The term “information warfare” may not have been coined in 1775, but America’s Founding Fathers absolutely understood the importance of controlling the narrative.
Challenging the British Royal Navy by transforming a fishing schooner into a man of war seemed as preposterous then as it does now. But British disarmament and a lack of crucial gunpowder in the colonies led to American innovation.
Doctor Bond had a problem. During the Battle of Lexington and Concord in obedience to his Hippocratic Oath, he had treated British soldiers. For performing his duty as a doctor, he was falsely accused of being a Loyalist and had his life threatened by an angry mob.
Americans in 1775 faced an ammunition crisis—specifically a crucial shortage of gunpowder. “On Courage I know we have in abundance, conduct I hope we shall not want, but powder—where shall we get a sufficient supply?” John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail.
Over 246 years ago, an invisible enemy descended on the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. A virus divided the town politically and had a profound impact on the Revolutionary War that followed shortly after.
Two hundred and forty-five years ago, the fate of Washington’s army—in fact, the fate of the entire Revolution—lay on the muscled shoulders of the fishermen and sailors of the Marblehead Regiment.
On the Ides of March 240 years ago in the muddy fields and woods outside Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, the course of the Revolutionary War changed in an epic battle. In the heart of the melee, a six-foot-six, 260-pound giant armed with a massive broadsword battled for freedom.
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” Paine wrote. “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
Two hundred and forty-four years ago this week, “Gentleman of Honour, Family, and Fortune” made a Thermopylae-like stand that saved Washington’s army during the Battle of Brooklyn.Two hundred and forty-four years ago this week, “Gentleman of Honour, Family, and Fortune” made a Thermopylae-like stand that saved Washington’s army during the Battle of Brooklyn. Their attack that earned them the nickname “The Bayonets of The Revolution” may have also saved the month-old United States.
Over one hundred years ago, a pandemic gripped the world. Caught in that plague was a sailor who had to choose between his life and his ship.
In contrast to today’s safe spaces and triggered behavior, sixty-nine years ago a forgotten generation from a forgotten war pushed the limits of human endurance–demonstrating American resilience and true grit.
