The Breed's Hill Institute

The Breed's Hill Institute THE BREED'S HILL INSTITUTE An educational foundation. Part of the Southwest Living History Association Our FB page provides a daily historic post.

The Breed's Hill institute is (as part of the SWLHA) a non-profit organization that fosters discovery of the revolutionary ideas of the American founding. We believe that through the creative use of entertainment, education and community projects, on both a national and local level, we can encourage appreciation for the bedrock principles of the United States and the American Adventure they inspired. Our goal is that all Americans may develop a lifelong passion for their national legacy.

August 29, 1779, Continental forces under General John Sullivan defeated a combined force of Loyalists and Iroquois at t...
08/29/2026

August 29, 1779,
Continental forces under General John Sullivan defeated a combined force of Loyalists and Iroquois at the Battle of Newtown, New York, also sometimes referred to as the Battle of Chemung, effectively driving the Iroquois from the region and destroying their villages as part of the Sullivan Expedition.

August 29, 1776 General Washington ordered his soldiers to retreat at night in boats from the battle of Long Island. Fir...
08/29/2026

August 29, 1776
General Washington ordered his soldiers to retreat at night in boats from the battle of Long Island. Fires are kept burning to convince the British that the Americans had made camp.

A "strange fog" descended and hid the Army’s movements in spite of some serious mistakes made during the retreat.
Colonel Glover's Marblehead men (mostly fishermen) ferried the boats across through the night.
The last man to get in a boat was reported to be Washington himself. All 9000 survivors escaped.

August 28, 1776 Despite being boxed in, General Washington ordered Brigadier General Thomas Mifflin's 3rd and 5th Penns...
08/28/2026

August 28, 1776
Despite being boxed in, General Washington ordered Brigadier General Thomas Mifflin's 3rd and 5th Pennsylvania battalions and Colonel John Glover's Massachusetts, about 1,200 more men from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Washington now has 9,500 men in a three mile round area with his back to the East River.

Small skirmishes were taking place in the outer defenses. As it began to rain, Washington had his cannons bombard the British into the night.

August 28, 1775 The ill fated expedition against Canada began with General Richard Montgomery in command. Without waitin...
08/28/2026

August 28, 1775
The ill fated expedition against Canada began with General Richard Montgomery in command.
Without waiting for further orders, Montgomery set out with 1200 soldiers for Fort St. John. This marked the beginning of the American invasion of Quebec.

At the time the Patriots had convinced themselves they were liberating an American colony from British oppression.
If successful, Canada would have been a 14th colony/state. Unfortunately only a minority of Canadians rallied to the Patriot side.

August 27, 1776: The Battle of Brooklyn Heights (Battle of Long Island). In the early hours, Major General James Grant'...
08/27/2026

August 27, 1776: The Battle of Brooklyn Heights (Battle of Long Island).
In the early hours, Major General James Grant's 5,000 troops create a diversionary attack on Washington's right flank, which was met with Lord Stirling's 1,600 men. Meanwhile, General Howe, with Cornwallis, leads 10,000 troops behind the American defenses along the Gowanus Heights. Von Heister's Hessian Division storms the center on the American lines.
By 11am, Stirling realizes Howe is behind him while Grant is pushing in, he orders his troops to withdraw. Stirling attempts to delay the British advance with 260 Marylanders by charging Cornwallis troops several times. This heroic action allows his command to retreat through the Gowanus Creek marshland while Stirling is forced to surrender.

Washington suffered a shattering loss of around 1,000 with about 200 killed or wounded. The Patriot army barely managed to withdraw to fortified positions.
Howe knew he had Washington backed up against the water so he ordered his troops to begin a siege.

August 26, 1794 President George Washington writes to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Virginia’s governor and a former ge...
08/26/2026

August 26, 1794
President George Washington writes to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Virginia’s governor and a former general, regarding the Whiskey Rebellion, an insurrection that was the first great test of Washington’s authority as president of the United States.

In the letter, Washington declared that he had no choice but to act to subdue the “insurgents,” fearing they would otherwise “shake the government to its foundation.”

25-27, August 1777, THE ROAD TO BRANDYWINEGeneral Washington and staff were in Wilmington, Delaware, scouting Howes troo...
08/26/2026

25-27, August 1777, THE ROAD TO BRANDYWINE
General Washington and staff were in Wilmington, Delaware, scouting Howes troop movements near Head of Elk.

Howe continues to unload troops, horse, cannon and baggage.
British General Howe's aide, Hessian Captain Friedrich von Muenchhausen, notes in his August 26th diary entry that Washington 'observe our advance'.

On the 28th, Howe and his staff will lodge in the same house Washington spent the previous day, "The Hermitage" (Robert Alexander House).

The Boston Riot of 26 August 1765, A mob protesting the Stamp Acts evicts Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson and his family,...
08/26/2026

The Boston Riot of 26 August 1765,
A mob protesting the Stamp Acts evicts Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson and his family, looting the house.
They reportedly tore down the interior walls and even emptied the wine cellar.

Wood engraving of "Sons of Liberty Protesting the Stamp Act by Attacking the House of Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson at Boston on 26 August 1765", by John Warner Barber (1798–1885), mid-19th century.
The wood engraving is in the Granger Collection, New York.

THE ROAD TO BRANDYWINE August 25, 1777 The Philadelphia Campaign begins when British General William Howe and his brothe...
08/25/2026

THE ROAD TO BRANDYWINE
August 25, 1777
The Philadelphia Campaign begins when British General William Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, land 17,000 troops from an armada of 265 ships at Head of Elk, Maryland (today Elkton).
The armada was the largest ever assembled in American waters.

Meanwhile, Gen. Washington set up his headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware until September 6th. His army is camped in New Castle County, 5 miles from Wilmington.

August 25, 1782 At the skirmish of Combahee Ferry South Carolina, 28 year old Lt. John Laurens, long time aide-de-camp t...
08/25/2026

August 25, 1782
At the skirmish of Combahee Ferry South Carolina, 28 year old Lt. John Laurens, long time aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington and son of President of Congress Henry Laurens, was mortally wounded.

Laurens was a close friend of Alexander Hamilton and an outspoken proponent of the manumission of slaves. Upon his death (as per his request) all of his slaves were freed.
Unsatisfied with serving the cause of Liberty in a supportive role as an aide, Laurens sought out an active combat assignment.

He had sailed for Charleston in December of 1781.
His wife Martha gave birth to their first and only child in February of 1782 while he was on campaign. He never saw his child before his death.

"In a word, he had not a fault that I ever could discover, unless intrepidity bordering upon rashness could come under that denomination; and to this he was excited by the purest motives."
---George Washington

"The army has lost a brave officer and the public a worthy citizen." ---Nathanael Greene, General orders

"I feel the deepest affliction at the news we have just received at the loss of our dear and inestimable friend Laurens. His career of virtue is at end. How strangely are human affairs conducted, that so many excellent qualities could not ensure a more happy fate! The world will feel the loss of a man who has left few like him behind; and America, of a citizen whose heart realized that patriotism of which others only talk. I feel the loss of a friend whom I truly and most tenderly loved, and one of a very small number."
---October 1782, Alexander Hamilton writing about Laurens' death to Nathanael Greene:

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