Tidewater Historian is back after a bit of a hiatus! For the past several weeks, I have been busy working on a book manuscript, which has consumed a great deal of time. More importantly, my wife and I are expecting our first child to be born within the next few weeks, so we have also been busy preparing for that! Anyways, I wanted to post a quick update about my ongoing research on Maj. Gen. William Heath (1737-1814) - shown here - who was a top commander in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Since most of his wartime work was done in the administrative and diplomatic realms, he is not nearly as well known as the likes of Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Daniel Morgan. Nevertheless, his wartime service was highly significant and worthy of greater attention and recognition.My interest in General Heath stems from a family connection I have with him - he and I are distant cousins (third cousins, nine times removed to be exact). As such, I enjoy learning about his Revolutionary War career and his specific contributions to American Independence. Fortunately, an article I wrote on General Heath will appear in the upcoming September/October issue of Patriots of the American Revolution Magazine. I have published a piece with them before (on Maj. Gen. Edward Hand) and really like the magazine's format and commitment to chronicling Revolutionary War history. The article on General Heath will appear in the "My Patriot Ancestor" section of the magazine.
While General Heath is not a well-known Continental Army commander, his battlefield leadership during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, his work lobbying state governments for troops and supplies, and his diplomatic leadership working with the French during the war's later stages certainly played important roles in securing a successful outcome for the Patriot cause. I look forward to seeing the article in print and thank the staff at Patriots of the American Revolution for running it!
Posts
