Boston 1775

On 15 Sept 1776, 250 years ago today , the Continental Army withdrew from the southern end of Manhattan Island, leaving the city of New Yor...

In May 1777 Boston had a series of town meetings concerned chiefly with its military defenses. On 17 May that discussion went further to ...

At the end of 1776, Hopestill Capen was still locked away from his wife Patience . And Capen lost patience in another way. On 30 December...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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

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...