Revolutionary War 250
@revwar250.bsky.social
Posts from 1775! The American Revolution and War of Independence and the world in which they happened, 250 years ago.
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7 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: King George III rejects an offer from Lord North to resign as prime minister. “I can never consent to it; the profits and honour of your employment are in the best hands.”
10 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: The Continental Congress orders the raising of “two Battalions of marines … to be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines”: the birthday of the United States Marine Corps.
November 10, 2025 at 8:43 PM
10 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: The Continental Congress orders the raising of “two Battalions of marines … to be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines”: the birthday of the United States Marine Corps.
10 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: “Be strict in your discipline”: On learning his former subordinate William Woodford has been made colonel of the 2nd Virginia Regiment, George Washington writes with some advice on command: founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
Founders Online: George Washington to Colonel William Woodford, 10 November 1775
George Washington to Colonel William Woodford, 10 November 1775
founders.archives.gov
November 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
10 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: “Be strict in your discipline”: On learning his former subordinate William Woodford has been made colonel of the 2nd Virginia Regiment, George Washington writes with some advice on command: founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
Now that Lord George Germain has entered the chat, a brief note on style. CORRECT: Lord Howe, Lord North, Lord Cornwallis, Lord George Germain. INCORRECT: Lord Richard Howe, Lord Frederick North, Lord Charles Cornwallis, Lord Germain.
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Now that Lord George Germain has entered the chat, a brief note on style. CORRECT: Lord Howe, Lord North, Lord Cornwallis, Lord George Germain. INCORRECT: Lord Richard Howe, Lord Frederick North, Lord Charles Cornwallis, Lord Germain.
10 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: Lord George Germain replaces the Earl of Dartmouth as American secretary; he will henceforth be the government minister with the greatest amount of responsibility for the war in America. Dartmouth remains in the cabinet as lord privy seal.
November 10, 2025 at 1:58 PM
10 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: Lord George Germain replaces the Earl of Dartmouth as American secretary; he will henceforth be the government minister with the greatest amount of responsibility for the war in America. Dartmouth remains in the cabinet as lord privy seal.
9 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: Pennsylvania’s revised instructions to its Continental Congress delegation are essentially the same as the previous instructions, but for the addition of absolutely forbidding them from supporting any measures leading toward independence:
November 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
9 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: Pennsylvania’s revised instructions to its Continental Congress delegation are essentially the same as the previous instructions, but for the addition of absolutely forbidding them from supporting any measures leading toward independence:
9 NOVEMBER 1775, KILLINGWORTH, CONNECTICUT: “The Body … has the nearest resemblance to the two upper shells of a Tortoise joined together”: Benjamin Gale writes to Silas Deane describing the experimental combat submarine, the Turtle.
www.history.navy.mil
November 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
9 NOVEMBER 1775, KILLINGWORTH, CONNECTICUT: “The Body … has the nearest resemblance to the two upper shells of a Tortoise joined together”: Benjamin Gale writes to Silas Deane describing the experimental combat submarine, the Turtle.
9 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: On the day that news arrives confirming King George’s rejection of the Olive Branch Petition, the Continental Congress requires all current and future members to sign a binding oath of secrecy regarding its proceedings: founders.archives.gov/documents/Je...
Founders Online: Continental Congress: Agreement of Secrecy, 9 November 1775
Continental Congress: Agreement of Secrecy, 9 November 1775
founders.archives.gov
November 9, 2025 at 5:58 PM
9 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: On the day that news arrives confirming King George’s rejection of the Olive Branch Petition, the Continental Congress requires all current and future members to sign a binding oath of secrecy regarding its proceedings: founders.archives.gov/documents/Je...
9 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: Redcoats raid Lechmere Point for cattle: “To day a party of about 250 Light Infantry embarked at 11 o’clock in the flat bottom’d Boats; they landed on a Peninsula called Lechmere’s farm, which in spring tides is an Island;
November 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
9 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: Redcoats raid Lechmere Point for cattle: “To day a party of about 250 Light Infantry embarked at 11 o’clock in the flat bottom’d Boats; they landed on a Peninsula called Lechmere’s farm, which in spring tides is an Island;
9 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: “I think this country is undone, almost beyond redemption”: Horace Walpole puts his thoughts on the American war into words in a letter to the Countess of Upper Ossory.
November 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
9 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: “I think this country is undone, almost beyond redemption”: Horace Walpole puts his thoughts on the American war into words in a letter to the Countess of Upper Ossory.
8 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: The Continental Congress dispatch a committee of three (Robert R. Livingston, Robert Treat Paine and John Langdon) to consult with Philip Schuyler on the military situation in Canada and to serve as an embassy to the Canadian people.
November 8, 2025 at 8:43 PM
8 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: The Continental Congress dispatch a committee of three (Robert R. Livingston, Robert Treat Paine and John Langdon) to consult with Philip Schuyler on the military situation in Canada and to serve as an embassy to the Canadian people.
8 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: Amid the thorough reorganization the Continental Army is undergoing due to its reenlistment crisis, Washington asks the Continental Congress to appoint Boston bookseller Henry Knox to command the artillery: founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
Founders Online: George Washington to John Hancock, 8 November 1775
George Washington to John Hancock, 8 November 1775
founders.archives.gov
November 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
8 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: Amid the thorough reorganization the Continental Army is undergoing due to its reenlistment crisis, Washington asks the Continental Congress to appoint Boston bookseller Henry Knox to command the artillery: founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
8 NOVEMBER 1775, BOSTON: Admiral Graves makes his official report to the Admiralty on the destruction of Falmouth, Massachusetts. The burning of the seaport by the Royal Navy has produced outrage across the Thirteen Colonies, but Graves is proud of it:
November 8, 2025 at 3:52 PM
8 NOVEMBER 1775, BOSTON: Admiral Graves makes his official report to the Admiralty on the destruction of Falmouth, Massachusetts. The burning of the seaport by the Royal Navy has produced outrage across the Thirteen Colonies, but Graves is proud of it:
7 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: The Second Continental Congress declare it a crime for a Continental officer or soldier to “hold a treacherous correspondence with, or give intelligence to the enemy,” and one whose perpetrators “shall suffer death.”
November 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
7 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: The Second Continental Congress declare it a crime for a Continental officer or soldier to “hold a treacherous correspondence with, or give intelligence to the enemy,” and one whose perpetrators “shall suffer death.”
7 NOVEMBER 1775, QUEENS COUNTY, NEW YORK: Patriot authority is finally thought to be strong enough in the mostly Loyalist county to hold an election for delegates to the provincial congress—but the Tories nevertheless outvote Patriots by a 4-1 margin, refusing to elect delegates.
November 7, 2025 at 8:43 PM
7 NOVEMBER 1775, QUEENS COUNTY, NEW YORK: Patriot authority is finally thought to be strong enough in the mostly Loyalist county to hold an election for delegates to the provincial congress—but the Tories nevertheless outvote Patriots by a 4-1 margin, refusing to elect delegates.
7 NOVEMBER 1775, NEW YORK: John Tabor Kempe, provincial attorney-general, writes to Anglican clergyman Myles Cooper after taking refuge aboard the Royal Navy transport Duchess of Gordon. Before he fled Manhattan, he burned the letter Cooper had sent him:
November 7, 2025 at 5:58 PM
7 NOVEMBER 1775, NEW YORK: John Tabor Kempe, provincial attorney-general, writes to Anglican clergyman Myles Cooper after taking refuge aboard the Royal Navy transport Duchess of Gordon. Before he fled Manhattan, he burned the letter Cooper had sent him:
7 NOVEMBER 1775, BOSTON SIEGE LINES: Clouds of migrating geese overhead are so depleting the Continental Army’s desperately short supply of gunpowder that the men have to be ordered to stop firing at them.
November 7, 2025 at 3:52 PM
7 NOVEMBER 1775, BOSTON SIEGE LINES: Clouds of migrating geese overhead are so depleting the Continental Army’s desperately short supply of gunpowder that the men have to be ordered to stop firing at them.
7 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: King George III rejects an offer from Lord North to resign as prime minister. “I can never consent to it; the profits and honour of your employment are in the best hands.”
November 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
7 NOVEMBER 1775, LONDON: King George III rejects an offer from Lord North to resign as prime minister. “I can never consent to it; the profits and honour of your employment are in the best hands.”
6 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: “It is my opinion that unless we exert our selves in this Matter & have some tollerable Success it is very uncertain whether every thing else we can do will Avail as much,” writes Robert Treat Paine of the colonists’ attempts to manufacture their own gunpowder.
November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
6 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: “It is my opinion that unless we exert our selves in this Matter & have some tollerable Success it is very uncertain whether every thing else we can do will Avail as much,” writes Robert Treat Paine of the colonists’ attempts to manufacture their own gunpowder.
6 NOVEMBER 1775, FORT TICONDEROGA: The Patriots put much effort into portraying the Canadians as oppressed by Parliament and wooing them to the Patriot cause, but Philip Schuyler, in command of the Continental invasion of Canada, clearly does not see them as likely allies:
November 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
6 NOVEMBER 1775, FORT TICONDEROGA: The Patriots put much effort into portraying the Canadians as oppressed by Parliament and wooing them to the Patriot cause, but Philip Schuyler, in command of the Continental invasion of Canada, clearly does not see them as likely allies:
6 NOVEMBER 1775, BRISTOL, GLOUCESTERSHIRE: Anglican clergyman James Rouquet writes to John Wesley, founder of Methodism, accusing him of hypocrisy in the public controversy that surrounds Wesley’s strong support of the Crown against the American colonists.
November 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM
6 NOVEMBER 1775, BRISTOL, GLOUCESTERSHIRE: Anglican clergyman James Rouquet writes to John Wesley, founder of Methodism, accusing him of hypocrisy in the public controversy that surrounds Wesley’s strong support of the Crown against the American colonists.
5 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: “We shall Soon think of maritime Affairs, and naval Preparations,” John Adams writes of the Congress’s plans for a Continental Navy. “No great Things are to be expected at first, but out of a little a great deal may grow.” founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
Founders Online: John Adams to Elbridge Gerry, 5 November 1775
John Adams to Elbridge Gerry, 5 November 1775
founders.archives.gov
November 5, 2025 at 11:15 PM
5 NOVEMBER 1775, PHILADELPHIA: “We shall Soon think of maritime Affairs, and naval Preparations,” John Adams writes of the Congress’s plans for a Continental Navy. “No great Things are to be expected at first, but out of a little a great deal may grow.” founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
5 NOVEMBER 1775, BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS: Abigail Adams describes having recently met Benjamin Franklin, “whom I had the pleasure of dining with, and of admiring him whose character from my Infancy I had been taught to venerate.” founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
Founders Online: Abigail Adams to John Adams, 5 November 1775
Abigail Adams to John Adams, 5 November 1775
founders.archives.gov
November 5, 2025 at 8:43 PM
5 NOVEMBER 1775, BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS: Abigail Adams describes having recently met Benjamin Franklin, “whom I had the pleasure of dining with, and of admiring him whose character from my Infancy I had been taught to venerate.” founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
5 NOVEMBER 1775, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS: Harvard professor John Winthrop & his wife Hannah have relocated from Cambridge to be further from the front lines, to a house “in the humble Stile & [that] has been the habitation of many Donation poor.” www.masshist.org/database/333...
MHS Collections Online: Letter from Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Otis Warren, 5 November 1775
Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections Online: Letter from Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Otis Warren, 5 November 1775
www.masshist.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:58 PM
5 NOVEMBER 1775, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS: Harvard professor John Winthrop & his wife Hannah have relocated from Cambridge to be further from the front lines, to a house “in the humble Stile & [that] has been the habitation of many Donation poor.” www.masshist.org/database/333...
5 NOVEMBER 1775, SOUTHERN QUEBEC: Benedict Arnold’s brigade continue their march into Quebec as they recover from near-starvation on their crossing from Maine, but Arnold sees to it that they’re fed as they do:
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM
5 NOVEMBER 1775, SOUTHERN QUEBEC: Benedict Arnold’s brigade continue their march into Quebec as they recover from near-starvation on their crossing from Maine, but Arnold sees to it that they’re fed as they do:
5 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS: George Washington forbids the New England soldiers under his command from celebrating “that ridiculous and childish Custom of burning the Effigy of the pope”—Pope’s Night, the New England variant of Bonfire Night. founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
Founders Online: General Orders, 5 November 1775
General Orders, 5 November 1775
founders.archives.gov
November 5, 2025 at 1:58 PM
5 NOVEMBER 1775, CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS: George Washington forbids the New England soldiers under his command from celebrating “that ridiculous and childish Custom of burning the Effigy of the pope”—Pope’s Night, the New England variant of Bonfire Night. founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...