250 and Counting

One of the reasons (we think) that the Colonial forces were able to gain small advantages over the British forces is that the Colonial Army was relatively untrained, and sometimes succeeded through dumb luck. They attempted things that “everyone knows” wouldn’t work, and surprise! It did work because nobody thought they’d be dumb enough to […]

The post August 4, 1775: A Letter of Dissatisfaction appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As noted, two days ago we told you about how George Washington got the bad news that he didn’t have nearly as much gunpowder and ammunition as he thought he did. It was on this day in history that he and his team of generals put their heads together and came up with some rather […]

The post August 3, 1775: The Ammunition Crisis, Part 2 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Since May 10, the Second Continental Congress had been working for six days a week. And on any given day, depending on the committee to which they were attached, they’d work from anywhere between eight and twelve hours. And remember: this was in the height of summer in Philadelphia, where the temperatures were in the […]

The post August 2, 1775: Congress Takes A Break appeared first on 250 and Counting.

For those of you who are coming here from Hamilton Radio for the first time: welcome to 250 and Counting! Each day we spend just a couple of minutes telling you about some event that took place exactly 250 years ago today, to give you an idea of some of the events leading up to, […]

The post August 1, 1775: The Ammunition Crisis appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It’s not entirely Lord North’s fault that his proposal for securing peace took so long to get to the Colonies; messages took a long time to get across the ocean. It is his fault that he sent it to individual people across the Colonies, thinking he could demonstrate that the Colonies are divided and aren’t […]

The post July 31, 1775: Congress Responds to the North Proposal appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Boston had been under siege since Lexington and Concord. Of course the British felt that they needed to break out of it from time to time, and today was one of those attempts. Now, this was a success for the Continental Army, but the fact is, few people realized at that time just how close […]

The post July 30, 1775: A Battle at Charlestown Neck appeared first on 250 and Counting.

George Washington didn’t have a ton of military experience when he was named Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. But it’s clear that he gave the position a great deal of thought as he made his way from Philadelphia to Boston. When he arrived, he clearly had a lot of ideas about what an army should […]

The post July 29, 1775: Law and Moral Order appeared first on 250 and Counting.

We told you a short time ago about a document sent to Canada by the Second Continental Congress. It outlined the reasons we got into a shooting match with Britain. It also made a point of noting that we’re not asking them to join us, but we wouldn’t complain too loudly if they did. The […]

The post July 28, 1775: Reaching Out to Ireland appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Continental Congress thought they had a strong candidate in Dr. Benjamin Church as their Surgeon General. And while Church was a generally good doctor as such, and a loyal member of the Sons of Liberty, he wasn’t especially good at leading others to do the same. This eventually turned into a big problem that […]

The post July 27, 1775: The Army Hospital is Born appeared first on 250 and Counting.

When the US Postal Service first began, it couldn’t even be called that, since there wasn’t a US yet. There was, of course, a postal service, but it was the Crown Post and it was subject to interception and investigation, and we really couldn’t have that and a revolution, now could we? In fact, there […]

The post July 26, 1775: Mailing It In appeared first on 250 and Counting.