Beloit Chapter DAR

With thanks to the Roscoe Gardening Club.

An American Moment, 250 years ago, June 20, 1776. On HMS Eagle, Admiral Howe writing to his friend Benjamin Franklin.

I cannot my Worthy Friend, permit the Letters and Parcels which I have sent in the State I receiv’d them, to be landed without adding a word upon the subject of the injurious Extremities in which our unhappy Disputes have engaged us.

You will learn the Nature of my Mission from the Official Dispatches which I have recommended to be forwarded by the same Conveyance. Retaining all the Earnestness I ever express’d to see our Differences accomodated, I shall conceive, if I meet with the same Disposition in the Colonies which I was once taught to expect, the most flattering Hopes of proving serviceable in the Objects of the King’s paternal Sollicitude, by promoting the reestablishment of lasting Peace and Union with the Colonies. But if the deep rooted Prejudices of America and the necessity of preventing her Trade from passing into foreign Channells, must keep us still a divided People, I shall from every private as well as public motive, most heartily lament, that this is not the moment wherein those great Objects of my Ambition are to be attain’d; and that I am to be longer deprived of an Opportunity to assure you personally of the Regard with which I am your sincere and faithfull humble servant

HOWE.

P.S. I was disappointed of the Opportunity I expected for sending this Letter at the Time it was dated, and have been ever since prevented by Calms and contrary winds, from getting Here to inform Genl. Howe of the Commission with which I have the Satisfaction to be charged, and of his being join’d in it.

Sandy Hook. 12th. July.

To Benjamin Franklin from Lord Howe, 20 June [–12 July 1776], Founders Online.

© 2026 Clifford Olsen/1776 American Moments

Planning your Fourth of July menu? 🇺🇸

Before the hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad, Americans were gathering around tables filled with dishes like Election Cake, Brunswick Stew, Succotash, Hoe Cakes, and even Turtle Soup.

🍳Colonial cooks in 1776 relied on local ingredients, family recipes, and a little creativity to feed their households during a time of revolution. Some of these foods may seem unusual today, but others still influence the meals we enjoy nearly 250 years later.

As you plan your Independence Day celebration this year, consider adding a historic twist to the menu. A skillet of hoe cakes, a bowl of succotash, or a slice of spiced election cake might be the perfect way to connect with the people who celebrated America's first Independence Day.

Which dish from 1776 would you be willing to try? 🍽️

👉 Find the recipes here: https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/1776-menu/

The year was 1855, and the guests at a small wedding in New York were whispering in shock behind their fans.

At the altar stood a young woman who refused to wear a corset, refused to wear a veil, and most shockingly, refused to say the word "obey."

Mary Edwards Walker was not interested in being a traditional wife; she was interested in being a surgeon.

She had just graduated from Syracuse Medical College as the only woman in her class, but the world was not ready for her.

When she opened a private practice with her husband, patients stayed away in droves, refusing to trust a woman who dared to treat the sick while wearing trousers under a short skirt.

But everything changed in 1861 when the drums of war began to beat across America.

Mary rushed to Washington D.C., ready to serve the Union Army, but the medical board laughed at her.

They told her she could only serve as a nurse, a role she flatly rejected after years of grueling medical study.

So, Mary did the unthinkable: she showed up anyway, working for free as a volunteer surgeon at the U.S. Patent Office Hospital.

For months, she worked without pay, proving her skill with a scalpel while wearing her "bloomer costume"—a dress over trousers that allowed her to move quickly between hospital beds.

By 1863, her skill was so undeniable that the Army of the Cumberland finally hired her as a contract surgeon.

She was the first female surgeon in the history of the United States military.

Mary didn't stay safely behind the lines; she rode out into the blood-soaked fields of Tennessee and Georgia, often crossing enemy lines to treat civilians and soldiers alike.

In April 1864, her luck ran out.

While helping a Confederate doctor treat wounded civilians, she was spotted by Southern scouts who believed she was a spy.

They captured her and sent her to the notorious Castle Thunder prison in Richmond, Virginia.

Inside those walls, the guards mocked her relentlessly, demanding she put on a dress to "restore her womanhood."

Mary refused, standing her ground in her tattered trousers despite the filth and the starvation of the prison camp.

She was finally released in a prisoner exchange for a Confederate major—an equal trade of a woman for a high-ranking officer.

When the war ended, President Andrew Johnson signed a decree awarding her the Congressional Medal of Honor for her bravery under fire.

But the battle for Mary’s dignity was far from over.

In 1917, just two years before her death, the government changed the eligibility rules for the medal, demanding that all non-combatants return theirs.

They ordered the 84-year-old Mary to give back the medal she had bled for.

Her response was legendary: "You will have to take it from my dead body."

She wore that medal pinned to her lapel every single day until the day she took her final breath.

She died in 1919, a woman who had saved countless lives, spent time in a prisoner-of-war camp, and challenged every rule of her era.

It took nearly sixty more years, but in 1977, the United States government finally admitted they were wrong and restored her medal posthumously.

Mary Edwards Walker remains the only woman in American history to ever receive the nation's highest military honor.

She proved that courage doesn't wear a uniform; it wears the heart of someone who refuses to back down.

She was more than just a doctor in pants—she was a pioneer who carved a path for every woman who followed.

National Women's History Museum / U.S. National Park Service / Smithsonian Institution
Photo: Wikimedia Commons