Stories of the Revolution
- July 1, 2026: No Common Spirits: Jefferson and Adams survive
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The first four presidents. Two of them died on the Jubilee of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826.
On July 4 we celebrate the Semiquincentennial anniversary of the Declaration of our Independence from Great Britain. Two hundred and fifty years have passed since the Declaration was adopted. John Adams predicted it would be celebrated with wild abandon… if it proved successful.
The 4th of July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the GREAT ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL! It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to the Almighty God. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations—from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forever!1
Exactly two hundred years ago, fifty years after the Declaration, another momentous event rocked the country. Thomas Jefferson died in the afternoon, and John Adams in the evening. On the fiftieth anniversary, the Jubilee, of the document they had created, both died within hours of each other.
There were probably more orations after Independence Day than on the day itself, due to that amazing coincidence. As the news spread throughout our then-small country there were eulogies, commemorations, and the beginnings of legends. There were enough joint eulogies that at least one publisher announced a book collecting them. I collected two of them in A Sestercentennial Cookery: Edward Everett’s eulogy of August 1, 1826, and the semi-anonymous “Lady of Richmond’s” July 14 Lines on the Deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
- November 5, 2025: Cherry Valley: A Massacre of the Revolution
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Veteran’s Day, once Armistice Day, is this coming Tuesday. But the armistice that ended the Great War is not the only thing that happened on November 11 in our history. Among the most barbaric was the 1778 massacre by English troops at Cherry Valley, a village now in Otsego County, New York.
A Sestercentennial Year
- Battle of Bennington
- Upside Down Yorktown
- Cherry Valley Massacre ⬅︎
- Battle of the Kegs
- Sestercentennial Cookery
- The New Colossus
- Irish potato pie
- Sing of Marion’s Men
- Disney’s Marion
- Monticello Meal
- Adams and Jefferson
- Riflemen of Bennington
The Cherry Valley massacre is an obscure part of the American Revolution to anyone but the residents of Cherry Valley, who remembered it at least up to the release of The Patriot in 2000.
- August 13, 2025: Our lot is cast in this happy land…
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While researching the origin of The Rifleman’s Song of Bennington I ran across this 1819 speech on the occasion of the Battle of Bennington. It appeared in The Pittsfield Sun of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, November 10, 1819 and was given by Samuel B. Young on August 16 of the same year.
A Sestercentennial Year
- Battle of Bennington ⬅︎
- Upside Down Yorktown
- Cherry Valley Massacre
- Battle of the Kegs
- Sestercentennial Cookery
- The New Colossus
- Irish potato pie
- Sing of Marion’s Men
- Disney’s Marion
- Monticello Meal
- Adams and Jefferson
- Riflemen of Bennington
Since Saturday is the anniversary of the battle, I thought I’d reproduce it here. It’s a fine argument for commemorating Independence Day as well as the sacrifices made for Independence.
More American Revolution
- Flowers o’er the Tory grave: Disney’s Francis Marion
- Walt Disney’s The Swamp Fox was an influential take on Francis Marion’s life—very possibly an influence on Mel Gibson’s The Patriot, too.
- Mock the Wind and Sing of Marion’s Men
- “In Lexington, the center of revolt against the King…” One of the most modern figures of the American Revolution was a slaveholder and Indian fighter with a superhero name.
- The Battle of the Kegs
- The Battle of the Kegs took place on January 5 or 6, 1778. Soon after, Francis Hopkinson wrote this wonderful account of the debacle, including very personal details about the British General in charge!
- Cherry Valley: A Massacre of the Revolution
- Mel Gibson’s The Patriot is disparaged for the ruthlessness it portrays among the British. But such barbarity certainly did exist. One massacre by British troops is still remembered by the residents of Cherry Valley, New York.
- The World Turned Upside Down
- The legend of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to Washington at Yorktown says that the band played “The World Turned Upside Down”. It probably didn’t. But we’re going to print the legend anyway.
- Two more pages with the topic American Revolution, and other related pages