Wareham Minutemen and Militia Companies, Inc.

06/03/2026

06/02/2026

On June 2, 1775, Massachusetts Seeks a National Army
Massachusetts asks Congress to adopt the growing New England Army as an official Continental force.

Marshalling the troops
Massachusetts bears the brunt of the war effort throughout the spring and summer of 1775. Thousands of militiamen from New England travel to Boston in late April and remain encamped around the town, effectively cutting it off from the countryside. The Massachusetts Provincial Congress attempts to organize this impromptu military force by creating the Massachusetts Army. In Philadelphia, Massachusetts delegates urge Congress to assume management of the troops and create a continental army. Congress hesitates, in part because several delegates from the southern and middle colonies are wary of a continental army led by New Englanders. On 14 June, John Adams offers a compromise: the adoption of the Massachusetts Army under the command of George Washington, a southern general. Congress agrees and Washington assumes command of the new continental army. His first task: creating a series of rules and articles to govern the troops.

Source and image courtesy of Massachusetts Historical Society https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item_id=959&pid=2

Words of the Founders

06/02/2026

Born on this day in 1731, at age 19 Martha Dandridge married Daniel Parke Custis, an affluent 38-year-old planter who lived near her home in New Kent County, Virginia. The couple had four children together before Custis died at age 45. Upon his death, Martha became the wealthiest woman in Virginia. Eighteen months later she married George Washington, who was regarded at the time as Virginia’s most eligible bachelor.

Two of Martha’s children had died in infancy, before she married George. Neither of the other two were destined to have long lives. Her daughter Patsy died in 1773 at age 17 and her son Jacky died in 1781 at age 26, of camp fever he contracted while serving as an aide de camp to his stepfather, General Washington. One of Jacky’s four surviving children was George Washington Parke Custis, only a month old when his father died, who was raised by George and Martha. George and Martha had had no biological children of their own.

Martha staunchly supported her husband during the long and trying war years, spending much of it by his side and winning the affection and esteem of the army. Notably, she stayed with Washington at the army’s winter quarters in Valley Forge and Morristown, and her presence is credited with having helped maintain morale in the camps.

Although she preferred life at Mount Vernon, when Washington came out of retirement to accept the office of president of the United States, Martha traveled with him to New York and Philadelphia (the national capitals during Washington’s presidency), becoming what came to be called “the First Lady,” a role she accepted reluctantly but fulfilled graciously.

Less than three years after the death of her husband George, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington passed away at Mount Vernon in May 1802, at age 70.

A Daily Dose…

05/31/2026

05/28/2026

During the Revolutionary War it took a skilled soldier 20-30 seconds to load and fire his musket. That must have seemed like an eternity when the enemy was firing back at you, or worse yet charging toward you with a bayonet.

Loading required several steps. First, a gun was “half-c**ked,” that is the hammer with the flint attached was pushed back. Then the steel covering over the flash pan (called a frizzen) was opened, a small amount of gunpowder was poured into the pan, and the frizzen was snapped shut (so the powder in the pan wouldn’t spill out during the other loading steps). Then, with butt of the musket on the ground, powder was poured down the muzzle of the gun, followed by the lead ball and paper wadding. Next the gun’s ramrod was removed from its holder and used to ram the ball and wadding down the barrel. Then the ramrod was returned to its holder (“channel”) and the hammer was pulled back to fully c**k the weapon. Finally, the soldier would raise and point the gun in the direction of the enemy, then squeeze the trigger. The spark caused by the flint striking the steel would ignite the powder in the pan, which would in turn ignite the powder in the barrel, causing the gun to fire.

To expedite the process the soldiers carried their ammunition pre-made into paper “cartridges,” which held the powder and ball. When loading, a soldier would reach into his cartridge box (a pouch, usually leather, that he wore over his shoulder), take out a cartridge, bite off the end of it, pour a little powder into the pan, pour the rest down the barrel (with the ball), then push the paper into the barrel and ram it all down with his ramrod.

Because gunpowder won’t ignite if damp, it was necessary that the cartridge boxes be waterproof. Although sometimes made of tin, they were usually leather with a heavy leather flap designed to keep the powder dry.

The images are photos of a cartridge and a cartridge box.

A Daily Dose…

05/26/2026

05/24/2026

The most popular men’s headwear at the time of the Revolution was the “c**ked hat,” usually today called a “tricorn hat.”

Called “c**ked” hats because the sides were pinned up in three places to create a triangular shape, the hat style was made popular by European gentry but by the time of the American Revolution was so popular at all levels of society as to be essentially ubiquitous. Cocked hats were standard parts of military dress for both British and American officers and enlisted men, often adorned with a c**kade. Early in the war, when uniforms were rare among the Patriots, General Washington ordered that c**kades be used to distinguish rank (pink for field officers, white for captains, green for lower-ranking officers). In 1780 American officers were requested to wear black and white c**kades, which represented the French American alliance.

Cocked hats fell out of fashion in America in the early 19th century and nowadays the “tricorn” hat is associated with the colonial and revolutionary eras.

The image is a photo of a c**ked hat in the collection of the Museum of the American Revolution (without a c**kade).
A Daily Dose…

05/23/2026

Nearly 250 years after the American Revolution, 44 soldiers were brought to their final resting place at the Lake George Battlefield Park on Wednesday afternoon. MORE: https://www.news10.com/top-stories/revolutionary-war-remains-finally-laid-to-rest-in-lake-george/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_FOX_23_WXXA

05/23/2026

On May 22, 1782, a letter was delivered to General George Washington’s headquarters, in the army’s camp at Newburgh, New York. Written by Colonel Lewis Nicola, on behalf of a group of officers, it recounted some of the army’s dissatisfaction with Congress, due to its persistent failure to pay them. The letter then turned to comments on how the American government should be organized. Monarchs need not necessarily be tyrants, the letter said, and for the leader of the American government, “I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the title of king, which I conceive would be attended with some material advantages.” There was no doubting who the officers were proposing should assume that title.

It is easy to imagine the commanding general of a victorious army, enjoying the trust and confidence of his men and the civilian population, allowing himself to be crowned king. It is easy to imagine, therefore, that had he wished it, George Washington could have become the first King of the United States of America, sending our country down a much different path from the one we followed.

But, of course, George Washington not only did not wish to be a king, he found the suggestion noxious.

He replied immediately to Nicola’s letter, “With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war, has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence, and reprehend with severity….I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country….Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for yourself or posterity—or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself, or anyone else, a sentiment of the like nature.”

There was only one man capable of sitting on an American throne and George Washington refused even to consider it. There would be no King of the United States.

Colonel Nicola’s letter (remembered by history as “the Newburgh letter”) and General Washington’s response, were sent 244 years ago today.

A Daily Dose….