Washington’s Gamble began when frontier war threatened the survival of the Revolution itself. The growing violence on the western frontiers of Pennsylvania and New York left him little choice. It was one he had hoped to avoid. But it was the response demanded by Congress. The steady stream of reports from the frontier forced them to act.
Zebulon Butler, who led the defense (and retreat) during the Wyoming Massacre, attested to continued incursions. In a letter to General Hand on March 23, 1779, the Pennsylvanian wrote, “…after severe skirmishing for two hours and a half, the enemy carried off sixty head of horned cattle, 20 horses, and shot my riding horse, which they could not catch, and burnt five barns that were partly full of grain and hay, and 10 houses, which the inhabitants had deserted. They shot a number of hogs and sheep, that they left lying.” He asked that the information be relayed to General Washington.1
Even before Butler’s letter to Hand, Congress had received letters from the governors of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New York. On February 25, 1779, they appointed their Commander-in-Chief to raise five companies of rangers. The resolution directed Washington to Continue Reading “Washington’s Gamble – The Sullivan–Clinton Campaign”
The Roman Hamburger That Wasn’t
Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer cookout season. Fittingly, National Hamburger Day falls on May 28, right in the middle of both National Hamburger Month and National Beef Month.
Which explains why hamburger stories suddenly begin appearing everywhere this time of year. Among the most persistent is the claim that the Romans invented the hamburger nearly fifteen centuries before the Menches Brothers arrived at the Erie County Fair.
The Real Roman “Hamburger” Recipe
For the last decade or so, the “Roman Hamburger” has become one of the most widely repeated hamburger stories in the media. Since the story appears to have originated in Continue Reading “The Roman Hamburger That Wasn’t”