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250 and Counting

Acroasis Media

This day 250 years ago

history

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2:00

The Siege of Quebec–December 8, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/08

The siege of Quebec was an event that was months in the making, and it was still just the penultimate act of the play. Benedict Arnold and his troops thought they could get to the American side of the St. Lawrence River within 21 days; instead it took several weeks. Along the way they lost about a third of their troop strength. Some of the men died of illness en route, but most of them finally gave up altogether and headed home. When they finally arrived they realized they didn’t

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2:00

Tensions Rise At Great Bridge–December 7, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/07

The map in today’s cover art might be a little confusing to people who live and work in the modern-day Norfolk area. That’s because it’s oriented with North at the bottom. What’s not known is why this was done in this particular case. North/Up South/Down is, of course, the usual convention, and there are arguments that there’s a psychological component to this (e.g. north/up is somehow “better” than south/down). From a cartography standpoint, there

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2:00

Congress Responds to King George–December 6, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/06

There are a couple of things that it’s kind of important to remember about American history. First, by this point Independence was still NOT on the table for the Continental Congress. That’s not to say that there wasn’t talk about it, but little of it was in earnest. Americans were fighting the British because of all the business that was going on in Boston. If everybody just settled down then the decision to politically separate wouldn’t have been made. Second,

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2:00

The Raid On Yarmouth–December 5, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/05

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia was a frequent target of raids throughout the Revolution. Indeed, most of Nova Scotia was harassed from both land and sea by Americans. This had a huge impact on the maritime economy there. But all those attacks—mostly by American (and probably some French) privateers—inflicted lots of disruption on British supply lines the entire time. On the downside, all these attacks pretty much put an end to any trade between America and Nova Scotia. But the Raid on Yarmouth,

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2:00

When The North Went South–December 4, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/04

While the premise of today’s episode seems a little far-fetched, if you look closely at the map in today’s cover art, you’ll see it makes a lot of sense. In the mid-1700s, neither Pennsylvania nor Virginia had well-defined western borders. In fact, Virginia was occasionally thought to continue northward all the way to Lake Erie. Some maps even have a Pennsylvania boundary somewhere east of Pittsburgh. The point is, there have been times when the borders have been blurry,

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2:00

The First American Flag Is Raised–December 3, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/03

John Paul Jones was born in Scotland as John Paul and began his maritime career at 13 when he was hired as an apprentice. In 1770 he was involved in an incident wherein a crew member was flogged after a failed mutiny. The crew member later died, and it was clear that his reputation had taken a big hit. So John Paul left Scotland and took command of a British vessel. Again, however, he put down a mutinous sailor, this time killing him with a sword in Tobago. Before he could be tried,

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2:00

Homesickness Sets In–December 2, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/02

All of the men who were part of the Second Continental Congress were serious men who had businesses of their own back at home. So spending so much time in Philadelphia had to have been taxing on them, especially since the days were so long. Of course many of them were going to be homesick. Read the letters between John and Abigail Adams as an excellent example. And remember: to go home to, say, Boston could take about a week in 1775. So they’d be away for two weeks at a minimum, and

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2:00

Montgomery Arrives at Quebec–December 1, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/12/01

The events at Lexington and Concord were only about a month in the rear-view mirror when it occurred to both the Americans and the British that the Canadian provinces were colonies, too, and that they might have some kind of interest in the activities going on further south. Quebec, being perhaps the largest city close to the border, was the natural target for everyone involved. So it was always in the back of minds in the Thirteen Colonies, and in England. And slowly, each side began to

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2:00

Dunmore Assembles Two Regiments–November 30, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/30

Back on November 14 we told you about the Royal Ethiopian Regiment, which was assembled following Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation. The proclamation offered freedom to slaves belonging to Patriot owners who chose to fight on the British side in the Revolution. Dunmore was putting together another band of soldiers at the same time, called “The Queen’s Own Loyal Virginia Regiment,” which suggests that he knew something about George III that wasn’t common knowledge. (Heh,

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2:00

Thomas Jefferson Has Bad News–November 29, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/29

Thomas Jefferson wasn’t as prolific with the letters as John Adams was with his own wife (over ten thousand letters between them during the course of the Revolution!), nor as much as George Washington, but he was still a deep thinker and he did write well and with purpose. In today’s example he has to convey some unfortunate news to a political rival; specifically that the rival’s brother had died unexpectedly. His letter to John Randolph about Peyton’s death was

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2:00

The Capture of the Nancy–November 28, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/28

The capture of the British brigantine Nancy wasn’t Captain John Manley’s first (it was perhaps his third), but it was probably one of his most significant, considering the cargo. It was also probably the first British ship of any real consequence to be captured by any American. Overall, Manley’s effectiveness as a Navy captain was rather variable. He was a big risk/big reward kind of sailor, and so when he was successful, he was very successful, and when he wasn’t,

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2:00

Prelude To Battle–November 27, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/27

Happy Thanksgiving! Many people celebrate the day by watching the parade, or some football, or some special episodes of television shows, or Thanksgiving-themed movies. Personally I like a combination: I’ll watch the parade, then play an episode or two of The West Wing (there are two Thanksgiving episodes), and then get in a little football. I live in Baltimore and the Ravens are playing tonight, so I’ll be parked in front of the TV for that. For the last few years

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2:00

Escape To The War–November 26, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/26

As we’ve mentioned a couple of times before, Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation offering freedom to Patriot-owned slaves who fought for the British created a stir that was felt in all thirteen colonies. Huge numbers of people showed up, not just men, but women and children as well. And of course, because most of them had escaped to join the British forces, that meant that the slave-hunting business experienced a huge boom. And, of course, the company formed by these escapees only

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2:00

The Fate of War and Some Refugees–November 25, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/25

It’s hard to emphasize just how remote Point Shirley is compared to the Boston. Let me try anyway. On most maps of Boston, Point Shirley isn’t even on the map. It’s so far to the east that it’s nearly in the ocean. I’m not sure it’s even possible to see Boston from Point Shirley. And given Point Shirley’s location at a place between the bay and the ocean, and the fact that it’s November, and you’ve got a cold, windy place where

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2:00

Considering North Carolina–November 24, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/24

Two days ago, Mike had a case of the Martian Flu or something, so I needed to record in his place. today he sounds as good as ever. Since I could never bounce back from anything affecting my voice that quickly, I think it’s necessary to hurl invective his way. But I won’t ’cause I’m classy. Where were we? Oh yeah. One of the interesting things about the American Revolution is that even though there were major, busy ports up and down the coast, only a few of them

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2:00

A Day of Thanksgiving–November 23, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/23

November 23, 1775 was at least the fifth time that a day of Thanksgiving was declared in North America. It might be the sixth, but the documentation for one of them is kind of thin, It might be the first Thanksgiving held on a Thursday, but again it’s tough to know for sure. It’s certainly […]The post A Day of Thanksgiving–November 23, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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2:00

The End of the First Siege at Ninety Six–November 22,...

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/22

The siege and battle at Ninety Six managed to end abruptly, largely because the leaders on both sides were convinced that something was about to happen the would benefit the other side. What a gentlemanly way to go out! For all that shooting, hardly anyone was seriously hurt. There was one death on each side, […]The post The End of the First Siege at Ninety Six–November 22, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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2:01

George Kremer–November 21, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/21

While George Kremer is depicted in today’s artwork as a sophisticated “man of the people”, it’s thought that the artwork was meant to be sarcastic, since Kremer’s colleagues didn’t respect him very much, thinking he was a kind of bumpkin back-bencher. And indeed, George Kremer’s political legacy, at both the state and Congressional level, is […]The post George Kremer–November 21, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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2:00

The 1st Canadian Regiment–November 20, 2025

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/20

Robert Livingston now enters the picture in the broad tapestry of the American Revolution. Given that the cover art today comes from an image from twenty years after the war; we can assume that he was quite young during the war, plus he held up pretty well in the interim. At any rate, this isn’t […]The post The 1st Canadian Regiment–November 20, 2025 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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2:00

The Siege of Ninety Six–November 19, 1775

250 and Counting ·

2025/11/19

The Siege of Ninety-Six is considered to be the first land battle of the Revolution in the South. And believe it or not, we might be talking about this town again in fairly short order. This past Saturday, Governor McMaster officially proclaimed today through Thursday the 250th Anniversary of the battle. And while this battle […]The post The Siege of Ninety Six–November 19, 1775 appeared first on 250 and Counting.

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