Boston 1775

History, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution in New England.

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Thursday, July 10, 2025

“You shake it within an Inch of my Nose”

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Some years back, I mentioned Simeon Potter ’s dispute with John Usher, but I was relying on a secondary source that I’ve come to see as unre...
Wednesday, July 09, 2025

“Capt. Potter answered that he would share none”

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Rhode Island actually began its military build-up back in December 1774, as detailed in a letter from former governor Samuel Ward that I q...
Tuesday, July 08, 2025

Rhode Island’s “vote for raising men”

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As soon as he heard about the shooting at Lexington , James Warren , delegate from Plymouth to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress , pass...
Monday, July 07, 2025

“The Colony of Connecticut must raise 6,000”

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As I quoted last week , on 23 Apr 1775 the Massachusetts Provincial Congress resolved to raise an army of 30,000 men, 16,400 of them coming...
Sunday, July 06, 2025

“To submit myself to all the orders and regulations of the army”

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On 21 April 1775, two days after fatal fighting began, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress ’s committee of safety adopted this oath for me...
Saturday, July 05, 2025

“Siege and Liberation of Boston,” 7–8 Aug.

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Registration is open for the third Pursuit of History Weekend that I’ve helped to program, this one on “The Siege and Liberation of Bosto...
Friday, July 04, 2025

“Two hundred and forty-nine years later…”

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Mother Jones just shared David Corn and Tim Murphy’s article “Here are the Declaration of Independence’s Grievances Against King George III...
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Thursday, July 03, 2025

“Necessary that the regiments be immediately settled”

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Many accounts of George Washington ’s arrival in Cambridge in 1775 say that he converted the ragtag New England militia into the Continen...
Wednesday, July 02, 2025

“Alarmed that the Regulars were advancing towards Our Entrencment”

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Among the presentations at this Saturday’s commemoration of Gen. George Washington ’s arrival in Cambridge is a talk by Longfellow House a...
Tuesday, July 01, 2025

“To-morrow I go on another attack”

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We met Thomas James as a major in the Royal Artillery stationed in New York in 1765. After he vowed to protect the stamped paper and said...
Monday, June 30, 2025

“Headquarters of a Revolution” in Cambridge, 5 July

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On Saturday, 5 July, the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site will host the Sestercentennial commemoration of...
Sunday, June 29, 2025

“The victory was ruinous to our best soldiers”

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In 1775 John Graves Simcoe was a lieutenant in the 35th Regiment of Foot, which had been sent to Boston. Simcoe would go on to a notable ...
Saturday, June 28, 2025

“You saved my son’s life in Ameriky!”

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Here’s an entry from Literary Anecdotes and Contemporary Reminiscences of Professor Porson and Others, from the Manuscript Files of the Late...
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Friday, June 27, 2025

“Crying most pitifully all exceeping one”

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This is a portrait of Mary Hubbard (1734–1808) painted by John Singleton Copley about 1764 and now owned by the Art Institute of Chicago. ...
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