Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Belcher on the Declaration

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It is unlikely that there were many in New Jersey who were aware on July 2nd the Continental Congress in Philadelphia had voted for Indep...
Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Pied Belcher

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It was customary for 18th century diarists to note on such and such a date that nothing worth mention occurred.  Given the tedium and drudge...
Thursday, March 22, 2012

Belcher's Privateers

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Piecing together the Revolutionary service record of Constant Belcher from the disordered and fragmentary leaves of his Journal has proved...
Tuesday, March 20, 2012

"A Mashine to Blow up Shiping": Constant Belcher's "Submarine"

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The American Revolution was fought largely with smooth bore muskets and light artillery and produced few military innovations.  Patrick Ferg...
Thursday, March 15, 2012

Constant Belcher and the Legend of Molly Pitcher

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It has taken me several months to piece together the fragmentary record of the Battle of Monmouth recorded in Constant Belcher's Journal...
Friday, November 11, 2011

The Journal of C Belcher [Sept 1780] The Death of Genl Poor

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The cause of death of General Enoch Poor has almost from the start been the subject of rumor and speculation. Most contemporary sources a...
Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Journal of Constant Belcher [April, 1777]: Regimental Coats

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There is very limited documentation for the uniform of the 1st NJ Regiment (2nd Establishment) of the Continental Line in 1777.  Historian J...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Constant Belcher and Sally Wister [May 1778]

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The Diary of Sally Wister, a delightful 18-year-old Quaker girl who wrote with endearing charm and excitement about the comings and goings o...

The Belcher Journal [1776]: The Blue Mountain Valley Whaleboat Raid

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One of the earliest exploits in revolutionary Elizabethtown, NJ was the waterborne expedition by townsmen in various private and militia cap...

Excerpts from the Journal of C[onstant] Belcher [1776-1777]

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Larry Schmidt writes: "It appears that Belcher, like many others, had fled Elizabethtown with the fall of New York to the British Crown...