Encountering the Other on the Field of Battle : Global Conflict, Identity, and Archaeology in the Era of the American Revolution

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

The War for American Independence (1775-1783) was an international conflict. In terms of antagonists, goals, and landscapes, the conflict was both familiar and foreign to it participants. Colonial wars of empire were common on the North American continent, pitting European nations against one another, supplemented by mixtures of native and colonial peoples. The American Revolution was thus a familiar war, bringing American (broadly-defined), English, German, French, Spanish, African, and native peoples into conflict with one another. Some of the landscapes traversed by the warring parties were well-known strategic or tactical battlegrounds. The goal of the conflict, however, was new ‘ national independence. Thus, the war was a transoceanic conflict between a European homeland and its descendants fighting for independence, and one where the concept of citizens under arms played a primary role. The papers included in this session approach the theme of ‘encountering the other’ through the lens of conflict archeology.

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)

Documents

‘”[A] sweet life after a most fatiguing campaign”’: The Evolution and Archaeology of Military Encampments of the Revolutionary War (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Jesse West-Rosenthal.
Despite the breadth of information that has been recorded regarding the American Revolution, little is known about the day-to-day life of the American soldier. Much has been ingrained in the American psyche concerning the mythic lore regarding the Continental Army during Revolutionary War. The archaeology of the Revolutionary War encampment provides researchers with an uncanny glimpse into the daily lives of the Revolutionary War soldier, as well as the broader patterns that shaped the conflict....
Battlefield Topography: An analysis of Lt. General Ewald’s first hand account of his observations of the action on Washington’s right flank at the Battle of Brandywine - An ethnographic view of command decision on an eighteenth century battlefield (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Kevin-Michael Donaghy.
Lt. General Johann von Ewald (20 March 1744 ‘ 25 June 1813) the Hesse-Kassel officer and his diary of his encounter with American Continental forces at the Battle of Brandywine is the topic of discussion. Comparative analysis of Ewald’s and other primary sources of the actions on the right flank of Washington’s army posted along the Brandywine River in Chester County , Pennsylvania will be examined using GIS technologies in an effort to replicate the possible positions of the American Divisions...
Harnessing the Whirlwind: Cultural Influences on the American Revolution in Upstate New York (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Jacobson.
Present day Upstate New York was the location of some of the American Revolution’s major campaigns, such as Burgoyne’s campaign of 1777 and the Sullivan-Clinton campaign of 1779, as well as continuous raids and guerrilla fighting. Combat across Upstate New York centered on rural areas and relied on local partisans, such as Loyalist Rangers, Continental Militia, and Native American’s allied with the British and the Continental armies rather than professional forces. Using the results of...
Partisans Versus Loyalists: Encounters With the Other in Eastern South Carolina During the American Revolution (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Steven Smith.
In 1781 Loyalist officer Colonel Robert Gray described the South Carolina landscape as a ‘piece of patchwork.’ By that time in the war, Whigs and Loyalists were living within separate, discrete, politically defined and physically bounded communities. Within these communities, partisans found support from the local population in the form of food, forage, ammunition, and recruits. Beyond their own regions, lay ‘other’ communities. The ‘others’ were ripe for exploitation or punishment. This...
Problematic of Archaeology and Identity in a Multi-ethnic society like Mauritius (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Wade Catts.
Archaeology studies past identities; however, it also puts into discussion the identity of the present within a society. Simultaneously, archaeological data is being questioned by communities when the data does not really fit the latter’s expectations. These issues have to be dealt with each time one undertakes archaeological research on sites to which communities are emotionally affiliated especially in a countries like Mauritius. Mauritius where multi-ethnicity is at the base, Archaeology can...
‘We stayed there a year and 8 months’: Historical Archeology and British POWs at Camps Security and Indulgence, York County, Pennsylvania (2014)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Wade Catts.
General John Burgoyne surrendered his British army at Saratoga in October 1777, marking great victory for the American rebels. Four years later in the spring of 1781 the remnants of that army marched to a north-facing hillside on the Pennsylvania frontier of York County and built a prisoner-of-war camp. Referred to as the Convention Army, the York County site was the fourth such camp these British soldiers and their families had called home. In January 1782 the Convention Army was joined by the...