The New York State Library will host an online talk based on Timothy J. Duerden’s novel Escape From The Sugar House: Levi Hanford & The American Revolution (Purple Mountain Press, 2026), which tells the story of Levi Hanford, a teenaged Revolutionary War militiaman who survived a stint as a prisoner of war at the infamous Sugar House Prison in the city of New York and then spent his final years in the Catskills. [Read more…] about Levi Hanford’s Escape from Sugar House Prison
POWs
Ambuscade Slaughter: The 1758 Half-Way Brook Massacre
In the aftermath of his stunning defeat of Maj. Gen. James Abercrombie‘s much larger army at the Battle of Carillon, French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm sent several scouting parties from Ticonderoga to attack and harass the soldiers and convoys along the road between the head of Lake George and Fort Edward.
On July 20th, 1758 one of these groups fell upon the Massachusetts provincial militia, led by Colonel Ebenezer Nichols (1703–1777) who were quartered at the Half-Way Brook block house, which had been constructed shortly after Sir William Johnson had the road built in 1755. [Read more…] about Ambuscade Slaughter: The 1758 Half-Way Brook Massacre
David Maltbie: The ‘Other’ Nathan Hale
The story of Nathan Hale is a foundational myth of the American Revolution: an earnest but inexperienced patriot takes on the role of spy and unfortunately ends up a martyr to the cause.
Hale was identified by Major Robert Rogers, who pretended to be a fellow patriot, got him to reveal his mission over a drink before arresting him. When searched, British forces found hidden notes and military drawings. Under the laws of war, captured spies were not granted military trials or treated as prisoners of war. [Read more…] about David Maltbie: The ‘Other’ Nathan Hale
A French Officer’s Visit To Fishkill Supply Depot, 1780
The following is an excerpt from Travels in North-America, in the years 1780-81-82 by François Jean de Beauvoir, Marquis de Chastellux (1734-1788), a French military officer who served during the American Revolution under General Comte de Rochambeau. Here he describes his travels in Dutchess County, including a visit to Fishkill Supply Depot.
The country is well cultivated; affording the prospect of several pretty farms, with some mills; and notwithstanding the [Revolutionary] war, Hopel township [Hopewell Junction in Dutchess County] is building, inhabited chiefly by Dutch people, as well as the greatest part of the state of New York, which formerly belonged to the republic of Holland, who exchanged it for Surinam. [Read more…] about A French Officer’s Visit To Fishkill Supply Depot, 1780
Ballston’s Colonial Inn
There it is, sitting atop a hill, a hill known 200 years ago as Courthouse Hill, on present-day Middleline Road in Saratoga County, NY. It’s north of the Middleline Road/Charlton Road intersection where Eliphalet Ball established his church, the center of the community.
That community was to become the town of Ballston. And, yes, there it is, still standing to this day, a building then known as the Colonial Inn. [Read more…] about Ballston’s Colonial Inn
New Yorkers Exiled to Tasmania for the 1837-38 Canadian Patriot Rebellion
On September 30, 1970, in a simple ceremony, a monument was unveiled at Sandy Bay Beach Reserve in Hobart, Tasmania, by the Honorable Douglas Harkness, the former Canadian defense minister. It was in honor to the ninety-two Patriot exiles, transported to what was then called Van Diemen’s Land who had been captured in the 1837-38 Patriot War insurrection in Upper Canada against British domination.
Listed as Canadian rebels, a majority were in fact from the state of New York. Although imprisoned US citizens captured in the various conflicts with England – from the American Revolution to the War of 1812– was not a novelty, it was to be the first time that American prisoners were shipped to a penal colony in Australia due to a confrontation with the Empire. [Read more…] about New Yorkers Exiled to Tasmania for the 1837-38 Canadian Patriot Rebellion
Baron Dieskau: A New Epitaph
Most books written about the French and Indian War and the Battle of Lake George close with a wounded and defeated General Jean-Armand de Dieskau and a few sentences in a closing paragraph or footnote to wrap up the general’s movements from North America to Europe and his death in 1767.
Dieskau has been forgotten by history, just as he was forgotten and abandoned during the Seven Years War/French and Indian War. [Read more…] about Baron Dieskau: A New Epitaph
Remembering the British Prison Ship Martyrs of New York City
About 11,500 Americans lost their lives aboard British prison ships from 1776 to 1783. More soldiers, sailors and civilians died aboard the prison ships than in all of the Revolutionary War battles combined. It started with the Battle of Brooklyn (the Battle of Long Island).
The City of New York played an important role throughout the American Revolution. Not only was the city an important port of commerce, providing supplies and food to the Continental Army, but it served as a central communications route between the northern and southern states. [Read more…] about Remembering the British Prison Ship Martyrs of New York City
Nathaniel Lawrence: Rev War POW Turned NY Attorney General
New York State’s fifth Attorney General Nathaniel Lawrence was born on July 11, 1761, in Queens County. He had a strong career of as a revolutionary soldier and in public service, before dying young.
Leaving Princeton College behind, he answered the call to arms, serving as a lieutenant in the American Revolutionary War. His bravery came at a cost however. Captured during the fall of Fort Lafayette (a fortified island in The Narrows of New York Harbor), Lawrence spent two grueling years confined on a British prison ship. [Read more…] about Nathaniel Lawrence: Rev War POW Turned NY Attorney General
A Teenager’s War of 1812 at Sackets Harbor, Plattsburgh & Greenbush
The Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site’s digital archive holds over 11,000 names of military personnel who served at, or passed through, Sackets Harbor during the War of 1812.
Sackets Harbor became a strategic location in 1808 when the military arrived to enforce the Embargo Act of 1807. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, the harbor became the US military headquarters for the northern frontier on Lakes Ontario and Erie. [Read more…] about A Teenager’s War of 1812 at Sackets Harbor, Plattsburgh & Greenbush
Kurt Vonnegut in Rochester & Schenectady
Kurt Vonnegut’s visits to Rochester, NY, left an indelible mark, weaving his literary legacy into the fabric of the city’s history. In 1986, he appeared at the Unitarian Universalist Association’s convention, where he delivered his characteristic wit and a biting critique aimed at then-President Ronald Reagan. Before the event, Vonnegut signed books at Monroe Avenue’s Village Green Bookstore, a beloved literary institution that has since closed but remains warmly remembered by locals. [Read more…] about Kurt Vonnegut in Rochester & Schenectady
Prisoners of War and the War of 1812
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Nicholas Guyatt, a Professor of North American History at the University of Cambridge, joins us to investigate the War of 1812 and the experiences of American prisoners of war using details from his book, The Hated Cage: An American Tragedy in Britain’s Most Terrifying Prison (Basic Books, 2022). [Read more…] about Prisoners of War and the War of 1812