What Was Life Like for Colonial-Era Medical Practitioners?
Reproductions of Colonial-Era Medical Tools Imagine all of the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and then compound it several times over. That will begin to give you a sense of what life was like for the doctors and nurses who tended to the Continental Army. Their ignorance was perhaps both a blessing and a curse. After, all, you can’t fear what you don’t know exists. Still, death was always looming. “More people died from disease or infection during the war than from battle wounds, which is counter-intuitive,” says Katherine Becnel, a colonial historian and the volunteer coordinator Read More
Astro Photographer Captures a Different View of the Park
Washington Crossing Historic Park is a great place to learn about history, take a hike, have a picnic, or practice soccer. But as Temujin Nana (aka Temu) found, the park is also an ideal location for deep-space astro photography. “My fiancée and I were in the area last fall scouting locations for our wedding when I noticed the open green at the park,” explains Temu. “I immediately thought it would be a good place to photograph the night sky.” Temu’s suspicions were confirmed when he checked a light pollution map and found the area to be the darkest sky location Read More
Our Flock Needs Ewe: Sponsor a Sheep Today!
While Washington Crossing Historic Park may be closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 14 sheep at the Thompson-Neely Farmstead still need to eat! In addition to foraging 8-12 pounds of grass and plants every day, each sheep needs supplies like hay, grain, and supplemental minerals. They also require veterinary care, medications, fresh straw bedding, and the loving attention of the park’s farmstead manager, Ross. You can help us defray these costs by sponsoring a sheep. Sponsorship is $50 per sheep per week. All donors will receive a personal thank-you note from the sheep you choose to support.
Book Review of “Crossroads of the Revolution: Trenton, 1774-1783”
Reviewed by David Price, Washington Crossing Historic Park Historical Interpreter Local author William L. “Larry” Kidder has produced a history of Trenton during the Revolutionary War that is meticulously researched, deeply informed, and thoroughly comprehensive in scope. This is a story that has received scant attention until now and, as such, is a worthy addition to the literature on this tumultuous period. Kidder’s wide-ranging examination of a locality that was the site of a pivotal moment in young America’s struggle for independence enables the reader to understand how this community and its residents coped with the vicissitudes of late 18th Read More
Book Review of “The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire”
Reviewed by David Price, Washington Crossing Historic Park Historical Interpreter Any serious “Rev War Buff” would do well to explore this engaging and deeply important account of the effort made by Great Britain’s military and civilian leadership to defeat America’s bid for independence. The author makes a persuasive case that George III, Lord North, George Germain, the Howe brothers, Burgoyne, Clinton, Cornwallis, and others waged a skillful, if ultimately unsuccessful, military campaign to preserve the British Empire in North America, and—notwithstanding that failure—largely prevailed in the co-occurring global conflict between Britain and its French and Spanish rivals, reaping victories against Read More
Book Review of “Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution through British Eyes”
Reviewed by David Price, Washington Crossing Historic Park Historical Interpreter This is one of two books at the Washington Crossing Historic Park gift shop that tell the story of the Revolution from the British point of view. The other is The Men Who Lost America by Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, previously reviewed by yours truly and highly recommended. This work is written in a lively style that is as entertaining as it is informative, particularly with respect to the various personages—American as well as British—that the author examines. Hibbert’s narrative flows nicely throughout his thoroughly detailed and comprehensive account of the Read More
Book Review of “Igniting the American Revolution”
Reviewed by David Price, Washington Crossing Historic Park Historical Interpreter Derek Beck has produced a highly readable and meticulously researched account of the incipient stages of the Revolution, beginning with the Boston Tea Party in December 1773 and culminating with the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775. The extent of his scholarly investigation into this subject is reflected by the almost 200 pages in this volume devoted to appendices, notes, and bibliographic references. His prose is taut, his sources many, and his portrayal of the relevant events vivid and comprehensive. Beck’s narrative is replete with all the details that Read More
Book Review of “Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence”
Reviewed by David Price, Washington Crossing Historic Park Historical Interpreter It is hard to imagine a better single-volume military history of the Revolution than John Ferling’s account. This is a “page turner” — comprehensive in scope, thorough and detailed in its coverage, fair and balanced in its judgments — a work that unquestionably belongs in the library of any self-respecting Rev War buff. This reader particularly appreciated the cogent analysis in the concluding chapter of the reasons for the outcome of the struggle, with its attention to both the American and British sides of the equation and a carefully considered Read More