Not content to tell us the story of his riveting book, The French War Against America, which details Paris's machinations to undermine American independence during and after the Revolution, Harlow Giles Unger held us spellbound with an in depth discussion of the psychological and intellectual history of France from its earliest days as a nation. The French of the eras of Clovis and Charlemagne became imbued with the idea that they were the divinely ordained first nation not only of Europe but of the world. By the time they achieved domination of Europe under Louis XIV, the "Sun King," they had commandeered popes, taken over the Catholic Church and brooked no interference with their assumption of global power. That is why the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War, came as such a shock to them. The French were defeated everywhere, in Europe, Africa, India and North America, where they were stripped of their dominion over two thirds of the continent. This loss inspired their aid to the infant United States during the Revolution. But they never had the slightest intention of letting the Americans become yet another power (along with England) to rival French pretensions. Only hard-nosed American insistence on retaining control of the war both on the battlefield and on the diplomatic front frustrated them. When Revolutionary France emerged, the same subvert America policies saw the installment of Edmond Genet as French ambassador. He was soon playing proconsul, denouncing President Washington and inspiring riots in major cities, until even that lover of all things French, Thomas Jefferson, turned against him. From there Harlow took us swiftly through the next century and a half, explaining the compulsive French hatred of America so visible today as rooted in this primary rage at France's loss of world leadership. It hardly needs to be added that the applause was vigorous and so were sales of The French War Against America.
Jim Davis reviewed The Shoemaker And The Tea Party (Memory And The American Revolution) by Alfred F.Young: Beacon, Boston, 1997. This is actually two essays linked together by the common thread of the Boston Tea Party.
The first essay tells the story of George Robert Twelves Hewes. Born in 1742, he lived 98 years, dying in 1840: late enough to have survived our first five Presidents and all the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Hewes served on privateers, in the army, and spent his civilian life as a poor shoemaker. In the 1830's, two biographies were written about him celebrating his long existence as a "nobody" thrust into history, especially his memories of the Boston Tea Party. This is what the first essay is about: what people remember due to circumstances such as age, position, or the desire for recognition. Hewes remembers the Tea Party in great detail, down to helping John Hancock toss tea chests overboard, which is a problem since Hancock was not on Griffith's Wharf that day. The essay is basically a study of how to interpret the recollections of historical figures. The second essay takes the Hewes story and presents a broad examination of how Bostonians have viewed their Tea Party throughout history. Amazingly, it was not called the Boston Tea Party until Hewes' biographers made references to it in the 1830's; before that it was know as "The Destruction of the Tea." Bostonians had for years celebrated events created by mobs. The Boston Massacre is another example. Also fondly remembered was the riotous rivalry between North Side & South Side gangs at Pope's Day parades (extremely anti-Catholic events). This image did not sit well with the Boston city fathers in the new republic. Memories of violent local revolutionary events were blended into celebrating the 4th of July, while Pope's Day was banned. Not until the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1826 did Bostonians embraced their local revolutionary history once more (partially due to guilt over their dovish stance in the War of 1812). But to keep their new image intact, the mob action on Griffith's Wharf became a tea party. By the time of the centennial in 1876, the Boston Tea Party had reached mythical proportions aided by the Civil War and the writings of historians Henry Adams and George Bancroft, and anti-slavery orator Wendell Phillips. Summing up, Jim said this was a wonderful book, well worth owning and reading.
Reenactors and their friends, who not only stage battles, but balls, are looking forward to a busy 2006. The Continental Line website is already listing Cowpens as an event on Jan. 14-15. Meanwhile others are planning a ball to commemorate the Mischianza, the gorgeous fete Major John Andre staged in Philadelphia in 1778, to honor homegoing Sir William Howe. They claim to have Independence Hall agreeing to hold it in the historic building itself. But there are problems. Others are planning ceremonies honoring Washington and Rochambeau's passage through Philadelphia on the way to Yorktown. In October will come the 225th anniversary reenactment of Yorktown. Looming over all this festivity is the large fact that 2006 is the 300th anniversary of Ben Franklin's birth! If all this leaves you feeling exhausted -- brace yourself for 2007 -- the 400th anniversary of Jamestown!
The Round Table has acquired a correspondent who complains that most American histories do not sufficiently honor Francisco Miranda for his contributions to the victory over England in the American Revolution. In most American history books, Miranda appears as a man who devoted much time and trouble after the Revolution to seeking American help to liberate South America from Spanish rule -- largely in vain. In fact, our correspondent says, Miranda also participated in the Revolution and was far more important than Bernado de Galvez, the governor of Louisiana, in waging an aggressive war against the English in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast from 1779-1781, capturing Pensecola and Mobile. Even more startling is the claim that Miranda was primarily responsible for raising the money that enabled Admiral de Grasse to take his fleet to Yorktown and play a crucial role in that climactic victory. Miranda, our correspondent asserts, "visualized a bilingual country that would stretch from Alaska to Patagonia, named "Colombia." Instead, he was captured by the Spanish in Puerto Rico and shipped to Spain, where he died in prison. None of the fifty states has any memorial to him. Only Puerto Rico has erected a statue. But his name is inscribed on the Arch of Triumph in Paris as one of the pioneers in the struggle for liberty. Does anyone care to comment on these claims?
Tom Fleming was the featured speaker on June 5th at the celebration of the 225th anniversary of the battle of Springfield. The audience gathered in the Springfield Presbyterian church where the pastor, James Caldwell, issued his famous dictum "give 'Em Watts, boys!" as he handed out hymnbooks for the soldiers to use as wadding for their muskets. On the altar, as Tom spoke, was a painting commemorating that violent scene, loaned by Fraunces Tavern Museum for the anniversary. The festivities included a reprint of Tom's pamphlet on the battle, issued in 1976 as part of "New Jersey's Revolutionary Experience" in which many writers participated, during the bicentennial celebration. The pamphlet was, of course, based on Tom's 1974 book, The Forgotten Victory. In his talk, Tom somewhat acerbically noted that too many historians continue to refer to the battle of Monmouth (1778) as the "last major battle in the North" during the Revolution. Tom cited some pertinent statistics: there were more men involved on both sides in the battle of Springfield than at Monmouth. The stakes were higher. At Springfield, the British attempted a knockout blow, aimed at demolishing Washington's weakened Continental Army on the heels of the British capture of Charleston, S.C. If it had succeeded, the war might have been over. At Monmouth, there was little likelihood of such a decisive victory, even if Sir Henry Clinton's attacking force had succeeded in defeating the American army on the battlefield. "If Springfield is not a major battle, what is?" Tom asked rhetorically. Graphic proof that this fixed idea about Monmouth is not going away arrived on Tom's desk later in the summer, in the form of a press release on a field and walking tour of the Monmouth battlefield, sponsored by the History Forum, on Sept.30-Oct. 1. Toward the end of this attractive document, detailing the story of clash, were the fateful words: "It was also the last major battle fought in the North."
Speaking of Tom's Springfield gig reminds us that it is not easy to keep up with his Revolutionary activities. That is equally true of other members and former speakers. This fall, Tom will be the keynote speaker at a conference in Morristown on Oct. 1 about New Jersey's role in the Revolution. On Oct. 25, he will address the Society of the Cincinnati in Washington DC at their annual George Rogers Clark lecture and dinner. On Dec. 2 he will be featured at a Princeton University conference sponsored by the New Jersey Council on History Education. On the program with him will be Joanne Freeman and Carol Berkin, both former RT speakers. Meanwhile, Will Randall is gearing up to be the featured speaker at a conference on the 225th anniversary the Andre-Arnold drama in Westchester on Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Will has a fascinating interview on Arnold in the current issue of American Spirit magazine. The link for the conference and reenactments is http://hudsonrivervalley.net/patriotsweekend05.php. Further up the line is a symposium on Nathanael Greene in the American Revolution in Camden, South Carolina on April 21-23, 2006. The featured speakers include our own Jack Buchanan, whose book on the war in the South remains unequalled, and Terry Golway, who spoke to us about his biography of Greene last winter.
What made George III mad? Scientists have found high levels of arsenic in the King's hair and now say the deadly poison may be the cause of the apparent madness he periodically suffered. In 1969, researchers proposed the strange behavior of the monarch resulted from a rare hereditary blood disorder called porphyria. In an article in the Lancet, the well reputed British medical journal, scientists now challenge this diagnosis. The concentrations of arsenic in the king's hair are an equally convincing explanation for his "madness." Unresolved is the larger question of how the arsenic got there.
This summer, a story in the Style Section of the Washington Post reported on Christa Allen, who was trying to sell two hairs supposedly snipped from the dead George Washington's head. Secured under glass in a gold locket, the hairs were left to her by her father, a Philadelphia lawyer. Unfortunately, he had no proof that the hairs belonged to the father of the country. A desperate search of their ancestral home in Langhorne, Pa, finally produced documentation of sorts -- a letter typed in 1928 with a handwritten list of the previous owners of the locket in the margin. Christie's and other auction houses dismissed this as hearsay evidence but the dogged Ms Allen, a single mom who needs the money, identified the first name on the list as the undertaker who participated in Washington's ceremonial reburial in 1837. She also found evidence that the coffin had been opened at that time and some locks of hair snipped. She persuaded Ted Sunderhaus, an appraiser at Cowan's Cincinnati auction house to support her claim. He called the evidence "fairly conclusive." He thought she could get $100,000 for it. The feisty Ms Allen rejected this proposal and put the hair on eBay for $750,000, combining it with a Revolutionary War map that her father had given her. Alas, she did not get a single bid. A recent check of eBay revealed five samples of Washington's hair, selling for prices that ranged from $200 to $1.00.
At the October meeting, Chairman Dave Jacobs will send around the room a collection of fascinating photos taken by Bill Fleming (no relation to Tom) whose hobby is visiting cemeteries and spotting historically interesting tombstones. At the Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica, New York, Bill discovered the graves of several descendants of John and Abigail Adams. Bill also visited Steuben, New York and came away with striking photos of the grave of the great German soldier who died there in 1794, all but forgotten, attended by only a single faithful aide. In Rome, New York, Bill discovered the grave of Francis Bellamy. How many people know what he is famous for? While we don't want to compete with our treasurer, we're willing to bet the name will be one of those teasers for most people -- familiar but hard to identify. We'll end the suspense (with no offer of a free dinner): he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Six members won the "Massachusetts Men" quiz. John Adams and Robert Treat Paine both signed the Declaration of Independence and were both lawyers at the Boston Massacre trial (Adams for the soldiers, Paine for the state). Francis Akeley was the only participant of the Boston Tea Party to be arrested.
Three countries have had capitals named after Continental Army officers. Name the countries and their capitals. A free dinner to everyone who names all three.
April 19th, 1775: The small town of Menotomy heard the sounds of the midnight rider, and their minutemen headed north to Lexington. By 2 AM, 750 British troops under Colonel William Smith had passed through town; at 10 AM 1,000 reinforcements under Lord Percy followed. Finally, trailing far behind came the British supply train. Menotomy was now under the protection of old men, some of them veterans of the French & Indian War. They fired on the train, killing horses & humans. The remaining drivers and soldiers gave themselves up to an old woman digging dandelions. Then all hell broke loose. By 4:30 in the afternoon, the combined British forces of Percy & Smith, retreating from Concord Bridge, entered Menotomy. They were under constant fire from approximately 1,750 Minutemen; the fighting was often close enough for hand to hand combat. Seeing their destroyed supply train, the British turned gun & bayonet upon the town. At the home of Jason Russell, minutemen ran for cover. When Russell's wife returned to the house, she found her husband and 11 others bayoneted to death. Cooper Tavern was half a mile south of Russell House; 40 American and British bodies covered the road. At the tavern, the owners escaped but two customers were bayoneted in the taproom. Menotomy was the site of the hardest fighting of April 19th: 40 British and 25 Americans died. The town also included both the bloodiest site (the Russell House) and the deadliest section of road (Russell House to Cooper Tavern). So why haven't most persons heard of Menotomy? Perhaps because over time the town has lost its identity. Although the Russell House is the site of the local historical society, Menotomy's name was changed twice: first to West Cambridge and then to present day Arlington. But there may be another reason, related more to poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. You see, the midnight rider who rode through Menotomy was not Paul Revere but William Dawes. He doesn't rhyme with hear!