Boston 1775

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

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Tuesday, March 31, 2026

“I told him I was sorry we had not a boat”

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Not everyone who evacuated Boston in March 1776 actually got to Halifax . Back on 11 March, the British-born merchant Jolley Allen rente...
Monday, March 30, 2026

“The Prospect of this Country is very Sterile”

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Capt.-Lt. Archibald Robertson , British military engineer, sailed out of Boston harbor on 25 Mar 1776. Robertson’s ship was an army trans...
Sunday, March 29, 2026

“After this they went to it with their fists”

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Here’s an example of how Gen. John Burgoyne ’s diary of the late 1775, just brought to light, offers new detail on life inside besieged Bost...
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Saturday, March 28, 2026

Gen. Burgoyne’s Backstage Diary

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Since I mentioned Gen. John Burgoyne a few days back (even if Robert Woolf didn’t), that gives me a reason to point to the big Burgoyne ...
Friday, March 27, 2026

“Here I took my leave of that once happy country”

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Even after the destruction of Castle William , described yesterday, Judge Peter Oliver ’s ship Pacific remained in Boston’s outer harbor, ...
Thursday, March 26, 2026

The Last of Castle William

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On 10 Mar 1776, the last royal chief justice of Massachusetts, Peter Oliver , boarded a ship called the Pacific , which usually sailed bet...
Wednesday, March 25, 2026

“Near or quite fifty Sail are got out to Sea”

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Lt. Nahum Ward, son of Gen. Artemas Ward , carried Gen. George Washington ’s letter (quoted yesterday) to Josiah Quincy , Esq. (shown here),...
Tuesday, March 24, 2026

“Fire Ships and fire Rafts, covered by the Smoke of Cannon”?

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After evacuating Boston on 17 Mar 1776, the British military was gone—and yet not gone. The troops , their families, their support staff,...
Monday, March 23, 2026

“The troops quitting the town was a beautiful sight”

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From yesterday we continue with Robert Woolf ’s reminiscence of being a teen-aged businessman caught in the siege of Boston in the spring ...
Sunday, March 22, 2026

“On our arrival at Boston we were surprised to find the town blockaded”

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Here’s an account of the siege of Boston first published in 1909 by the Women’s Canadian Historical Society of Toronto. It’s said to be “...
Saturday, March 21, 2026

More Gilt in the Oval Office

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Last year Boston 1775 passed on the news stories about President Donald Trump demanding that the Declaration of Independence be brought to...
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Friday, March 20, 2026

“Alarmed in Lexington” in Lexington, 21 Mar.

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Evacuation Day over, so it’s time to look ahead to another Patriots Day season.  On Saturday, 21 March, the Lexington History Museums will...
Thursday, March 19, 2026

“The gratifycation of being selected to carry the American flag”

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Ens. Samuel Richards had a unique perspective on the Continental Army ’s entrance into Boston after the British evacuation on 17 Mar 1776....
3 comments:
Wednesday, March 18, 2026

“The next morning presented to the view of the enemy a regular fort”

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Samuel Richards (1753–1841) came from Farmington, Connecticut . In May 1775 he marched north with his town’s company to the Boston siege li...
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