I have written several articles for the Journal of the American Revolution, a very fine on-line journal focusing on the Revolutionary War (allthingsliberty.com).

Colonel Henry Jackson Accused by His Junior Officers of Misconduct at the Battle of Monmouth Court House  (Oct. 5, 2020)

The First Efforts to Limit the African Slave Trade Arise in the American Revolution: Part 3 of 3, Congress Bans the African Slave Trade (Sept. 15, 2020)

The First Efforts to Limit the African Slave Trade Arise in the American Revolution: Part 2 of 3, the Middle and Southern Colonies (Sept. 14, 2020)

The First Efforts to Limit the African Slave Trade Arise in the American Revolution: Part 1 of 3, the New England Colonies (Sept. 14, 2020)

General Charles Lee Imposes Oaths of Allegiance on Newport Tories, 1775 (May 5, 2020)

Top Ten Quotes of Major General Charles Lee (Jan. 20, 2020)

Was Richard Stockton a Hero? (July 18, 2016)

The Battle of Bennett’s Island:  The New Jersey Site Rediscovered (July 10, 2017)

The Culper Spy Ring Was not the First to Warn the French at Newport (December 9, 2014)

Ann Bates: British Spy Extraordinaire (December 1, 2014)

Why Did a Boston Mob Kill a French Officer? (October 23, 2014)

Presentation Swords for 10 Revolutionary War Heroes (May 16, 2014)

“Strange Mismanagement”:  The Capture of HMS Syren (April 10, 2014)

The Experience of New London Tories and Quakers (February 17, 2014)

Bushnell’s Mine Nearly Sinks a Ship (February 4, 2014)

The Plot to Kidnap Schuyler (January 16, 2014)

Washington Authorizes Plan to Kidnap Future King (January 8, 2014)

Additional Articles

Here is a list of articles I have authored for such publications as Rhode Island History magazine, Newport History magazine, and the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society newsletter (click on the link for more information).  Since they are not available on-line, if you are interested in a copy of one of them, please email me at cmcburney@nixonpeabody.com.

Because of the lack of food and supplies provided to Continental soldiers, at least nine mutinies erupted in the Rhode Island theater of war from September 1778 through July 1779.  Because the court martial record of the July 1779 mutiny in the Second Rhode Island Regiment of Continentals has survived, it can be fully studied in this article.
“Mutiny! American Mutinies in the Rhode Island Theater of War, September 1778-July 1779.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Summer/Fall 2011), pages 47-72. 

While the suffering of American captives held on board prison ships in Newport Harbor was not as bad as their fellow prisoners experienced in New York City, there were several humanitarian crises where the suffering was extreme.“British Treatment of Prisoners During the Occupation of Newport, 1776-1779: Disease, Starvation and Death Stalk the Prison Ships.” Newport History, Vol. 79, No. 263 (Fall 2010), pages 1-41.

Summarizes Cato Pearce’s autobiography and places the events described in it in historical context.“Cato Pearce’s Memoir: A Rhode Island Slave Narrative.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Winter/Spring 2009), pages 3-25. 

In eighteenth century Rhode Island a group of ambitious stock and dairy farmers attempted to create a landed, manorial gentry amid a rural New England dominated by small villages, small farms and few elites. South Kingstown and other Narragansett country towns had the highest percentage of slaves of any rural communities in New England.“The South Kingstown Planters: Country Gentry in Colonial Rhode Island.” Rhode Island History, Vol. 45, No. 3 (August 1986), pages 81-93. 

Local militia, seeking to enforce the universal draft to support the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War, accidentally kills Simeon Tucker of South Kingstown.  “The Accidental Killing of Simeon Tucker During the Revolutionary War.”  Pettaquamscutt Historical Society newsletter, April 2014. (See link to article under Recent News and Events on this page).

During the British occupation of Newport during the Revolutionary War from 1776 to 1779, some enslaved African Americans took the opportunity to flee to Newport and to leave with the British for New York City and, after the war, to freedom in Canada.  “Freedom for African Americans in British-Occupied Newport, 1776-1779, and ‘The Book of Negroes,” Newport History, Vol. 87, No. 276 (Summer/Fall 2017), 1-39.