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Scholarship Challenge 2025: Great News… Update on 24 Aug
You did it!  More donations this week as of Friday 22 Aug, and the Challenge tally rises to $5,803.
Your donations have nicely surpassed our original goal of $5,000.  At Challenge 2025 see the status, who has donated and how to donate. Huzzah!
To top that, based on these donations, our Matching Benefactor will add another $$1,803
And word that at least one more donation is on its way.
Would you please help us make the extended challenge:
Can we?
Dare we hope!
You can help….see Taking Advantage

Words from previous Award Recipients  – Yes scholarships are of real value

“I have recently been awarded a United Empire Loyalist Scholarship that will enable me to purchase a myriad of source materials, ranging from probate records to Todd Braisted’s latest text, Bergen County Voices (2012). This incredibly generous award from the UELAC will therefore enable me to efficiently maximise the efficacy of my current research schedule and enable me to achieve the ambitious goals I have set myself with this Ph.D.”
– Christopher Minty, UELAC Loyalist Scholar 2012

“I am heavy in the process of writing my dissertation proposal, which is a 35-ish page paper outlining my proposed research. I will then defend this at some point over the Spring term. Once the proposal defense is complete, I can then work on the dissertation. I will also be working on a few living history events over the upcoming year, if they fit around my research trip to Nova Scotia. Thank you so much for your continued support!”
– Kelly Grant, UELAC Loyalist Scholar 2018

At the moment, the UELAC program is supporting six Scholars in their research programs. Your donations make a big difference in our ability to help them. At Scholarship Challenge 2025, please make your contribution today.  We – and the scholars – appreciate your assistance.

Taking Advantage….and hit $10,000 – only $1,000 more needed. 
Only $1,000 more needed. How can that be, you ask?
Our matching benefactor is on the hook now for donations above $3,500 (50%) with a multiplier starting at $4,500 (100%) meaning that (s)he as of today will contribute $1,803.
Bigger leverage to come with any donations over $6,000 being matched at 150%.
The arithmetic indicates that when your donations total $6,800, the benefactor will contribute $3,200, which would bring the total contributions to $10,000!
Our benefactor is in big time; would you donate even a little?

Praying for Assistance: Two German  (Loyalist) Ministers:  Part One of Two
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
The letters that two German ministers wrote to Sir Guy Carleton in the summer of 1783 became the middle chapters in the story of their journeys from the German States to New York and eventually to Halifax, Nova Scotia.  One pastor only travelled with his immediate family. The other emigrated with almost 50 families from his New York congregation.
The Rev. John Michael Kern wrote his letter on June 10, 1783 at the height of the loyalist exodus from the new United States. “Actuated by a firm loyalty“, the 53 year-old clergyman and “forty-seven German families” were “emigrating to a wilderness and pray some assistance“.
The Rev. Bernard Michael Houseal wrote letters to British officials in May, July and August, finally getting a response from Sir Guy Carleton on August 22, 1783. On that date, Carleton instructed John Parr, the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia to provide a “grant of land” to the German Lutheran pastor. Fifty-six year-old Houseal was convinced that “he cannot remain in New York once the British have left and thinks that Halifax is a suitable home.”
It must have difficult for the two pastors to turn their backs on all that they had known in the former British colonies. Their arrival in the New World was full of promise, and they had each enjoyed success in their pastoral careers. Their “firm loyalty” to the crown had come at a great personal cost.
Born in Heilbronn, Wurtemburg, Bernard Michael Houseal (also spelled Houzeal/Housil/Hausihl) had trained for the Lutheran ministry at the University of Strausberg. In the spring of 1752, he married Sybilla Margaretha Mayer – just months before he left Europe for Maryland.  Twenty-five year-old Bernard and 19 year-old Sybilla travelled to North America with the pastor’s brother and Sybilla’s family.
Bernard became the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick, Maryland – a community founded by German immigrants. After serving there for a year, he moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, preaching there for five years. After pastorates in Easton and Philadelphia, by 1770, Houseal was the senior pastor of the old Hollandish Lutheran Church in New York.
Within a few years, both his family and his reputation had increased. He and Sybilla had a family of at least 7 children. An educated man who could speak French, Dutch, German and English, Houseal was eventually appointed to the board of governors of King’s College and became a trustee of the New York Hospital.
Housel was a very vocal supporter of the British throughout the Revolution, a fact that did not go unnoticed by rebels. His facility with language was an asset during the American Revolution, helping the authorities in his role of translator for the British and German troops. Called a “damned Tory” who had “gone to counsel with the Enemy” by a company of rebel soldiers, Houseal later reported that they had used up his food, fuel, and alcohol and damaged his furniture.
Such “counsel with the enemy” carried risks. Rebels imprisoned Johan Schwertfeger, the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Albany, New York, during the Revolution for “meddling in political affairs which did not belong to his office“. He would later move to Upper Canada with a number of the members of his congregation.
The Great New York Fire of 1776, said to be started by Patriots, was devastating for Rev. Houseal. When his parsonage burned, he lost £665 worth of furniture, books and scientific instruments, “kindled by the cruel Hands of wicked Incendiaries“.
The Housel family remained in New York until the formal evacuation of British troops and loyal Americans. Before he left the city in November of 1783, Housel received a letter from the congregation that he had faithfully served for 14 years. It read, in part, as follows:
“… Whereas the Lord of the Church has called the said our beloved minister to another Station in His Vineyard, we do cordially and thankfully wish and pray the God of all goodness may send His Blessings further with said Mr. Houseal … with his beloved family to the place of their Destination, are the fervent wishes of the Subscribers.”
After a short stay in Shelburne, the clergyman’s family finally settled in Halifax.    The city’s 15 German families that worshipped at St. George’s Church on the corner of Gerrish and Brunswick Streets could not provide Houseal with a “sufficient salary“, so he went to England in 1785 to be ordained as an Anglican minister.
While there he came to the attention of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, who made Housel the chaplain of his regiment. Michael Housel, the pastor’s son, later served as the duke’s aide-de-camp.  Both Prince Edward and Bernard Housel then sailed for Halifax.
Now employed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, Housel ministered to his congregants in their own language, but with the aid of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. His preaching became so popular that his congregation outgrew what has since become known as the Little Dutch Church, prompting the construction of the much larger St. George’s Round Church, which was completed after Housel’s death.
The Lutheran clergyman’s name periodically appeared in Halifax’s press, usually as the officiating pastor at weddings. However, an ad placed in January of 1796 reveals a tragic blind spot in Houseal’s theology and Christian practice. It reported that a 19 year-old Black  “servant” named James who was “addicted to lying, thieving, fornication and other wicked practices” had run away from the loyalist pastor.  Five years earlier, Houseal made known his opposition to the exodus of Black Loyalists to Sierra Leone and tried to publish the letters of a missionary to Africa – letters that told of misery and sickness in Sierra Leone.
The Rev. Bernard Michael Houseal died on March 9, 1799 in his 72nd year.  The Loyalist’s mortal remains were placed in a crypt beneath the Little Dutch Church, where he had ministered for 16 years. His royal patron, Prince Edward, did not forget Houseal. The Duke of Kent made arrangements for 66 year-old Sybilla and the couple’s unmarried children to live in England.
The documents of the era do not reveal the final homes of the Houseal daughters.  Margaret had married Captain John Legett in 1786; Sophia wed Dr. Daniel Cornwell in the following year; Sibylla became Mrs. Thomas Lane in 1789; Amelia had married Judge George Dawkins in 1794; Mary became Mrs. James Milne in 1796; and in the following year, Anne wed Lt. Philip Charles Anstruther of the H.M.S. St. Albans.
The Houseals’ son Michael became a widower when his wife Mary died in Dartmouth on August 16, 1795. His second wife, Jane, died in January of 1798, leaving him with an infant son. His third wife was Anna Maria Boote, the daughter of an English rector. The couple were married on May 19, 1799 in New York City.
Today the Little Dutch Church that the Rev. Houseal pastored still stands at the corner of Gerrish and Brunswick Streets in Halifax. There, visitors can view a marble plaque “erected to the memory of … the Beloved Pastor of the German Congregation“.
Next week’s Loyalist Trails will tell the story of the Rev. Kern who was both a German and a Loyalist.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

The Frederick Mabee UEL Family Story, Settled in the Long Point Settlement 1793
An Interesting Story of Early Days of This District, published in the Waterford Star, Page 7 Thurs 21 June 1928
The ancestry and hardships of Frederick Mabee (Mablilie, Maby, Mable) the United Empire Loyalist, who settled in the Long Point Settlement, Upper Canada in 1793.
By Dr. Oliver R. Mabee
From the MSS. Mable History, by E. C. Marshall, it appears that Frederick Mabee, U.E.L., was the son of Frederick Mable of New York, and grandson of Caspar Mabie, who married the daughter of Frederick Schurman of New Rochelle, Westchester Co., N.Y., in 1687.
The Mabee family, before the Huguenot War, lived in the Province of Anjou, in France. Seigneur Pierre Mabille de Nevi fought under Coligny with the Huguenot army, and during the great massacre of the Protestants in 1572 escaped to Holland, where he lived and died at Noorden. He had two sons, Gaspard and John, who are both mentioned in the early historical records of New York. Gaspard’s son, Pierre Gaspard Mabille, settled in New York City, married and raised a large family. He resided on the west side of Broad Street, at the corner of Marketfield. He died in 1665, but his widow continued to live in the old homestead on Broad Street, and her name is found in the Domine Selyn list of members of the Dutch Church in 1686.
Gaspard Mabille, his father, was one of the signers of the Leyden petition in July, 1621, which was sent to Sir Dudley Carleton, British Ambassador in Holland, asking permission to emigrate to the New World. The other signers of this petition were French refugees who had taken up their residence at Leyden and Noorden. He was in the Dutch navy and had previously made several trips to the New World. His son, Pierre Gaspard, came to the New World later on the ship “New Netherlands” in 1624 with other French Huguenots and settled in New Amsterdam.
John Mabille, second son of Seigneur Pierre Mabille, and his family settled at Schenectady shortly afterward and many of their descendants are recorded there.
Caspar Mabie, son of Pierre Gaspard and the grandfather of Frederick Mabee, the U.E.L. pioneer, lived in New York and later in New Rochelle. The Dutch Reformed Church records show that he was baptized in 1660 and married to Lysbeth Schurman in 1687. He was the second son of Pierre Gaspard Mabille and raised a large family. Three of his sons are of particular interest to us. Frederick baptized Sept. 1st, 1695, Simon and Abraham, who found their way to New Rochelle, the home of their maternal grandfather, Frederick Schurman.
Frederick Mabee, son of Caspar, married and lived in New York, where he raised a large family. Frederick Mabee, his son, the United Empire Loyalist, was born in New York about 1735. He was married to Lavina —, about 1765, and apparently had several small children at the time the American War of Independence started. Read more…
Visit the Frederick Mabee entry in the Loyalist Directory

Calling all Mabee and Secord  Descendants Sat 27 Sept @1:00

The Grand River Branch  is holding a special event to unveil a plaque honouring our Loyalist ancestors, the Mabee & Secord families. See the poster which outlines the details and we would be so very pleased if interested people would attend. See poster…
We do hope some of the descendants of these families will join interested others.
Please let me know should you require any further information. Bill Terry UE terrybill766@gmail.com

Lost on Granville Mountain: Two Children of Moses and Ann Shaw

The following story originally appeared in the June 11, 1892 edition of the Carleton Sentinel, the newspaper for Woodstock, New Brunswick. It recounts the story of two small children who became lost in the woods of Nova Scotia in 1770. The six year-old girl and her four year-old brother were the children of Planters, the New England settlers of the Maritimes who preceded the influx of Loyalist refugees. The story was passed down through the family and eventually retold by a Shaw descendant 122 years later.  …Stephen Davidson UE

Moses Shaw, my great-grandfather, was born Jan. 18, 1735. Ann, his wife, was born Feb. 16, 1738. The dates of the birth children of theirs are as follows: Isaiah Shaw, Oct. 11, 1763, Elizabeth, Dec. 26, 1764, and Moses, Sept. 23, 1766.
On April 1, 1770, Elizabeth and Moses, taking advantage of the fine weather, stripped their tiny feet of shoes and stocking, and were following their father who was ploughing with a yoke of oxen, around and about the field.
The two children were called by their mother, who was a smoker of tobacco, and sent to a neighbor’s house to borrow a fig of that weed for her benefit. Having obtained the tobacco they started homeward, on a path through the woods. Becoming absorbed with childhood fancies they wondered off the path and were soon lost in the woods.
As soon as it was generally known that the children were lost, the neighbors turned out en masse, and for three days the surrounding country was searched over and up the face of the North Mountain, between the Annapolis Basin and the Bay of Fundy on the north. Thinking it impossible for them to go up the mountain, they had gave up the search and decided that either the bears had devoured them, the Indians had stolen them, or they were drowned, so they all returned to their respective homes.
In the meantime the little children were wandering through the bushes looking for their way home. On the way, they lost the fig of tobacco, and after some search found it again.
The weather changed to cold and wet, night came on, and they laid down tired and hungry in a little hollow. The little girl, with motherly instinct, tried to make her little brother as comfortable as she possibly could, but he, cold and hungry and away from the comforts of home, would wake up and cry and call for his mother and sometimes would crawl out of his leafy bed and wander away looking for his mother. Then his sister would go after him and coax him back and wrap her scanty clothing around him and get him to sleep again. Thus they passed the night.
At the dawn of morning they started and travelled all day till their scanty clothing was torn and tattered so that they were half naked, but faithful still to their trust fund – the tobacco. In a starving condition, they tried to catch the little birds, and Moses said, “O Lizzie, if we could only catch a little bird alive we would not stop to pick the feathers off on it; we’d eat it feathers and all,” but they did not catch any birds.
During the three days’ hunt they heard the horns blow and guns fire and the men calling, but did not dare to answer; for fear the bears would hear them and come and eat them up. Thus they spent four days.
Now, on the fourth day of the children’s absence from home, an old man (I have forgotten his name) took his gun and told his friends he was going to the Bay shore to his traps, but his real intention was to hunt for the children that were lost. Toward the close of the day he was at the top of the mountain. Suddenly he saw a few leaves quivering on the ground. He paused, looked again, then carefully examined his gun; his first thought being that there was a wild animal below the surface of the leaves. He advanced a little farther, and seeing the children’s clothes he came to the conclusion that their remains were lying there, they having been destroyed by some wild beast. In another moment, he heard a child’s voice. Being overcome with joy and sorrow and sympathy mingled together, he was so completely unmanned that he could not utter a syllable.
The little girl looked up and said, “Where are you going to take us?” By this time he had so far recovered his speech as to say, “I am going to take you to your mother“; and on hearing this little Moses, for he used to stutter started up and said, “We l-l-lost the b backer.”
The hunter lifted the little fellow in his arms – for he was too weak to walk and taking the girl by the hand — he found she could walk by being led – took them down the steep side of the mountain and to their way home, which was a mile and a half from the top of the mountain, reaching the house shortly after dark. The joy with which they were received was unspeakable.
Their father was sitting before the fire. He took the little boy in his arms, his feet and limbs, (as were those of his sister) being cold and purple. The little fellow seeing a plate of potatoes on the hearth made a spring from his father’s arms and got hold of a potato. As they dare not let him eat after such a long period of hunger the potato was gently taken from him by his father, whereupon the child looked up in his father’s face and “Now, father, I have been lost for four days and am starving to death and you won’t give me a potato.” His father always said it was the hardest thing he ever did in his life to take the potato from his starving child.
For fear the parents would be tempted to give them more than it would be prudent for them to eat, the rescuer of the children remained all night. He put them in a warm bed and once in a while gave them a little thin gruel. After a few days had elapsed they were allowed to eat the desire quantity of food so they were restored to health and strength.
But their mother was nearly demented. She would wonder about in the night and call the children by name and say “Come to mother, dear, come to mother,” and she never fully recovered from the shock. She lived about seven years after the children were found.
After her death the little Elizabeth took charge of her father’s house and family, but finally he got married again and was the father of eleven children, eight by his first wife and three by his second. Their names were: Isaiah, Elizabeth, Moses, David, Joseph, Zebina, Havilah, Mary, Susanna, Second Susanna and Ann. They were born and brought up in Granville in the Annapolis valley. At about the age of nineteen Elizabeth, the heroine of the story, married Josiah Snow. Eleven children were the outcome of this alliance.
In the year 1814 they moved to Wakefield, in what is Carleton Co., N.B., and there they both died, he in the year 1832, and she in 1854 in her eighty-ninth year. The last twenty-five years of her life she was blind, and although she always said, “Death was a terror to her,” yet in her last days her faith was triumphant. As a neighbor she was kind and cheerful and greatly loved by all. As a singer her voice was not excelled in the old church music. She seemed to know by heart all Watt’s hymns, and many old people who survive speak of her singing to this day. A number of her children lived to the ripe old age of ninety, but all have passed away.
Now, this girl who was lost on Granville Mountain, my grandmother, and I belong to a family of eleven children. One is dead and the youngest has many grandchildren. Our family lives in six different States of the Union and the Province of New Brunswick.
The above story was narrated to me by the lips of my grandmother, the girl who was lost, and this little history I bequeath to the eyes of the reading public.

John MALLORY,
Jacksontown, Carleton County
New Brunswick

George Washington and the Invasion of Canada
20 AUGUST 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: George Washington writes to Philip Schuyler proposing to send “1000 or 1200 Men” into Quebec, providing a diversion for Schuyler’s planned invasion of Canada from upstate New York.
“There may be some Danger that such a sudden Incursion might alarm the Canadians & detach them from that Neutrality they have hitherto observed but I should hope that with suitable Precautions & strict Discipline observed, any Jealousies & apprehensions might be quickly removed.
“The few whom I have consulted upon it, approve it much: but the final Determination is deferr’d until I hear from you.”

Comment:
Washington’s concern about alarming Canadians ‘and detach them from that Neutrality’ reveals the Revolution’s central challenge that Jefferson would inherit: how to expand democracy by force without destroying its appeal. Washington hoped ‘strict Discipline’ would convince Canadians to join the Revolution; instead, the invasion turned them permanently against it. Jefferson learned this lesson – his ‘Empire of Liberty’ would expand through purchase and settlement, not invasion. Yet the ambition remained constant from Washington’s August letter through Jefferson’s presidency: America was incomplete without Canada. The letter’s most telling line: ‘Not a Moment’s Time is to be lost.’ Washington sensed what Jefferson later confirmed – the window for continental unity was closing. Once Britain reinforced Quebec, North America would be permanently divided. The invasion failed, but its logic persisted. Jefferson tried to acquire Canada through embargo, Madison through war in 1812. Washington’s two-pronged assault became America’s two-century obsession: continental unity that geography suggested but history denied.   20 Aug 2025, by Sam Child 7

250 Years Ago: The Invasion of Canada

from Lake Champlain
Richard Montgomery, an Irish-born officer who had resigned from the British Army and joined the American cause, was made a brigadier general under Philip Schuyler, commander of the Northern Department.
In mid-August, the Americans were preparing to move north from Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point on Lake Champlain. They were struggling with logistics: shortages of gunpowder, food, and disease in camp.
General Schuyler (Montgomery’s superior) was planning to advance into Canada with a mixed force of Continental troops and New York militia.
Around 23–24 August 1775, Montgomery and Schuyler were gathering men, supplies, and boats for the movement north.
On 25 August, Schuyler wrote to Congress that he was advancing into Canada. He had left Albany on the 15th, reached Crown Point by the 18th, and was pushing forward. Montgomery was with him.
Montgomery was tasked with leading the advance toward Fort St. Johns (St-Jean) on the Richelieu River, the gateway to Montreal.
Around 24 August 1775, Montgomery was just north of Crown Point with Schuyler, preparing the American expedition into Canada. They were assembling boats and supplies to move against St. Johns, the key British stronghold guarding Montreal. The actual fighting was still a couple of weeks away.

From Maine
Benedict Arnold proposed to George Washington a daring alternate route: march through the wilderness of Maine and descend the Kennebec River to strike Quebec City directly.
At this exact time (late August), Arnold had not yet started marching toward Quebec.
He was still in Cambridge, Massachusetts, lobbying Washington and the Continental Congress for command of the expedition.
Washington was receptive but cautious — he was concerned about the difficulty of the wilderness route, but agreed it could succeed if well-coordinated with Montgomery.
Washington began drafting orders for Arnold in the last week of August. By 27 August 1775, the Continental Army council in Cambridge approved the plan in secret.
Arnold himself spent these days helping prepare the expedition, selecting men (around 1,100 volunteers, including a company of riflemen from Pennsylvania and Virginia under Daniel Morgan), and arranging for bateaux (flat-bottomed boats) to be built for the river journey.

Causes of Death in British Colonies in North America around 1770
In 1770s British North America, common causes of death included infectious diseases, accidents, and violence, with a particularly high mortality rate among infants and children due to diseases like smallpox, diphtheria, and malaria. In some areas, diseases like malaria posed a significant threat, especially to new arrivals. Natural causes, including pulmonary tuberculosis, were also significant factors, with violence and alcoholism also contributing to mortality rates.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Infectious Diseases:
Diseases like smallpox, diphtheria, malaria, and others were widespread and often fatal, especially in densely populated areas and among vulnerable populations like infants and the elderly. These diseases were often spread through contaminated water and close contact.
Accidents and Violence:
Accidents, such as falls from horses or drownings, were common causes of death, as were injuries sustained in violent altercations.
Natural Causes:
Pulmonary tuberculosis was a major cause of death, as were other natural causes related to old age and illness.
Other Factors:
Alcoholism and drug use contributed to deaths, while suicide was also a factor, though not as prevalent as other causes.
Regional Differences:
Malaria was a significant killer in the Southern colonies, particularly impacting newcomers, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Effect of Inoculations of Smallpox in Boston
The inoculations reduced the ravage and death toll from the “speckled monster” in dramatic ways. Historians have calculated that the case death rate was reduced from 15 to 2% during the 1721 epidemic and from 18% to less than one percent during the outbreak of 1764. The inoculation saved almost 2000 lives in Boston during the epidemics of the 1700s. Despite these overwhelming results, opposition against the procedure persisted for decades, even among members of the medical establishment. Source: The USA National Library of Medicine.  https:// pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7335227/  Note: Inoculation was introduced in Boston by Dr. Zabdiel Boylston during the 1721 epidemic.

John Shee: A Grenadier Company Commander at Bunker Hill
by Steven M. Baule 19 August 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
Historian Richard Kohn argued in 1981 that to make progress in military history, the first thing historians would need to do would be to seek the “true identity of soldiers” grounded in the community and time from which they came. Among those soldiers was John Shee, an Irish gentleman from Ballyreddin, County Kilkenny born to Marcus Shee, a physician, and his wife Anna Mutlow about 1741. Shee’s great grandfather, Marcus Shee of Wassehays, had been outlawed as a Jacobite in April 1691 causing the family to move from Scotland to Ireland. As a younger son without prospects of inheriting his father’s lands, Shee joined the army as an ensign via purchase in the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot on December 31, 1759, as the army was expanding during the Seven Years War. The 18th Foot remained in Ireland throughout that war, and Shee was promoted to lieutenant on February 13, 1762. He purchased his captaincy on January 1, 1766, upon the promotion of a brother officer to major. A year later Shee married Elizabeth Walsh, possibly in response to the news that the 18th Foot was to be posted to North America in the spring of 1767. This posting was part of a rotation of troops to bring regiments back from North America who had fought in the French and Indian War and Pontiac’s Rebellion and replace them with fresh troops.
As part of the 18th Foot’s preparation for rotation to North America, the regiment was inspected at Dublin on April 11 by Lt. Gen. Michael O’Brian Dilkes, commander-in-chief of the forces in Ireland. Shee was present as the captain of a battalion company. The company was complete with a lieutenant, an ensign, two sergeants, a drummer, and twenty-eight privates and corporals present and fit for duty. One man was sick. Eight of the men were new recruits from within the past year. Fifty-three percent of the men were English, thirty-seven percent were Irish, three percent were Scots and one man was listed as a foreigner. Fifteen had served for ten or more years in the Army, another ten had served four or five years. Most of the Irish were probably new recruits. This company was altered before embarking at Cork for America by adding an additional eighteen men. Some might have been new recruits, but most were likely drafts from the 50th Foot and other regiments in Ireland. Unfortunately, no records are known to survive of the nativity of the new men and their lengths of service.
Shee and the rest of the 18th Foot arrived at Philadelphia in July 1767, where they remained for the rest of the year. In October, the regiment was reviewed by Gen. Thomas Gage and “represented a Bush fight which gave great satisfaction to some Thousands of Spectators.” The new Mrs. Shee accompanied her husband to America, and George Buttricke, the regiment’s quartermaster, wrote that the officers spent their evenings in Philadelphia surrounded by Maderia and women. This pleasant assignment soon changed when the regiment was ordered west in May 1768 to garrison Fort Pitt, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers which form the Ohio River, and Fort Chartres on the Mississippi River some 900 miles to the west of Philadelphia. Shee’s ensign, William Raymond, resigned from the Army at the end of May, possibly to avoid having to serve in these frontier garrisons.
The trip west to Fort Pitt was difficult due to a shortage of wagons for baggage and supplies. When the 18th arrived at the fort in July, Shee served on a general court martial board that tried five deserters from the 34th Foot and one from the 18th.  Read more…

Hessian Soldiers Travelling to America: Embarked…Sailing home. August 1783
From a Hessian Diary of the American Revolution.
This excerpt from the diary of Johan Conrad Dohla (170 pages).

Major Moves during Johan’s deployment:

  • March 1777:   Depart Germany
  • 3 June 1777:   Arrive New York, then Amboy NJ
  • November 1777:  To Philadelphia
  • June 1778: to Long Island
  • July 1778: To Newport RI
  • October 1779: to New York
  • May 1781: to Chesapeake Bay (Yorktown)
  • October 1781: to Williamsburg
  • January 1782: to Frederick MD (about 40 km west of Baltimore)
  • May 1783: departed Frederick MD for Springfield, Long Island
  • August 1783: Boarded ship at Denys’s Ferry

1783: Continuation of the Notable Occurences in the North American Field Campaign; Marching out of Captivity to Springfield on Long Island, in the Seventh and Last Year, Page 142

In the Month of August 1783
4 August. The anchor was raised and we sailed into the ocean with a good west wind. We put our trust  in God’s gracious  hands  while  on  the  boundless  depths  of  the  great ocean  and ardently  implored  the Almighty that He turn  all  dangers,  storms,  and  shipwrecks  mercifully away, and keep us healthy and return us safely to our dear fatherland.
[NOTE: A 4 August 1783 embarcation return of Ansbach-Bayreuth troops totaled 1,136 men and women and 54 children. Davies, Documents, 19:423.]
The frigate South Carolina, forty-four guns, sailed with us, on which were four companies of our Jaegers, the Ansbach Grenadier Company, and  60  men of  the  Colonel’s Company of the Ansbach Regiment, with  Colonel  von  Voit  as  commandant;  600  men  all  told,  including 204 sailors and 60 marines.
Our Jaegers had released many men previously on Long Island, with the permission of the commanding English general, Carleton, and on the orders of the King of England, so that the separated people could go to Nova Scotia, in order to settle there with other English colonists bound for that place. They were each promised not only free passage and daily provisions, but also that, when they arrived, each would receive three hundred acres of land on which he could build or could develop as he wished. And, for twelve years, the King would collect no taxes, and all necessary victuals and other necessities would be provided.
Nova Scotia  is  a  large  but  cold  and  barren  land,  full  of  woods  and  forest,  in  some  parts with savages and  in other places still completely unsettled. On the side to the sea,  there  is a city, with the name of Penny Cow or Pendy Kofky, laid out by the Tories and other English who have already been sent there, but it is in bad condition.
In this  land the  fruits of the earth are few because, for the  most part, it  remains  unsettled and  barren.  The  climate  is  not  very  healthy  there.  At  present  the  only  things  that  the  land produces  consist  of  all  sorts  of  animal  hides,  dried  fish,  and  wood  for  ship  building.  From New York, and from everywhere in the thirteen United States, many hundreds of individuals and entire families with all their possessions, are drawn to the land, especially many favorable to the King. Also, many separated Hessians have applied to go there.
[NOTE: Among  others,  the  following  are  Ansbach-Bayreuth  soldiers  known  to  have  gone  to  Nova  Scotia: Sigismund Arnold; Philip von Beust; August von Diemar; Johann Friedrich Ensenberger, with either one woman or one child; Johann Joseph Giesler, or Gisler, with one woman and two children; Kaspar Gruber; Christian von Molitor, who led a group of Ansbach-Bayreuth soldiers to Nova Scotia and was accompanied by his wife, six children, and ten servants; and Chaplain Christopher Wagner with four children. Davies, Documents, 21 : 229,]

5 August. We sailed away from America on the open sea with a good and favorable wind. Today I was on duty to pull on the ropes with which the sails are raised and lowered.
6 August. It became completely  calm.  At  nine  o’clock  tonight,  due to the  carelessness  of the helmsmen, the frigate South Carolina came very close to our ship and caused a frightful alarm, but fortunately, with much effort, was again steered away.
7 August. During the day it was still calm. After sunset, however, the wind came from the south and filled our sails most favorably.
8 August. We had a good south wind and the trip went well. I went on work detail.
9 August. We had strong winds from the north toward the east, and sailed rapidly. At night a  strong  windstorm  arose  that  lasted  throughout  the  night;  therefore,  we  sailed  a  great distance.

10 August.  We  again  had  strong  winds.  This  night  the  frigate  South Carolina became separated from us, and we did not see it again until we reached England.
11 August. The stormy north winds still continued strong. I went on work detail.
12 August. During the morning we had good northeast  winds,  but  during  the  afternoon  it became rather still and the waves abated.
13 August.  We  had  good  southwest  winds  that  increased  during  the  afternoon,  and  we sailed rapidly.
14 August. A strong  north wind arose.  At twelve  o’clock noon our  ships  reached  a  large sandbank and  found  bottom  at  thirty  fathoms.  The  ship’s  captain  said  that  we  were  already half way across the Atlantic Ocean.
15 August. We had northeast winds and did not sail swiftly.
(to be continued)

Advertised on 19 August 1775: ‘Map of Boston … the engagements of Lexington and Bunker’s Hill.’

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

“Map of Boston … the engagements of Lexington and Bunker’s Hill.”

More advertisements for “MR. ROMANS’s MAP OF BOSTON” appeared in the August 19, 1774, edition of the Pennsylvania Ledger.  Bernard Romans, the cartographer who created a “MAP, FROM BOSTON TO WORCESTER, PROVIDENCE AND SALEM. Shewing the SEAT of the present unhappy CIVIL WAR in NORTH-AMERICA,” and Nicholas Brooks, the publisher, previously promoted the project with a broadside subscription proposal that began circulating in the middle of July and scattered references to the map at the end of advertisements in the Pennsylvania Ledger.  Two weeks earlier, for instance, Brooks ran an advertisement that featured an extensive list of merchandise available at his shop and added a nota bene of a single line: “Romans’s map of the seat of war near Boston, &c.”  Robert Aitken mentioned the map in a slightly longer nota bene when he advertised Military Instructions for Officers Detached in the Field.  An advertisement in Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer replicated the copy from the broadside.
Once the map was “completely finished, and ready to be delivered to the SUBSCRIBERS,” as William Bradford and Thomas Bradford put it in their advertisement, or “just Printed, Published, and To be Sold,” as Brooks proclaimed in his own notice, it received greater attention in newspaper notices.  Read more…

Unraveling the Mystery of George Washington’s Earliest Teacher 
by Richard Gardiner 21 August 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
George Washington’s childhood is a rather elusive historical research topic. It is not that there is a lack of stories, tales, and legends published about Washington’s early years, but the task of separating authentic information from widespread mythology has compelled judicious historians to exercise tremendous skepticism when offered an assertion about his youngest days. Much of what has been written about his childhood cannot be documented with primary sources. The scholarly consensus is that the history of Washington’s childhood is fraught with a “frustrating combination of misinformation and ignorance.”
One aspect is the question of Washington’s first teacher. Edward Lengel edited a series of articles on George Washington, the first of which described this uncertainty.

Some have stated that he was taught by one of Augustine’s [his father’s] tenants, a man by the name of Mr. Hobby. Others have suggested that he attended Reverend James Marye’s school in Fredericksburg, but there is very little direct evidence to validate either of these statements.

Many nineteenth-century historians were convinced of the Hobby story, including Washington Irving, Caroline M. Kirkland, Benson Lossing and Henry Cabot Lodge.[4] Even the original “debunker” William E. Woodward affirmed the story in 1926.[5] But after John C. Fitzpatrick, editor of the Writings of George Washington whose scholarship was considered “unrivaled,’ proclaimed in 1933 that “Hobby is the fertile imagination of the Reverend Mason Locke Weems, of the ‘I-can-not-tell-a-lie’ and cherry-tree fame,” scholars became reluctant to concede Hobby’s very existence. Read more… 


Georgian Hair and Clothing – Fashionable but Fatal
By Sarah Murden 15 July 2015 Al;l Things Georgian
Georgian fashion dictated that women wore ‘big dresses’ accompanied by the even bigger hair so with all that fabric and ‘high hair’ fashion it should come as no surprise that accidents happened. With that in mind, I thought I would take a peek at the fires caused by the fashions of the day.
I had no idea that there were so many incidents reported in the newspapers about hair and fabric being set alight by the open fires and so many deaths resulting from these incidents, so here are just a few.

London Chronicle (London, England), September 28, 1776 – October 1, 1776
Edinburgh, Sept 25. We hear from Dundee, that a few days ago, as a young lady was writing, the candle set her head-dress on fire. It burnt some time before she was aware; the then wrapped a handkerchief round her head to smother the flame, but it also catched fire; it was, however, extinguished with having scorched the lady much; but the fright affected her so much that she died in two days. Her name was Wedderburn*, an amiable young lady and her death is deeply regretted.

Read more…

Loyalist Evacuation Ships

Evacuation Reference Information: American Loyalists to New Brunswick: The Ship Passenger Lists.
A number of recent articles in the UELAC Newsletter have explored the topic of Loyalists who were evacuated from New York in 1783. I don’t recall seeing any mention of David Bell’s excellent 2015 book American Loyalists to New Brunswick: The Ship Passenger Lists. Bell’s focus is on the roughly 10,000 Loyalists who arrived at the mouth of the St. John River and includes not only passenger lists, but victualizing musters, grantees lists and Loyalist political petitions. This book was very useful when I was tracing the histories of Loyalist families who came to New Brunswick but later migrated to Upper Canada.
William Cooke

Book: American Loyalists to New Brunswick: The Ship Passenger Lists
by David Bell, 2015
Passenger lists for New Brunswick bound Loyalists provide an invaluable resource for family history research
The Loyalists were colonial Americans who supported the British empire and opposed independence during the long revolutionary war. When the American Revolution ended in a peace treaty that was too feeble to protect them against persecution in the newly independent United States, tens of thousands fl ed to a new life in exile.
In 1783 many of them sailed northward from the New York City area to the St. John River valley in the future Canadian province of New Brunswick. This volume makes available for the fi rst time the source materials documenting this vast migration. Most records were discovered at the National Archives of the United Kingdom.
In this book you can follow thousands of loyal American refugees at one or more critical points in their journey of exile:  Read more at Formac Publishing Company.  Available from Formac, other book distributors and some libraries

The 1782 Ships: Resources Waiting to be Researched
Good morning.     Probably this ship list should note that the initial evacuation fleet from Loyalist New York arrived at Annapolis on 19 October 1782, numbering 400-500 souls. My 1983 book says (p15) there were 11 ships in the fleet. Not necessarily all were transports, but it lists four that were. From their names, they were hired transports, not Navy ships. I don’t think I ever saw a definitive ship list, the New York army bureaucracy of 1782 being much less refined than what was developed during the 1783 evacuations.

This 1782 Loyalist evacuation to NS is little studied, perhaps little known. For anyone interested, I recollect some preliminary evacuation lists (not passenger lists) for this fleet in the Carleton (British Headquarters) Papers and in one or more of the archival deposits of Botsford Papers. Both sets of lists were (as I remember) hard to read and easily passed over by anyone who did not recognize what they were in the first place. They deserve publication. It would be a useful project for someone to take on, and the episode has the makings of an MA thesis. All such lists have people who said they would evacuate but did not, or did so only in 1783; that is where the historian’s discernment comes in.
David Bell

The Robert & Elizabeth Evacuation Ship Sailing Dates
Benjamin Jarvis, formerly of Norwalk, Connecticut, says in his claim to the Crown, “Embarked on board the Brig Robert & Elizabeth the 19th day of September 1783 having the Command of a Company of Loyalists &c. bound for Anapolis Royal in the Province of Nova Scotia where he arrived the 1st day of November, 1783.” I don’t know who else was in his company, unfortunately.     My research focus is on the war in southwestern Connecticut, so I have quite a bit of information on Connecticut loyalists.
Selden West

Loyalist Ships: A Table at UELAC.ca
There is some information about Loyalist evacuation ships at Loyalist Ships.
Given the incomplete and missing records of the day, this task will never be complete – for example there is no information about the ships of the 1982 fleet, as noted by David Bell above.
More information would be welcomed.

Dorchester Award Presented to Patricia Groom UE
The Dorchester Award exemplifies Volunteer Excellence and Participation, by conferring recognition on recipients for their lengthy contribution to the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada.
At the 2025 UELAC Conference this award was presented to Patricia Groom UE of Toronto Branch.
Patricia has been a steadfast champion of Loyalist history and an inspiration to all who know her. Through her visionary leadership, generosity, and ability to encourage others to engage, Patricia has made immeasurable contributions to the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada (UELAC). Her exemplary management skills and dedication to innovative approaches for connecting people with Loyalist history have been pivotal in ensuring the association’s success and sustainability.
Currently serving as UELAC Past President, Central East Councilor, and Co-Chair of the UELAC Conference Planning Committee, Patricia’s influence spans across many roles.
One of Patricia’s most notable achievements was spearheading the relocation of UELAC’s Head Office, Library, and Archives from George Brown House in Toronto to the Cornwall Community Museum.
She established the UELAC Bridge Annex Branch, the first virtual branch of the association. Under her guidance, the branch achieved a significant milestone by commemorating the life of John Baker, one of Cornwall’s early Black citizens and a Loyalist descendant.
Patricia’s unwavering commitment to preserving and sharing Loyalist history has elevated UELAC’s profile as a vital cultural and historical organization in Canada. Read more…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

    Entries which have been added, or revised, this week. 

  • From a contribution by Kevin Wisener information about  John Stonehouse born c1756 and died 1803 or later settled in Georgetown Royalty, Kings Co, PEI where he arrive, married with children.
  • From a certificate application, Loyalist Frederick Mabee was born c1735 at Yorktown NY and after the war, settled in St. Stephen, New Brunswick 1781; and Turkey Point, Upper Canada 1793 where he died in 1794, He had married in NY Province Levinah Pelham died 4 March 1823 at Turkey Point, Upper Canada and they had nine children, (See more above)



Events Upcoming

Old Hay Bay Church Annual Pilgrimage Service and exploration time, Sunday, 24 Aug 2:00 pm

Canada’s oldest surviving Methodist Church was built in 1792 in the rural township of Adolphustown. It was built on the farm of Paul Huff, UE as the first meeting house in the new settlement. It was built on a family farm, as the Methodists could not own property under the rules of Great Britain.
starting at 2pm will be our exploration time.
Service at 3:00, The liturgist for the service is Rev. David King, a Council of Elders representative.  Our guest speaker is Rev. Wanda Stride who was ordained by Toronto Conference of the United Church of Canada in 2009.  Her timely message is entitled”And can it be? finding the future in our roots”. Following the service there will be refreshments and additional time to share stories, and purchase items.  See website and follow the link to the press release with details.

American Revolution Institute:  Author’s Talk—The Last Men Standing: The 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolution  Tues 26 Aug @ 6:30

Independent historian Gabriel Neville highlights the Revolutionary War service of a unique detachment of the Continental Army: the Eighth Virginia Regiment. In colonial America, thousands of German and Irish immigrants settled in Virginia’s western reaches. The Eighth Virginia Regiment was conceived to recruit them, and as they were sent into some of the hardest service of the war, only a few remained after the Siege of Yorktown. Drawing from his new book, Neville traces the lives of the immigrant recruits from the terrors of the French and Indian War, through the Revolution, to the settlement of the American frontier. Details…

Gov. Simcoe Branch:  “The 1781 American Raid on Annapolis Royal” by Brian McConnell Wed 3 Sept at 7:30 ET

Brian will discuss the background, event, and aftermath and provide information about the men who guarded Annapolis Royal and Annapolis County including the 84th Regiment (Royal Highland Emigrants) and local militia.
Annapolis Royal was the most fought-over place in Canada. It was attacked 13 times during the 17th and 18th centuries by French, British, Indigenous, and American forces. This was the last time, a successful attack, and of particular interest today given the American President speaking of Canada becoming the 51st State. Details and registration…

America’s History: Benedict Arnold Defends Lake Champlain – Bus Tour Fri 19 Sept 2025 @8:00-5:00

The tour departs from Fort Ticonderoga’s parking lot at 8 a.m. and includes an interpretation of the battle of Valcour Island from a nearby site, a visit to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and a boat ride thru the Narrows of Lake Champlain. This tour will demonstrate Benedict Arnold’s skill as a naval commander and hero of the Patriot cause as we visit land and”on the water” sites. We will see Valcour Island from the New York shore, visit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum which has special exhibits related to Valcour Island, board the reconstructed gunboat, Philadelphia II and take a boat ride thru the Lake Champlain Narrows where Arnold fought a delaying battle with the British. Read more…  Note: This tour is on the Friday of Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar.

Fort Ticonderoga: Annual Seminar on the American Revolution Weekend Sept 20/21

This annual premier conference focused on the military, political, social, and material culture of the American Revolution regularly features scholars from across North America and beyond. Attendees can participate in person or join the conference from home via the Fort Ticonderoga Center for Digital History.  Read more details, schedule and registration…

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Anniversary Service held yesterday at Old St. Edward’s in Clementsport.   The first service was in 1797.  Some of the founding families like Ditmars and Vrooms were Loyalists of Dutch ancestry who came from New York at end of the  American Revolution. An old Dutch hymn was included in the service.   Brian McConnell UE
  • Food and Related : Townsends

  • This week in History
    • 20 Aug 1773 A Royal Commission is formed to investigate the burning of the customs cutter Gaspee at Warwick, RI. Despite the crown offering rewards for witnesses – none come forward. image
    • 17 Aug 1774 Philadelphia. Lawyer James Wilson publishes, “Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament. He argued Parliament’s authority over American colonies was limited, asserting colonial rights. image
    • 21 Aug 1775, LONDON: Richard Penn and Arthur Lee deliver the Olive Branch Petition, the Second Continental Congress’s formal plea to George III to avert civil war, to the Earl of Dartmouth, so that he can pass it on to the King.  image
    • 21 Aug 1775, BOSTON: The Charming Nancy departs for England, carrying Thomas Gage’s American wife, Margaret Kemble Gage, and 170 sick, wounded and maimed survivors of the Battle of Bunker Hill, whose arrival will shock the British public who lay eyes on them. image
    • 23 Aug 1775, London, England, King George officially declared the American colonies to be in rebellion, issuing the Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition. image
    • 20 Aug 1776. Long Island, NY. American Gen Nathanael Greene comes down with a fever and is replaced as commander of the forward-deployed Continentals by the fiery Gen John Sullivan, who will soon face a British onslaught. image
    • 22 August 1776 General William Howe led a British force of 24,000 troops, including 15,000 regular infantry, 4,000 Hessian mercenaries, 3,000 artillerymen, and 2,000 naval support personnel, from Staten Island to Long Island, landing between Gravesend and New Utrecht. His strategy was to capture New York City and control the Hudson River, a crucial move to divide the rebellious American colonies, isolating New England from the southern colonies and weakening their resistance. The British, supported by a strong fleet of 10 warships and 20 frigates, disembarked with precision, aiming to overwhelm the American defenses. Opposing them were roughly 10,000 Continental Army troops under General George Washington, made up of 6,000 regular infantry, 3,000 militia, and 1,000 artillerymen. The Americans, entrenched around Brooklyn Heights, were outnumbered and less experienced, with limited supplies and only a few small coastal batteries for support. Howe’s plan was systematic: secure Long Island, push toward Brooklyn, and eventually surround Manhattan to crush the rebellion’s core. The British troops, well-trained and battle-hardened, moved inland with tight, disciplined formations. Washington’s forces, aware of their disadvantage, prepared to defend key positions, placing several thousand men at key passes along the Heights of Guan, aiming to delay the British advance and preserve their fledgling army. The landing set the stage for the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn), a key clash in the Revolutionary War and America’s first battle as a nation. It would also be the largest engagement of the war. Howe’s superior numbers and strategic position gave him confidence, while Washington faced the tough task of holding ground against a larger, better-equipped enemy. The outcome of this fight would decide whether the British could quickly seize New York and break the American cause, or if the patriots could mount a strong enough defense to keep their revolution alive. image
    • 23 Aug 1776 Bedford Pass (LI), NY Col Edward Hand’s screening force skirmishes with Hessians under Col Karl von Donop. The Hessians force Hand to withdraw to the American lines. image
    • 17 Aug 1777 Fort Miller, NY. British Gen John Burgoyne learns of the defeat of Col Friedrich Baum’s forces at Bennington. He prepares his army for further military action against the rebel forces. image
    • 19 Aug 1777 Stillwater, NY. Gen Horatio Gates arrives & takes command of the Northern Department from Gen Phillip Schuyler, whose army has grown to 4,500 men.  image
    • 21 Aug 1777 Ft Dayton, NY Col Benedict Arnold’s relief expedition halts to regroup. The crafty Arnold sends a “deserter” into the British camp to report the Americans are” more numerous than the leaves on the trees”, causing the Indians to retreat.  image
    • 22 Aug 1777 Warwick Township, PA.  After receiving intelligence of a British fleet entering Chesapeake Bay. Gen George Washington sends forces under Gen John Sullivan & Francis Nash to assemble near Chester, PA.  image
    • 22 Aug 1777 Staten Island, NY. Americans noticed British defenses were undermanned & attempted an early morning raid – a cavalcade of errors. They did capture troops & destroy supplies, but the British took more prisoners before the rebels withdrew.  image 
    • 19 Aug 1778 Newport, RI. Gen John Sullivan’s artillery bombards the British-held city, but when the French fleet arrives battered the next day, Adm. comte D’Estaing withdraws his troops and sails for Boston for repairs. Sullivan is aghast. image
    • 22 Aug 1778 Newport, RI. After French Adm d’Estaing’s fleet sails to Boston for repairs, American Gen John Sullivan ends his siege of Newport. Adm Richard Howe sails his British fleet back to NYC image
    • 16 Aug 1779 A French fleet with transports carrying 4K French troops under the command of Adm Charles-Hector-Theodat, comte d’Estaing, departs from Le Cap Francois, in St. Dominique (Haiti). Destination: Savannah, GA. image
    • 17 Aug 1779 Philadelphia, PA. The Continental Congress sets forth terms for peace negotiations with Britain. Minimum demands were: independence, firmly established boundaries, British evacuation of all American lands & Mississippi River navigation rights. image
    • 19 August 1779, Paulus Hook (today’s Jersey City), New Jersey.  On a sticky night, Major Henry Lee, dubbed “Light Horse Harry” for his cavalry dash, cooked up a bold scheme — daring for even him. Leading some 300 to 400 Continentals, he moved against a British outpost hugging the Hudson’s muddy banks. The fort, manned by about 200 Redcoats under Major William Sutherland, had been deemed a tough nut to crack. But Harry, sharp as a razor, relying on the element of surprise, planned a midnight strike. His men waded through waist-deep marshes, muskets held high, and then quickly scaled the fort’s walls with grit and gumption. In a fierce, 30-minute clash, they overwhelmed the garrison, snagging 158 prisoners—some accounts say 159—including Hessian troops. The raid crippled British confidence in New Jersey, though Lee, wary of reinforcements from New York, didn’t linger. Losing only two men, with seven wounded, he vanished into the dark, boosting Patriot spirits and proving a small force could sting like a wasp. image
    • 16 August 1780, Camden, South Carolina. On a scorching summer day, General Horatio Gates, puffed up from Saratoga’s glory, led his ragtag American army into a hornet’s nest. His men were sickly, stomachs grumbling from hunger, barely sated by green corn and rum, yet he believed they’d defeat the Redcoats. Across the field, British General Charles Cornwallis, sharp as a tack, had other plans. His disciplined troops, bayonets gleaming, charged like a storm of steel. Gates’s militia, most green as the corn they had eaten, took one look and fled, leaving chaos behind. The battle turned brutal—900 Patriots fell, and another 1,000 were captured. Brave Baron de Kalb, fighting like a lion, took mortal wounds and breathed his last. And the self-proclaimed hero of Saratoga Gates? He high-tailed it out of there, galloping 60 miles away before he took a breath. Camden was a bitter pill for the Southern Department and the Cause in the South, a bloody lesson in hubris, leaving the American cause reeling in the Carolina heat. image
    • 18 Aug 1780 Fishing Creek, SC. Col Banastre Tarleton &350 Loyalists surprise a Patriot force under Gen Thomas Sumter, 40 miles from Camden, killing 150, wounding & capturing 300, & freeing 100 British prisoners. Loyalists lost just 16 killed. image
    • 18 Aug 1780 The Battle of Musgrove’s Mill, SC Colonels Elijah Clarke & Isaac Shelby repelled an attack by Loyalists, taking only 12 casualties but killing 63, wounding 90, and capturing another 70 attackers. image
    • 20 Aug 1780, Nelson’s Ferry, SC. In his debut action, Col Francis Marion springs a dawn attack on British soldiers marching American prisoners (captured at Camden) to Charleston. Marion’s men liberated 150 prisoners and captured 26 of the British escort. image
    • 19 Aug 1781 Wilmington, NC. Major James Craig leads a force of 250 British soldiers and 80 Loyalists in a raid on New Bern. Craig’s forces burn the town.  image
    • 21 Aug 1781 Kinston, NC. British Maj James Craig commanding Regulars & Loyalist militia skirmishes with American militia under Col James Gorham. The Patriots were easily dispersed. Craig’s men retreated when they learned MG Wayne was coming with 500 men.  image
    • 18 Aug 1782 Bran’s Station, KY. Col Hugh McCary’s relief column rides to Licking River in pursuit of Loyalist Indian leader Sam Girty’s raiding party. McCary ignores Daniel Boone’s advice to await reinforcements & decides to cross & attack Girty.  image
    • 20 Aug 1794 The newly formed American Legion under #RevWar hero “Mad” Anthony Wayne defeats the Indian confederation under Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket at the Battle of Fallen Timbers & ends the Northwest Indian War & opens the Ohio territory to American settlement. image
  • Clothing and Related:
    •  18th century embroidered man’s waist coat. The Commandery Worcester
    • Another favourite style of mine and here a rarity of a survival, an early #1790s ribbed silk caraco jacket. It is short and might have been described, a little hysterically at the time, as mannish. It is brilliant and beautiful.

 

 

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