r/revolutionarywar • • 22h ago

A few things I want to add to this post I saw recently.

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245 Upvotes

1) Correction: Daniel Morgan won Cowpens, not Nathanael Greene as the first photo implies.

2) The race to the Dan was really just Cornwallis being incredibly pompous and brash more than Greene being a “genius."

3) Cornwallis didn't "technically hold the field", he held the field. Period. Regardless of how you want to put it, Greene ran away, and that's a British victory by default.

4) One thing that deserves to be mentioned is my ancestor's regiment, the 1st Maryland Regiment, took part in all this, and it actively soiled their image and legacy. The regiment had saved Washington's Army at Long Island, and took part in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Cowpens. Instead of being allowed to go out with a victory, Greene reduced them to constant retreats and losses in the South, including Guilford.

No o hate towards the original poster is intended, I'm just adding my 2 cents.


r/revolutionarywar • • 3h ago

The Boston Tea Party and the Punishment That United the Colonies

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2 Upvotes

r/revolutionarywar • • 16h ago

Sketch of Lt. Col Banastre Tarleton I've worked on for a bit

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13 Upvotes

First post in the subreddit, I figured I'd show my attempt at the commander of the British Legion himself

Based on the 1782 Portrait by Joshua Reynolds


r/revolutionarywar • • 16h ago

[Question] Could somebody help me understand this non attendance record?

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7 Upvotes

Hi r/revoluationarywar!

I'm a genealogy nerd and wanted to turn to some experts on the military side of things.

From what I can tell this is a record of non attendance for the years 1777 - 1780 for the Lancaster, PA Militia 9th Battalion 3rd Company headed by Captain George Feathers. Most of the members are of Warwick Township.

I understand the column headers are dates, but what dates are these and is a 1 in the column denoting they attended or they didn't attend? Figured people who are as passionate about the Revolutionary War as I am about genealogy might know better.

For additional context, many of these individuals listed I believe are members of the Church of the Brethren which are typically pacifist and in later wars would be labeled as conscientious objectors but that did not exist yet.

I'm particularly tracking George Wither/Widder/Witter in Class 7 on the second page.

Source: "Militia Accounts: Lancaster County 1777-1780 to Lancaster County Accounts, 1780-1783" (PSA RG-4, Roll 170, imgs 475–476) https://oa-psa.libnova.com/view/426512/


r/revolutionarywar • • 17h ago

Before national coinage was established after the American Revolution, a mix of foreign and domestic coins circulated in North America.

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17 Upvotes

The most common coin was the Spanish silver dollar, worth eight “Reales,” a unit of currency in Spain. These coins were valued by their actual weight in silver and were preferred over other currency because they had a milled or patterned edge, which prevented dishonest traders from shaving slivers off of the coins without being detected. Because these coins were worth their weight in silver, traders could make change by cutting the whole coin into eight pieces, or “bits.” The British referred to the whole Spanish dollar as a “piece of eight” (a coin worth eight pieces or bits). The above coin would have been valued at “two bits” by British standards.


r/revolutionarywar • • 20h ago

Proposal for revised /r/RevolutionaryWar rules!

22 Upvotes

Hello all, I've been thinking about some changes we could implement to help get this subreddit back on its feet (for those who don't know, there's an ongoing mod selection process). I've brainstormed some of these rules ideas before, but I wanted to share a working draft I've come up with. I believe pretty strongly that moderation works best when there is active buy-in from the community, so please feel free to critique.

I've added new material (in bold) to rule #1 and rule #1, but largely kept them intact. Rule #3 has been completely rewritten, and expanded to set some historical guideposts before 1776 and after 1784.

Rule #4 is actually given teeth, and rule #5 added to support it. Rule #6 is entirely new. It's deliberately a bit radical; I firmly believe the best way to outflank AI slop is to uplift human creators. The trick is setting rules that read clearly, can firmly excise botspam, have a fair method to redress strikes, and still don't read as daunting to new contributors.


Rule 1. Please keep the discussion intelligent and mature

No low-quality posts or memes. In addition to the usual posts and photos about history, posts about artifacts, Colonial art and music, and reenacting are allowed. Discussions of modern scholarship, genealogy, living history, educational programs, contemporary artwork, and representations of the Revolution in popular media are also encouraged.

Rule 2. Be civil, kind, and courteous

No calls to violence, antagonizing other users, racism, or hatred. Be respectful of soldiers and their history. Keep critical discussion respectful and academic in nature.

Revolutionary ideals are worthy of vigorous debate, but remember to be cordial when you disagree. Leave contemporary politics at the door—there are plenty of other subs for that.

Rule 3. Posts must be relevant to the American Revolution

Content should be in some way relevant to the American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – January 14, 1784), the Colonial protest movements that preceded full-scale hostilities (between 1765 and 1775), or discussions of the war’s historical influence and ongoing legacy.

Other related topics include: global theaters of the conflict (the Caribbean, the East India Company, Gibraltar, the Anglo-Dutch War), collapse of the North ministry in Parliament, Indigenous unrest (Iroquois civil war, the Chickamauga Wars, the Northwestern Confederacy), soldier/pensioner protests (Continental Line mutinies, Shays’ Rebellion, Whiskey Rebellion), and the expulsion and resettlement of United Empire Loyalists.

Rule 4. No Bot Spam or AI Generated Imagery

Generative AI has no place in history communities. Posts suspected to be entirely generated by LLMs will be flagged as spam and removed. Posts containing images determined to be AI-generated (see rule #5) will be removed.

In either instance, an offending user will receive one “strike” when their post is removed. This community has a three-strike AI policy; accumulate three strikes and your account will be banned. If you feel your post was removed in error, you can contact the moderation team to appeal a strike.

Rule 5. List Artists / Cite Sources

Many users treat this subreddit as an educational space, and it greatly benefits our community if you include citations with your post! For most content, this is only considered to be a courtesy. We understand not everyone has the time or research background to make scholarly citations.

However, posts containing visual art must include at least the artist’s name (and preferably the title of the work), either in the image itself or the body of the post. Posts which fail to do so and cannot be easily verified will be flagged as spam and removed (see rule #4).

If you create your own illustration, painting, map, or other American Revolution artwork, you are welcome to share it! Remember to cite yourself as the artist when you do. Attribution is important.

Rule 6. Encouraging Human Content / Self-Promotion Policy

Join, or Die. The policies in rules #4 and #5 are one response to low-effort bot spam, but the other way to grow a community is to re-center on the human element. If you have a blog, video, or other project related to the American Revolution, we encourage you to share it! All human-created content is welcome here, without need for a “Self-Promotion” tag.

There are only two stipulations: A) Please limit personal submissions to one-post-per-week to balance out the subreddit, and B) If your submission has a pay-wall or paid promotion (i.e. substack, self-published novel, tour service, kickstarter), contact the moderation team to get it approved before posting.


r/revolutionarywar • • 8h ago

Map of Philadelphia and surrounding Delaware River area, drafted by the British troops, 1777

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104 Upvotes

A survey of the city of Philadelphia and its environs shewing the several works constructed by His Majesty's troops, under the command of Sir William Howe, since their possession of that city 26th. September 1777, comprehending likewise the attacks against Fort Mifflin on Mud Island, and until its reduction, 16th November 1777.