![ARP168 Forts Mercer and Mifflin]()
September 27, 2020
The Hessians under Col. von Donop fail to capture Fort Mercer following an aggressive attack. The British focus on Fort Mifflin, subjecting the garrison to a massive artillery barrage for days. Eventually the surviving defenders make a nighttime escape to Fort Mercer.
Following the loss of Fort Mifflin and expecting a second assault on Fort Mercer, the garrison there abandons the fort and moves to rejoin the main Continental Army. Any remaining American naval vessels on the river are burned to prevent their capture by the enemy. With that, the Delaware River is freed from impediments
Another force under General Lafayette attacks a Hessian outpost at Gloucester, inflicting more casualties. It reminds the British that its outposts are still threatened.
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Book Recommendation of the Week: Fight for the Delaware, by Samuel Stelle Smith
Online Recommendation of the Week: Ann C. Whitall, the heroine of Red Bank by Isabella and Wallace McGeorge: https://archive.org/details/anncwhitallheroi04mcge
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September 23, 2020
An interview with author Kurt Avard, about his new novel First, Do No Harm.
In 17th Century Vienna, a local watchman discovers a dead body outside of Stephansdom Cathedral. He soon realizes that the black plague is sweeping across the city. He must determine: Is there a medical cure that will stop this illness from devastating the population? or is the plague the result of other-worldly beings bringing God’s wrath to a sinful people?
Author Kurt Avard takes readers on a journey through a society still emerging from medieval Europe to embrace enlightenment. The struggle between religion and science breaks into open warfare as a determined group searches for a way to end this terrible suffering.
First, Do No Harm releases on September 25, 2020.
Pre-order your book on Amazon today.
September 20, 2020
After capturing Philadelphia in 1777, the British spend weeks trying to open the Delaware River so that the navy can supply the occupying army. The Americans spent years installing barriers and forts to make the approach difficult and dangerous.
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Book Recommendation of the Week: The Pennsylvania Navy: Defending the Delaware 1775-1781, by John W. Jackson.
Online Recommendation of the Week: Ford, Worthington C. Defences of Philadelphia in 1777, Brooklyn: Historical Printing Club, 1897: https://archive.org/details/defencesofphilad00ford
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![ARP166 Surrender at Saratoga]()
September 13, 2020
After failing to push through the American Lines, British General Burgoyne holds out for a relief force from New York City. Although the British attack Kingston, NY as a distraction, the Continental Army keeps its focus on Burgoyne's army. Finally, with no options left, General Burgoyne agrees to a surrender.
General Gates agrees to generous terms, promising to send Burgoyne's army back to England. However, the Continental Congress refuses to comply with those terms and keeps the army prisoner for the remainder of the war.
Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic.
Book Recommendation of the Week: The Generals of Saratoga: John Burgoyne and Horatio Gates, by Max M. Mintz, 1990.
Online Recommendation of the Week: HistoryAuthorTalks.com
Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com
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![AR165 Bemis Heights (2nd Saratoga)]()
September 6, 2020
The British under General Johnny Burgoyne make a desperate push against the Americans under the command of General Horatio Gates on Bemis Heights, in upstate New York.
General Benedict Arnold defies Gates' orders to stay away. Instead, he leads the Americans to victory before being shot down near the end of the day. The British are forced to withdraw and remain trapped.
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Book Recommendation of the Week: Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, by Nathaniel Philbrick, 2016
Online Recommendation of the Week: Eelking, Max von, (translated by Stone, William L.) Memoirs of Major General Riedesel, Vol. 1, J. Munsell, 1868: https://archive.org/details/memoirsmajorgen00eelkgoog
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![ARP164 Forts Clinton and Montgomery]()
August 30, 2020
British General Sir Henry Clinton makes a desperate attempt to distract the Continental Army facing General Burgoyne in the upper Hudson Valley. Clinton captures Forts Clinton and Montgomery but fails to cause any of the Continentals under Horatio Gates to turn focus away from Burgoyne.
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Book Recommendation of the Week: Logusz, Michael O. With Musket & Tomahawk: The West Point-Hudson Valley Campaign in the Wilderness War of 1777, Carrell Books, 2016
Online Recommendation of the Week: Clay, Steven E. Staff Ride Handbook for the Saratoga Campaign, 13 June to 8 November 1777, Combat Studies Institute Press, 2018: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/educational-services/staff-rides/Staff-Ride-Handbook-Saratoga-Campaign.pdf
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![ARP 163 Germantown]()
August 23, 2020
On October 4, 1777 the Continental Army attacks the main British Army at Germantown, several days after the British occupied Philadelphia.
General Washington attempts a complex four pronged assault on the British camp. The attack falls part as units get lost in the heavy fog and the attackers turn their focus on taking a stone house on the edge of the battlefield.
This gives British forces time to rally and chase the Americans from the field.
Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic.
Book Recommendation of the Week: Harris, Michael C. Germantown: A Military History of the Battle for Philadelphia, October 4, 1777, Savas Beatie, 2020.
Online Recommendation of the Week: Lambdin, Alfred C. “Battle of Germantown.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 1, no. 4, 1877, pp. 368–403. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20084306
Also: FounderOfTheDay.com https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ3Gi2ZE_1piyX4aZ83cLbg
August 16, 2020
As General Burgoyne's British army faces off against General Gates' Continentals near Saratoga, Colonel John Brown leads an attack on the British rear at Fort Ticonderoga. The Continentals fail to capture the fort, but take 300 prisoners and thrown the British supply lines into disarray.
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Book Recommendation of the Week: Don Troiani's Campaign to Saratoga - 1777: The Turning Point of the Revolutionary War in Paintings, Artifacts, and Historical Narrative, 2019
by Eric H. Schnitzer & Don Troiani.
Online Recommendation of the Week: Howe, Archibald Murray, Colonel John Brown of Pittsfield Massachusetts, Boston: W. B. Clarke company, 1908. https://archive.org/details/coloneljohnbrow00howegoog
August 9, 2020
The British army under General Burgoyne finds itself increasingly isolated. On the American side, General Gates replaces General Schuyler as commander of the northern army. Gate's picks a fight with General Arnold while setting up defenses to take on the British.
The British assault at Freeman's Farm forces the Americans to pull back to their defensive lines in heights, but also leaves the British army weaker and unsure of its ability to break the American lines.
Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic.
Book Recommendation of the Week: The Battle of Saratoga, by Rupert Furneaux
Online Recommendation of the Week: The March to Saratoga, by Harrison Bird https://archive.org/details/marchtosaratogag008320mbp
