Wednesday, June 26 (7:00 pm) – Saturday, June 29, 2019 (5:00pm)
Led by: Mark Edward Lender & Garry Wheeler Stone
HQ: East Windsor, New Jersey
Tour Registration: $495.00
The year 1778 was a pivotal turning point in British strategy as London revised its effort to crush the American rebellion. The British decided to abandon Philadelphia, which they had occupied since September 1777, and de-emphasize the war in the northern colonies. Instead the British would redeploy much of its army to other parts of the empire and to the American South, where they hoped the local Loyalist population would rally to support the redcoats. First, however, the British needed to get their army from Philadelphia to New York. The Royal Navy lacked the shipping to transport all of Lt. Gen. Henry Clinton’s troops, animals, and equipment as well as throngs of fearful Tories—so on 18 June Clinton and some 20,000 British, Hessian, and loyalist troops, along with many civilians, prepared to march across New Jersey to New York City. Emerging from Valley Forge, George Washington’s Continental Army gave chase, and on 28 June the rival forces clashed on a blistering hot day at Monmouth Court House (now Freehold) in central New Jersey. The Battle of Monmouth was the longest single day of combat of the war—an engagement with profound political implications for the patriot cause and for General Washington personally. [Read more…]
West Point was a major fortified installation during the American Revolution. Its purpose was to prevent the British from controlling the Hudson River and dividing New England from the rest of the country. Benedict Arnold’s plot to sell West Point in 1780 is undoubtedly the most famous story associated with New York’s lower Hudson River Valley region. But many other events occurred during the period 1777 thru 1783 in this area.
The year 1780 was a pivotal turning point in British strategy as London renewed its effort to crush the American rebellion. The British high command decided to concentrate its efforts in the Southern colonies, where reinforcements from the local Loyalist population was much anticipated. Charleston was captured in May, bagging an American army of 5,000 men. Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates’ army was routed at Camden in August. Lt. Gen Charles Lord Cornwallis thought the war should move north to Virginia, a source of men and supplies for the Rebels. Cornwallis’s strategy would trigger the battles of Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Guilford Courthouse in late 1780 and early 1781.
America’s History LLC is proud to continue its partnership with Fort Ticonderoga by again offering a special one-day Revolutionary War tour prior to Fort Ticonderoga’s American Revolution Seminar. This tour will explore sites in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary War; sites that are less frequently visited or on private property. We’ll stop at Fort Johnson for an overview of Sir John Johnson’s exploits as an important Loyalist leader in the Mohawk Valley. We’ll also see Guy Park, home of Col. Guy Johnson, superintendent of Indian affairs during the Revolution and hear about the efforts to reopen it as a historic site. We’ll visit the Fort Plain Museum to understand how the Patriots used forts and fortified homes to defend the valley. After lunch we’ll walk the Stone Arabia battlefield where Col. John Brown gave his life during Johnson’s Burning of the Valleys campaign in 1780. We’ll follow Johnson’s retreat to Klock’s Field where the British forces were forced across the Mohawk and eventually back to Canada. We will return to our departure location by 4 p.m. to allow you to participate in Fort Ticonderoga’s Friday evening program. 
One of the most overlooked campaigns of the Civil War may be General Ambrose E. Burnside’s successful amphibious expedition to capture New Bern, North Carolina in March 1862 and the subsequent capture of Fort Macon in May. New Bern also became the staging area for Brig. Gen. John G. Foster’s strategic raid on Goldsborough nine months later. Another understudied battle is the March 1865 action at Wise’s Forks, the second largest battle fought in North Carolina during the war. This tour will remedy both of these shortcomings for Civil War enthusiasts who want to visit outstanding sites on newly preserved land along with some on private property.