American Revolution Round Table of the District of Columbia: May 6, 2015

Those who live in, or plan to visit, the Washington, DC, area are cordially invited to the next program of the American Revolution Round Table of the District of Columbia on Wednesday evening, May 6, 2015.

"Confining the Enemies of the Revolution: The Treatment of Prisoners of War in American Custody."  Dr. Cole Jones will examine how revolutionary Americans treated British, Hessian, and Loyalist prisoners over the course of the war. Viewing the revolutionaries' treatment of enemy prisoners within the context of the eighteenth-century European culture of war reveals a process of radicalization that transformed the conflict from a war for independence into a revolutionary war.

Cole Jones holds a doctoral degree in History from the Johns Hopkins University, and currently works at the American Antiquarian Society.  The treatment of prisoners in the Revolutionary War is the subject of his dissertation and his soon to be released book. 

See: http://xenophongroup.com/patriot/arrt/arrt_web.htm for more information.

The ARRT of DC meets at the Fort Myer (Arlington, VA) Officers Club on the first Wednesday of September, November, March and May, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. For more information on attending the program, or the ARRT of DC in general, go to our web page at http://xenophongroup.com/patriot/arrt/arrtprgm.htm ; OR, send me an e-mail off-list to gfwilliams607@verizon.net; or call: (703) 360-9712.

"The Marquis de Lafayette Sails Again"

[Thanks to Woody Childs for bringing this article in the April 2015 issue of the "Smithsonian" to our attention.]

When the original Hermione was built in 1779, it was the pride of a newly re-energized French Navy: a 216-foot, 32-gun barracuda that could take a real bite out of the arrogant English, who not only ruled the waves but concocted an in-your-face anthem about it—“Rule, Britannia!”—in 1740. Now, the French have spent 17 years and $28 million replicating the Hermione down to the last detail, from its gilded-lion figurehead to the fleur-de-lis painted on its stern.

In March 1780, the Hermione set out from Rochefort bound for Boston. Its speed and agility suited it ideally to the task of carrying Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, back to America. He was charged with giving George Washington the nation-saving news that France would soon be sending an infusion of arms, ships and men.

The Hermione replica will be visiting several ports on our east coast during the June/July 2015 time frame. For the complete article and a map of proposed ports please see the full article: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/marquis-lafayette-sails-again-180954590/?preview=&page=1