HISTORY PROJECT

MOLLY PITCHER

• During the American Revolutionary War, Hays enlisted as a gunner in the Continental Army. As it was common at the time for wives to be near their husbands in battle and help as needed, Pitcher followed Hays back to New Jersey during the war's Philadelphia Campaign (1777-78).

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NATHAN HALE

• Disguised as a Dutch schoolmaster, the Yale University-educated Hale slipped behind British lines on Long Island and then successfully gathered information about British troop movements for the next several weeks. While Hale was behind enemy lines, the British invaded the island of Manhattan; they took control of the city on September 15, 1776. When the city was set on fire on September 20, 1776, British soldiers were put on high alert for sympathizers to the Patriot cause.

NATHAN HALE CONT.

• The following evening, on September 21, 1776, Hale was captured while sailing Long Island Sound, trying to cross back into American-controlled territory.
• After being led to the gallows, legend holds that Hale was asked if he had any last words and that he replied with these now-famous words, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” There is no historical record to prove that Hale actually made this statement, but, if he did, he may have been inspired by these lines in English author Joseph Addison’s 1713 play Cato: “What a pity it is That we can die but once to serve our country.”

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PETER SALEM

• There were many brave men at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Among them was Peter Salem, an African-American from Framingham, Massachusetts. Salem was a slave and had been given his freedom in exchange for enlisting in the provincial army. He was noted for great bravery at the battle. Peter Salem is believed to have killed British Major John Pitcairn, in the redoubt and at the height of combat. In John Trumbull's famous painting Battle at Bunker's Hill shown below, Major Pitcairn is dying under the British flag, while being held up by his son and another There were many brave men at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Among them was Peter Salem, an African-American from Framingham, Massachusetts. Salem was a slave and had been given his freedom in exchange for enlisting in the provincial army. He was noted for great bravery at the battle. Peter Salem is believed to have killed British Major John Pitcairn, in the redoubt and at the height of combat. In John Trumbull's famous painting Battle at Bunker's Hill shown below, Major Pitcairn is dying under the British flag, while being held up by his son and another There were many brave men at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Among them was Peter Salem, an African-American from Framingham, Massachusetts. Salem was a slave and had been given his freedom in exchange for enlisting in the provincial army. He was noted for great bravery at the battle. Peter Salem is believed to have killed British Major John Pitcairn, in the redoubt and at the height of combat.

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Wentworth Cheswell

• Wentworth Cheswell (11 April 1746 – 8 March 1817) was an African-American teacher, American Revolutionary War veteran, assessor, auditor, selectman and Justice of the Peace. He is considered by some the first African American elected to public office, as well as the first archaeologist in New Hampshire, despite being perceived by local contemporaries as white.

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General John Burgoyne

• British general John Burgoyne is best remembered for his defeat by superior American forces in the Saratoga campaign of 1777, during the American Revolution. John Burgoyne was born 1722, in Sutton, England. Burgoyne was defeated by superior American forces in the Saratoga (New York) campaign of 1777, during the American Revolution. Exhausting his food and ammunition and receiving no aid, he had to surrender to Gates north of Saratoga Springs on October 17, 1777. Paroled along with his troops, he returned to England, where he faced severe criticism.

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Horatio Gates

• Horatio Gates is known for his victory at Saratoga and his disgrace at Camden, but his service in the military can not be described with only two battles. He served in the British Army for 24 years before becoming a Major General in the Continental Army. During his tenure, he participated in the Conway Cabal which tried to overthrow General Washington based on incompetence. He is known as an ambitious and arrogant man.

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Baron Von Steuben

• Baron Von Steuben worked for the german courts after his military service. He then tried unsuccessfully to join the ranks of the French and Austrian armies. When he heard that Benjamin Franklin was in France, he traveled there in hopes of offering his services to the Patriot cause. Franklin met with Von Steuben and took an immediate liking to him. He wrote Von Steuben a letter of recommendation and sent it to George Washington. Washington assigned Von Steuben to his winter quarters at Valley Forge. At Valley Forge, Von Steuben’s value to the Patriot cause was realized. He transformed the raw recruits and militia men into a well-disciplined fighting force. He taught badly needed military tactics, drill formations, command structure and line movements. The soldiers loved his style and broken English. Von Steuben was instrumental in raising the army’s morale at the horrible conditions of Valley Forge. While his main contributions to the Patriot cause were at Valley Forge, he also served with Nathaniel Greene and the southern army, and was a divisional commander under George Washington at the Yorktown campaign. He served in the American army until 1784. He died November 28, 1794.

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Juan de Mirelles

• First Commissioner of Spain to the United States. Miralles settled in Havana, Cuba around 1740, where he became a successful merchant. Miralles was chosen in 1777 to represent Spain as a secret agent to establish friendly economic relations. Spain attempted to remain neutral in Revolutionary War, but Miralles convinced his native land to join the American cause in exchange for the guarentee that Spain would control Florida after the war. Miralles was to be named Spain's first ambassador to the U.S., but feel ill with "pulmonic fever" while visiting Washington's headquarters in Morristown, N.J., and died within days.

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Haym Solomon

• Salomon (sometimes written as Solomon and Solomons in period documents) was a Polish-born Jewish immigrant to America who played an important role in financing the Revolution. When the war began, Salomon was operating as a financial broker in New York City. He seems to have been drawn early to the Patriot side and was arrested by the British as a spy in 1776. He was pardoned and used by the British as an interpreter with their German troops. Salomon, however, continued to help prisoners of the British escape and encouraged German soldiers to desert. Arrested again in 1778, he was sentenced to death, but managed to escape to the rebel capital of Philadelphia, where he resumed his career as a broker and dealer in securities. He soon became broker to the French consul and paymaster to French troops in America.

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George Rogers Clark

• George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war.

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John Paul Jones

• Shortly after the Revolution began, he was in Philadelphia and through the friendship of Joseph Hewes, a delegate to the Continental Congress, was commissioned as first lieutenant on the Alfred in the Continental navy. Jones proved himself a capable officer in action on the Alfred and on the sloop Providence which he commanded in 1776. The next year Congress sent him to France as captain of the Ranger with orders to attack enemy commerce in British waters. His greatest success on the Ranger came in April 1778 when he sailed from Brest for the Irish Sea and then to Whitehaven. This superb foray saw him fail in his attempt to abduct the Earl of Selkirk, whom he intended to exchange for Americans held by the British, but he captured the sloop of war Drake in a fierce struggle. By May 8, the Ranger was back at Brest with seven prizes and many prisoners, having created a furor in the British press.

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General George Cornwallis

• Charles Cornwallis was very successful in his army career, the kind of person you always want on your side. He saw many battles and was the cause of many victories, but he always seemed to find himself as second-in-command with an irksome man over him. He served under General William Howe first, with whom he found himself growing more and more impatient. He felt Howe had little ambition. He served under Sir Henry Clinton next. Cornwallis disliked Clinton as much as he disliked Howe. Soon, he grew tired of leading under generals whom he found to be of lesser intelligence, and he tried to resign. This did not work out so well for General Cornwallis, and he spent a few more years in the war.

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FRANCIS MARION

• MOST AMERICANS ENVISION Colonel Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” as a tall, strong, handsome, and swashbuckling cavalryman, fearlessly leading South Carolinians to victory in the American Revolution. Certainly after the film, “The Patriot,” many Americans will associate the Swamp Fox with Mel Gibson’s brave and tragic character. Actually Marion did not look or act like a hero at all. He was short (although Mel Gibson isn’t that tall, either!), frail, and walked with a limp (he broke his ankle jumping out the window of a party he left early). Colonel Marion was an uneducated bachelor who was described as eccentric and unable to get along with his fellow military officers. He was not bold in his military tactics, but rather very cautious and prudent. Yet Marion was undoubtedly a courageous and deadly soldier, whose guerilla warfare techniques severely crippled British campaigns in the South, and helped to ensure American victory in the War for Independence.

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