250 and Counting

Langdon Cheves had a bit of a rough start in life, but he managed to pull himself up and become quite the influential man in the early 1800s. Despite the fact that few people have heard of him, Cheves was an active member of the House of Representatives, and managed to make the best of […]

The post Langdon Cheves–September 17, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

While it didn’t change the result in New York, the Battle of Harlem Heights was a tactical win for the Continental Army, and a boost to morale as well. It was the Continental Army’s first true victory since Lexington and Concord, and after the demoralizing loss at Kip’s Bay only a day earlier, demonstrating that […]

The post Battle of Harlem Heights–September 16, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Calling it “The Battle of Kip’s Bay” may actually be overstating it a little bit; there were 500 militamen from Connecticut in the area when the British landed, and their defenses were blown away almost immediately, after which they panicked and ran. But I tell you all about that in the episode. This is my […]

The post Battle of Kip’s Bay–September 15, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Washington was on the brink of retreating from New York City, but he was getting pushback from some of his generals regarding how it should be done. Fortunately for him, this Gordian Knot was cut by a letter arriving from John Hancock on behalf of the Continental Congress. Nathanael Green and William Heath weren’t necessarily […]

The post Word From Congress–September 14, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

When Patriot forces saw four ships moving into Bushwick Creek, it was ominous but probably not a huge surprise, given that the British already held Brooklyn. They put up largely token fire from their own strongholds and that was pretty much that. Washington knew that Manhattan was next, but it wasn’t clear how the attack […]

The post Suspicious Movements–September 13, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

George Washington’s Council of War finally got to meet on this day in 1776, to figure out what happens next. The Battle of Long Island was a rout for several reasons. In addition to the Continental Army being outnumbered by roughly two-to-one, there was poor communication and a couple of tactical errors. And the only […]

The post To Stay, Or Not To Stay?–September 12, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The Staten Island Peace Conference was a bust almost from the beginning. Not because the sides were so opposed, but because one side didn’t have the authority to do any real negotiation. John Adams, Edward Rutledge and Benjamin Franklin had to row over from Perth Amboy, New Jersey to get to the Totten House, which […]

The post The Staten Island Peace Conference–September 11, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

General William Heath was around for the battle at Lexington and Concord, but you may remember him from our episode from just a few days ago. He was already a Brigadier General in Massachusetts before Lexington & Concord, and as the siege in Boston started, he worked at training the troops. When the Continental Army […]

The post More Bad News–September 10, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

First off, my apologies to you, and to Mike (because it was his episode), for not double-checking that yesterday’s episode was actually loaded into the feed. I’ve been fighting off a ridiculous sinus infection and I think my medication had me woozy. On the bright side, I’m probably sounding extra sexy in today’s episode because […]

The post The Peace Delegation–September 9, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

There are lots of images of Nathan Hale that have him looking like a middle-aged fellow, and then there are others that have him looking like some kind of idealized young man, with a prominent jaw and youthful good looks. The fact is, nobody today is 100% sure what he looked like, because no contemporaneous […]

The post Nathan Hale’s Fateful Decision–September 8, 1776 appeared first on 250 and Counting.