Happy Birthday Marines

The United States Marine Corps has been protecting America since the Second Continental Congress raised two battalions of Continental Marines in 1775. The Marine Corps is still exhibiting “Uncommon Valor” in protecting America from harm. The inscription above is from the famous Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington, Virginia.

The image, Iwo Jima Memorial, is subject to copyright by wageorge. It is posted here with permission via the Flickr API by barneykin, an administrator of “The Revolution ed” pool.

Fighting for Freedom

It took many patriots and muskets to defend the bridge and prevent the crossing of the Hessians over Assunpink Creek, at the Second Battle of Trenton, during the American War for Independence. In January 1777, south of Trenton, New Jersey, George Washington’s Continental Army and local militias, held a defensive line along the south shore of Assunpink Creek, stretching from the mouth of the creek up to Philip’s Mill. The rebels repelled several charges by British and Hessian soldiers across the stone bridge over the creek, and also repelled an attempt by the enemy to ford the creek near its mouth.

The Reenactors were from Colonel Ogden’s 1st Regt. New Jersey, and the 2nd Regt. New Jersey, from the Second Battle of Trenton Reenactment, during Patriots Week 2007.

The image, Defending The Bridge, is subject to copyright by Mark K_NJ. It is posted here with permission via the Flickr API by barneykin, an administrator of “The Revolution ed” pool.

Founding Father of Canada

The American Revolution and General Benedict Arnold birthed another nation to be, — Canada.

When the American Revolution broke out in 1775, General Washington sent two armies headed by two great American generals to save Quebec City from the British and to conquer British Canada. In the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve, 1775, Generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold marched to Quebec and launched a dramatic nighttime assault.

 

Tragically General Montgomery was killed in battle. Although Benedict Arnold was severely wounded, his tenacious troops fought their way into Quebec City where they scaled the barricade that defended the lower town. Behind the barricade, British regulars and French and English militia met them to battle, and successfully defend their city from the Americans.

 

Today in Canada, Canadian students barely study the American Revolution, as Canadian educators consider it to be an event in the land of their behemoth Southerly neighbor. Yet, if Generals Washington, Montgomery and Arnold had succeeded, Canada as it is today, would not exist. Undoubtedly, the British lands would have been conquered and become part of the new nation of the United States. Instead, those lands became populated by Loyalist refugees from the new United States, where they created the provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario) and New Brunswick. Almost one hundred years later, in 1867, the British colonies that Benedict Arnold had failed to capture, came together to form the Dominion of Canada.

 

Hence, in a round-about way, American patriot turned traitor, General Benedict Arnold, by his failure at conquest, may in fact be, the “Founding Father of Canada.” 

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Montgomery’s Memorial of 1776

Saint Paul’s Chapel, New York City, New York

General Richard MONTGOMERY was the first American officer to die in the Revolutionary War. He fell at the Battle of Quebec on New Year’s Eve of 1775. Immediately following, on 25 January 1776, the Continental Congress commissioned the first American war memorial – a monument to the fallen General MONTGOMERY. The General’s remains were eventually interred at Saint Paul’s Chapel, New York City, where his memorial was installed by a grateful nation.

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It Began at Lexington Green

Lexington Green was the first official conflict of the American Revolutionary War. Captain Parker and his militiamen faced the British army on this spot. “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here” were the Captain’s immortal words to his men on the 19th of April in ‘75.

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President James Monroe

James Monroe was born at Monroe’s Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia, to Scottish – Welsh parents. In 1774, he began studying at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. The next year, with Revolutionary War fever sweeping the country, he dropped out of school to join the Williamsburg Militia. He eventually enlisted in the Third Virginia Regiment in 1776, and at eighteen years of age he was crossing the Delaware River with General George Washington that December. He was later wounded at the Battle of Trenton, and camped during the next winter of 1777, at Valley Forge. James Monroe had a distinguished military career, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In addition to Trenton, he fought in the battles of Harlem Heights, White Plains, Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.

James Monroe was the last Revolutionary War officer to serve as President of the United States. He was elected in 1816 and 1820. The statue is from his home Ash Lawn-Highland in Albemarle County, Virginia.

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Happy Birthday Marines

Formal commemoration of the birthday of the Marine Corps was begun on November 10th, 1921. That date was chosen because it was the date that the Second Continental Congress resolved in 1775, to raise two battalions of Continental Marines. The rest is history, as this plaque memorializes the Marines of the Battle of Princeton.

Continental Marines Memorial, Princeton, New Jersey

“DEDICATED TO THE CONTINENTAL MARINES WHO FOUGHT WITH GENERAL WASHINGTON’S TROOPS DURING THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON JANUARY 3, 1777″

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General Richard Montgomery

“to transmit to Posterity a grateful remembrance of the patriotism conduct enterprize & perseverance of Major General RICHARD MONTGOMERY”

Directly across from what once was the World Trade Center, Saint Paul’s Chapel still stands in New York City . There is a memorial at the east window to Brigadier General Richard Montgomery who fell at the Battle of Quebec in 1775, fighting for the Americans.

The memorial plaque was erected just a few months after the American army’s great loss of General Montgomery. It reads:

This Monument is erected by the order of CONGRESS 25th Janry 1776 to transmit to Posterity a grateful remembrance of the patriotism conduct enterprize & perseverance of Major General RICHARD MONTGOMERY Who after a series of successes amidst the most discouraging Difficulties FELL in the attack on QUEBEC 31st Decbr 1775. Aged 37 Years.

At the start of the rebellion, the Americans had plans to conquer the British colony of Canada. On November 13, 1775, General Richard Montgomery led American troops in an attempt to capture the city of Montreal. Later that year, General George Washington ordered Benedict Arnold to capture Quebec. Things did not go well for the rebels, as Montgomery was killed, Arnold, severely wounded, and Canada remained in the hands of the British.

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18th of April in ‘75

On the 18th of April in ‘75

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive, Who remembers that famous day and year…. ~~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Slide Show of the Events of 1775  from “The Revolution Flickred.”

The 18th of April 1775 saw the Battle of Lexington and Concord of the American Revolutionary War. British General Thomas Gage attempted to confiscate the firearms of the American colonists. The British were driven back to Boston, Massachusetts, thus beginning the American Revolutionary War.

Ethan Allen Statue

Fort Ticonderoga National Historic Landmark

As the Revolutionary War was getting underway, only a half-company of British soldiers were manning Fort Ticonderoga. Both Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had realized that adjacent British forts, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, made easy targets for their American rebels. They decided to capture the cannons at both forts. On the night of May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, and their band of 83 Green Mountain Boys rowed across Lake Champlain from Vermont and surprised the redcoats in their slumber, making Fort Ticonderoga America’s first offensive victory of the war. The fort then became an important staging area for the rebels. The first American navy ships were rigged and fitted there. Commanded by Benedict Arnold, this fledgling naval fleet fought the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776. Although the Americans were roundly defeated, the fight impeded the British march south. The following year, in July 1777, British General Burgoyne, invaded the Champlain Valley from Canada and mounted cannon at Mount Defiance, overlooking Fort Ticonderoga. This forced the fort’s commander to evacuate his army, which returned Fort Ticonderoga to British hands. September of 1777, saw the final military engagement at the fort, when the Americans tried and failed to retake it.

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The image, Ethan Allen Statue and Antique Cannon, is subject to copyright by Old Shoe Woman. It is posted here with permission via the Flickr API by barneykin, administrator of “The Revolution ed” pool.