When I began this blog, nearly six years ago, I was just finding my way in a new medium, writing about a certain place and the natural world. My blog, like my brain, is an amalgam of intersecting interests that do not fit into a simple category. Those dealing with American History and family genealogy have come to predominate, but while I post less frequently than I did when this was my sole creative and social outlet, it is still quite possible to come here looking for one thing and to find something quite different in close proximity. Let serendipity be your guide.
My Revolutionary War interests now predominate, and for those of you who have come to Walking the Berkshires with that in mind, a few words of introduction may help to set the scene.
Scrolling down to the Blog archives section in the right hand column, you will find several categories of interest. The catch all link for RevWar related material is called American Revolution and it is full of all sorts of stuff, including my reenacting experiences and those of my ancestors who served in our Independence struggle. I often research and write extended series, one of which received the high honor of a 2008 Cliopatria Award for best series of posts. Many of these have their own archive category, and are archived with the last post at the top of the chain. They can be found here:
Knox Expedition (1775-1776) with a local Berkshire connection
Canada Expedition and Death of Montgomery in which my 5th Great Uncle, Matthias Ogden, played a prominent part, and which received the aforementioned Cliopatria award.
Margaret Corbin, a real life Molly Pitcher and a soldier to the bone
Tryon's Danbury Raid (1777) where there is a family connection to a 2nd Lt. in the 5th CT (second establishment)
Sullivan's Staten Island Raid (1777); in which my ancestors in the 1st & 3rd NJ had a romp and the rear guard of Marylanders and 2nd Canadian got left to fend for themselves.
The Convention Army in Connecticut (1778); in which I share some of my research into the route and encampments of Burgoyne's surrendered army on the march through CT from MA to VA.
Court Martial of Col. Matthias Ogden; where I dig up the dirt on my ancestor, the commander of the 1st NJ Continentals and observe how once again he comes out smelling like a rose.
Sullivan's Expedition Against the Iroquois (1779) with particular attention to my ancestors in the 1st and 3rd NJ.
Knyphausen's Raid (1780); my "unfinished symphony", in which over several years I have written no further than the death of Mrs Caldwell after Connecticut Farms. Still more research to do before I am satisfied with continuing.
Ogden and Dayton, POWS (1780-1781), in which I discuss the capture and release of Col. Matthias Ogden and my 4th Gr-Grandfather, Jonathan Dayton of the 3rd NJ.
I write about the Jerseys because I descend from or am closely related to prominent officers and commanders in the 1st and 3rd NJ (and this is also a major reason why I reenact in the 1st, where my 4th Great Grandfather Aaron Ogden also served under his brother Matthias). Elias Dayton, Senior Colonel in the NJ Brigade, was his father and my 5th Gr-grandfather. My family history includes a conflicted family with a loyalist turncoat and another whose lands were confiscated but but who then later successfully petitioned for reinstatement. It includes Ebenezer Olmsted, who served as an NCO and junior officer in three campaigns in three CT regiments, impregnated the minister's daughter, and later robbed his townsmen blind. There is also a minuteman from Bedford who fought at Concord. Most of them are listed here, but I keep finding more RevWar veterans in the branches of the tree.
I am also involved in the Cannon Committee of the Salisbury Association Historical Society, on a quest to identify and recover a surviving example of one of the nearly 900 iron guns that came from the cannon foundry of this NW CT town during the Revolution. I believe some of them may be at the bottom of the Penobscot River, as a number of scuttled transports for the failed expedition there came from CT.
I am always game to delve into other research projects in this time period, and follow leads wherever they may take me. I hope you may find something of interest here.
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