With Presidents Day coming up in nine days Balladeer’s Blog will be taking a look at the military service of America’s Commanders-in-Chief. For presidents like Washington, Grant and Eisenhower it would take thousands of words to cover their military service so I will save them for separate articles of their own in the future.
GEORGE WASHINGTON – Extensive service in the French & Indian War plus the Revolutionary War. Separate article to come.
JAMES MADISON
Conflict – Revolutionary War
Service – Madison was a colonel of Virginia’s Orange County Militia from 1775-1776.
JAMES MONROE
Conflict – Revolutionary War
Service – William & Mary Militia, taking part in the June 1775 raid on the Royal Governor’s Palace which seized several hundred muskets and swords for the rebel army. In early 1776 he became a lieutenant in the Continental Army and served in the New York & New Jersey Campaign. Continue reading
Two thousand fishermen from Cape Cod had gone off to enlist in the Continental Army, and in their absence the British had repeatedly landed raiding parties to harass the citizens.
*** In general, we are all familiar with the original 13 Colonies that broke away from England during the American Revolution. Because Maine is not named among those 13 colonies, some people are confused when it is mentioned as the location for various battles of the Revolutionary War. 
APRIL 2nd – Off the coast of Delaware the British frigates HMS Perseus and HMS Roebuck spotted the South Carolina Navy’s schooner the USS Defense, captained by Thomas Pickering. Outnumbered, the Defense fled and the British vessels pursued her from roughly 6:00am to 1:00pm. 
THE SALAMANDER – The 4th of July is fast approaching! As another seasonal post Balladeer’s Blog examines the Revolutionary War career of Captain Jonathan Haraden, nicknamed the Salamander because of “his ability to withstand fire.” 
The Tyrannicide wasted no time, battling the HMS Dispatch on July 12th. The Dispatch boasted 20 cannons but after an hour & a half battle fell to Fisk and Haraden’s crew. The commerce raider towed this prize into Salem by July 17th and soon set out for more. 
MARCH 8th – Another encounter during the Great Forage War. American and British troops continued foraging for supplies throughout the New Jersey No Man’s Land. Near Amboy, NJ an unknown number of U.S. forces under General William Maxwell ambushed hundreds of British-Allied Hessian troops and captured 70 Hessians in the resulting fighting.
MOSES CLEAVELAND (1754-1806) – With the 4th of July fast approaching, here’s a seasonal post about this Revolutionary War veteran and founder of Cleveland, OH despite the difference in spelling. 
JULY 4TH, 1788 – The Constitution of the United States is starting to come into full effect this calendar year, instituting the government we are still officially ruled by. First elections are scheduled for later in the year.
THE SPY (1914) – This four-reel movie was based on the 1821 novel of the same name by THE James Fenimore Cooper. The story is set largely at a home in Scarsdale, New York as American Rebel families share feuds, intrigues and romances with British Loyalists. 
THE CHASSEURS-VOLUNTAIRES DE SAINT-DOMINGUE – French assistance to the emerging United States of America during our Revolutionary War took many forms. One of the most often overlooked elements of such assistance came in the form of a unit from Saint-Domingue (renamed Haiti during the nation’s own revolution against French control in 1804). 
These Chasseurs arrived outside Savannah, Georgia on September 8th and served alongside the American forces and other French troops in besieging the city. In December of 1778 the British had taken Savannah as part of their operations in Georgia and the Americans were trying to take it back. 
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