In the long run, the Battle at Bunker Hill Breed’s Hill was a tactical win for the British, but they incurred heavy losses and it took three tries to get that win. So why is it one of the battles that so many Americans seem to remember all these years later? We’re speculating here, but […]

The post June 17, 1775: The Battle at Bunker Hill appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Yesterday, George Washington was unanimously elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. Today he officially accepted the position. He won’t take actually begin until early July (we’ll get to that episode in a few weeks), but take a look at this image here. He’s already in the blue coat, and his hair is whiter […]

The post June 16, 1775: Washington Officially Accepts Command appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Jeez, I gotta stop writing these titles late at night. Sometimes the history books make it sound like some people just appeared out of nowhere, but they did have pasts. George Washington would be a good example. Washington has been nearly invisible since this show started on January 1, but that doesn’t mean that the […]

The post June 15, 1775: The Original G-Man appeared first on 250 and Counting.

No tongue-in-cheek for today. No weird jokes. No political stances. Just thanks for giving us America, and then helping us keep it. In today’s episode, Mike takes you back to the first day.

The post June 14, 1775: Cake and Candles for the US Army appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It wasn't even close to being the first time, but this was an important "get": the colonist forces learned that troops were coming to capture Charlestown and Dorchester in an effort to break the siege. They got lucky, it all led to some ugliness and eventually both sides could call it a win, and both […]

The post June 13, 1775: Colonists Catch Wise…Again appeared first on 250 and Counting.

The folks in America wanted to ensure that the folks in Canada knew just how bad the conditions were, but the problem was that most of the regular inhabitants of Canada spoke French, so when the Continental Congress created documents meant to sway the Canadians to our side of the loyalty fence, they were written […]

The post June 12, 1775: Press One for English appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Full Disclosure: I have no idea whether I pronounced “Machias” correctly. We’ll all have to live with that one, I suppose. The Battle of Machias was not exactly one of epic proportions. It was a couple of boats chasing after a couple of other boats, and one boat got away but the other one managed […]

The post June 11, 1775: The Battle of Machias appeared first on 250 and Counting.

In the wake of Lexington and Concord, some places didn’t wait to start assembling troops to fight off the British. Most of them were in that part of the Colonies, though. Enter the Berkeley County Riflemen, from a section of Virginia that is now West Virginia. George Washington put out the word that soldiers were […]

The post June 10, 1775: The Berkeley Riflemen appeared first on 250 and Counting.