Historical Archaeology of the Revolutionary War Encampments of Washington’s Army
Historical Archaeology of the Revolutionary War Encampments of Washington’s Army

Author: Cosimo A. Sgarlata

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2019-06-12

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0813057175

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This volume presents recent archaeological and ethnohistorical research on the encampments, trails, and support structures of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. These sites illuminate the daily lives of soldiers, officers, and camp followers away from the more well-known military campaigns and battles. The research featured here includes previously unpublished findings from the winter encampments at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, as well as work from sites in Redding, Connecticut, and Morristown, New Jersey. Topics range from excavations of a special dining cabin constructed for General George Washington to ballistic analysis of a target range established by General von Steuben. Contributors use experimental archaeology to learn how soldiers constructed their log hut quarters, and they reconstruct Rochambeau’s marching route through Connecticut on his way to help Washington defeat the British at Yorktown. They also describe the underrecognized roles of African descendants, Native peoples, and women who lived and worked at the camps. Showing how archaeology can contribute insights into the American Revolution beyond what historical records convey, this volume calls for protection of and further research into non-conflict sites that were crucial to this formative struggle in the history of the United States. Contributors: Cosimo Sgarlata | Joseph Balicki | Joseph R. Blondino | Douglas Campana | Wade P. Catts | Daniel Cruson | Mathew Grubel | Mary Harper | Diane Hassan | David G. Orr | Julia Steele | Laurie Weinstein

The Historical Archaeology of Revolutionary War Encampments of Washington's Army
The Historical Archaeology of Revolutionary War Encampments of Washington's Army

Author: Cosimo Sgarlata

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780813058214

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This edited volume presents archaeological and ethno-historic research concerning Washington's Army's encampments, trails, and support structures during the American Revolution. Important sites and preserves that the following chapters discuss include Valley Forge in Pennsylvania; Putnam Park and General Parson's Preserve in Redding, Connecticut; Morristown National Historic Park in New Jersey; and Rochambeau's marching trail through Connecticut. Topics pursued by contributors to the volume are the military discipline and training of soldiers; the routine activities of soldiers and officers; the special accomodations accommodations at George Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge; the layouts and organizations of encampments; the participation of African descendants, Native peoples, and women in the war; and the historic technology used by soldiers to construct their winter quarters.

Putnam's Revolutionary War Winter Encampment
Putnam's Revolutionary War Winter Encampment

Author: Daniel Cruson

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781609492311

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Putnam State Park, Connecticut's first state park, was the site of Revolutionary War general Israel Putnam's last command. In the winter of 1778-79, three thousand troops of the Continental army built and lived in "the city," a winter encampment in the valleys of northern Redding. Historian Daniel Cruson describes in fascinating archaeological detail the construction of the camp and the soldiers' daily struggle to survive. Mutiny, execution, skirmishes and the heroism of Putnam himself are revealed in this compelling history. The story of Putnam State Park doesn't end when Continental troops marched out to engage the British; Cruson takes readers from the creation of the park itself to the present day.

Fatal Sunday
Fatal Sunday

Author: Mark Edward Lender

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2016-04-18

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 0806155132

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Historians have long considered the Battle of Monmouth one of the most complicated engagements of the American Revolution. Fought on Sunday, June 28, 1778, Monmouth was critical to the success of the Revolution. It also marked a decisive turning point in the military career of George Washington. Without the victory at Monmouth Courthouse, Washington's critics might well have marshaled the political strength to replace him as the American commander-in-chief. Authors Mark Edward Lender and Garry Wheeler Stone argue that in political terms, the Battle of Monmouth constituted a pivotal moment in the War for Independence. Viewing the political and military aspects of the campaign as inextricably entwined, this book offers a fresh perspective on Washington’s role in it. Drawing on a wide range of historical sources—many never before used, including archaeological evidence—Lender and Stone disentangle the true story of Monmouth and provide the most complete and accurate account of the battle, including both American and British perspectives. In the course of their account it becomes evident that criticism of Washington’s performance in command was considerably broader and deeper than previously acknowledged. In light of long-standing practical and ideological questions about his vision for the Continental Army and his ability to win the war, the outcome at Monmouth—a hard-fought tactical draw—was politically insufficient for Washington. Lender and Stone show how the general’s partisans, determined that the battle for public opinion would be won in his favor, engineered a propaganda victory for their chief that involved the spectacular court-martial of Major General Charles Lee, the second-ranking officer of the Continental Army. Replete with poignant anecdotes, folkloric incidents, and stories of heroism and combat brutality; filled with behind-the-scenes action and intrigue; and teeming with characters from all walks of life, Fatal Sunday gives us the definitive view of the fateful Battle of Monmouth.

From These Honored Dead
From These Honored Dead

Author: Clarence R. Geier

Publisher: University Press of Florida

Published: 2014-04-22

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 0813048923

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Presenting the best current archaeological scholarship on the American Civil War, From These Honored Dead shows how historical archaeology can uncover the facts beneath the many myths and conflicting memories of the war that have been passed down through generations. By incorporating the results of archaeological investigations, the essays in this volume shed new light on many aspects of the Civil War. Topics include soldier life in camp and on the battlefield, defense mechanisms such as earthworks construction, the role of animals during military operations, and a refreshing focus on the conflict in the Trans-Mississippi West. Supplying a range of methods and exciting conclusions, this book displays the power of archaeology in interpreting this devastating period in U.S. history.

The Permanent Resident
The Permanent Resident

Author: Philip Levy

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2022-07-27

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 0813948525

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No figure in American history has generated more public interest or sustained more scholarly research around his various homes and habitations than has George Washington. The Permanent Resident is the first book to bring the principal archaeological sites of Washington's life together under one cover, revealing what they say individually and collectively about Washington’s life and career and how Americans have continued to invest these places with meaning. Philip Levy begins with Washington’s birthplace in Westmoreland County, Virginia, then moves to Ferry Farm—site of the mythical cherry tree—before following Washington to Barbados to examine how his only trip outside the continental United States both shaped him and lingered in local memory. The book then profiles the site of Washington’s first military engagement and his nation-making stay in Philadelphia. From archaeological study of Mount Vernon, Levy also derives fascinating insights about how slavery changed and was debated at Washington's famous home. Levy considers the fates of Washington statues and commemorations to understand how they have functioned as objects of veneration—and sometimes vandalism—for more than a century and a half. Two hundred years after his death, at the sites of his many abodes, Washington remains an inescapable presence. The Permanent Resident guides us through the places where Washington lived and in which Americans have memorialized him, speaking to issues that have defined and challenged America from his time to our own.

Second-Order Preservation
Second-Order Preservation

Author: Erica Avrami

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2024-12-17

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1452972443

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An urgent appeal to rethink the heritage enterprise A critical reassessment of historic preservation policies in the United States, Second-Order Preservation brings needed attention to the hierarchical underpinnings and effects of established preservation frameworks. Questioning the criteria by which value is ascribed to historic buildings and neighborhoods, Erica Avrami works to elucidate and transform how—and which—claims to place become codified in and reinforced through public policy. As she eschews dominant case-study approaches that center the individual object of preservation, such as a discrete building or site, Avrami develops the concept of second-order preservation as a means of integrating broader considerations around social justice, equitable land-use planning, and environmental sustainability. Ranging from municipal to state to national and international levels of governance, her critique of the origins and evolution of heritage policy reveals how this conventional emphasis on the object has contributed to policy tensions and systemic exclusion. Stressing the need to reform current preservation practices to serve more diverse publics, Avrami encourages a turn to an approach that substantively considers contexts and implications of preservation in the scheme of climate and justice. Second-Order Preservation maintains the interrelation between theory and practice, serving as both a critical reflection and a provocation aimed at advancing a more just set of urban policy agendas.

Surviving the Winters
Surviving the Winters

Author: Steven Elliott

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2021-03-25

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 0806169966

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George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge form an iconic image in the popular history of the American Revolution. Such winter camps, Steven Elliott tells us in Surviving the Winters, were also a critical factor in the waging and winning of the War of Independence. Exploring the inner workings of the Continental Army through the prism of its encampments, this book is the first to show how camp construction and administration played a crucial role in Patriot strategy during the war. As Elliott reminds us, Washington’s troops spent only a few days a year in combat. The rest of the time, especially in the winter months, they were engaged in a different sort of battle—against the elements, unfriendly terrain, disease, and hunger. Victory in that more sustained struggle depended on a mastery of camp construction, logistics, and health and hygiene—the components that Elliott considers in his environmental, administrative, and operational investigation of the winter encampments at Middlebrook, Morristown, West Point, New Windsor, and Valley Forge. Beyond the encampments’ basic function of sheltering soldiers, his study reveals their importance as a key component of Washington’s Fabian strategy: stationed on secure, mountainous terrain close to New York, the camps allowed the Continental commander-in-chief to monitor the enemy but avoid direct engagement, thus neutralizing a numerically superior opponent while husbanding his own strength. Documenting the growth of Washington and his subordinates as military administrators, Surviving the Winters offers a telling new perspective on the commander’s generalship during the Revolutionary War. At the same time, the book demonstrates that these winter encampments stand alongside more famous battlefields as sites where American independence was won.

The Historical Archaeology of Virginia from Initial Settlement to the Present
The Historical Archaeology of Virginia from Initial Settlement to the Present

Author: Clarence R. Geier

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-02-10

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781541023482

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The book includes six chapters that cover Virginia history from initial settlement through the 20th century plus one that deals with the important role of underwater archaeology. Written by prominent archaeologists with research experience in their respective topic areas, the chapters consider important issues of Virginia history and consider how the discipline of historic archaeology has addressed them and needs to address them . Changes in research strategy over time are discussed , and recommendations are made concerning the need to recognize the diverse and often differing roles and impacts that characterized the different regions of Virginia over the course of its historic past. Significant issues in Virginia history needing greater study are identified.

The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites
The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites

Author: Clarence Raymond Geier

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2010-12-15

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1603442073

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The recent work of anthropologists, historians, and historical archaeologists has changed the very essence of military history. While once preoccupied with great battles and the generals who commanded the armies and employed the tactics, military history has begun to emphasize the importance of the “common man” for interpreting events. As a result, military historians have begun to see military forces and the people serving in them from different perspectives. The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites has encouraged efforts to understand armies as human communities and to address the lives of those who composed them. Tying a group of combatants to the successes and failures of their military commanders leads to a failure to understand such groups as distinct social units and, in some instances, self-supporting societies: structured around a defined social and political hierarchy; regulated by law; needing to be supplied and nurtured; and often at odds with the human community whose lands they occupied, be they those of friend or foe. The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites will afford students, professionals dealing with military sites, and the interested public examples of the latest techniques and proven field methods to aid understanding and conservation of these vital pieces of the world’s heritage.