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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, Congressman Thomas McKean wrote to Major General Philip Schuyler at his home and headquarters in Saratoga, New York about a force Scottish Highland soldierssss organized by Sir John Johnson in New York: A certain Duncan Campbell, Captain in the Royal Scotch Emigrants and now a Prisoner here,…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, Continental Congress Delegates Henry Wisner and William Floyd of New York wrote to Major General Philip Schuyler: It has given us much Concern to hear of the unsuccessful attempt of General Montgomery on Quebec. But Congress is Determined to get possession of Canada this winter if possible,…
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On this day 250 years ago, from his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gen. George Washington wrote to Captain John Manley (an immigrant to America from England): I received your agreeable Letter of the 26th instant giveing an account of your haveing taken & Carried into Plymouth two of the Enemys transports. Your Conduct in engageing…
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On this day 250 years ago in North Carolina, Royal Governor Josiah Martin of North Carolina ordered HMS Cruizer to sail up the Cape Fear River past the ruins of Fort Johnston to capture Wilmington. The ship and its landing parties were driven back by fire from New Hanover County militia commanded by Irish immigrant Col.…
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On this day 250 years ago in Montreal, Canada, Father Louis Eustace Chartier de Lotbiniere was appointed as chaplain to the 1st Canadian Regiment of the Continental Army. Father Lotbiniere was the first Roman Catholic chaplain in the Armed Forces of the United States. He would serve as a chaplain in the Continental Army for…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress agreed to erect a monument to honor General Richard Montgomery, who was killed in the unsuccessful assault on Quebec. This was the first public monument authorized by the United States. In 1818, the State of New York would reinter Montgomery’s remains to St. Paul’s…
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On this day 250 years ago, Col. Henry Knox’s Noble Train of Artillery arrived at the Continental Army’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Or at least part of the train of 44 cannon and 16 mortars arrived in Cambridge. There are many accounts indicating that the artillery arrived in Cambridge on this day, but Knox himself…
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On this day 250 years ago off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, HMS Blue Mountain Valley was captured by about 40 New Jersey Continental Army soldiers led by Colonel William Alexander (usually referred to as Lord Stirling) and 77 Elizabethtown and Essex County Militia led by Colonel Elias Dayton. The Blue Mountain Valley had been blown off…
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On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress appointed Moses Hazen as Colonel in command of the Second Canadian Regiment and Edward Antill as its Lieutenant Colonel. The Congress had previously appointed James Livingston as the Colonel in command of the First Canadian Regiment. Livingston, Hazen and Antill were all Americans living…
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On this day 250 years ago in the Lutheran Church in Woodstock, Virginia, Rev. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg delivered his sermon from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 which starts with “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” After reading the eighth verse, “a time to love, a time to hate.…