Author: contine8

“Politeness”,”Mirth” and “Vocal Musick”: Sidelights of General John Sullivan’s Indian Campaign of 1779

by John U. Rees Many histories of the American Revolution dwell on the larger aspects of the war, dealing mainly with politics, leaders, campaigns and battles. The following anecdotes show the human side of the war, particularly regarding interaction among the soldiery, both officers and rank and file. The first passage relates to the period…

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The Thread Counter

By Brian Hathaway and Steven Sandford [Editor’s Note: This column came about in response to a topic on the Revwar MailList encouraging open discussion about “pet peeves.” Brian volunteered to collect the information, research the topics, and come up with a series of pamphlets that directly addressed each “complaint.” The result would be to encourage…

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“One of the best in the army” An Overview of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment and General William Maxwell’s Jersey Brigade

By John U. Rees The recreated 2nd New Jersey Regiment portrays the men of the original unit as they would have looked during much of 1778, but the 2nd Regiment, and the Jersey Brigade as a whole, had a long, varied, and distinguished history. General George Washington’s brief but candid comment to Major General William…

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What Are All of Those “f” Characters Doing Where “s” Should Be? —or— When I Read Eighteenth Century Books I Sound Like Sylvester The Cat

By Bob Sullivan As a sutler selling eighteenth century printed material, one of the most asked questions I receive is, “Why did they use “f” instead of “s”? Well, good reader, it is not an “f”. It is an ancient Saxon character called an “eth” character. The eth character made its appearance in printed matter…

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