Bentley-B
@bentley-b.bsky.social
History cartoonist. Nonprofit communications professional. Former journalist. Dad.
250YEARS AGO: Patriots assemble near Rockfish Creek in central North Carolina, 7 miles from where Loyalists are camped and waiting for Redcoat soldiers to land. The leaders of the two groups trade ultimatums. Neither surrenders! So the game begins: can Loyalists get around Pats and reach the coast?
February 18, 2026 at 1:26 AM
250YEARS AGO: Patriots assemble near Rockfish Creek in central North Carolina, 7 miles from where Loyalists are camped and waiting for Redcoat soldiers to land. The leaders of the two groups trade ultimatums. Neither surrenders! So the game begins: can Loyalists get around Pats and reach the coast?
250 YEARS AGO: NC has been quiet in the first 10 months of revolution because it has many Loyalists. These Loyalists muster near modern-day Fayetteville on rumors that 2,000 Redcoats will soon land to retake control of the Southern colonies. But they argue about where to meet the Royal troops . . .
February 15, 2026 at 2:40 PM
250 YEARS AGO: NC has been quiet in the first 10 months of revolution because it has many Loyalists. These Loyalists muster near modern-day Fayetteville on rumors that 2,000 Redcoats will soon land to retake control of the Southern colonies. But they argue about where to meet the Royal troops . . .
250 YEARS AGO: The Continental Congress continues to directly manage military operations in Canada, in Boston -- and now in New York. There is a growing sense that if Washington can push the Redcoats out of Boston, their next stop will be New York City and the Loyalist areas on Long Island.
February 13, 2026 at 12:07 AM
250 YEARS AGO: The Continental Congress continues to directly manage military operations in Canada, in Boston -- and now in New York. There is a growing sense that if Washington can push the Redcoats out of Boston, their next stop will be New York City and the Loyalist areas on Long Island.
250 YEARS AGO: Washington and Knox explore high ground where they might use the cannon and mortars that Knox dragged from Fort Ticonderoga. This won't be easy -- the winter ground is frozen hard, and the Redcoats have a defensive work that controls Boston Neck, the southern route into the city.
February 12, 2026 at 2:26 AM
250 YEARS AGO: Washington and Knox explore high ground where they might use the cannon and mortars that Knox dragged from Fort Ticonderoga. This won't be easy -- the winter ground is frozen hard, and the Redcoats have a defensive work that controls Boston Neck, the southern route into the city.
250 YEARS AGO: A military move that doesn't seem like a big deal. But it 1) confirms the Crown's commitment to staying near Norfolk and regaining control of Virginia and 2) demonstrates how dangerous smallpox is to unvaccinated populations that are mixing in the chaos of war.
February 9, 2026 at 9:18 PM
250 YEARS AGO: A military move that doesn't seem like a big deal. But it 1) confirms the Crown's commitment to staying near Norfolk and regaining control of Virginia and 2) demonstrates how dangerous smallpox is to unvaccinated populations that are mixing in the chaos of war.
250 YEARS AGO: A new delegate is riding to the Second Continental Congress with John Adams. He’s been chosen because he is in favor of declaring full independence. (And if you are concerned about gerrymandering in the American republic in 2026, yes, it’s THAT Gerry 👀👀👀)
February 7, 2026 at 2:30 PM
250 YEARS AGO: A new delegate is riding to the Second Continental Congress with John Adams. He’s been chosen because he is in favor of declaring full independence. (And if you are concerned about gerrymandering in the American republic in 2026, yes, it’s THAT Gerry 👀👀👀)
250 YEARS AGO: “Common Sense” is going viral! Printed copies are selling above normal pamphlet sales, and public readings of Thomas Paine’s bold, everyday language extend his ideas to less literate people. A broad section of America’s population is now debating what “freedom” means exactly.
February 6, 2026 at 6:40 PM
250 YEARS AGO: “Common Sense” is going viral! Printed copies are selling above normal pamphlet sales, and public readings of Thomas Paine’s bold, everyday language extend his ideas to less literate people. A broad section of America’s population is now debating what “freedom” means exactly.
250 YEARS AGO: Friendship begins between Virginia's leading couple and the young couple from Boston who met in Knox's bookstore.
February 4, 2026 at 5:57 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Friendship begins between Virginia's leading couple and the young couple from Boston who met in Knox's bookstore.
250 YEARS AGO: There is a lull in the action, so Chester has time to visit his fellow crustacean wintering off the New England coast . . .
February 3, 2026 at 1:01 PM
250 YEARS AGO: There is a lull in the action, so Chester has time to visit his fellow crustacean wintering off the New England coast . . .
250 YEARS AGO: General Washington congratulates 25-year-old Henry Knox on dragging 60 tons of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga in New York all the way to Framingham, Massachusetts. Now the Patriots must decide where and how to move the pieces around Boston for maximum effect.
January 29, 2026 at 1:28 PM
250 YEARS AGO: General Washington congratulates 25-year-old Henry Knox on dragging 60 tons of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga in New York all the way to Framingham, Massachusetts. Now the Patriots must decide where and how to move the pieces around Boston for maximum effect.
250 YEARS AGO: John Adams, on his way from Boston back to Philadelphia for the Continental Congress, visits Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery." The train has become more and more famous the closer it gets to Boston!
January 25, 2026 at 8:41 PM
250 YEARS AGO: John Adams, on his way from Boston back to Philadelphia for the Continental Congress, visits Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery." The train has become more and more famous the closer it gets to Boston!
250 YEARS AGO: Yes, Paine's "Common Sense" is full of political theory. But it also comes as a specific reaction to the Royal government's violence in 1775: "(I) disdain the wretch that ... can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul."
January 24, 2026 at 3:32 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Yes, Paine's "Common Sense" is full of political theory. But it also comes as a specific reaction to the Royal government's violence in 1775: "(I) disdain the wretch that ... can unfeelingly hear of their slaughter and composedly sleep with their blood upon his soul."
250 YEARS AGO: ARE WE THERE YET????
January 23, 2026 at 7:19 PM
250 YEARS AGO: ARE WE THERE YET????
250 YEARS AGO: In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Martha Washington makes choices that give shape to this new life of colonial rebellion. People are unsure how to treat her in this shifting situation. Martha declines the fanciest treatments and spends much of her time organizing supplies for the soldiers.
January 22, 2026 at 6:16 PM
250 YEARS AGO: In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Martha Washington makes choices that give shape to this new life of colonial rebellion. People are unsure how to treat her in this shifting situation. Martha declines the fanciest treatments and spends much of her time organizing supplies for the soldiers.
250 YEARS AGO: Henry Knox reunites with his 19-year-old bride. Lucy Flucker Knox comes from a wealthy family. Her brother serves in the Royal army. In the early days of the war, Knox was pressured to join General Gage's Redcoats but refused. The couple fled Boston. The Fluckers have disowned Lucy!
January 20, 2026 at 2:24 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Henry Knox reunites with his 19-year-old bride. Lucy Flucker Knox comes from a wealthy family. Her brother serves in the Royal army. In the early days of the war, Knox was pressured to join General Gage's Redcoats but refused. The couple fled Boston. The Fluckers have disowned Lucy!
250 YEARS AGO: General George Washington writes to ask for more volunteer soldiers from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire to bolster the failing Quebec force. He has too few men to attack Boston, and sending men from the Boston siege to the Quebec siege would weaken his force further!
January 19, 2026 at 6:55 PM
250 YEARS AGO: General George Washington writes to ask for more volunteer soldiers from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire to bolster the failing Quebec force. He has too few men to attack Boston, and sending men from the Boston siege to the Quebec siege would weaken his force further!
250 YEARS AGO: Henry Laurens is president of the Council of Safety, which organizes Patriot actions in South Carolina. With Royal warships gone, Laurens and the Council pay to build a fort to guard Charles Town Harbor when the Redcoats return.
January 18, 2026 at 2:27 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Henry Laurens is president of the Council of Safety, which organizes Patriot actions in South Carolina. With Royal warships gone, Laurens and the Council pay to build a fort to guard Charles Town Harbor when the Redcoats return.
250 YEARS AGO: Henry Knox's men have done this in other little towns along their way (Otis, Westfield) and gotten free cider and warm lodgings for the show. Many of these Americans have never seen a cannon fire before!
January 17, 2026 at 5:41 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Henry Knox's men have done this in other little towns along their way (Otis, Westfield) and gotten free cider and warm lodgings for the show. Many of these Americans have never seen a cannon fire before!
250 YEARS AGO: A week after King George III's agents make a deal with the German Duke of Brunswick for 4,200 soldiers, they make a much bigger deal with another German prince. There is no time limit put on how long these soldiers will fight the American Patriots.
January 15, 2026 at 7:09 PM
250 YEARS AGO: A week after King George III's agents make a deal with the German Duke of Brunswick for 4,200 soldiers, they make a much bigger deal with another German prince. There is no time limit put on how long these soldiers will fight the American Patriots.
250 YEARS AGO: Knox's "noble train of artillery" continues to work up and down the steep pathway through the mountains in western Massachusetts. The teamsters from New York are tired and grumbling -- and Knox worries that they'll abandon the mission to return to their homes any day now.
January 15, 2026 at 2:19 AM
250 YEARS AGO: Knox's "noble train of artillery" continues to work up and down the steep pathway through the mountains in western Massachusetts. The teamsters from New York are tired and grumbling -- and Knox worries that they'll abandon the mission to return to their homes any day now.
250 YEARS AGO: The path through the frozen mountains is rough -- teamsters often must cut down trees to widen the space for the oxen and sleds carrying the artillery pieces. Sometimes the path runs next to cliffs that plunge 200 feet -- a real danger to any man or animal that missteps.
January 11, 2026 at 7:10 PM
250 YEARS AGO: The path through the frozen mountains is rough -- teamsters often must cut down trees to widen the space for the oxen and sleds carrying the artillery pieces. Sometimes the path runs next to cliffs that plunge 200 feet -- a real danger to any man or animal that missteps.
250 YEARS AGO: Almost all political pamphlets printed in America are written by well-educated lawyers or ministers. But this new tract that appears in Philadelphia is different -- it is written in "rude," "vulgar," everyday language that is easy for uneducated workers to understand.
January 10, 2026 at 12:36 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Almost all political pamphlets printed in America are written by well-educated lawyers or ministers. But this new tract that appears in Philadelphia is different -- it is written in "rude," "vulgar," everyday language that is easy for uneducated workers to understand.
250 YEARS AGO: Immigrant Thomas Paine has a printer for "Common Sense." This first printing will not use Paine's name but simply say the pamphlet is "written by an Englishman."
January 9, 2026 at 12:45 PM
250 YEARS AGO: Immigrant Thomas Paine has a printer for "Common Sense." This first printing will not use Paine's name but simply say the pamphlet is "written by an Englishman."
250 YEARS AGO: A new feeling of patriotism rescues Henry Knox's cannon. Residents of Albany who had not yet joined the revolutionary cause decide that today they will add their backs, their fresh animals (and some pulleys!) to the quest to deliver cannon to the Patriot siege of Redcoats in Boston.
January 8, 2026 at 10:24 PM
250 YEARS AGO: A new feeling of patriotism rescues Henry Knox's cannon. Residents of Albany who had not yet joined the revolutionary cause decide that today they will add their backs, their fresh animals (and some pulleys!) to the quest to deliver cannon to the Patriot siege of Redcoats in Boston.
