250 and Counting

When Washington’s Council of War (with a single exception) determined that sticking around New York City was a bad idea, the next step was deciding which way to go, and how to go about it. To a certain extent, the decision was made for them, because the British had pretty well sewed up the Hudson […]

The post Leaving New York–October 17, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry that was first created by King George I in 1725. It’s typically bestowed by a monarch based on the advice of His/Her Majesty’s government. When General William Howe received his order, there was a single class called the Knight Companion. However, in […]

The post An Honor For General Howe–October 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

By the time Charles Lee returned to duty, the Continental Army in New York was in a sad state of affairs. Many men had been injured or deserted. Supplies were low. Ammunition was low. Morale was low. And the British were up in the Bronx, gearing up for…something, who knows what. Lee had, of course, […]

The post In And Around New York–October 15, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Charles Lee was born in Great Britain and only came to British America in 1773, when he purchased an estate in western Virginia. It wasn’t his first time in America; he’d fought for the British in the French and Indian War and married the daughter of a Mohawk chief. Lee was injured in 1758 during […]

The post The Return of Charles Lee–October 14, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Battle of Split Rock is really just a continuation of the Battle of Valcour, and a lot of it takes place in a location called Button Mould Bay (or Buttonmold Bay). So why is it called the Battle of Split Rock? That’s a fine question. On the western shore of Lake Champlain, just north […]

The post Battle of Split Rock–October 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Battle of Throgs Neck, or Throg’s Point, or a number of other names, was part of a move intended to trap Washington’s forces through flanking them from the north while Washington concentrated on the troops already in front of him on Manhattan Island. Washington did anticipate that this might happen, and sent American troops […]

The post Battle of Throgs Neck–October 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Battle of Valcour Island didn’t really take place on the island; rather it was in Valcour Bay, a strait between New York and Valcour Island, in Lake Champlain. After the failed invasion of Quebec the Continental forces retreated south to Fort Ticonderoga, at the south end of Lake Champlain. As they retreated they destroyed […]

The post Battle of Valcour Island–October 11, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The town created by Henry Shultz turned out to be as ephemeral as the man himself. Don’t go looking for Hamburg, South Carolina, because you’ll be sorely disappointed. At best what remains is a ghost town, unoccupied since 1929 after several floods came through. Perhaps the most notable one was in 1911, after which nearby […]

The post Henry Shultz–October 10, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It took a month to figure it out, but the British ship movement up the Hudson River was a sign that they’d finally decided how they were going to implement their plans. Rather than concentrating on New York City, which was going to be problematic because George Washington’s troops were pretty dug in over in […]

The post The British Finally Make Their Move–October 9, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

There are several names for the battle about to happen here, depending on how you view the geography; Battle of Throgs Neck, Battle of Throgs Point, Battle of Pells Point and believe it or not that isn’t even half of the total names given to this one conflict. After George Washington’s successful defense of Harlem […]

The post How Best To Invade New York?–October 8, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.