The Revolutionary Detective

 Murder on the Millstone — Somerset County,  the Raritan Valley and Manville — Crossroads of the Revolution-1777 

When: Saturday, Dec. 1  1:00 PM
Where:  Manville Library, 101 South 10^th Avenue, Manville, NJ

Historian Robert Mayers, Author of Revolutionary New Jersey-Forgotten Towns and Crossroads of the American Revolution will relate the critical events in the Somerset County area during the Revolutionary War.  The fierce battles of Millstone, Bound Brook and the Short Hills (Plainfield,  Scotch Plains),  the bloody forage wars in the Raritan Valley when ravenous Redcoats ravaged the countryside and created a reign of terror,  the Middlebrook encampments that saved America (Bridgewater and Martinsville), and the entire Continental Army swept  through central Jersey on the way to Yorktown. This action all  swirled around what is now the Borough of Manville.

Most of these places are  unmarked, shrouded in mystery, distorted by mythology and unknown even to local people. Man-made changes to terrain have obscured many of them. Mayers will revive these forsaken locations  with research from original military records and on-site exploration and analysis of obscure sources ignored by earlier writers. Little known British and Hessian  accounts often reveal different details from those we have traditionally accepted as authentic.

Mayers,  published books include “The War Man,”  the biography of  a soldier, who fought all eight years of the Revolutionary War, The Forgotten Revolution and Searching for Private Yankee Doodle –Washington’s Soldiers.

He is an active member of several historical societies and a frequent speaker and contributor to publications and has spoken at West Point and the Pentagon. He  has been recently featured on Comcast TV and published in the History Channel Magazine and Garden State Legacy. Mayers served as a combat officer in the Navy and Marine Corps. His military experiences provide him with a deeper perspective of the battles depicted in his works.

Writing and Publishing Your Family History

Bob Mayers is a dedicated and proficient genealogist. He portrayed his family’s history in his book The Portrait of an American Family Allison-Mayers Family History. This published published narrative goes back 600 years and 19 generations. The work spans medieval England, the Puritan migration, the Revolutionary War and the Industrial Revolution. The book is used as a template for others seeking to tell the story of their roots and has been selling successfully worldwide for over ten years.

Whether you are just starting your research or wrapping up years of genealogical investigation, you’re probably thinking about how to share your findings with family, the genealogical community, and future generations . If you don’t record your findings, the product of your hard work will likely be lost when you are gone. Consider writing a book. Bob Mayers will give an overview of the key steps to writing, publishing and selling your family history by sharing his personal experiences with us. He will address these and other issues:

• Family Tree vs, Family Story-avoiding chronological boredom.
• Blending backdrop of local and world events with family stories-Site visits
• Research-somebody in the past may have already done a lot of work
• Forward-Preface- Start with the story of your search
• Tracing more than one line in the same book
• Finding a style, formatting your book and using images, Indexing
• Register Number Formating
• Write! Get Going
• Traditional and self publishing- unpublished manuscripts- $ Your Budget
• Marketing your work to the world
• Sharing and enjoying your creation

The Bob Mayers combination of talents also serves him well as an author and historian. The War Man, released in 2009, is a biography of his direct ancestor Corporal John Allison, who fought all eight years of the Revolutionary War. His book The Forgotten Revolution depicts battlefields, encampments and sites of many critical events of the American Revolution that have been lost or neglected by history in the northeast. Searching for Yankee Doodle is a study of the common soldiers of the Continental Army and linking ancestry to them. His latest book, released earlier this year, Revolutionary New Jersey-Forgotten Towns and Crossroads of the American Revolution has received stellar reviews and was endorsed by 14 of NJs most prominent historical public figures All of his works are available online or in bookstores.

Bob Mayers will be signing his book Searching for Yankee Doodle at the reenactment of the Battle of Fort Montgomery. On October 6, 1777 an invading British Army assaulted the fort. Outnumbered 3 to 1, the defending Continental soldiers and militia held out as long as they could until at last the forts were overrun. Over half of the garrison was captured or killed. Bob’s ancestor Corporal John Allison fought in the battle.

Join him at Fort Montgomery State Historic Site in the beautiful Hudson Highlands to commemorate the 241st anniversary of this bloody battle. Reenactors from the 5th New York Continental Regiment, 4th New York Regiment and Mott’s Artillery will be here manning the fort, representing the troops that defended the works in 1777! There will be cannon firings, military drill, living history demonstrations and children’s activities throughout the day.

Twin Forts Day Saturday, October 6, 2018 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Fort Montgomery State Historic Site  (845) 446-2134

Bob Mayers will speak at the Heritage Trail Association on Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 2:00pm at the Van Horne House, 941 East , Main Street, Bridgewater N.J. 08807

Greater Somerset County –Hub of the American Revolution

Earlier this year Bob Mayers discovered another Washington Rock and found many other fascinating places and facts while researching for his new book Revolutionary New Jersey-Forgotten Towns and Crossroads of the American Revolution.

Many places in the Somerset County area where Patriots fought and died are unmarked, shrouded in mystery, clouded in mythology or concealed by obscure accounts and dull statistics. Mayers will visit the forage war and the fierce engagements at Bound Brook, The Short Hills and Van Nest’s Mill as well as the First Middlebrook Encampment, Samptown and Quibbletown. He found that geography here was the pervading element that determined the location of all of the action. The natural defenses here provided by the Raritan and Millstone Rivers and the Watchung Mountains influenced troop movements, battle sites, supply routes and the flow of action during this critical time.

Residents who drive every day over heavily trafficked streets are completely unaware of the fierce struggles that occurred along their familiar routes. Many sites have entirely disappeared or have been built over by towns and highways. Mayers has explored these forsaken locations in person then enhanced his observations with fresh research from original documents, often discovered in obscure British, Hessian and French records. We predict that you will acquire a new respect for the Revolutionary War events that took place locally and in some instances in your own backyard.

Learn more: www.heritagetrail.com
Contact Cynthia Blumenkrantz at blumenkrantz@heritagetrail.org

Bob Mayers joins over a dozen authors at the New Providence Book Festival on Saturday, September 22, 2018, 9am to 3pm at the Salt Box Museum, 1350 Springfield Avenue, New Providence N. J. (Rain date September 29)

Author and historian Bob Mayers is known as the “Revolutionary Detective” and for good reason. What began decades ago as a mild curiosity about an ancestor evolved into a fulltime pursuit of Revolutionary War history. While this may seem like a field that has been exhausted over the last two centuries, Bob has uncovered treasure troves of overlooked information. Some of his sources include pension records for Continental veterans. Letters from British, French and German soldiers were also particularly useful.

“Unlike our Patriot soldiers,” Mayers explains, “foreign soldiers found America more exotic, certainly something to write home about.” This was useful for his latest book, Revolutionary New Jersey, which focuses on activities in New Jersey. “Washington and his troops spent more time in New Jersey than any other state,” Mayers says. “So it’s worthy of our attention.”

His research has even created some controversy. He claims to have discovered another Washington Rock at the Middlebrook Campground, where General Washington spent more time observing British troops 30 miles away at Sandy Hook than he did at the traditionally recognized site in Greenbrook, NJ. Using a sketch from the 1800s, Mayers traipsed the countryside and discovered the site in Martinsville. While many people may be indifferent, this has created a controversy in the Revolutionary War historical community. Revolutionary New Jersey available from American History Press. All of Bob’s books are available on Amazon. Pls add s also

Learn More about this event at NewProvidenceBookFestival.com. Open to all visitors, free of charge.

Bob Mayers will speak at the New Jersey Society of Sons of the American Revolution on Sunday September 16, 2018 at 1:30pm, at the Iron Horse Restaurant, 20 Washington Avenue, Westwood, N.J. 07675

Searching for Yankee Doodle

The people most responsible for achieving America’s independence by winning the Revolutionary War were George Washington’s foot soldiers, the men of the Continental Army. Washington’s Soldiers in the American Revolution. Who exactly were they? What inspired them to endure appalling hardships during the most critical time in American history? Many different opinions have been offered over the years by historians about the common foot soldiers, the “grunts,” “doughboys” and “GIs” of the Continental Army.

Historian and author Robert A. Mayers unravels their lives, and offers a true image of the Yankee Doodles. He has published many works on the Revolutionary War and is an active member of several historical societies. Mayers has spoken at West Point and the Pentagon. His military experiences (as a combat officer in the Navy and Marine Corps) provide him with deep perspective of the campaigns and battles depicted in his works.

To learn, visit http://www.firstmountain.org or contact Phillip Berg at (201) 438-1030 or phils86@aol.com

On Saturday, June 16, 2018, starting at 11:00am, a ceremony to commemorate the rediscovery and to dedicate Washington Rock at Middlebrook will be held at the rock adjacent to The Eagle’s Nest Museum at 791 Miller Lane in Martinsville, NJ.  At the event author and historian Robert A. Mayers will announce the release of his new book: Revolutionary New Jersey: Forgotten Towns and Crossroads of the American Revolution, which is published by American History Press.

Admission is free and open to all.
Complimentary refreshments

Bob Mayers will deliver the keynote address at the Living History Weekend to commemorate the Battle of Bound Brook in April, 1777.  This exciting and historic weekend will include a reenactment of the battle and a program exploring the American Revolutionary War during the Battle and the foraging wars.

Sunday, April 15 at 1:00 pm, Bob will speak on “Searching for Yankee Doodle-Washington’s Soldiers in the American Revolution” followed by a book signing on the grounds of the Staats House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook, N.J. This event is free and open to the public.

The people most responsible for achieving America’s independence by winning the Revolutionary War were George Washington’s foot soldiers, the men of the Continental Army. Washington’s Soldiers in the American Revolution. Who exactly were they? What inspired them to endure appalling hardships during the most critical time in American history? Many different opinions have been offered over the years by historians about the common foot soldiers, the “grunts,” “doughboys” and “GIs” of the Continental Army.

Historian and author Robert A. Mayers unravels their lives, and offers a true image of the Yankee Doodles. He has published many works on the Revolutionary War and is an active member of several historical societies. Mayers has spoken at West Point and the Pentagon. His military experiences (as a combat officer in the Navy and Marine Corps) provide him with deep perspective of the campaigns and battles depicted in his works.