The First Battle of Ninety Six: The South's First Revolutionary Battle
In November 1775, the American Revolution violently arrived in the South Carolina backcountry. The First Battle of Ninety Six wasn't fought by British regulars, but by neighbors staring down the barrels of long rifles at men they had known for years. Trapped on the plantation of John Savage, 560 Patriot militiamen hastily built a makeshift stockade out of fence rails, barn wood, and beef hide. They were completely cut off from water and surrounded by nearly 2,000 Loyalists who had transformed the town's brick jail into an impenetrable redoubt just 250 yards away. From the theft of Cherokee gunpowder to the use of a heavy wooden "mantelet" war machine, discover how a fragile backcountry erupted into a three-day siege that changed the Southern colonies forever.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - The Spark in the Backcountry
1:31 - The Treaty of Ninety Six & Stolen Gunpowder
4:27 - Cornered at Savage's Old Fields
6:06 - The Siege Begins
7:40 - Fire, Water, and the Loyalist Mantelet
10:30 - A Desperate Truce
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Dan
24 Aug 2026
The Burning of Falmouth: The Fire That Forged the Declaration of Independence
In October 1775, the Royal Navy unleashed a firestorm on the colonial seaport of Falmouth, Massachusetts (modern-day Portland, Maine). What started as a punitive bombardment by Lieutenant Henry Mowat to punish the town turned into a massive strategic blunder. It radicalized the eastern seaboard, helped establish the Continental Navy, and literally wrote itself into the Declaration of Independence.
Welcome back to History Distilled. In this episode, we break down the maritime standoff that sparked the siege, the relentless incendiary barrage of the HMS Canceaux, and the defiant militia resistance in the burning streets.
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Dan
18 Jul 2026
The 1775 Invasion of Canada: The Siege of Fort St. Jean
The water of the Richelieu River ran black and freezing in the autumn of 1775. Here, in the dense, mosquito-infested swamp lands of the Canadian wilderness, the first great offensive of the American Revolutionary War ground to a muddy, agonizing halt.
The Siege of Fort St. Jean was a brutal, fifty-four-day war of attrition fought against disease, exposure, and dwindling ammunition.
As the master key to Canada, Fort St. Jean guarded the critical corridor linking the rebellious Thirteen Colonies to the relatively unprotected heart of British North America.
In this first installment of our series covering America's 1775 invasion of Canada, we explore how an unpolished Continental Army force under Brigadier General Richard Montgomery established a stranglehold on Major Charles Preston’s British garrison. From the deployment of a massive 13-inch mortar dubbed the "Old Sow" to the catastrophic failure of British relief efforts at Longueuil, discover how this grinding standoff broke the British defense in the Richelieu Valley and opened the road to Montreal.
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If you learned something new about this forgotten Revolutionary War siege, please hit the like button and let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Subscribe to the channel so you don't miss Part 2 of the 1775 Invasion of Canada, and as always, have a great day if you want to.
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Dan
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