Brother Jonathan’s Images

(July 2012)
Articles posted on http://www.scribd.com/doc/236989726/Articles-List-
Brother-Jonathan-s-Images

Continental soldiers on duty and at ease, 1782. Detail from Pierre Charles L'Enfant, ,
1754-1825, Panoramic view of West Point, New York showing American
encampments on the Hudson River
___________________________________

Welcome to the military artwork series, Brother Jonathan’s Images. We will be

following the same premise as Redcoat Images moderated by Dr. Greg Urwin (now
nearing 1,900 installments). Greg began this new series, originally called
Continental Images, in August 2010 with two contributions. His Redcoat Images
project continued on and eclipsed the newcomer. Our small consortium thought that
artwork showing the soldiers and uniforms of the fledgling republic’s military forces
is well worth disseminating and we now continue with Dr. Urwin’s blessings.
The series will cover the period 1753 to the end of 1799, the first date denoting
George Washington’s rise in military service and the latter coinciding with his death
after serving as commander-in-chief and first president of the United States. Images
will include militia, officers (including foreign volunteers), and soldiers of the
Confederation and early Republic. The narratives will focus on clothing and officers’
careers, but other pertinent information will be presented as well.
 Guest contributors will be considered, and anyone with information, images,
or artwork sources they wish to share please email Neal Hurst at
tailor@nhursttailor.com. With that in mind, we hope to make this an
informative and entertaining, as well as a collaborative effort.
Our first installments will begin with Greg Urwin’s Continental Images Nos. 1 and
2, renamed Brother Jonathan’s Images to reflect the wider umbrella. Our initial
contribution, No. 3, will immediately follow.
______________________

“The British were very civil, and indeed they generally were after they had received a check
from Brother Jonathan for any of their rude actions.” Connecticut soldier Joseph Plumb
Martin writing in his 1830 memoir of the October 1776 Battle of White Plains.

Brother Jonathan’s Images Consortium

Neal T. Hurst tailor@nhursttailor.com
John U. Rees
R. Scott Stephenson
Matthew C. White

Samples
Brother Jonathan’s Images, No. 1. (Gregory J. W. Urwin)
Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston, 4th New York Regiment
Artist: Charles Willson Peale
Year: Circa 1778-1780
Collection: Smithsonian
http://www.scribd.com/doc/175414586/Brother-Jonathan-No-1-Colonel-Henry-Beekman-
Livingston-7-22-2012
Brother Jonathan’s Images, No. 9
Virginia Rifleman (John U. Rees)
Artist: Richard St George Mansergh St George, 52d Regiment of Foot, 1777
Year: 1777
Collection: Harlan Crow Library, Dallas, Texas (purchased from the estate of Arthur E.
Bye, Bucks County, Pennsylvania)
Contents
1. Background
2. Virginia Rifleman, 1777
3. “Chosen Men Selected from the Army at large …”: Rifle-Armed
Companies, Battalions, and Regiments, 1775-1779.
Appendices
A. “A Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the Purpose of making of Indian or Hunting
Shirts …”: Proper Terminology: Hunting shirt, Rifle Shirt, Rifle Frock …
B. Letter by Jesse Lukens, describing Pennsylvania riflemen and service at the siege of Boston, 1775.
C. Capt. William Dansey, 33d Regiment, describes two encounters with rifle troops.
D. Morgan’s Rifle Corps: Selected Documents Not Included in the Narrative
E. “We returned them a very brisk fire …”: A Rifleman’s View of Two Campaigns
F. “He was in that noted Battel in the Bukwheat field with Morgan …”
Riflemen’s Pension Service Narratives, 1775-1779
G. The Rebels (Sung to the tune, Black Joak), originally published in the Pennsylvania Ledger, 1778
https://www.scribd.com/doc/245356391/Brother-Jonathan-s-Images-No-9-St-George-s-
Virginia-Rifleman-Artist-Richard-St-George-Mansergh-St-George-52d-Regiment-of-Foot-
1777-Collection