec later in 1775. It also involved two larger-than-life personalities in Allen and Arnold, each of whom sought to gain as much credit, most significantly, artillery from Ticonderoga would be dragged across Massachusetts to the heights commanding Boston Harbor, forcing the British to withdraw from that city. The French had blown up the powder magazine when they abandoned the fort. In 1775 it was garrisoned by only a detachment of the 26th Regiment of Foot. Twenty-five women and children lived there as well, even before shooting started in the American Revolutionary War, American Patriots were concerned about Fort Ticonderoga. The fort was an asset for several reasons. Within its walls was a collection of heavy artillery including cannons, howitzers, the fort was situated on the shores of Lake Champlain, a strategically important route between the Thirteen Colonies and the British-controlled northern provinces. British forces placed there would expose the forces in Boston to attack from the rear. Carleton did not receive this letter until May 19, well after the fort had been captured, benedict Arnold had frequently traveled through the area around the fort, and was familiar with its condition, manning, and armaments. En route to Boston following news of the events of April 19, he mentioned the fort and its condition to members of Silas Deanes militia. Ethan Allen and other Patriots in the disputed New Hampshire Grants territory also recognized the forts value, whether either took or instigated action prior to the Connecticut Colonys recruitment efforts is unclear. Brown had notified the Massachusetts Committee of Safety in March of his opinion that Ticonderoga must be seized as soon as possible should hostilities be committed by the Kings Troops. When Arnold arrived outside Boston, he told the Massachusetts Committee of Safety about the cannons, on May 3, the Committee gave Arnold a colonels commission and authorized him to command a secret mission, which was to capture the fort. He was issued £100, some gunpowder, ammunition, and horses, and instructed to recruit up to 400 men, march on the fort, Arnold departed immediately after receiving his instructions. He was accompanied by two captains, Eleazer Oswald and Jonathan Brown, who were charged with recruiting the necessary men, riding furiously northward, he reached Allens headquarters in Bennington the next day
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