Firing Upon Fort Sumpter

Fort Sumter (Source)

Source - History Of The 102...Ohio

Ruled By France

Under the lily and the rose: A Short History Of Canada For Children:

Source - Une Petite Canadienne

Quebec is a long distance from Versailles. In the days of which I write it seemed far, so very far away, and oft-times the settlers longed for the sunny land of France which the older people still  remembered. The colony had fallen on evil days. Sickness and want had left their impress. Even the Governor was quite as helpless as the people, for they were still largely dependent on France for support. There were no factories either in Quebec, Three Rivers, or Montreal, and when the crops were poor the inhabitants were reduced to starvation.

The Smoldering Fire

Pioneers of the Old Southwest:...

In the years immediately preceding the Revolution and even in 1776 itself they came in increasing numbers. They knew nothing of the smoldering fire just about to break into flames in the country of their choice, but the Royal Governor, Josiah Martin, knew that Highland arms would soon be ceded by His Majesty. He knew something of Highland honor, too; for he would not let the Gaels proceed after their landing until they had bound themselves by oath to support the Government of King George. So it was that the unfortunate Highlanders found themselves, according too their strict code of honor, forced to wield arms against the very Americans who had received and befriended them--and for the crowned brother of a prince whose name is execrated to this day in Highland song and story!

Brother Jonathan

Source

Also see my blog post at Detour Through History.

The Trumbull family was intertwined with the Backus's (I'm a Backus descendant).

C. C. Clay In Letters

Letters from Alabama on various subjects:....  By Anne Newport Royall.

Henry Hamilton's Background

From Henry Hamilton and George Rogers Clark in the American Revolution, with the unpublished Journal of Henry Hamilton:

Source

First, he was a descendant of a noble Scottish family with a record of service in government and in the army which dates back to the time of Mary Queen of Scots. Secondly, he was an army man in the French and
Indian War.... . He was also an office-holder, for he served first as lieutenant-governor of Detroit and then of Quebec, and as governor of Bermuda and finally of Dominica.

If his family is traced back to the fifteenth century, a Sir James Hamilton is found, who was the husband of Mary, a sister of James III of Scotland and a great-great-aunt of Mary Queen of Scots.

The educational opportunities offered to Henry were those which might be expected in a family such as his. He wrote that his mother encouraged him to read works of travel, history, and literature; that a French teacher corrected his pronunciation; and that he spent his vacations in learning to fence, draw, and dance.
In school he was often flogged, and, although he was frank enough to say that he always deserved the punishment, he decided to join the forces rather than submit to continued embarrassment.

His army life began at the age of twenty-one when he received a commission as an ensign in the Fifteenth Regiment of Foot. As a young officer he traveled over Ireland, Wales, and England, and a little later in Canada and the American Colonies.


Harvard University holds some of Henry Hamilton's papers.

"Hamilton married Elizabeth Lee... . They had only one child, Mary Anne Pierpoint Hamilton, who died unmarried on 1871 Dec. 12. Hamilton died in 1796 at Antigua while still holding office."

Secretary Of War Alger

From The Spanish-American War, by Russell Alexander Alger:

The statements in this volume are based upon either my own knowledge or upon the official reports, verbal and written, made during my incumbency of the office of Secretary of War. The descriptions of the fights of Las Guasimas, Caney, San Juan, and Manila are based upon official documents conversation with participants and letters from officers high in authority received since the war. A personal visit to the battlefield of San Juan in the spring of 1899 has been of much service, making that field of operations somewhat familiar to me.

First Governor Of Maryland, The Life Of Thomas Johnson

Since there is no free version of the book The life of Thomas Johnson: member of the Continental congress, first governor of the state of Maryland, and associate justice of the United States Supreme court online yet, other sources were used to identify some of the details in the life of Thomas Johnson.

Source Of Thomas Johnson Portrait

Wikipedia stated that "Thomas Johnson (November 4, 1732 – October 26, 1819) was an American jurist with a distinguished political career."

The Supreme Court Historical Society stated that:

"He was educated at home and studied law in the office of the Clerk of the Provincial Court in Annapolis, and later with an Annapolis attorney. He was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1760. Johnson began his public career in 1762 as a delegate to the Maryland Provincial Assembly."

"On August 5, 1791, President George Washington nominated Johnson to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on September 19, 1791. Citing the rigors of circuit riding, Johnson resigned from the Supreme Court on January 16, 1793."

See the images of the Thomas Johnson letters held at the Frederick County Public Libraries here.

The Frederick News Post published an article entitled Thomas Johnson: Patriot, politician lost in history, November 11, 2007.  An excerpt:

"...Johnson was a progressive thinker and favored a book of the day that promoted the progressive education of women."

Thomas Johnson's descendant, Confederate General Bradley T. Johnson's speeches, An Address By Confederate General Bradley T. Johnson and The Confederate Soldier Address By Gen. Bradley T. Johnson, featured at Detour Through History.

Claiming The Land For France

From The Plains of Abraham by Brian Connell:

Everywhere he (Bienville) went he nailed up or buried lead plaques claiming the land for France....

Additional information in the post, Detroit In The French-Indian War Prelude.  Also see Governor Dinwiddie's French Fears And George Washington's Help.  See the Strength of New France here.  Some Objectives of the French-Indian War.