In our special documentary, American Revolution: This is War! Bunker Hill and the Birth of the US Army, History Hit marks the 250th anniversary of the Siege of Boston (1775-1776), the foundational chapter in the eight-year fight for American Independence.

Join Dan Snow as he investigates the war’s first pitched battle – Bunker Hill – a bloody day that proved a hollow and costly British victory. Dan speaks to experts and explores this critical turning point, when skirmishes fought by colonial militia evolved into a fully-formed military campaign, as colonial forces laid siege on Boston for 11 months while the British Army tried desperately to maintain control of the town and its vital harbour. 

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Following the initial clashes at Lexington and Concord, British forces under General Thomas Gage found themselves effectively trapped in Boston. Thousands of unorganised yet determined colonial militiamen from across New England converged around the city, loosely containing the British. Boston, a vital port and a symbolic hotbed of revolutionary sentiment, became the focal point. The British desperately sought to maintain control of the town and its crucial harbor.

Bunker Hill

Recognising the strategic importance of the hills surrounding Boston, colonial leaders decided to fortify Breed’s Hill (mistakenly named “Bunker Hill” in historical accounts) on the Charlestown Peninsula. On the night of 16 June 1775, 1,000 militiamen, led by Colonel William Prescott, hastily constructed earthen fortifications. The next day, some 2,200 British regulars, under Major General William Howe, launched a frontal assault.

The battle itself was a bloody affair. Colonial defenders held their ground against two British charges, inflicting devastating casualties. The Redcoats, advancing in disciplined ranks, were met with lethal volleys. Only on the third assault, as the Americans critically ran out of ammunition, did the British finally overrun the fortifications.

Though a tactical victory for the British, who secured the hill, it was a Pyrrhic victory of immense proportions. Over 1,000 British soldiers were killed (226) or wounded (828) – nearly half their engaged force. As Dan says, “It was the highest casualty count they suffered in a single encounter in the entire Revolutionary War”. This was compared to approximately 450 colonial casualties, of whom 140 killed mostly during the final stand and retreat.

This staggering cost sent shockwaves through the British command, shattering any illusions of a swift and easy suppression of the rebellion. In fact, they were trapped.

The Battle of Bunker Hill

Image Credit: Public Domain

The birth of an army and the long siege

Bunker Hill proved a profound turning point. For the inexperienced colonial forces, it was a massive morale boost. They had stood toe-to-toe with the world’s most formidable army and inflicted crippling losses, demonstrating that patriotic dedication, even from untrained militia, could indeed challenge superior military might. News of the battle galvanised support across the 13 colonies, uniting them in a shared sense of purpose.

Crucially, Bunker Hill underscored the urgent need for a more organised and disciplined fighting force. Just days after the battle, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, took a decisive step, formally establishing the Continental Army and, on 15 June 1775, appointed a Virginian, George Washington, as its Commander-in-Chief. Washington arrived in Cambridge in early July, facing the daunting task of transforming a collection of disparate militias into a cohesive fighting machine.

As military historian Jonathan Bratten explains to Dan, “Washington’s greatest genius through the entire war and at Bunker Hill was in keeping the army together, and in keeping an army in the field.” 

The Siege of Boston, which had begun informally, now intensified under Washington’s command. For the next 11 months, the Continental Army tightened its grip around the city. The British, confined to the peninsula, relied entirely on sea lines for supplies and reinforcements, making them vulnerable. Washington’s primary challenge was acquiring sufficient artillery to dislodge the entrenched British.

Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington

Image Credit: Picryl / Public Domain

The evacuation of Boston

The stalemate finally broke in early 1776, when, in a remarkable feat of logistics, Colonel Henry Knox successfully transported 59 cannons and other military supplies, captured from Fort Ticonderoga, over 300 miles of frozen terrain to Boston. On the night of 4 March Washington’s troops, under cover of darkness, fortified Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston Harbor. By dawn, the British awoke to find American cannons aimed directly at their positions and ships.

Recognising the untenable situation, and faced with the prospect of another costly assault, or the destruction of his fleet, General Howe ordered the withdrawal. On 17 March 1776 – a day now celebrated as Evacuation Day – over 11,000 British soldiers and hundreds of Loyalists boarded ships and sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Siege of Boston, culminating in this strategic American victory, marked a profound shift. Bunker Hill had shown the colonists could fight; the subsequent siege demonstrated they could sustain a military campaign and achieve strategic objectives. The transformation from scattered militia skirmishes to a unified, professional army had begun, setting the stage for a prolonged war for independence.

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Born in 1732 to Augustine and Mary Washington, he began life at his father’s plantation, Pope’s Creek in Virginia. George Washington was therefore also a land and slave owner, and his legacy, which has come to symbolise liberty and robust character, is not a simple one.

Washington died in 1799 from a throat infection, having survived tuberculosis, smallpox and at least 4 very near misses during battle in which his clothing was pierced by bullets but he remained otherwise unharmed.

Here are 10 facts about George Washington.

1. He was largely self-educated

George Washington’s father died in 1743 leaving the family without much money. Aged 11, Washington had not had the same chance his brothers had to study abroad in England, and instead left education at 15 to become a surveyor.

Despite his formal education ending prematurely, Washington pursued knowledge throughout his life. He avidly read about being a soldier, farmer and president; he corresponded with authors and friends in America and Europe; and he exchanged ideas about the economic, social and political revolutions of his day.

2. He owned enslaved people

Although not left with much money, Washington inherited 10 enslaved people upon his father’s death. During his lifetime Washington would buy, rent and control some 557 enslaved people.

His attitude toward slavery did gradually change. Yet although supporting abolition in theory, it was only in Washington’s will that he instructed that the enslaved individuals he owned were to be freed after his wife had died.

On 1 January 1801, a year before her death, Martha Washington fulfilled Washington’s wish early and freed 123 people.

Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

3. His bold actions provoked a world war

In the mid 18th century, Britain and France battled it out for territory in North America. Virginia sided with the British and as a young Virginian militia-man, Washington was sent to help hold the Ohio River Valley.

Indigenous allies warned Washington of a French encampment just a few miles away from his location and, taking a force of 40 men, Washington led an attack on the unsuspecting French. The skirmish lasted 15 minutes, ending with 11 dead (10 French, one Virginian). Unfortunately for Washington, minor French noble Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sieur de Jumonville, was killed. The French claimed Jumonville was on a diplomatic mission and labelled Washington an assassin.

Fighting between the French and British escalated into the French and Indian War, soon reaching across the Atlantic to pull the rest of the European powers into the Seven Years’ War.

4. He wore (very uncomfortable) dentures

Washington destroyed his teeth by using them to crack walnut shells. He therefore had to wear dentures, made from human teeth, pulled from the mouths of the poor and his enslaved workers, as well as ivory, cow teeth and lead. A little spring inside the dentures helped them open and close.

However, unsurprisingly, the fake teeth caused him a lot of discomfort. Washington rarely smiled and his breakfast of hoe cakes was cut into small pieces to make it easier to eat.

‘Washington Crossing the Delaware’ Emanuel Leutze (1851)

Image Credit: Emanuel Leutze, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

5. He had no biological children

Explanations for why the Washingtons could not conceive include adolescent cases of smallpox, tuberculosis and measles. Regardless, George and Martha Washington had two children – John and Martha – born of Martha’s first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis, who Washington adored.

6. George Washington was the first person to sign the United States Constitution

In 1787, Washington attended a convention in Philadelphia to recommend improvements to the Confederation. He was unanimously voted to preside over the Constitutional Convention, a responsibility lasting 4 months.

During the debate, Washington reportedly spoke very little, although this did not mean his passion for creating a strong government was lacking. When the Constitution had been finalised, as the president of the convention, Washington had the privilege of being first to sign his name against the document.

7. He saved the American Revolution in battle, twice

By December 1776, after a series of humiliating defeats, the fate of the Continental Army and patriot cause hung in the balance. General Washington made a bold counterstrike by crossing of the frozen Delaware River on Christmas Day, leading to 3 victories that bolstered American morale.

Once again, with the Revolution on the brink of defeat in early 1781, Washington led a daring march south to surround Lord Cornwallis’ British army at Yorktown. Washington’s victory at Yorktown in October 1781 proved to be the decisive battle of the war.

8. He was unanimously elected President of the United States, twice

After 8 years at war, Washington was quite content to head back to Mount Vernon and tend to his crops. Yet Washington’s leadership during the American Revolution and Constitutional Convention, along with his reliable character and respect for power, made him the ideal presidential candidate. Even his lack of biological children comforted those worrying about the creation of an American monarchy.

Washington won the electors of all 10 states during the first election in 1789, and in 1792, Washington received all 132 electoral votes, winning each of the 15 states. Today, he remains the only US President to have a state named for him.

9. He was a keen farmer

Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, was a prosperous farming estate of some 8,000 acres. The property boasted 5 individual farms growing crops such as wheat and corn, had fruit orchards, a fishery and whisky distillery. Washington also became known for his breeding of American mules after being gifted a prize donkey by the Spanish King.

Washington’s interest in farming innovation at Mount Vernon was reflected during his presidency when he signed the patent for a new automated mill technology.

‘General George Washington Resigning His Commission’ by John Trumbull

Image Credit: John Trumbull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

10. He supported westward expansion

One of the richest presidents in American history, Washington owned more than 50,000 acres of land across western Virginia, what is now West Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio. At the centre of his vision for an ever-expanding and ever-connected United States, was the Potomac River.

It was no mistake that Washington built the United States’ new capitol along the Potomac. The river connected the interior territories of Ohio to the Atlantic trading ports, signalling the United States’ growth into the powerful and rich nation it is today.

The British created a base at Yorktown

Prior to 1781, Virginia had witnessed little fighting as most operations had taken place either in the far north or further south. However, earlier that year, British forces had arrived in and raided Chesapeake, and under Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis, created a fortified base at the deep-water port of Yorktown.

Meanwhile, French Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, Marquis de Grasse Tilly arrived in the West Indies with a French fleet in April 1781 under the orders that he sail north and assist the French and American armies. When deciding whether to head for New York City or Chesapeake Bay, he chose the latter since it had a shorter sailing distance and was more navigable than the New York harbour.

Lieutenant général de Grasse, painted by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse

Image Credit: Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The English failed to take advantage of favourable winds

On 5 September 1781, a British fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Graves engaged a French fleet under Rear Admiral Paul, the Comte de Grasse at the Battle of the Chesapeake. When a French fleet left the West Indies and another under Admiral de Barras sailed from Rhode Island, Graves guessed that they were heading for Chesapeake Bay to blockade Yorktown. He left New Jersey with a fleet of 19 ships to try and keep the mouths of the rivers York and James open.

By the time Graves arrived at Chesapeake Bay, de Grasse was already blockading access with 24 ships. The fleets saw each other just after 9am and spent hours trying to manoeuvre themselves into the best position for a fight. The wind favoured the English, but confused commands, which were the subject of bitter arguments and an official inquiry in the aftermath, meant they failed to drive the advantage home.

The French were tactically more sophisticated

The French tactic of firing at masts reduced the mobility of the English fleet. When it came to close combat, the French suffered less damage but then sailed away. The English pursued what was a tactical move to get them away from Chesapeake Bay. In all, over the course of the two-hour battle, British fleet suffered damage to six ships, 90 sailor mortalities and 246 wounded. The French suffered 209 casualties but only had 2 ships damaged.

For several days, the fleets drifted south within view of each other without further engagement, and on 9 September, De Grasse sailed back to the Chesapeake Bay. The British arrived outside Chesapeake Bay on 13 September, and quickly realised that they were in no condition to take on so many French ships.

Admiral Thomas Graves, painted by Thomas Gainsborough

Image Credit: Thomas Gainsborough, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The British defeat was catastrophic

Eventually, the English fleet was forced to limp back to New York. The defeat sealed the fate of General Cornwallis and his men in Yorktown. Their surrender on 17 October 1781 came two days before Graves set sail with a fresh fleet. The victory at Yorktown is seen as a major turning point that contributed to the eventual independence of the United States. General George Washington recorded that ‘whatever efforts are made by the land armies, the navy must have the casting vote in the present contest’. George III wrote of the loss that ‘I nearly think the empire ruined’.

The first of the five killed by the British was Crispus Attucks, a middle-aged sailor of African American and Indigenous American descent. Attucks’ background is shrouded in mystery: at the time of the massacre, it is possible that he was a runaway slave operating under an alias, and had since made a living working as a seaman.

What is clear, however, is the effect that Attucks’ death had upon the American people as a symbol of independence, and later African Americans’ fight for freedom and equality.

So who was Crispus Attucks?

1. He was likely of African American and Indigenous American ancestry

It is thought that Attucks was born some time around 1723 in Massachusetts, possibly in Natick, a ‘praying Indian town’ that was established as a place for Indigenous people who had converted to Christianity to live under protection. His father was an enslaved African, likely named Prince Yonger, while his mother was probably a native woman from the Wampanoag tribe named Nancy Attucks.

It is possible that Attucks was descended from John Attucks, who was hanged for treason after a rebellion against the native settlers in 1675-76.

2. He was possibly a runaway slave

Attucks spent most of his early life enslaved by someone named William Browne in Framingham. However, it seems that a 27-year-old Attucks ran away, with a newspaper report dating to 1750 running an advertisement for the recovery of a runaway slave named ‘Crispas’. The reward for his capture was 10 British pounds.

To aid in evading capture, it’s possible that Attucks used the alias Michael Johnson. Indeed, the initial coroners’ documents after the massacre identify him by that name.

Portrait of Crispus Attucks

3. He was a sailor

After escaping from slavery, Attucks made his way to Boston, where he became a sailor, since that was an occupation open to non-white people. He worked on whaling ships, and when not at sea, made a living as a rope-maker. On the night of the Boston Massacre, Attucks had returned from the Bahamas and was making his way to North Carolina.

4. He was a large man

In the newspaper advertisement for his return by Attucks’ enslaver, he was described as 6’2″, which makes him around six inches taller than the average American man of the era. John Adams, the future U.S. president who acted as the soldiers’ defence attorneys at their trial, used Attucks’ heritage and size in an effort to justify the British troops’ actions. He stated that Attucks was ‘a stout mulatto fellow, whose very looks was enough to terrify any person.’

5. He was worried about employment

Britain paid its soldiers so poorly that many had to take on part-time work to support their income. This created competition from the influx of troops, which affected the job prospects and wages of American workers such as Attucks. Attucks was also at risk of being seized by British press gangs that Parliament authorised to forcibly draft sailors into the Royal Navy. Attucks’ attack on the British soldiers was yet more marked because he risked being arrested and returned to slavery.

6. He led the angry mob who attacked the British

On 5 March 1770, Attucks was at the front of an angry mob that confronted a group of British soldiers wielding guns. Attucks brandished two wooden sticks, and after a scuffle with British Captain Thomas Preston, Preston shot Attucks twice with a musket. The second shot inflicted lethal injuries, killing Attucks and marking him as the first casualty of the American Revolution.

The soldiers were put to trial for killing the five Americans, but all were acquitted, except for Matthew Kilroy and Hugh Montgomery who were convicted of manslaughter, had their hands branded and were then released.

This 19th-century lithograph is a variation of the famous engraving of the Boston Massacre by Paul Revere

Image Credit: National Archives at College Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

7. More than half of Boston’s population followed his funeral procession

After he was killed, Attucks was awarded honours that no other person of colour – particularly one who had escaped enslavement – had ever been awarded before. Samuel Adams organised a procession to transport Attucks’ casket to Faneuil Hall in Boston, where he lay in state for three days before a public funeral. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people – which accounted for more than half of Boston’s population – joined in the procession that carried all five victims to the graveyard.

8. He became a symbol of African American liberation

In addition to becoming a martyr for the overthrowing of British rule, in the 1840s, Attucks became a symbol for African American activists and the abolitionist movement, who heralded him as an exemplary Black patriot. In 1888, the Crispus Attucks monument was unveiled in Boston Common, and his face has also featured on a commemorative silver dollar.

In addition to helping to draft the Declaration of Independence and being a delegate at the Constitutional Convention, Franklin was a printer, publisher, author, inventor and diplomat. Throughout his life, Franklin used prose to influence those around him and was formative in helping to create the foundations of the United States.

Who was Benjamin Franklin, and how did he become a Founding Father of the United States?

Franklin’s first love was writing

Franklin originally enjoyed writing poetry, and built upon his reading and writing knowledge during a printing apprenticeship. However, he soon began writing prose and developed a sophisticated command of written language.

Benjamin Franklin (center) at work on a printing press. Reproduction of a Charles Mills painting by the Detroit Publishing Company, c. 1914.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

In 1722, Franklin wrote a series of 14 satirical and witty essays under the pseudonym ‘Silence Dogood’, which he submitted to his brother’s newspaper, The Courant. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. From 1733 to 1758, Franklin published Poor Richard’s Almanack under the pseudonym Richard Saunders. The Almanack contained famous phrases such as “early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”.

Franklin travelled between Philadelphia and London for years

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Franklin didn’t enjoy the city. He left to find work elsewhere, stopping in New York City before heading to Philadelphia, where he gained employment as a printer. He had hoped to start his own business, and the Governor of Pennsylvania, William Keith, suggested that he go to London and make connections before opening his own print shop in the States. However, Franklin left Philadelphia for London without receiving the letters of recommendation Keith had promised.

Franklin quickly found employment in London and enjoyed socializing in the city. In 1726, he was offered a clerkship in Philadelphia that promised to earn him high commissions, so he returned home again. 

Franklin retired aged 42

By 1748, Franklin had earned enough money to retire from active business. He continued to be a silent partner in his printing firm, Franklin and Hall, but now focused his time on ‘philosophical students and amusements’. Included in his ‘amusements’ was research into science and electricity, which he published papers on in 1751 to international acclaim.

In 1752, Franklin stood in a thunderstorm with a key attached to a kite to investigate the source of lightning and better understand electricity. He also created the distinction between insulators and conductors, amongst other discoveries. He is also credited with inventing bifocals, the Franklin stove and the glass armonica.

He was a public servant for the city of Philadelphia

In addition to scientific pursuits, Franklin also took to public service in his retirement. He served as a member of the Philadelphia City Council in 1748 and then deputy postmaster general for all of the colonies in 1753. He also spent 18 years in London as an agent of the Pennsylvania Assembly.

In 1751, Franklin co-founded Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, one of the first hospitals in the United States (depicted in this engaving by William Strickland, 1755).

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

His printing business became increasingly successful throughout the 1730s, and he launched a lending library, the first volunteer fire company, the American Philosophical Society, a hospital and a college that went on to become the University of Pennsylvania.

Who was Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father?

The Stamp Act of 1765 required all printed materials in the American colonies to carry a tax stamp. This frustrated those living in the colonies since they were being taxed without representation. Franklin was living in London at the time the act was passed and testified against it. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766; however, it had stirred anti-British sentiments that further stoked the flames of the American Revolution.

On his return to Philadelphia in May 1775, Franklin was selected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and helped draft the document that declared the Americas free from British rule. He was then sent to France where he successfully enlisted the government’s help with the Revolutionary War, which proved critical to getting soldiers, supplies and money to the colonies throughout the conflict.

This Join, or Die by Franklin urged the colonies to join the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War). It later served as a symbol of colonial freedom during the American Revolution.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Franklin remained in France for several years and later negotiated the Treaty of Paris to end the war. After the war ended, he served as a delegate at the Constitutional Convention.

What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?

He is the only Founding Father to have signed all four documents that are considered key to the establishment of the United States in the Revolutionary period: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris and the US Constitution.

His motion to approve the US Constitution was critical to its passing

At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, there were fierce debates about what should be included in the document that would establish a new county. Though Franklin himself did not approve of everything in the Constitution, he wrote a speech to encourage all of the delegates to ratify it.

The oldest delegate at the convention, Franklin was unable to deliver the speech himself, but his message was nonetheless delivered effectively. After the document was voted on and ratified, Franklin was asked what kind of government the US would have, to which he supposedly replied, “a republic, if you can keep it.”

He continued in service to his community after his death

Benjamin Franklin died in 1790, a year after the US Constitution was ratified, at the age of 84. His funeral was attended by at least 20,000 people, and he was buried in Philadelphia’s Christ Church. In his will, he left a combined total of $4,000 to his hometown of Boston and his adopted home of Philadelphia.

Franklin on the Series 2009 hundred dollar bill.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

These gifts were under strict instruction not to be drawn out for 100 years and could not be distributed for 200 years. When the time had passed, the cities decided to use the money in various ways, including giving personal loans to citizens and opening museums in his honour. This last gesture shows how invested Franklin was in the United States and its success for centuries to come.

Yet George III is a more expansive character than the pompous sovereign portrayed in Hamilton. Unfairly maligned as a ‘mad king’, he likely suffered from short bouts of severe mental illness in his life. While George III was indeed a monarch of a vast empire, the charges that describe his exceptional tyranny in the Declaration of Independence are sometimes spurious.

His lengthy rule saw not just the American War of Independence (1775-1783), but the Seven Years War (1756–1763) and the wars against Napoleon, as well as upheavals in science and industry. Here are 10 facts about King George III.

1. He was the first Hanoverian monarch to be born in Britain

George III was born on 4 June 1738 at Norfolk House, St James’s Square in London. He was named in honour of George I, his great-grandfather and the first of the Hanoverian dynasty.

When George III succeeded his grandfather, George II, in 1760, he became the third Hanoverian monarch. He was not just the first to be born in Great Britain, but the first to use English as his first language.

‘Pulling Down the Statue of George III at Bowling Green’, 9 July 1776, William Walcutt (1854).

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

2. George III was the “tyrant” in the US Declaration of Independence

George III’s reign was marked by dramatic military conflicts including the American War of Independence, which culminated in the loss of Britain’s American colonies. The colonies declared their independence in 1776, listing 27 grievances against British rule in a document principally authored by Thomas Jefferson.

The chief target of the Declaration of Independence is George III, who it accuses of tyranny. Though George III did not seek to seriously increase his royal powers, he was linked to Parliament which had deprived the people of Massachusetts of the right to elect their judges in 1774. The Declaration also alluded to General Thomas Gage’s military occupation of Boston in September 1774.

3. He had 15 children

George III had 15 children with his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 13 of their children survived into adulthood.

George married Charlotte in 1761, having asked his tutor Lord Bute to help review eligible German Protestant princesses, “to save a great deal of trouble”.

King George III with his consort Queen Charlotte and their 6 eldest children, by Johan Zoffany, 1770.

Image Credit: GL Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

4. He acquired a reputation as a ‘mad king’

George III’s reputation has sometimes been overshadowed by his mental instability. He experienced profound mental illness in 1788 and 1789 that prompted speculation about his unsuitability to rule and his eldest son, George IV, acted as Prince Regent from 1811 until George III’s death in 1820. His reported symptoms included babbling unintelligibly, frothing at the mouth and becoming abusive.

Though George III’s ‘madness’ has been popularised by artistic works like Alan Bennett’s 1991 stage play The Madness of George III, historian Andrew Roberts describes George III as “unfairly maligned”.

In his revisionist biography of the king, Roberts argues that prior to his decline at age 73, George III was incapacitated for a total duration of less than a year and was otherwise committed to his duties.

5. The remedies for George III’s illnesses were disturbing

In response to George III’s suffering, physicians recommended the straitjacket and the gag. At times, he was fastened to a chair and at other times he was ‘cupped’. This involved applying heating cups to his body in order to create blisters, which were then drained. Later professionals in the king’s service instead advised drugs and methods of calming.

The last years of George III’s life were compounded by deafness and senile dementia. For his cataracts, he was treated with leeches on his eyeballs.

The cause of George III’s illness is unknown. A retrospective diagnosis in 1966 attributed George III with porphyria – which is a group of disorders caused by chemical build-ups in the body – but this has not been widely accepted. In his 2021 biography, Andrew Roberts instead claims that George III had bipolar one disorder.

The King’s Library, British Museum, a scholarly library of over 65,000 volumes assembled by George III now housed in the British Library.

Image Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

6. He had an interest in agriculture

George III had an interest in botany and was the first king to study science as part of his education. He owned a collection of scientific instruments, now in the Science Museum in London, while his agricultural interests extended to the authorship of articles on the topic. He acquired the nickname ‘Farmer George’ during his reign.

7. His early years were chaotic

The early years of George III’s reign were marked by melodrama and poor judgement. He appointed a series of ineffective prime ministers, counting 7 within a decade, starting with his former tutor Lord Bute.

During this period of ministerial instability, underlying financial problems of the crown went unpatched and British colonial policy was inconstant.

8. He had a sense of duty

The instability of George III’s rule transformed in the 1770s with the ministership of Lord North and George III’s more mature approach to politics. George III is characterised by Roberts as effectively fulfilling his role as the linchpin of government, without seeking to seriously undermine parliament.

After Sweden’s constitution was overthrown by Gustav III in 1772, George III declared, “I will never acknowledge that the king of a limited monarchy can on any principle endeavour to change the constitution and increase his own power.” Moreover, he acquiesced in the removal of the monarch from aspects of government by prime minister William Pitt the Younger.

9. He was Britain’s longest-reigning king

King George III is the longest reigning of Britain’s kings. Though both Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II celebrated ‘Diamond’ jubilees in commemoration of 60 years on the throne, George III died 9 months short of his anniversary on 29 January 1820.

10. He turned Buckingham House into a palace

In 1761, George III purchased Buckingham House as a private residence for Queen Charlotte close to court functions at St James’s Place. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to take up residence there. The building is now known as Buckingham Palace. It remains the primary residence of George III’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Elizabeth II.

Hamilton was also America’s first Secretary of the Treasury, responsible for founding the nation’s first national bank, managing the country’s finances and helping settle its debts.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s broadway show has since shone a spotlight upon Hamilton’s captivating life and achievements. Here are 10 fascinating facts about the American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist (…and you thought you were busy!)

1. He was an immigrant of the United States

Despite there being dispute amongst historians on the year that Hamilton was actually born (either 1755 or 1757), we do know that he was not born in the United States. Hamilton was born out of wedlock to Rachel Fauccette and James Hamilton on island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands, then part of the British West Indian colonies.

Hamilton spent much of his early life surrounded by the horrors of enslavement. He worked as a clerk with the St. Croix trading firm Beekman and Cruger, which imported everything needed for a plantation economy — including enslaved people from West Africa.

Hamilton left this life behind and travelled to Boston, and then New York in 1772 where he sought an education (which was denied to him in the West Indies because his parents were not married). He was accepted into King’s College, now Columbia University, in the same year.

2. He was a hero of the Revolutionary War

In 1775, after the first engagement of American troops with the British at Lexington and Concord, Hamilton and other students from his college joined a New York volunteer militia company called the Corsicans.

Through his efforts as a volunteer, young Hamilton became General George Washington’s aide de camp – his right-hand man. After becoming restless and tired of essentially serving as a high-status clerk, Hamilton resigned from Washington’s inner circle in 1781. After this, however, Hamilton personally led an attack and charge at the Battle of Yorktown that would see him achieve the status of War Hero.

3. He captained the US Army’s oldest serving unit

Alexander Hamilton in the Uniform of the New York Artillery”. Image Credit: Public Domain

In early 1776, a year after the outbreak of the American Revolution, the 20-year-old West Indian immigrant had organised a modest artillery militia unit that became the New York Provincial Company of Artillery.

Battery D, 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, 1st Infantry Division, which can trace its lineage back to Hamilton’s artillery company, was officially the oldest serving unit in the regular United States Army. On 17 March 1776, Hamilton was made captain of the group, and under his leadership it saw action in several key moments including the Battle of Princeton and the Battle of White Plains.

4. He was involved in the nation’s first public sex-scandal

In 1791, a supposed widow named Maria Reynolds approached Hamilton and begged him for financial support. She played on his heartstrings by claiming that her husband James Reynolds had abandoned her. Blinded by his sympathy and feelings of strong attachment to Maria, Hamilton failed to realise that Maria’s sob story was actually an attempt to manipulate the then Secretary of the Treasury.

After delivering monetary aid to Reynolds for the first time at the house where she was lodging, the two began an illicit affair that would last, with varying frequency, until approximately June 1792.

It was not long before Maria’s husband found out about the affair and used his knowledge to blackmail Hamilton, who paid him regularly to remain silent.

After James Reynolds was implicated in another financial scandal, he informed investigators that Hamilton had been using government funds as hush money. When confronted with this, Hamilton admitted to the affair, but he also insisted that he had used his own personal funds to cover it up, even showing Monroe his love letters from Maria Reynolds as proof.

Monroe gave the letters to his close friend Thomas Jefferson, one of Hamilton’s fiercest political enemies. Jefferson passed them on to publisher James Callender, already notorious as the pre-eminent 19th-century peddler of political gossip.

‘Observations on Certain Documents’ in which the charge of speculation against Alexander Hamilton, late secretary of the Treasury, was fully refuted, 1797. Image Credit: Public Domain.

In 1797, the scandal exploded after Callender printed the Reynolds-Hamilton letters in his paper. Hamilton published his own lengthy pamphlet in which he acknowledged the extramarital relationship. Hamilton was publicly applauded for his honesty, but his political career was effectively destroyed.

5. He received George Washington’s last written letter

Two days before his death on 14 December 1799, the first president of the United States, George Washington had sent his last written letter to Alexander Hamilton.

In the letter, Washington (who had been a mentor to Hamilton throughout his entire political career) praised his apprentice’s idea regarding the establishment of a national military academy.

Washington wrote that to Hamilton that such an institution would be of “primary importance to the country”.

George Washington on his Deathbed. Image Credit: Public Domain

6. He pledged to waste his shot when duelling Burr

A result of personal bitterness and a long fought political feud, Alexander Hamilton was challenged to a duel by the American politician and lawyer Aaron Burr. The duel took place in Weehawken, New Jersey early in the morning of 11 July 1804 and resulted in Hamilton’s death. Burr’s shot hit Hamilton in the abdomen area above the right hip, fractured a rib, tore through his diaphragm and liver, and lodged in his spine. Hamilton fell instantly.

Interestingly, before the duel Hamilton had already told confidants and made clear in valedictory letters that he intended to throw away his shot, possibly by purposefully shooting wide of Burr. In any case, Hamilton certainly fired his pistol, missing Burr’s head and snapping a branch behind him.

Duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Image Credit: Public Domain

Burr’s reaction to Hamilton’s death somewhat confirmed Hamilton’s sincerity, the politician moving toward his dead rival in a speechless manner seemingly indicative of regret. The Hamilton-Burr duel has become the most famous duel in the nation’s history.

7. His son died 3 years prior, at the exact same location

While Hamilton had managed to avoid confrontation and duel challenges throughout most of his life, his eldest son Philip was not so lucky. Three years before his duel with Burr, Philip had confronted a New York lawyer George Eacker after witnessing Eacker’s speech denouncing his father.

Philip Hamilton. Image Credit: Public Domain

When Eacker refused to retract his damning statements, a duel was set for the 20 November in Weehawken, New Jersey – the exact same location where his father would be shot almost three years later.

Eacker escaped unscathed, but Philip was shot above the right hip and died an agonizing death the following day. The loss devastated the Hamilton family, and many historians believe it led to Hamilton’s own reluctance to fire directly at Aaron Burr during their legendary duel just three years later.

8. He founded the New York Post

Hamilton’s close friend and associate John Adams lost the 1800 election to Thomas Jefferson – another man Hamilton consistently clashed with throughout his political career. In November 1801, Hamilton decided to create The New York Evening Post – an anti-Democratic-Republican publication which regularly slandered Jefferson.

Today the newspaper is known as the New York Post, a publication owned by Rupert Murdoch, the multi-media tycoon, since 1976.

9. He left his family in debt

Mrs. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. Image Credit: Public Domain

When Hamilton died in 1804, he had actually left his family in a precarious financial situation. Days before he died, Hamilton’s statement explained his financial circumstances “if an accident should happen” to him. In it, he tied his public service to the present state of his finances, which included debts that would prove a burden to his family.

In fact, the state of the debts prompted Eliza, his wife, to ask Congress for money and land that was given to him for his service in the Revolutionary War that he previously forfeited.

10. He authored The Federalist Papers

Hamilton will be remembered for a host of achievements. Not only were his accomplishments so plentiful and revolutionary but his life was considered fascinating enough for someone to write an award-winning, almost three hour long musical about it.

If we are to remember Hamilton for one thing however, it must be for his championing of the US Constitution and his authorship of The Federalist Papers. 85 essays were written between October 1787 and May 1788 by John Jay, James Madison and Hamilton. John Jay became ill and only wrote 5 essays. James Madison wrote 29, and Hamilton wrote the other 51.

Thanks to their efforts and Hamilton’s extraordinary work-ethic to produce so many endorsing works, the Constitution became ratified on 21 June 1788, after 9 of 13 states approved it.

History of Minute Man National Historical Park

The American Revolution began as a protest against the treatment of the Americans as British subjects and turned into an eight year war for American independence.

At Minute Man National Historical Park, the Battles of Lexington and Concord are brought to life through the preservation, restoration and interpretation of significant sites from “that famous day and year” when Colonists took up arms in defense of liberty and touched off the American Revolution.

At Concord’s North Bridge, visitors can see the place where, on April 19, 1775, Colonial militia men fired the famous “shot heard ’round the world.” Minute Man National Park includes the Battle Road Trail, the site of the first battle of the American Revolution which took place on 19 April 1775. Visitors can hike this trail or drive parts of it and a guided walk starts every day at 12:30pm from the Minute Man Visitor Centre. The next site along the way is Hartwell Tavern, a traditional pre-revolution homestead followed by The Wayside, the former home of Louisa May Alcott and other literary giants. You can only visit the Wayside with a guided tour.

Minute Man National Park is named after the Minute Men, the volunteer American militia who fought for their country. Also found at Minute Man National Park is the North Bridge, the site of a famous battle commemorated in a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson as the location of the “shot heard round the world”. Rangers are on hand here to offer a twenty minute talk.

Minute Man National Historical Park Today

Visitors can plan their itinerary by starting their day at the Minute Man Visitor Centre, which also includes an introduction to the war via a multimedia presentation. There is also a North Bridge Visitor Centre, which holds a brass cannon called The Hancock. Guided tours and ranger programs are also available as are audio guides.

Getting to Minute Man National Historical Park

The address of Minute Man National Historical Park is 174 Liberty Street, Concord, MA. Most visitors travel to this location from the city of Boston.

The drive from Boston takes roughly 18 minutes. If travelling via public transport it is advised to take the Red Line on the subway to Alewife before transferring onto the 62/76 bus to the National Historical Park.

History of Fort Hamilton

Even before its construction, the site on which Fort Hamilton was built had already proven a vital strategic point. It was here that, on 4 July 1776, American forces attempted, but ultimately failed, to stop British forces from bringing in ships to quell the American Revolutionary War. Later, during the War of 1812, the site was where American forces repelled British ships from docking.

As a garrisoned post, Fort Hamilton hosted some of the most famous figures in US history, including Robert E. Lee and Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. It would go on to become a Union fortification in the American Civil War and an embarkation site in both world wars.

Fort Hamilton Today

Today, Fort Hamilton is an active military base as well as housing New York’s only military museum, the Harbor Defense Museum. At this museum, visitors can see a range of historic weaponry, uniforms and exhibits such as about the Battle of Brooklyn.

It’s worth noting that Fort Hamilton was only named as such in the twentieth century, its namesake being Secretary of the Treasury from 1789 to 1795, Alexander Hamilton.

Getting to Fort Hamilton

From the centre of Brooklyn, Fort Hamilton is reachable by car in around 35 minutes via Atlantic Ave and I-278 W. Public transport will take you to the VA Hospital/Main Entrance Bay 2 stop, from where it is a 3 minute walk.