Boston 1775

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

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Saturday, September 12, 2026

“the long Confinement of her said Husband in close Goal”

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Yesterday’s post recounted Hopestill Capen ’s plea to be let out of jail, where he was locked up on suspicion of being inimical to the newl...
Friday, September 11, 2026

“I am to be confined in Prison for that I cannot in Confidence do”

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A month ago , Boston 1775 followed Hopestill Capen (1731–1807) to the Boston jail, suspected of being disloyal to the new U.S. of A . And ...
Thursday, September 10, 2026

“She wrenched the bayonet from the piece”

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George Harris was a captain in His Majesty’s 5th Regiment of Foot , sent to Boston in the summer of 1774. Without barracks on the Boston ...
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Wednesday, September 09, 2026

Forsaken and Lost Founders at the Athenaeum

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This month the Boston Athenaeum will host two presentations about Founders less known to the public than the big six . To forget one Founder...
Tuesday, September 08, 2026

“The British Empire Strikes Back” in New Jersey, 6–8 Nov.

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The next Pursuit of History Weekend session is called “The British Empire Strikes Back,” and it will cover the New York and New Jersey camp...
Monday, September 07, 2026

“Ever afterwards, he was known as Dr. Bush”

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David Bushnell ’s pioneering submarine didn’t do much damage to the Royal Navy in 1776, but the next year he came back with another inventi...
Sunday, September 06, 2026

“Came under the bottom of the ship”

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After his brother Ezra Bushnell fell ill, the inventor David Bushnell asked Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons to send three men who might be abl...
Saturday, September 05, 2026

“The first essays with the submarine Vessel”

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On 2 Feb 1776, David Bushnell journeyed from his workshop in Saybrook, Connecticut , to Lebanon to meet with Gov. Jonathan Trumbull and hi...
Friday, September 04, 2026

“An account of the progress of our machine”

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On 31 Aug 1775, the Rev. Benjamin Boardman , serving as a chaplain to Connecticut troops at the siege of Boston , wrote in his diary: I co...
Thursday, September 03, 2026

“Environmental Histories of New England” in Boston, 18 Sept.

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On Friday, 18 September, the Massachusetts Historical Society will host the New England Quarterly Symposium on Environmental Histories of N...
Wednesday, September 02, 2026

“Those who have something to lose who are now ye. Zealous Patriots of the Day”

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Since this is the anniversary of the 1774 “Powder Alarm” in Cambridge , I’m quoting from a letter that discusses that event and the surroun...
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Tuesday, September 01, 2026

The View from the Catawba River

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On 1 Sept 1776, 250 years ago today , North Carolina brigadier general Griffith Rutherford wrote a letter to the body that had commissioned...
Monday, August 31, 2026

Two Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone

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Earlier this summer the National Park Service issued a series of reports about the triumphal arch proposed for Memorial Circle in Washington...
Sunday, August 30, 2026

Long Island Has Fallen

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On the morning of 30 Aug 1776, 250 years ago today , Gen. William Heath was stationed at Kingsbridge, New York , on the Hudson River just n...
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