Did you know that Washington had a great sense of humor? What is the real story behind his teeth? What was in the love letter he wrote to his best friend’s wife, while he was engaged to Martha? How did he help start a war in the 1750s? How was he going to be brought back to life after his death? As President, why didn’t Washington like to shake hands? What gift did he accept from Spain that changed American farming forever?

Did you know that, at one time, Washington was the leading moonshiner in the country? How did he treat his slaves? Was he always for independence? How did he feel about religion? Why did he sentence an innocent man to death? Why did he curse and threaten his soldiers at times? Why was Washington considered a great general when he lost the majority of his battles? Why did he not free his slaves, and why did Martha finally free them? When Washington became president, what title did he really want used? What form of harsh punishment did he use on his soldiers?

George Washington traveled out of the North American continent only once—do you know where? Why is it believed that the Washingtons had no children of their own? What other eligible women did Washington pursue prior to his marriage? How did Washington win election to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1757?

These are just a few of the things you will learn about George Washington. There are dozens more of these little-known anecdotes that were told by the people who knew him personally, and these tales will give you a better understanding of what this great man was really like.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

The post So You Think You Know George Washington? appeared first on Genealogical.com.

In The Story of Yorktown, Revolutionary War expert Jack Darrell Crowder provides a day-by-day account of the Siege of Yorktown as told by the participants in their journals, diaries, memoirs, pension applications, and letters, as well as in contemporary newspapers. The soldiers write of their fears, hopes, and impressions of these culminating experiences, as well as the destruction that took place. They describe the fortifications, the artillery, life on the battlefield, and the death of friends.

Mr. Crowder begins his coverage with a description of the town of Yorktown and the start of the siege. The narrative continues with the preparations made on both sides, the role of the artillery, the British failed attempt to escape, and their ultimate surrender. Besides the numerical superiority of the Franco-American armies and navy, as the Hessian soldier Johann Conrad Dohla makes clear, the British grossly underestimated the capacity of the Patriot artillery: “At night . . . the enemy began to fire on our left wing, then against our entire line, to fire bombs, cannon, and howitzers. This removed the belief, which we held previously that they had only their regimental cannon there and could not bring up heavy weapons because of the many forests and swamps.”

The Story of Yorktown concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places. Clearfield Company is pleased to add it to its collection of Revolutionary War titles written by Jack Darrell Crowder.

About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds B.A. and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.

The post The Story of Yorktown appeared first on Genealogical.com.