American Revolution Podcast

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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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.

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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

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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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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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Special Episode: Discussion with Dr. Ronald S. Gibbs on Medicine and the American Revolution

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Dr. Gibbs' Novel: The Long Shot: The Secret History of 1776 (2020).

Dr. Gibbs' Website https://ronaldsgibbs.com

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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.

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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

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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, 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

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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.

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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

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As the British Army plans its final assault on Philadelphia, the continentals leave an army in the British rear to harass them. This army, led by General Anthony Wayne, took a position near Paoli Tavern. A British force led by General Charles Grey attacked the continentals at night, using bayonets to dispatch the enemy silently. Most of the Continentals fled into the dark woods.  

Following the destruction of the army in their rear, the British crossed the Schuylkill river and took possession of Philadelphia.

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Book Recommendation of the Week: Battle of Paoli, by Thomas J. McGuire (2006).

Online Recommendation of the Week: Futhey, J. Smith “The Massacre of Paoli” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 1, no. 3, 1877, pp. 285–319: https://archive.org/details/jstor-20084293

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Following the American loss at Brandywine, Congress reevaluates its officers. At the same time, Gen. Washington prepares to rally for the next confrontation. 

The Continentals and British advance on each other near White Horse Tavern. As they prepare for a major battle, a terrible rain storm floods the field and damages most of the gunpowder. General Washington uses the opportunity to pull back across the Schuylkill river for a final defense of Philadelphia.

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Book Recommendation of the Week: The Philadelphia Campaign 1777-1778, by Stephen R. Taaffe.

Online Recommendation of the Week: Ecelbarger, Gary “Aggressive Minded Gamblers: Washington, Howe, and the Days between Battles, September 12-16, 1777, Journal of the American Revolution, March 10, 2020: https://allthingsliberty.com/2020/03/aggressive-minded-gamblers-washington-howe-and-the-days-between-battles-september-12-16-1777

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