250 and Counting

The Pennsylvania Constitution turned out to have many unique qualities, but they were so good that before long they weren’t unique anymore, because so many people copied them. That’s not to say that everything about the Pennsylvania Constitution was unique, or even original. For instance, the document begins with a Declaration of Rights that was […] The post Pennsylvania Writes A Constitution–Sept...

The Battle of the Black Hole, also known as the Battle of Coweecho River, lasted about two hours and had surprisingly few casualties, considering its location and just how fierce the fighting was. Colonel Andrew Williamson essentially marched into an ambush in a deep gorge, and had to fight their way out. They began by […] The post Battle of the Black Hole–September 19, 1776 appeared first on 250...

Washington’s report to Congress regarding the events at Harlem Heights a couple of days earlier didn’t pull any punches with regard to how badly his army was beaten, or what mistakes he and his men might have made. It didn’t always make for cheerful reading in Congress, but at least they knew what they were […] The post Washington’s Report–September 18, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Langdon Cheves had a bit of a rough start in life, but he managed to pull himself up and become quite the influential man in the early 1800s. Despite the fact that few people have heard of him, Cheves was an active member of the House of Representatives, and managed to make the best of […] The post Langdon Cheves–September 17, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

While it didn’t change the result in New York, the Battle of Harlem Heights was a tactical win for the Continental Army, and a boost to morale as well. It was the Continental Army’s first true victory since Lexington and Concord, and after the demoralizing loss at Kip’s Bay only a day earlier, demonstrating that […] The post Battle of Harlem Heights–September 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Cou...

Calling it “The Battle of Kip’s Bay” may actually be overstating it a little bit; there were 500 militamen from Connecticut in the area when the British landed, and their defenses were blown away almost immediately, after which they panicked and ran. But I tell you all about that in the episode. This is my […] The post Battle of Kip’s Bay–September 15, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

Washington was on the brink of retreating from New York City, but he was getting pushback from some of his generals regarding how it should be done. Fortunately for him, this Gordian Knot was cut by a letter arriving from John Hancock on behalf of the Continental Congress. Nathanael Green and William Heath weren’t necessarily […] The post Word From Congress–September 14, 1776 appeared first on 250...

When Patriot forces saw four ships moving into Bushwick Creek, it was ominous but probably not a huge surprise, given that the British already held Brooklyn. They put up largely token fire from their own strongholds and that was pretty much that. Washington knew that Manhattan was next, but it wasn’t clear how the attack […] The post Suspicious Movements–September 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 an...

George Washington’s Council of War finally got to meet on this day in 1776, to figure out what happens next. The Battle of Long Island was a rout for several reasons. In addition to the Continental Army being outnumbered by roughly two-to-one, there was poor communication and a couple of tactical errors. And the only […] The post To Stay, Or Not To Stay?–September 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 an...

The Staten Island Peace Conference was a bust almost from the beginning. Not because the sides were so opposed, but because one side didn’t have the authority to do any real negotiation. John Adams, Edward Rutledge and Benjamin Franklin had to row over from Perth Amboy, New Jersey to get to the Totten House, which […] The post The Staten Island Peace Conference–September 11, 1776 appeared first on...

General William Heath was around for the battle at Lexington and Concord, but you may remember him from our episode from just a few days ago. He was already a Brigadier General in Massachusetts before Lexington & Concord, and as the siege in Boston started, he worked at training the troops. When the Continental Army […] The post More Bad News–September 10, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

First off, my apologies to you, and to Mike (because it was his episode), for not double-checking that yesterday’s episode was actually loaded into the feed. I’ve been fighting off a ridiculous sinus infection and I think my medication had me woozy. On the bright side, I’m probably sounding extra sexy in today’s episode because […] The post The Peace Delegation–September 9, 1776 appeared first on...

There are lots of images of Nathan Hale that have him looking like a middle-aged fellow, and then there are others that have him looking like some kind of idealized young man, with a prominent jaw and youthful good looks. The fact is, nobody today is 100% sure what he looked like, because no contemporaneous […] The post Nathan Hale’s Fateful Decision–September 8, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Cou...

…but the situation was not excellent, for the American side, anyway. George Washington got a wake-up call in the form of a letter from Congress. In that letter he was told that it was not a good idea to burn down New York City; what’s more, they weren’t quite so invested in his holding the […] The post All Under Heaven Is Chaos–September 7, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

I’ve brought this up in the past, but Maryland appears to have an extraordinary grasp of its own history, even when it comes to naming Maryland counties. As Mike notes today, Maryland has the first two counties established by local representatives, and the first counties named after popular Americans. But even in Maryland, when the […] The post Redrawing Maryland Maps–September 6, 1776 appeared fi...

The American Army has evacuated Brooklyn. Reports are coming in from all over that the Loyalists are being rather sore winners over the event. Refugees are coming into Connecticut from across the Long Island Sound. George Washington, literally the last man out of Brooklyn, is trying to figure out his next move, and that of […] The post More Brooklyn Aftermath–September 5, 1776 appeared first on 25...

When Nicholas Emery was born, the state in which he did most of his important work didn’t yet exist. At the time of his birth, Maine was still considered part of Massachusetts, which is a vast oversimplification, since New Hampshire also had claim to a lot of this land (and that partially explains why New […] The post Nicholas Emery–September 4, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The HMS Rose was a British ship that we first discussed a little over a year ago. Her job was largely to patrol the waters off southern New England to prevent smuggling activity on the part of the Americans. In July 1776 the Rose was dispatched—like many, many other British ships—to New York Harbor for […] The post Down By The Bay–September 3, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

General John Sullivan had been captured only a few days before by the British, during the Battle of Long Island. Now, Mike tells us in this episode that the Howes talked him into approaching the Continental Congress with their peace offering, but equally likely is that Sullivan simply agreed to deliver the message because it […] The post A British Offer–September 2, 1776 appeared first on 250 and...

If nothing else, Ezekiel Bacon was a fairly reliable Representatvie in Congress, given how often he voted with his party, and the fact that he had a good attendance record as well. Bacon became a representative in Massachusetts when his predecessor, Barnabas Bidwell, resigned from the state legislature over irregularities in the Berkshire County books […] The post Ezekiel Bacon–September 1, 1776 a...

Washington wrote two letters today: one to General William Heath, and the other to Congress. To Heath, he basically gave a little bit of an “attaboy” in agreeing with Heath’s assessment regarding the British Army’s next move. So he recommended that chevaux de frise be sunk in the waters nearby the next likely target (Huntspoint), […] The post Washington Is Back To Business–August 31, 1776 appeared...

Even though George Washington was in charge of the whole Continental Army, he still had people to answer to. Most directly that would be the Continental Congress and that will happen very soon, but in the meantime there were also some local officials he had to placate. Which brings us to today’s episode, in which […] The post GW Explains His Exit–August 30, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting...

The Maryland 400 (who got that name because “The Maryland 270 ” was too awkward?) was directly responsible for keeping the American losses relatively low, considering how badly the battle went for them. In the final accounting, about 300 soldiers were dead, another 650-800 were wounded and 1100 were captured. British and German casualties numbered […] The post The Maryland Heroes–August 29, 1776 a...

As we told you yesterday, Washington got the word rather late that the battle wasn’t going down the way he thought it would, largely because the Jamaica Pass, which was rarely used, was the path that most of the British Army took against the Continental Army. At the same time, they left a contingent of […] The post The Battle Winds Down–August 28, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .

The Battle of Long Island was one of our largest engagements with the British, and it was also the first one after the Declaration of Independence. And it was a rout; the Americans got their heads handed to them. The British took New York and they occupied it for the rest of the war. After […] The post The Battle of Long Island–August 27, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting .