Video Tag: Continental Army

Friedrich Wilhelm Steuben’s Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States

Andrew Outten
February 23, 2023

On February 23, 1778, Gen. George Washington welcomed Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm Steuben of Prussia at Valley Forge. Throughout the Revolutionary War, Steuben was instrumental in transforming the Continental Army into a professional fighting force. This month’s edition of Collections Corner features the Institute’s historical programs manager, Andrew Outten, discussing one of the most iconic publications […]

In League with Liberty: The Persistence of Patriots of Color and the Formation of the First Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army

Robert Geake
February 16, 2023

As states struggled to fill enlistment quotas in late 1777, the Rhode Island General Assembly, drawing from a proposal from Rhode Island general James Varnum, voted to allow the enlistments of indentured servants, indigenous peoples and former slaves. With that, the First Rhode Island Regiment, known as “the black regiment,” was formed. Although met with […]

The Battle of St. Louis and the Attack on Cahokia

Stephen L. Kling, Jr.
January 31, 2023

Compared to events in the East, the American Revolutionary War in the West has received sparse attention despite its major impact on the geographical extent of the United States after the war. In 1779, in response to George Rogers Clark conquering the Illinois country and Spain entering the war, Lord George Germain set in motion […]

The Real Miracle at Valley Forge: George Washington’s Political Mastery

David O. Stewart
January 24, 2023

Throughout the punishing winter at Valley Forge, Gen. George Washington preserved the Continental Army while also forging it into an effective fighting force. This achievement not only reflected military leadership but also deft political action that allowed the commander-in-chief both to repel an attempt to supersede him and to command the congressional and national support […]

Six Letters Written by Capt. Jonathan Birge

Rachel Nellis
January 21, 2023

This segment of  Collections Corner features the Institute’s research services librarian, Rachel Nellis, sharing a remarkable series of six surviving letters written from New York in the summer and fall of 1776 by Capt. Jonathan Birge of Bolton, Connecticut, to his wife Priscilla. This series details Birge’s company’s activities, including descriptions of their supplies, sickness, […]

Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778

Ricardo A. Herrera
July 6, 2022

In this new history of the Continental Army’s Grand Forage of 1778, award-winning military historian Ricardo A. Herrera uncovers what daily life was like for soldiers during the darkest and coldest days of the American Revolution: the Valley Forge winter. There the army launched its largest and riskiest operation—not a bloody battle against British forces […]

Displaced: The Siege of Boston and the “Donation People” of 1775

Katie Turner Getty
March 10, 2022

In 1775, the British army seethed within Boston as the Continental Army besieged the city, compelling thousands of civilians to flee to the surrounding countryside. General George Washington and the Massachusetts Provincial Congress coordinated efforts to support the influx of displaced persons while attempting to protect the Continental Army from smallpox flaring in Boston. Many […]

Surviving the Winters: Housing Washington’s Army during the American Revolution

Steven Elliott
December 2, 2021

George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge forms an iconic image in the popular history of the American Revolution. Such winter camps were also a critical factor in waging and winning the War of Independence. Exploring the inner workings of the Continental Army through the prism of its encampments, Surviving […]

Image of Kevin J. Weddle, author of "The Compleat Victory" about the Battle of Saratoga.

The Battle of Saratoga and “the Compleat Victory”

Kevin Weddle
May 6, 2021

Following the successful expulsion of American forces from Canada in 1776, the British forces were determined to end the rebellion and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy. They were to send General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany. When British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga with unexpected ease in July of […]

Image of "The Pensioner" used in the presentation on "America's First Veterans."

America’s First Veterans

Jack D. Warren, Jr.
January 13, 2021

Executive Director Jack Warren discusses America’s First Veterans, a book published by the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati. Using eighty-five manuscripts, rare books, prints, broadsides, paintings and other artifacts, America’s First Veterans introduces the stories of the men—and some women—who bore arms in the Revolutionary War. The book follows their fate in […]

Historian Bob Selig discusses burial of the dead on Revolutionary War battlefields.

Battlefield Burial during the Revolutionary War

Robert Selig
October 30, 2018

Although battlefield burial is seldom covered by modern historians, following almost any military engagement, corpses needed to be buried. Who was responsible for disposing of these corpses? How can we tell who buried whom? Were officers and other ranks buried together or separate? Historian Robert Selig answers these and related questions about burying the dead […]

Rachel Engle discusses her research on camraderie in the Continental Army.

The Social Community of the Continental Army

Rachel Engl
October 24, 2017

Rachel Engl charts social community—the ways individuals initiated and maintained casual and intimate relationships—in the Continental Army. Over the course of the Revolutionary War, tens of thousands of men served in the Continental Army, many of whom formed strong friendships while fighting. Personal connections sustained men within the Continental Army and opened new opportunities for some […]

Hardships of the Continental Army

William M. Fowler, Jr.
April 5, 2013

The soldiers of the Continental Army suffered extreme hardships during the Revolutionary War. Beyond experiencing the terror of combat, the troops were chronically undersupplied. The close of the war brought further anxiety as many of the soldiers had not been paid in months or even years, and the impending disbanding of the army would send […]