Narrow Escape in Apache Country

"Perceiving that the force of the arrow had been neutralized, I drew a heavy holster pistol, and wheeling half round in my saddle, pointed it at the Apaches.  This caused them to fall back in some alarm, and I took advantage of that fact to redouble my speed."

In the old west, a good horse was sometimes the difference between life and death.  Written by Major John Cremony, who served most of his military career in the Southwest and personally knew Apache Chiefs Mangas Coloradas and Cochise. He was the first white man to become fluent in Apache, publishing the first written compilation of their language.

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The Battle of Valcour Island - Part 1

"It was a strife of pygmies for the prize of a continent, and the leaders are entitled to full credit both for their antecedent energy and for their dispositions in the contest; not least the unhappy man who, having done so much to save his country, afterward blasted his name by a treason unsurpassed in modern war."

The importance of Lake Champlain, of its tributary Lake George, and of the Hudson River, as forming a consecutive, though not continuous, water line of communications from the St. Lawrence to New York was plain to all.  It was always a goal of the British to control the waterways and split the colonies, defeating each in turn.

Read more: The Battle of Valcour Island - Part 1

Spanish Invasion of Georgia - 1739

"Spain had ever considered the English settlement of Georgia as an encroachment on her territory, and had cherished the intention to seize every proper occasion to dislodge the English by force.  With this view, an armament consisting of two thousand men, commanded by Don Antonio di Ridondo, embarked at Havana, under convoy of a strong squadron, and arrived at St. Augustine in May."

In 1739, English forces, with support of Georgia colonists and American Indian allies, fought the invading Spanish armada and halted Spanish expansion in North America, and in the end, without firing a shot.

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The Battle of Valcour Island - Part 2

"The little American navy on Champlain was wiped out; but never had any force, big or small, lived to better purpose or died more gloriously, for it had saved the Lake for that year."

General Nathaniel Greene summed up his strategy in the south as, "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."  This was exactly the outcome for the Americans after the naval battle on Lake Champlain.  The British won the battle, but in "losing" the Americans halted the British advance and made possible the alliance with France.

Read more: The Battle of Valcour Island - Part 2