Tag Archives: Revolutionary War

Virtual Parlor Chat: “First Victory: The Battle of Harlem Heights at 250”

Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Harlem Heights, the first Patriot victory of the American Revolution.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion, then known as “Mt. Morris” or the summer home of British Military Officer Colonel Roger Morris and family, became the headquarters of General George Washington, his officers, and troops for five weeks in the fall of 1776. Almost immediately after establishing the headquarters, Washington and his troops would be faced with another opportunity to emerge victorious in a war in which they had only been defeated in up until this point.

The Battle of Harlem Heights is a largely unappreciated milestone in American military history. This engagement on upper Manhattan Island on September 16, 1776 marked the first successful battlefield outcome achieved by George Washington’s troops in the quest for independence from Great Britain and presaged the gradual emergence of an effective fighting force among the citizen-soldiers who made up the Continental Army and bore the brunt of young America’s struggle for political and economic self-determination. The cooperative effort of regiments from New England, Maryland, and Virginia—whose men lacked any sense of national identity before the Revolution—indicated the potential for this fledgling army to cohere around a common national purpose and affiliation and become the primary instrument for gaining American independence. David Price, author of The Battle of Harlem Heights, 1776 joins the Mansion to take a deep dive into this small but extremely important moment in history on it’s 250th anniversary.

About the speaker:

David Price has authored five books about America’s War of Independence, including a trilogy about the winter 1776/77 “Ten Crucial Days” campaign. His last book in that trilogy, Winning the Ten Crucial Days, was named an Honorable Mention for the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award and a Finalist for the Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award. The other volumes in the trilogy are The Road to Assunpink Creek and Rescuing the Revolution. In addition, he has authored John Haslet’s World and The Battle of Harlem Heights, 1776. The latter is part of the Westholme Small Battle series and was accepted into the permanent collection of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. David is a recipient of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Bronze Good Citizenship Medal, as well as its Certificate of Appreciation, in recognition of his work as an author, speaker, and historical interpreter at Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania and Princeton Battlefield State Park in New Jersey. He has written extensively for the prestigious, peer-reviewed Journal of the American Revolution, as well as The Journal of America’s Military Past, Discover Concord magazine, The Bann Disc journal, and the Swan Historical Foundation newsletter. David holds degrees in political science from Drew University and Rutgers University, and worked as a nonpartisan research analyst for the New Jersey Legislature for thirty-one years. He lives in Lawrence Township, NJ. More information about David and his work can be found at dpauthor.com.

Virtual Parlor: George Washington’s Legacy as a Military Commander, from the Morris-Jumel Mansion to the Present

Examine George Washington’s legacy as a military commander, taking off from his use of the Morris-Jumel Mansion as a military Headquarters.

George Washington was born in 1732, but his legacy has long outlived his mortal years. Among many things, Washington was a military man, beginning his career as a British militia officer, fighting alongside Roger Morris in the French and Indian War. Later, when he assumed his role as General of the Continental Army, he took over Morris’s summer estate in Harlem Heights as his headquarters in the Fall of 1776. Starting from this pivotal point in time, Dr. Sarah Purcell will join the Mansion for a Virtual Parlor Chat tracing the legacy of Washington as a military leader through the present day.

About the Speaker:

Sarah Purcell, L.F. Parker Professor of History, graduated from Grinnell with a B.A. in history in 1992. She went on to earn an A.M. (1993) and a Ph.D. (1997) from Brown University. She joined the faculty of Grinnell in 2000 after teaching at Central Michigan University. Ms. Purcell’s research interests include: the Early National, Antebellum, and Civil War periods; popular culture and political culture; gender history; and military history. She is author of Sealed with Blood: War, Sacrifice, and Memory in Revolutionary America, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, and Eyewitness History: The Early American Republic. She is co-author of The Encyclopedia of Battles in North America, 1517-1915 (which won a 2000 Best of Reference award from the New York Public Library) and Critical Lives: The Life and Work of Eleanor Roosevelt. Her latest book, Spectacle of Grief: Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era, was published in April 2022 by UNC Press.

MJM Virtual Parlor Chat: Food, Hunger, Scarcity and General Washington’s Continental Army

What did the soldiers of the Continental Army eat to fuel their fight for independence? What about the officers or General George Washington? Food insecurity was a monumental challenge faced by all those involved in the American Revolution. John Ota, a bestselling and award winning author of books such as “The Kitchen” (2021 Taste Canada Awards finalist and a 2021 Paris Gourmand Cookbook finalist) and the newly released book “The Dining Room” joins the Mansion to discuss what these rations would have looked like for throughout the ranks. Ota’s deep research into the foodways of the Revolution will offer a detailed and thoughful lecture on the true circumstances of the Military encampment and headquarters menus – including what would have been eaten by soldiers and Generals alike when stationed at the MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION.

From soldier’s rations to George Washington’s war time birthday celebrations, learn about the culinary history of the American Revolution.

This is a virtual event;link will be emailed upon registration.

Virtual Parlor Chat: Trapped Between Armies: New York Women in the Neutral Zone

The American Revolution was largely fought in the backyards of civilians, especially in New York. After the British took control of New York City in the fall of 1776, with the Americans retreating north of the Croton River, the area in between became known as the Neutral Ground or Neutral Zone.

For eight long years, this area, which included all of Philipse Manor, saw unprecedented levels of military battles and skirmishes, vigilante violence, and “foraging” for military supplies from the very civilians the armies were purporting to liberate from the enemy. Women were often caught in the middle, as they struggled to maintain households with men joining armies, tried to protect themselves and their children from military and vigilante violence including sexual violence, and to protect their properties and foodstuffs from barn burnings, cattle rustlers, and marauding “foragers.” Some had strong political views on the conflict. Others simply tried to survive.

This talk will examine the lives of women in the Neutral Zone more broadly as well as specific stories of individual women including Mary Philipse Morris and Elizabeth Williams Rutgers Philipse, Ann Fisher Miller, Grace Isaacs Babcock, and Black Loyalists such as Eleanor Fleming and Lydia Tompkins.