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Member Article: Betrayed by a Mason? The Tragic Mission of Lieutenant Thomas Boyd
by Michael Karpovage
Moments before deploying on the longest military campaign of the Revolutionary War,
Freemason Thomas Boyd was given a final ultimatum by his repeatedly spurned and
pregnant lover. In front of his superior officers she warned Boyd, a lieutenant
with Morgan’s Rifle Corps of the Continental Army, “If you go off without marrying
me, I hope and pray to the great God of heaven that you will be tortured and cut
to pieces by the savages.” An embarrassed Boyd, his pride tarnished, responded by
drawing his sword and threatening to stab her unless she removed herself.[1] She acquiesced.
Unfortunately for the young lieutenant, he should have heeded her ominous prediction
for that was exactly the fate that befell him.
Member Article:
Benedict Arnold in Canada
by Roger Daene
The summer of 1775 began with the Americans laying siege to Boston. The Battle of Bunker Hill was a British victory, but the severe losses prevented them from being able to lift the siege. To the north, in the Hudson River Valley, a combined force under Captain Benedict Arnold and Colonel Ethan Allen of Vermont, had surprised the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga. Following the capture of Ticonderoga, Arnold led a bold attack on the British fleet on Lake Champlain. He either captured or destroyed all the British ships there. He was soon to prove that these two earlier successes were just portents of future events.
Member Article: The Success of Napoleon
by Richard Podruchny
On the European continent, no one would have imagined that the rise of the
"Little Corsican" would have perpetuated a conquest that would involve the
entire European continent. This article will take a look at how and why
Napoleon Bonaparte was as successful on the battlefield as he was. We will also
see how Napoleon efficiently utilized the weapons and technology on hand that
would formulate his strategy and tactics, which would result in his domination
of Western Europe.
Member Article: The Battle of Great Bridge; A New Beginning for
the Old Dominion
by Richard Podruchny
The Battle of Great Bridge, often referred to as the Second Battle of Bunker's
Hill, should stand out as one the defining moments of the American
Revolutionary War. Although this battle does not match the amount of troops or
casualties found in other engagements, nevertheless, its overall impact can no
longer be ignored. What elevates this particular battle is that numerous slaves
fought alongside the British in exchange for freedom, which openly contradicts
those Colonists preaching liberty, who owned slaves themselves.
Member Article: Frederick the Great's Masterpiece: The Battle of
Leuthen
by Birrion Sondahl
Frederick the Great has been described as the embodiment of "the utmost in
military achievement that was possible in Europe in the conditions prevailing
before the French revolution." [1] Of all of his battles, none shows
Frederick's military abilities more than the Battle of Leuthen (December 5,
1757). His leadership before and throughout the battle show his capabilities as
a military commander. The Battle of Leuthen can truly be considered to be
Frederick's masterpiece.
Member Article: George Washington and James Monroe - Military,
Political, and Diplomatic Relations 1776-1799
by Steven Ippolito
The American Way of War: A History of United States Military History and
Policy, by military historian Russell F. Weigley,[1] discusses both
art and war. In a nineteenth century representation of a famous military
operation of the American Revolution, Dr. Weigley references the dramatic
instance in which George Washington and his troops have disembarked from
McKonkey’s Ferry in New Jersey, on a nocturnal riverine journey to attack the
Hessian[2] allies of the British, at Trenton, on Christmas Day, 1776. Completed
in 1851, by Emanuel Leutze,[3] Washington Crossing the Delaware, places
Washington at the head of a boat,[4] defiant against the frost of a winter
night[5] as he leads the Continental Army across the Delaware.[6]
Member Article: The Start: Jumonville's Glen and Fort Necessity
by Bruce L. Brager
George Washington once touched off a world war. He did not start the war. The
powder was piling up, just waiting for a spark. However, by bad planning, by
losing control of some of his men, by signing a document he did not understand,
and by trying to cover up his errors -- behavior dramatically unlike that for
which he became noted later in his life and career -- Washington jumped into a
dangerous context and provided the spark that started a major explosion, a
world war.
Member Article: Last of the Redshanks: The Raid on Thurso, 1649
by Dr. Andrew McGregor
In the far north of Scotland the Highland mountains grow smaller, eventually
leveling out into vast stretches of rolling countryside that end abruptly with
rocky cliffs lurching out over the cold northern seas. Before the Celts arrived
these lands were ruled by Norsemen, the powerful ‘Sea-Kings of Orkney'. The
names of their settlements in Scotland's northeast county of Caithness
reflected their beliefs, like the town of Thurso, named for the Norse god Thor.
Member Article: The Battle of Cowpens
by Allen Parfitt
On August 16, 1780, Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis, got his campaign to recover
the southern colonies for King George off to a very good start by routing an
American army under the command of Major General Horatio Gates at Camden, South
Carolina. Coming soon after the surrender of Charleston, South Carolina, and
the capture there of 5000 American troops under General Benjamin Lincoln, the
defeat at Camden was a severe blow to the rebel cause in the South. The only
benefit the Americans received from the defeat at Camden was the eclipse of
General Gates. Gates was a veteran of the British Army who combined very
moderate military talent with considerable ambition, and a penchant for
intrigue.
Member Article: War Comes to the Islands
by Timothy Neeno
The enemy fleet was approaching. As dawn rose over the blue waters of the
Caribbean, the captain could see the long lines of ships getting closer, their
sails billowing. For months the fleet had sought a decisive battle. They had
been tracking the enemy for days, pursuing them northward. Now the French had
turned. The captain gave the order to beat to colors, and in a moment the deck
was a bedlam of activity. Gun ports sprang open. Experienced hands wheeled
heavy guns into position, while crewmen set cannonballs and casks of powder in
place. Marines scrambled up into the rigging, taking positions high in the
swaying masts to pick off officers and men on the opposing ships as they came
in range. Men began pouring buckets of sand across decks that would soon be
slippery and red with blood. It was 7:00 AM, April 12, 1782. The Battle of the
Saintes had begun.
Member Article: The Battle of Dunbar
by Steve Beck
The nine tumultuous years of the English Civil War, actually three separate
wars, resulted from a range of factors, economic, constitutional and religious,
all inextricably interwoven. At a time when religious differences were more
often debated with cannon balls than words, radical leaders with strong held
beliefs thought nothing of deciding the issues in battle. Charles I, attempting
to rule as an absolute monarch, quickly came into conflict with the English
Parliament, suspicious of his "Popery" and desire for absolute rule. Likewise,
the Scots resented his attempts at reforming their Presbyterian system of
religion, formulating the "National Covenant" in 1638 to resist his efforts.
The English Parliament and the Scots, therefore, combined to defeat Charles in
the first of the English Civil Wars. An attempt by Charles to regain power was
crushed by Parliamentarian forces at Preston in August 1648 and he was put on
trial for treason.
Read more...
Member Article: Governor Kieft's Personal War
by Walter Giersbach
Americans today know little about the Dutch influence in the New York region
except for odd place names like Harlem, Yonkers and Spuyten Duyvil. Or, the
tale of Rip Van Winkle. Or, the bargain in which Pieter Stuyvesant bought an
entire island for $25 worth of trinkets. For a brief period, the Dutch managed
one of the most democratic, tolerant and socially liberal settlements in the
New World. In contrast, one of its governors, Willem Kieft, will forever be
known as the spiteful tyrant of New Amsterdam. In the wake of his
administration lay more than a thousand dead Indians—men, women and children.*
Such was the viciousness of his warfare that a contemporary complained to
authorities in Holland that the Indians were being decapitated and burned alive
by Kieft's soldiers. "Young children, some of them snatched from their mothers,
were cut in pieces before the eyes of their parents, and the pieces were thrown
into the fire or into the water; other babes were bound on planks and then cut
through, stabbed and miserably massacred so that it would break a heart of
stone."
Member Article: Philip's War: America's Most Devastating Conflict
by Walter Giersbach
King Philip's War (1675-76) is an event that has been largely ignored by the
American public and popular historians. However, the almost two-year conflict
between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England stands as perhaps
the most devastating war in this country's history. One in ten soldiers on both
sides were wounded or killed. At its height, hostilities threatened to push the
recently arrived English colonists back to the coast. And, it took years for
towns and urban centers to recover from the carnage and property damage.
Member Article: The Zaporozhian Cossack Battle at Korsun
by Michael Meusz
In the mid 17th century unrest in the steppes of Ukraine was on the rise. The
Polish-Lithuanian empire dominated an area from Warsaw to Moscow, and the
Ukrainians were tired of their exploitation and abuse. At the little town of
Korsun, virtually in the middle of nowhere, an army of Zaporozhian Cossacks
supported by Crimean Tatars overwhelmed a Polish army sent to crush them, and
started a revolutionary fire that would sweep across the steppes and make
Ukraine a nation.
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