Numerous strange stories come out of the Revolutionary War. For one thing, the practice of hanging criminals and spies was often the case in that war. We know about Nathan Hale, who regretted that he had only one life to give for his country. Hanging was popularized in the Old West.

However, hanging was practiced in the Revolutionary War on many occasions. On both sides. Colonel Charles Lynch was a farmer and also a justice of the peace before that war started. Lynch sometimes led a determined group of vigilantes to dispense swift and sure justice on British supporters and “other outlaws.”

Before long, stringing someone up and hanging them before trial became known as “lynching.” In addition, those bands of men who went around dispensing such justice were known as “lynch mobs.”