Here are the main characters on the American Revolutionary scene, in September and October 1781 - skewed, of course, to those who appear in Hamilton: An American Musical. The Americans George…
In mid-February 1781, after four years as Washington's aide-de-camp, Hamilton resigned. The reasons behind this and the relationship between Washington and Hamilton, are the subject of nearly as much speculation…
Months ago, I found John Laurens's letter to Hamilton about General Charles Lee's "infamous publication," and Hamilton's account of the Lee-Laurens duel. But it took me weeks to find the "strong…
Last week, I looked at the Royal Code and (disdainfully, because I think it was made up as joke) at the Irish Code. This week, we move on to two other…
This post, I thought blithely, will be fast and easy. Wouldn't every gentleman carry a pocket-sized copy of the Code Duello for reference in affairs of honor? I'll find a printed dueling code and…
Forty-seven-year-old General Charles Lee, who had been a career military man since age 14, was bitterly angry when a court martial after the Battle of Monmouth found him guilty of disobeying…
On Wednesday July 20, 2016, a bronze bust of Alexander Hamilton by Zenos Frudakis (a noted American sculptor) is coming up at auction in Philadelphia, at Freeman's. I asked Zenos's…
In which we see Alexander Hamilton in a frenzy of valor, and Dianne indulging in a historiographical rant. Most prominent American leaders during the Revolutionary War period wrote well, often…
When Lee was released in early 1778, he resumed his position as second-ranking general in the Continental Army. (On Lee's military career and capture by the British, see last week's post.)…
Until I read Philbrick's Valiant Ambition, I hadn't realized how much dissent there was among American generals during the Revolutionary War. The fact that they managed to cooperate long enough to defeat…