US Independence 1766-1783
Prelude
Seven Years War
The Empires of Europe were competing for global supremacy. With territory came trade and with trade came wealth. Britain and France were at odds for a long time. The French owned territory from Canada St. Louis to Louisiana and blocked the British territory in next to the coast.
At this time, Corporations were making decisions that affected the British Empire as a whole. The London Company, The East India Trading Company, The Ohio Company, were taking risks and provoking conflict that the British government was compelled to support. These companies brought so much wealth into the British Empire than the British government was compelled to support them in risky and dangerous business ventures. The land in-between the two empress became disputed. Both sides both attempted to steak their claims by building forts. Britain began building a fort in present-day Pittsburgh. France sent a Canadian army to scare the builders away. A native-American chief spotted the French marching and sent a report to their allies, the British. The local British Commander was 22 year old, George Washington. He was born into a wealthy family and given a leadership position at a young age through family connections.
Washington gathered 40 British soldiers and joined the twelve native-Americans warriors and marched to intercept the 35 French Canadians. The goal had been to scare them off and protect the construction site. Things escalated and fighting started. 12/35 French were killed and only 1/52 of the British and Indians were killed. One of the dead French soldiers was the officer leading them.
Since Britain and France were not then at war, the event had international repercussions. After the action, Washington retreated to Fort Necessity, where a larger Canadian forces forced him to surrender. The terms of Washington's surrender included a statement (written in French, a language Washington did not read) admitting that the French Officer was assassinated. After signing the confession he was released.
His signed confession convinced the French to send additional troops to the region. In response, so did the British. The Spanish Empire joined the French to protect their overseas colonies.
Winston Churchill, who was an avid historian, referred to the Seven Years War as the "real" first world war. Fighting took place in Europe, North America, South America, India and Africa.
The battles within North America are known as The French and Indian war. Indian nations split and chose separate sides. The Iroquois, Catawba and Cherokee supported the British and the Ottawa, Shawnee and Wabanaki supported the French.
The British began the war in North America with several embarrassing losses. When they eventually won a battle in Canada they banished the local Indian population because they didn't trust them. This displaced many people and cause somewhat of a refugee crisis at the time.
It wasn't until France started losing the Seven Years War in Europe that their forces started failing in North America. British-American troops launched an attack at Montreal, Quebec and it proved to be a decisive victory for Britain and it's Indian allies. They won the war in 1763.
As a result of the war, Britain traded Guadeloupe and sugar islands for Canada and French North American territories. Britain gained Spanish Florida from Spain in exchange for Cuba. This is why US has cities named Baton Rouge, St Louis, Louisiana, Pierre, Des Moines, Louisville, Montpellier and Detroit.
Last of the Mohicans
Angry Americans
In 1765, Britain looks for ways to improve the efficiency of their armies. They passed the Quartering act which required British subjects to allow soldiers to stay in their homes when requested. Although this allowed British troops to move more freely with greater ease but it also upset the homeowners who didn't want a house full of men helping themselves to everything.
The war took a lot of resources out of the British government and they sought ways to recoup their losses. They imposed an extra tax on the colonists called the Stamp act. I required the King's Stamp on all paper goods. This annoyed the colonists. The British thought the colonists would be appreciative of defending their lands from the French. In reality, the colonists saw themselves as doing the British Empire a favor. Colonists were upset. Benjamin Franklin thought it was a good idea but he was in the minority opinion and decided to change his mind and advocate for it's removal because it was so unpopular in America.
Part of the Peace agreement with France was to reserve the lands over the Appalachian mountains to be Indian territory. Colonists disliked this and thought the whole point of the war with the French was to settle this territory. So colonists ignored this order and settled it anyway.
When colonists in New York refused to let soldiers into their homes, Britain was angry with them and tried to punish the disobedient colonists by imposing more taxes. This just upset the colonists further.
The people of Boston wrote to the King asking for the acts to be reversed. The British government responded by ordering them to stand down and do as they're told. The Boston representatives refused.
The British military sent a 50-gun warship into Boston Harbor to intimidate and control the Boston people. The Commander of the ship had been forcing local sailors to enlist into his service under penalty of punishment. The Commander sent military units into Boston to keep the people under control.
One night, a mob gathered outside the house of an outspoken pro-British loyalist. A customs service employee tried to disperse the protest. The crowd threw stones that broke windows and struck his wife. The man fired a gun into the crowd and wounded an 11 year old boy in the arm and the chest. The boy died that evening and his death was well publicized. Hundreds turned up for the boys funeral.
1767- John Quincy Adam's born
1767- Andrew Jackson born
Boston Massacre
On the evening of March 5th, 1770, word spread around Boston that 11 men had been shot by a British regiment. Confusion spread around the city. Contrasting reports were passed around:
"A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre"
On the evening of March 5th, two bullies, in the form of his Majesties soldiers executed hard-working, honest Bostonians. It's not enough that they can take our homes whenever they desire but now they may take our lives. They were sent here with the expressed purpose of quelling the spirit of liberty. When you give men the power to live as they like in your home you allow them to mistreat you as they like also. Captain Preston ordered his men to fire at peaceful law-abiding peoples going about their daily business. His majesty intended to send a message and in all due regard, I can promise it has been received.
A Fair Account of the Late Unhappy Disturbance in Boston
On the evening of March 5th, a mob of lawless locals premeditated an ambush on his majesties protectorates. Not so long ago these men were defending the families of New England from French and Indian attacks, now they're been mistreated before our very eyes. These men of Boston assault the very men here to protect them. Cornered by these instigators, armed with weapons, they had no choice but to defend themselves. Shame falls upon their heads.
Real Event
On the evening of March 5, Private Hugh White stood on guard duty outside the Boston Custom House on King Street. A wigmaker's apprentice, approximately 13 years old, named Edward Garrick called out to Captain-Lieutenant John Goldfinch, accusing him of refusing to pay a bill due to Garrick's master. Goldfinch had settled the account the previous day, and ignored the insult. Private White called out to Garrick that he should be more respectful of the officer, and the two men exchanged insults. Garrick then started poking Goldfinch in the chest with his finger; White left his post, challenged the boy, and struck him on the side of the head with his musket. Garrick cried out in pain, and his companion Bartholomew Broaders began to argue with White which attracted a larger crowd. As the evening progressed, the crowd around Private White grew larger and more boisterous. Church bells were rung, which usually signified a fire, bringing more people out. More than 50 Bostonians pressed around White, led by a mixed-race former slave named Crispus Attucks, throwing objects at the sentry and challenging him to fire his weapon. White had taken up a somewhat safer position on the steps of the Custom House, and he sought assistance. Runners alerted Captain Thomas Preston, the officer of the watch at the nearby barracks. According to his report, Preston dispatched a non-commissioned officer and six privates from the grenadier company of the 29th Regiment of Foot to relieve White with fixed bayonets. They pushed their way through the crowd. When they reached Private White on the custom house stairs, the soldiers loaded their muskets and arrayed themselves in a semicircular formation. Preston shouted at the crowd to disperse, estimated between 300 and 400. The crowd continued to press around the soldiers, taunting them by yelling "Fire!", by spitting at them, and by throwing snowballs and other small objects. Innkeeper Richard Palmes was carrying a cudgel, and he came up to Preston and asked if the soldiers' weapons were loaded. Preston assured him that they were, but that they would not fire unless he ordered it; he later stated in his deposition that he was unlikely to do so, since he was standing in front of them. A thrown object then struck Private Montgomery, knocking him down and causing him to drop his musket. He recovered his weapon and angrily shouted "Damn you, fire!", then discharged it into the crowd although no command was given. Palmes swung his cudgel first at Montgomery, hitting his arm, and then at Preston. He narrowly missed Preston's head, striking him on the arm instead. There was a pause of uncertain length (eyewitness estimates ranged from several seconds to two minutes), after which the soldiers fired into the crowd. It was not a disciplined volley, since Preston gave no orders to fire; the soldiers fired a ragged series of shots which hit 11 men. Three Americans died instantly: rope maker Samuel Gray, mariner James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks. Samuel Maverick, a 17-year old apprentice ivory turner, was struck by a ricocheting musket ball at the back of the crowd and died early the next morning. Irish immigrant Patrick Carr died two weeks later. Apprentice Christopher Monk was seriously wounded; he was crippled and died in 1780, purportedly due to the injuries that he had sustained in the attack a decade earlier. The crowd moved away from the immediate area of the custom house but continued to grow in nearby streets. Captain Preston immediately called out most of the 29th Regiment, which adopted defensive positions in front of the state house.
The trial of the eight soldiers opened on November 27, 1770.
John Adams referred to the crowd that had provoked the soldiers as "a motley rabble of saucy boys and outlandish sailors." He then stated, "And why we should scruple to call such a set of people a mob, I can't conceive, unless the name is too respectable for them."
All soldiers were acquitted except for two who were charged with manslaughter.
The Boston Massacre is considered one of the most significant events that turned colonial sentiment against King George III and British Parliamentary authority. John Adams wrote that the "foundation of American independence was laid" on March 5, 1770, and Samuel Adams and other Patriots used annual commemorations (Massacre Day) to encourage public sentiment toward independence
Boston Tea Party
Parliament withdrew all taxes except the tax on tea, giving up its efforts to raise revenue while maintaining the right to tax. This temporarily resolved the crisis, and the boycott of British goods largely ceased, with only the more radical patriots such as Samuel Adams continuing to agitate.
Benjamin Franklin, postmaster general for the colonies, leaked the letters, in which the Massachusetts Governor claimed that the colonists could not enjoy all English liberties. Which led to Franklin being berated by British officials and fired from his job.
In June, 1772 the British were patrolling the New England coast for smugglers. They gave chase to a suspicious ship and ran aground in some shallow water. A band of Rhode Island men decided to act on the "opportunity offered of putting an end to the trouble and vexation she daily caused." They rowed out to the ship and boarded her at the break of dawn on June 10. The crew put up a feeble resistance in which they were attacked with handspikes and Lieutenant Dudingston was shot and wounded in the groin. The boarding party casually read through the ships papers, before forcing the crew off the ship and lighting it aflame. This infuriated the British government.
1772- William Henry Harrison born
In 1773 the British government enacted the Tea act which undercut the price of smuggled tea but included a tax. This meant that the colonists would buy cheaper tea from the British instead of the more expensive smuggled tea. The British tea also included a tax. The taxes worked into the cheaper tea made the colonists practically agree to paying taxes. Cheaper tea was a win but being subject to British taxes was a trap. Primarily because it was used to pay the salaries of colonial officials; maintaining the right of taxing the Americans was a secondary concern.
It was not a dispute about high taxes. The price of legally imported tea was actually reduced by the Tea Act of 1773. Protesters were instead concerned with a variety of other issues. The familiar "no taxation without representation" argument, along with the question of the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies, remained prominent. Colonial merchants, some of them smugglers, played a significant role in the protests. Because the Tea Act made legally imported tea cheaper, it threatened to put smugglers of Dutch tea out of business.
In September and October 1773, seven ships carrying East India Company tea were sent to the colonies: four were bound for Boston, and one each for New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. In the ships were more than 2,000 chests containing nearly 600,000 pounds of tea. Americans learned the details of the Tea Act while the ships were en route, and opposition began to mount. American colonists convinced the Customs Officials in New York, Philadelphia and Charleston to resign. The shipment in New York was looted and the two other shipments retreated back to England.
In every colony except Massachusetts, protesters were able to force the tea consignees to resign or to return the tea to England. In Boston, however, Governor Hutchinson was determined to hold his ground. He convinced the tea consignees, two of whom were his sons, not to back down.
When the tea ship Dartmouth, arrived in the Boston Harbor in late November, Whig leader Samuel Adams called for a mass meeting to be held at a hall. Thousands of people arrived, so many that the meeting was moved to a larger Meeting House. British law required Dartmouth to unload and pay the duties within twenty days or customs officials could confiscate the cargo. The mass meeting passed a resolution, introduced by Adams and based on a similar set of resolutions promulgated earlier in Philadelphia, urging the captain of Dartmouth to send the ship back without paying the import duty. Meanwhile, the meeting assigned twenty-five men to watch the ship and prevent the tea from being unloaded. After receiving a report that Governor Hutchinson had again refused to let the ships leave, Adams announced that "This meeting can do nothing further to save the country."
While Samuel Adams tried to reassert control of the meeting, people poured out of the Old South Meeting House to prepare to take action. In some cases, this involved donning what may have been elaborately prepared Mohawk costumes. While disguising their individual faces was imperative, because of the illegality of their protest, dressing as Mohawk warriors was a specific and symbolic choice. It showed that the Sons of Liberty identified with America, over their official status as subjects of Great Britain. That evening, a group of 30 to 130 men, some dressed in the Mohawk warrior disguises, boarded the three vessels and, over the course of three hours, dumped all 342 chests of tea into the water. The property damage amounted to the destruction of 92,000 pounds or 340 chests of tea, reported by the British East India Company worth £9,659, or $1,700,000 dollars in today's money.
Whether or not Samuel Adams helped plan the Boston Tea Party is disputed, but he immediately worked to publicize and defend it. He argued that the Tea Party was not the act of a lawless mob, but was instead a principled protest and the only remaining option the people had to defend their constitutional rights.
In Britain, even those politicians considered friends of the colonies were appalled and this act united all parties there against the colonies. The British government felt this action could not remain unpunished, and responded by closing the port of Boston and putting in place other laws known as the "Intolerable Acts." These were intended to punish Boston for the destruction of private property, restore British authority in Massachusetts, and otherwise reform colonial government in America. Benjamin Franklin stated that the East India Company should be paid for the destroyed tea. Robert Murray, a New York merchant, went to Lord North with three other merchants and offered to pay for the losses, but the offer was turned down because he was not from Boston and they were responsible.
Although the first three, the Boston Port Act the Massachusetts Government Act and the Administration of Justice Act, applied only to Massachusetts, colonists outside that colony feared that their governments could now also be changed by legislative whim in England. The Intolerable Acts were viewed as a violation of constitutional rights, natural rights, and colonial charters, and united many colonists throughout America, exemplified by the calling of the First Continental Congress in September 1774.
First Continental Congress
Although the Americans protested "taxation without representation" the truth is only wealthy white land owners were ever proposed as able to have a voice and be represented in government affairs.
Representatives of 12 of the 13 states met in Philadelphia. Georgia was busy fighting native Americans and depended on British supplies.
The Congress was structured with emphasis on the equality of participants, and to promote free debate. After much discussion, the Congress issued a Declaration of Rights, affirming its loyalty to the British Crown but disputing the British Parliament’s right to tax it. The Congress also passed the Articles of Association, which called on the colonies to stop importing goods from the British Isles beginning on December 1, 1774, if the Coercive Acts were not repealed. Should Britain fail to redress the colonists’ grievances in a timely manner, the Congress declared, then it would reconvene on May 10, 1775, and the colonies would cease to export goods to Britain on September 10, 1775.
"Give me liberty, or give me death!"
A number of colonists were inspired by the Boston Tea Party to carry out similar acts, such as the burning of Peggy Stewart which was carrying tea in 1774.
John Adams and many other Americans considered tea drinking to be unpatriotic following the Boston Tea Party. Tea drinking declined during and after the Revolution, resulting in a shift to coffee as the preferred hot drink.
The colonists of Massachusetts had not yet taken concerted action to organize themselves militarily against actions of the British regulars, although statements were made about supporting Boston (whose port had been closed earlier in 1774 under the Boston Port Act)
General Thomas Gage, who had become the military governor of Massachusetts in May 1774, was charged with enforcement of the highly unpopular Intolerable Acts, which British Parliament had passed in response to the Boston Tea Party. Gage considered himself to be a friend of liberty and attempted to separate his duties as governor of the colony and as general of an occupying force. He believed that the best way to keep the peace was by secretly removing military stores from storehouses and arsenals in New England. The secrecy of these missions was paramount, as Gage feared that leakage of any plans would result in the seizure or concealment of the stores by Patriot sympathizers before his men got there. Gage decided that this powder had to be brought to Boston for safekeeping.
Early in the morning of September 1, a force of roughly 260 British soldiers from the 4th Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Maddison, was rowed in secrecy up the Mystic River from Boston to a landing point near Winter Hill in modern-day Somerville. From there they marched about a mile (1.6 km) to the Powder House, a gunpowder magazine that held the largest supply of gunpowder in Massachusetts. They managed to raid the gunpowder peacefully and returned it to Boston. The next morning rumors flew throughout the day across the countryside about the British troop movements.
The alarm spread as far as Connecticut. From all over the region, people took up arms and began streaming toward Boston. In response to this action, amid rumors that blood had been shed, alarm spread through the countryside to Connecticut and beyond, and American Patriots sprang into action, fearing that war was at hand. Eventually facts caught up with the rumors, and militia units (some of which were still heading toward Boston) returned home. These men went home but became known as minutemen because they were an army ready to fight at a moments notice.
Meanwhile in England a speech was made:
"We ... find that a part of your Majesty' s subjects, in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, have proceeded so far to resist the authority of the supreme Legislature, that a rebellion at this time actually exists within the said Province; and we see, with the utmost concern, that they have been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements entered into by your Majesty's subjects in several of the other Colonies, to the injury and oppression of many of their innocent fellow-subjects, resident within the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the rest of your Majesty' s Dominions ... We ... shall ... pay attention and regard to any real grievances ... laid before us; and whenever any of the Colonies shall make a proper application to us, we shall be ready to afford them every just and reasonable indulgence. At the same time we ... beseech your Majesty that you will ... enforce due obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme Legislature; and ... it is our fixed resolution, at the hazard of our lives and properties, to stand by your Majesty against all rebellious attempts in the maintenance of the just rights of your Majesty, and the two Houses of Parliament."
Gage was given permission to disarm the rebels and to imprison the rebellion's leaders. Gage ordered a mounted patrol of about 20 men under the command of Major Mitchell of the 5th Regiment of Foot into the surrounding country to intercept messengers who might be out on horseback. This patrol behaved differently from patrols sent out from Boston in the past, staying out after dark and asking travelers about the location of Samuel Adams and John Hancock. This had the unintended effect of alarming many residents and increasing their preparedness. The Lexington militia, in particular, began to muster early that evening, hours before receiving any word from Boston.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith received orders from Gage on the afternoon of April 18 with instructions that he was not to read them until his troops were underway. He was to proceed from Boston "with utmost expedition and secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy ... all Military stores ... But you will take care that the soldiers do not plunder the inhabitants or hurt private property." Gage used his discretion and did not issue written orders for the arrest of rebel leaders, as he feared doing so might spark an uprising.
In February 1775, Britain passed the Conciliatory Resolution, which ended taxation for any colony that satisfactorily provided for the imperial defense and the upkeep of imperial officers.
On March 30, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress issued the following resolution:
The rebel leaders intercepted the messages from the British to Gage. The Massachusetts militias had indeed been gathering a stock of weapons, powder, and supplies at Concord. An expedition from Boston to Concord was widely anticipated.
Midnight Ride
Paul Revere, silversmith and revolutionary received the intel of the British movements. He rode out on his horse and warned patriots along his route, many of whom set out on horseback to deliver warnings of their own. By the end of the night there were probably as many as 40 riders carrying the news of the army's advance. Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ("The British are coming!"): his mission depended on secrecy, the countryside was filled with British army patrols, and most of the Massachusetts colonists (who were predominantly English in ethnic origin) still considered themselves British. Revere's warning, according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere's own descriptions, was "The Regulars are coming out."
Revere arrived in Lexington around midnight, with Dawes arriving about a half-hour later. They met with Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were spending the night with Hancock's relatives, and they spent a great deal of time discussing plans of action upon receiving the news. They believed that the forces leaving the city were too large for the sole task of arresting two men and that Concord was the main target. The Lexington men dispatched riders to the surrounding towns, and Revere and Dawes continued along the road to Concord accompanied by Samuel Prescott, a doctor who happened to be in Lexington "returning from a lady friend's house at the awkward hour of 1 a.m."
Minutemen assemble. This system was an improved version of an old network of widespread notification and fast deployment of local militia forces in times of emergency. This system was so effective that people in towns 25 miles (40 km) from Boston were aware of the army's movements while they were still unloading boats in Cambridge. Unlike in the Powder Alarm, the alarm raised by the three riders successfully allowed the militia to confront the British troops in Concord, and then harry them all the way back to Boston.
Revere, Dawes, and Prescott were detained by a British Army patrol in Lincoln at a roadblock on the way to Concord. Prescott jumped his horse over a wall and escaped into the woods; he eventually reached Concord. Dawes also escaped, though he fell off his horse not long after and did not complete the ride
Dawes was thrown from his horse and went back to Lexington. Prescott, according to Revere's account, took off on horseback towards a stone wall, jumped his horse over it, and disappeared into dense woods. After riding through woods and swamp, Prescott emerged at the Hartwell Tavern. He alerted the Hartwell family who, in turn, raced off to warn others. Word soon reached Capt. William Smith, commander of the Lincoln minutemen, who ordered the town bell rung as a signal for his company to muster.
Revere was captured and questioned by the British soldiers at gunpoint. He told them of the army's movement from Boston, and that British army troops would be in some danger if they approached Lexington, because of a large number of hostile militia gathered there. He and other captives were taken by the patrol were still escorted east toward Lexington, until about a half-mile from Lexington they heard a gunshot. The British major demanded Revere explain the gunfire, and Revere replied it was a signal to "alarm the country". As the group drew closer to Lexington, the town bell began to clang rapidly, upon which one of the captives proclaimed to the British soldiers: "The bell's ringing! The town's alarmed, and you're all dead men!" The British soldiers gathered and decided not to press further towards Lexington but instead to free the prisoners and head back to warn their commanders. The British confiscated Revere's horse and rode off to warn the approaching army column. Revere walked to Rev. Jonas Clarke's house, where Hancock and Adams were staying.
Lexington & Concord
As the regulars' advance guard entered Lexington at sunrise about 80 Lexington militiamen emerged from Buckman Tavern and stood in ranks on the village common watching them, and between 40 and 100 spectators watched from along the side of the road. Their leader was Captain John Parker, a veteran of the French and Indian War, who was suffering from tuberculosis and was at times difficult to hear. Of the militiamen who lined up, nine had the surname Harrington, seven Munroe , four Parker, three Tidd, three Locke, and three Reed; fully one-quarter of them were related to Captain Parker in some way. Captain Parker was clearly aware that he was outmatched in the confrontation and was not prepared to sacrifice his men for no purpose. He knew that most of the colonists' powder and military supplies at Concord had already been hidden. No war had been declared. (The Declaration of Independence was more than fourteen months in the future.) He also knew the British had gone on such expeditions before in Massachusetts, found nothing, and marched back to Boston. Parker had every reason to expect that to occur again.
They were in plain sight but not blocking the road to Concord. They made a show of political and military determination, but no effort to prevent the march of the Regulars. The British troops saw the small militia and approached to disarm them. A British officer then rode forward, waving his sword, and called out for the assembled militia to disperse, and may also have ordered them to "lay down your arms, you damned rebels!" Captain Parker told his men instead to disperse and go home, but, because of the confusion, the yelling all around, and due to the raspiness of Parker's tubercular voice, some did not hear him, some left very slowly, and none laid down their arms. Both Parker and Pitcairn ordered their men to hold fire, but a shot was fired from an unknown source. The regulars then charged forward with bayonets. Captain Parker's cousin Jonas was run through. Eight Lexington men were killed, and ten were wounded. The only British casualty was a soldier who was wounded in the thigh. One colonist, fatally wounded by a British musket ball, managed to crawl back to his home, and died on his own doorstep. One wounded man, Prince Estabrook, was a black slave who was serving in the militia. Colonel Smith, who was just arriving with the remainder of the regulars, heard the musket fire and rode forward from the grenadier column to see the action. He quickly found a drummer and ordered him to beat assembly. The grenadiers arrived shortly thereafter, and once order was restored among the soldiers, the light infantry was permitted to fire a victory volley, after which the column was reformed and marched on toward Concord.
A column of militia marched down the road toward Lexington to meet the British, traveling about 1.5 miles until they met the approaching column of regulars. As the regulars numbered about 700 and the militia at this time only numbered about 250, the militia column turned around and marched back into Concord, preceding the regulars by a distance of about 500 yards. The militia retreated to a ridge overlooking the town, and their officers discussed what to do next. Caution prevailed, and Colonel James Barrett withdrew from the center of town and led the men across the North Bridge to a hill about a mile north, where they could continue to watch the troop movements of the British and the activities in the town center. This step proved fortuitous, as the ranks of the militia continued to grow as minuteman companies arriving from the western towns joined them there. Using detailed information provided by Loyalist spies, the grenadier companies searched the small town for military supplies. After stealing and destroying some supplies they retreated across a bridge, followed closely by the militia. A shot rang out. It was likely a warning shot fired by a panicked, exhausted British soldier. Two other regulars then fired immediately after that, shots splashing in the river, and then the narrow group up front, possibly thinking the order to fire had been given, fired a ragged volley before their Captain could stop them. Two of the Minutemen, who were at the head of the line marching to the bridge, were hit and killed instantly.
Four more men were wounded. The Major then yelled to the militia, "Fire, for God's sake, fellow soldiers, fire!" At this point the lines were separated by the Concord River and the bridge, and were only 50 yards apart. The few front rows of colonists managed to fire over each other's heads and shoulders at the regulars massed across the bridge. Four of the eight British officers and sergeants, who were leading from the front of their troops, were wounded by the volley of musket fire. At least three privates were killed or mortally wounded, and nine were wounded.
The regulars found themselves trapped in a situation where they were both outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Lacking effective leadership and terrified at the superior numbers of the enemy, with their spirit broken, and likely not having experienced combat before, they abandoned their wounded, and fled to the safety.
The colonists were stunned by their success. No one had actually believed either side would shoot to kill the other. Some advanced; many more retreated; and some went home to see to the safety of their homes and families. Colonel Barrett eventually began to recover control. He moved some of the militia back to the hilltop and sent others across the bridge to a defensive position on a hill behind a stone wall.
British Lieutenant Colonel Smith heard the exchange of fire from his position in the town moments after he received the request for reinforcements.. He quickly assembled two companies of grenadiers to lead toward the North Bridge himself. As these troops marched, they met the shattered remnants of the three light infantry companies running towards them. When they saw the Minutemen in the distance behind their wall, he halted his two companies and moved forward with only his officers to take a closer look. One of the Minutemen behind that wall observed, "If we had fired, I believe we could have killed almost every officer there was in the front, but we had no orders to fire and there wasn't a gun fired." During a tense standoff lasting about 10 minutes, a mentally ill local man named Elias Brown wandered through both sides selling hard cider.
At this point, the detachment of regulars sent to Barrett's farm marched back from their fruitless search of that area. They passed through the now mostly-deserted battlefield and saw dead and wounded comrades lying on the bridge. Which angered and shocked the British soldiers. They crossed the bridge and returned to the town by 11:30 a.m., under the watchful eyes of the colonists, who continued to maintain defensive positions. The regulars continued to search for and destroy colonial military supplies in the town, ate lunch, reassembled for marching, and left Concord after noon. This delay in departure gave colonial militiamen from outlying towns additional time to reach the road back to Boston.
Colonial militia companies arriving from the north and east had converged at this point and presented a clear numerical advantage over the regulars. The militia had been making irregularly and ineffectively pop shots from distance at the retreating regulars.
As the last of the British column marched over the narrow bridge, the British rear guard wheeled and fired a volley at the colonial militiamen. The colonists returned fire, this time with deadly effect. Two regulars were killed and perhaps six wounded, with no colonial casualties.
Nearly 500 militiamen had assembled to the south of the road, awaiting an opportunity to fire down upon the British column on the road below. Smith's leading forces charged up the hill to drive them off, but the colonists did not withdraw, inflicting significant casualties on the attackers. Smith withdrew his men from Brooks Hill, and the column continued on to another small bridge into Lincoln where more militia companies intensified the attack from the north side of the road.
The militia company from Woburn had positioned themselves on the southeast side of the bend in the road in a rocky, lightly-wooded field. Additional militia flowing parallel to the road from the engagement at Meriam's Corner positioned themselves on the northwest side of the road, catching the British in a crossfire, while other militia companies on the road closed from behind to attack. Some 500 yards further along, the road took another sharp curve, this time to the right, and again the British column was caught by another large force of militiamen firing from both sides. In passing through these two sharp curves, the British force lost thirty soldiers killed or wounded, and four colonial militia were also killed. The British soldiers escaped by breaking into a trot, a pace that the colonials could not maintain through the woods and swampy terrain. As militia forces from other towns continued to arrive, the colonial forces had risen to about 2,000 men. The road now straightened to the east, with cleared fields and orchards along the sides. Lt. Col. Smith sent out flankers again, who succeeded in trapping some militia from behind and inflicting casualties. British casualties were also mounting from these engagements and from persistent long-range fire from the militiamen, and the exhausted British were running out of ammunition. When the British column neared the boundary between Lincoln and Lexington, it encountered another ambush from a hill overlooking the road, including some of them bandaged up from the encounter in Lexington earlier in the day. British officers and soldiers alike noted their frustration that the colonial militiamen fired at them from behind trees and stone walls, rather than confronting them in large, linear formations in the style of European warfare. At this point, Lt. Col. Smith was wounded in the thigh and knocked from his horse. Now both principal leaders of the expedition were injured or unhorsed, and their men were tired, thirsty, and exhausting their ammunition. A few surrendered or were captured; some now broke formation and ran forward toward Lexington. In the words of one British officer, "we began to run rather than retreat in order ... the officers got to the front and presented their bayonets, and told the men if they advanced they should die. Upon this, they began to form up under heavy fire." then heard cheering further ahead. A full brigade, about 1,000 men with artillery under the command of Earl Percy, had arrived to rescue them. Percy assumed control of the combined forces of about 1,700 men and let them rest, eat, drink, and have their wounds tended at field headquarters before resuming the march.
A few mounted militiamen on the road would dismount, fire muskets at the approaching regulars, then remount and gallop ahead to repeat the tactic. The unmounted militia would often fire from long range, in the hope of hitting somebody in the main column of soldiers on the road and surviving, since both British and colonials used muskets with an effective combat range of about 50 yards. The fighting grew more intense. Fresh militia poured gunfire into the British ranks from a distance, and individual homeowners began to fight from their own property. Some homes were also used as sniper positions, turning the situation into a soldier's nightmare: house-to-house fighting. Jason Russell pleaded for his friends to fight alongside him to defend his house by saying, "An Englishman's home is his castle." (note that colonists still considered themselves British and English) He stayed and was killed in his doorway. His friends, depending on which account is to be believed, either hid in the cellar or died in the house from bullets and bayonets after shooting at the soldiers who followed them in. The Jason Russell House still stands and contains bullet holes from this fight. A militia unit that attempted an ambush from Russell's orchard was caught by flankers, and eleven men were killed, some allegedly after they had surrendered. Percy lost control of his men, and many regulars began to commit atrocities to repay for their own casualties at the hands of a distant, often unseen enemy. Although many of the accounts of ransacking and burnings were exaggerated later by the colonists for propaganda value (and to get financial compensation from the colonial government), it is certainly true that taverns along the road were ransacked and the liquor stolen by the troops, who in some cases became drunk themselves. One church's communion silver was stolen. 78 year old colonist Samuel Whittemore killed three regulars before he was attacked by a British contingent and left for dead. (He recovered from his wounds and later died in 1793 at age 98.) All told, far more blood was shed in Menotomy and Cambridge than elsewhere that day. The colonists lost 25 men killed and nine wounded there, and the British lost 40 killed and 80 wounded.
The militia now numbered about 4,000. The regulars took up strong positions on the hills of Charlestown. Some of them had been without sleep for two days and had marched 40 miles in 21 hours, eight hours of which had been spent under fire. But now they held high ground protected by heavy guns from HMS Somerset. General Heath studied the position of the British Army and decided to withdraw the militia to Cambridge. In the morning, Boston was surrounded by a huge militia army, numbering over 15,000, which had marched from throughout New England. Unlike the Powder Alarm, the rumors of spilled blood were true, and the Revolutionary War had begun.
The issue of which side was to blame grew during the early nineteenth century. For example, older participants' testimony in later life about Lexington and Concord differed greatly from their depositions taken under oath in 1775. All now said the British fired first at Lexington, whereas fifty or so years before, they weren't sure. All now said they fired back, but in 1775, they said few were able to. The "Battle" took on an almost mythical quality in the American consciousness. Legend became more important than truth. A complete shift occurred, and the Patriots were portrayed as actively fighting for their cause, rather than as suffering innocents.
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga - May, 1775
On May 10, 1775, Benedict Arnold joined Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont in a dawn attack on the fort, surprising and capturing the sleeping British garrison. Although it was a small-scale conflict, the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War, and would give the Continental Army much-needed artillery to be used in future battles.
Battle of Bunker Hill - June 1775
New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular city of Boston, Massachusetts Bay. It became known as the Siege of Boston.
The Second Continental Congress agreed to adopt these militiamen into the Continental Army . They appointed George Washington as Commander in Chief.
After a month trapped in the city the British were planning to send troops out from the city to fortify the unoccupied hills surrounding the city, which would give them control of Boston Harbor. In response, 1,200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott stealthily occupied Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill.
British became aware of the presence of colonial forces on the Peninsula and mounted an attack against them that day. Two assaults on the colonial positions were repulsed with significant British casualties; the third and final attack carried the redoubt after the defenders ran out of ammunition. "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes", such that the rebel troops may shoot at the enemy at shorter ranges, and therefore more accurately and lethally, and so conserve their limited stocks of ammunition. The colonists, including over 100 African Americans, retreated over Bunker Hill, leaving the British in control of the Peninsula.
It proved to be a sobering experience for the British as they incurred many more casualties than the Americans had sustained, including many officers. The battle had demonstrated that inexperienced militia were able to stand up to regular army troops in battle. Subsequently, the battle discouraged the British from any further frontal attacks against well defended front lines.
This costly British victory helped shape the early course of the war by proving that intimidating force alone would not bring about victory. It also proved that there was no going back: the war would be a long one with no immediate diplomatic solution. The British abandoned Boston after eleven months and transferred their troops and equipment to Nova Scotia.
Aftermath
After the Patriot victory at Concord, moderates in Congress led by John Dickinson drafted the Olive Branch Petition, offering to accept royal authority in return for George III mediating in the dispute. However, since it was immediately followed by the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, Colonial Secretary Dartmouth viewed the offer as insincere; he refused to present the petition to the king, which was therefore rejected in early September. Although constitutionally correct, since George could not oppose his own government, it disappointed those Americans who hoped he would mediate in the dispute, while the hostility of his language annoyed even Loyalist members of Congress. Estimates of numbers vary, one suggestion being the population as a whole was split evenly between committed Patriots, committed Loyalists and those who were indifferent. Others calculate the spilt as 40% Patriot, 40% neutral, 20% Loyalist, but with considerable regional variations.
After Boston, Gage halted operations and awaited reinforcements; the Irish Parliament approved the recruitment of new regiments, while allowing Catholics to enlist for the first time. Britain also signed a series of treaties with German states to supply additional troops. Within a year it had an army of over 32,000 men in America, the largest ever sent outside Europe at the time.
Common Sense
Thomas Paine, who lived in Britain for most of his life, began writing Common Sense in Philadelphia newspapers in late 1775.
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general Favor; a long Habit of not thinking a Thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of Custom. But the Tumult soon subsides. Time makes more Converts than Reason."
"One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion."
"England, since the conquest, has known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath as much larger number of bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French bastard, landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
They say, they will never attempt it again is idle and visionary, we thought so at the repeal of the stamp act, yet a year or two undeceived us; as well may we suppose that nations, which have been once defeated, will never renew the quarrel. It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of present sorrow; the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But let our imaginations transport us a few moments to Boston; that seat of wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us for ever to renounce a power in whom we can have no trust. The inhabitants of that unfortunate city who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have now no other alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by the fire of their friends if they continue within the city and plundered by the soldiery if they leave it, in their present situation they are prisoners without the hope of redemption, and in a general attack for their relief they would be exposed to the fury of both armies.
But she has protected us, say some. That she hath engrossed us is true, and defended the Continent at our expense as well as her own, is admitted; and she would have defended Turkey from the same motive, viz. — for the sake of trade and dominion. Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavored to subdue us, is of all others, the most improper to defend us.”
Alas! we have been long led away by ancient prejudices and made large sacrifices to superstition. We have boasted the protection of Great Britain, without considering, that her motive was INTEREST not ATTACHMENT; and that she did not protect us from OUR ENEMIES on OUR ACCOUNT; but from HER ENEMIES on HER OWN ACCOUNT, from those who had no quarrel with us on any OTHER ACCOUNT, and who will always be our enemies on the SAME ACCOUNT. Let Britain waive her pretensions to the Continent, or the Continent throw off the dependence, and we should be at peace with France and Spain, were they at war with Britain. The miseries of Hanover last war ought to warn us against connections.
America is only a secondary object in the system of British politics, England consults the good of this country, no farther than it answers her own purpose. Wherefore, her own interest leads her to suppress the growth of ours. I make the sufferers case my own, and I protest, that were I driven from house and home, my property destroyed, and my circumstances ruined, that as a man, sensible of injuries, I could never relish the doctrine of reconciliation, or consider myself bound thereby.
The republics of Europe are all (and we may say always) in peace. Holland and Swisserland are without wars, foreign or domestic: Monarchical governments, it is true, are never long at rest; the crown itself is a temptation to enterprizing ruffians at home; and that degree of pride and insolence ever attendant on regal authority, swells into a rupture with foreign powers, in instances, where a republican government, by being formed on more natural principles, would negotiate the mistake.
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer..."
His words spread like wildfire across the colonies and he convinced many, many people.
Battle of Quebec - December 1775
A series of American victories along the waterways from Lake Champlain into Canada ended at Quebec. Had Americans seized the city, the entire northern theater of the war would have been different.
In 1775, Lord Dunmore's proclamation was issued that promised freedom to any slaves that fled their masters and joined Patriot lines. These escaped slaves were called Black Loyalists. The Crown gave them land grants and supplies to help them resettle in Nova Scotia. Thousands of enslaved people escaped from plantations and fled to British lines, especially after British occupation of Charleston, South Carolina. While most Black Loyalists gained freedom, some did not. Those who were recaptured by slave traders were sold back into slavery and treated harshly for having served under the British.
Declaration of Independence - July 4th, 1776
Influence
John Locke, Hobbes, Netherlands & Switzerland's peaceful anti-monarchy
Construction
Congress ordered that the
draft "lie on the table" and then methodically edited Jefferson's
primary document for the next two days, shortening it by a fourth. They removed
Jefferson's assertion that King George III had forced slavery onto the colonies, in
order to moderate the document and appease those in South Carolina and Georgia,
both states which had significant involvement in the slave trade.
It was signed by 8 men born in the British Isles. 8/56. 14%
Publication
After Congress approved the
final wording of the Declaration on July 4, a handwritten copy was sent a few
blocks away to the printing shop. Through the night, Dunlap printed about 200
copies for distribution. Soon, it was being read to audiences and
reprinted in newspapers throughout the 13 states. The first formal public
readings of the document took place on July 8, in Philadelphia. A German translation of the
Declaration was published in Philadelphia the next day.
Publicity
President of Congress John Hancock sent a copy to General George
Washington, instructing him to have it proclaimed "at the Head of the Army
in the way you shall think it most proper". Washington had the Declaration read to his troops in New
York City on July 9, with thousands of British troops on ships in the
harbor. Washington and Congress hoped that the Declaration would inspire the
soldiers, and encourage others to join the army. After hearing the
Declaration, crowds in many cities tore down and destroyed signs or statues
representing royal authority. An equestrian statue of King George in New York
City was pulled down and the lead used to make musket balls.
Criticism
British Tories denounced the
signers of the Declaration for not applying the same principles of "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to African Americans. Thomas Hutchinson, the former
royal governor of Massachusetts, also published a rebuttal. These
pamphlets challenged various aspects of the Declaration. Hutchinson argued that
the American Revolution was the work of a few conspirators who wanted
independence from the outset, and who had finally achieved it by inducing
otherwise loyal colonists to rebel. Both pamphlets questioned
how the American slaveholders in Congress could proclaim that "all men are
created equal" without freeing their own slaves.
Jefferson himself was a
prominent Virginia slaveowner, owning six hundred enslaved Africans on
his Monticello plantation. Referring to this contradiction, English
abolitionist Thomas Day wrote in a 1776 letter, "If there be an object
truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of
independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his
affrighted slaves.”
Reaction
William Whipple, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who
had fought in the war, freed his slave Prince Whipple because of his
revolutionary ideals. In the postwar decades, other slaveholders also freed
their slaves; from 1790 to 1810, the percentage of free blacks in the Upper
South increased to 8.3 percent from less than one percent of the black
population. Northern
states began abolishing slavery shortly after the war for Independence began,
and all had abolished slavery by 1804.
Later in 1776, a group of 547 Loyalists, largely from New
York, signed a Declaration of Dependence pledging their loyalty to the Crown.
The hope and excitement spawned by the Declaration of Independence, announced just four months earlier, with Franklin among the signers, had been replaced by the dread of impending defeat in the face of the overwhelming military power of the British army. Franklin knew his mission was straightforward, if not simple. He would use his intellect, charm, wit, and experience to convince France to join the war on the side of the fledgling United States of America.
Trenton - December 1776
Crossing of the Delaware River
Washington's army was shrinking because of expiring enlistments and desertions, and suffered from poor morale because of the defeats in the New York area. Washington's army was camped next to the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.
On the day after Christmas, Washington planned a surprise attack across the Delaware River. The Icey waters, slow moving boats and openness was a huge risk.
Washington had ordered both generals to join him, but Gates was delayed by heavy snows en route, and Lee, who did not have a high opinion of Washington, delayed following repeated orders. Other problems affected the quantity and quality of his forces. Many of his men's enlistments were due to expire at the end of the year, and many soldiers were inclined to leave the army when their commission ended. Several deserted before their enlistments were completed. The pending loss of forces, the series of lost battles, the loss of New York, the flight of the Army along with many New Yorkers and the Second Continental Congress to Philadelphia, left many in doubt about the prospects of winning the war.
General Washington ordered that a page from Thomas Paine's Common Sense to be read to all of his troops.
"These are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."
It encouraged the soldiers and improved the tolerance of their difficult conditions. With these reinforcements and smaller numbers of local volunteers who joined his forces, Washington's forces now totaled about 6,000 troops fit for duty. This improvement in morale was aided by the arrival of some provisions, including much-needed blankets, on December 24.
Washington's plan required the crossing to begin as soon as it was dark enough to conceal their movements on the river, but most of the troops did not reach the crossing point until about 6 pm, about ninety minutes after sunset. The weather got progressively worse, turning from drizzle to rain to sleet and snow. In addition to the crossing of large numbers of troops (most of whom could not swim), he had to safely transport horses and eighteen pieces of artillery over the river. The crossing was accomplished with significant danger was floating ice in the river.
At 4:00 am, the soldiers began to march towards Trenton. The ground was slippery, but it was level, making it easier for the horses and artillery. As they marched, Washington rode up and down the line, encouraging the men to continue. General Sullivan sent a courier to tell Washington that the weather was wetting his men's gunpowder. Washington replied, "Tell General Sullivan to use the bayonet. I am resolved to take Trenton.
Outside Trenton, the main columns reunited with the advance parties. They were startled by the sudden appearance of 50 armed men, but they were American. Led by Adam Stephen, they had not known about the plan to attack Trenton and had attacked a Hessian outpost. Washington feared the Hessians would have been put on guard, and shouted at Stephen, "You sir! You Sir, may have ruined all my plans by having them put on their guard."
At 8 am, the outpost was set up by the Hessians at a cooper shop on Pennington Road about one mile northwest of Trenton. Washington led the assault, riding in front of his soldiers. As the Hessian commander of the outpost, Lieutenant Andreas Wiederholdt, left the shop, an American fired at him but missed. Wiederholdt immediately shouted, "Der Feind!" (The Enemy!) and other Hessians came out. The Americans fired three volleys, and the Hessians returned one of their own. Washington ordered Edward Hand's Pennsylvania Riflemen and a battalion of German-speaking infantry to block the road that led to Princeton. They attacked the Hessian outpost there. Wiederholdt soon realized that this was more than a raiding party; seeing other Hessians retreating from the outpost. Both Hessian detachments made organized retreats, firing as they fell back. Once in Trenton, they gained covering fire from other Hessian guard companies on the outskirts of the town.
The Hessian forces lost 22 killed in action, including their commander Colonel Johann Rall, 83 wounded, and 896 captured–including the wounded. The Americans suffered only two deaths during the march and five wounded from battle, including a near-fatal shoulder wound to future president James Monroe.
The British army’s dramatic success in New York and New Jersey in 1776 was, arguably, predictable given its overwhelming size and skill. The sudden defeat at Trenton and the ten days of chaos that followed was not expected, and preserved American military will.
First American Flag - 1777
Vermont makes slavery illegal
Saratoga/Valley Forge - October 1777
The British Army tried to co-ordinate a pincer move from the occupied New York and from Canada. They hoped to split the forces. The British Army in Canada began marching south but the Army in New York went for glory and headed south to capture the capital of Philadelphia.
The British captured the capital of Philadelphia and the Americans retreated to Valley Forge where they camped for the winter. They struggled to manage a disastrous supply crisis while retraining and reorganizing their units. About 1,700 to 2,000 soldiers died from disease, possibly exacerbated by malnutrition. Despite the harsh conditions, Valley Forge is sometimes called the birthplace of the American army because, by June of 1778, the weary troops emerged with a rejuvenated spirit and confidence as a well-trained fighting force. Much of the credit goes to former Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm Baron von Steuben. At the time, the Prussian Army was widely regarded as one of the best in Europe, and von Steuben had a sharp military mind. Von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge on February 23, 1778. General George Washington, impressed by his acumen, soon appointed von Steuben temporary inspector general. In his role, von Steuben set standards for camp layout, sanitation and conduct. For instance, he demanded that latrines be placed, facing downhill, on the opposite side of camp as the kitchens. More importantly, he became the Continental Army’s chief drillmaster. Von Steuben, who spoke little English, ran the troops through a gamut of intense Prussian-style drills. He taught them to efficiently load, fire and reload weapons, charge with bayonets and march in compact columns of four instead of miles-long single file lines.
The British Forces were left stranded and lacking support and the American Officers Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates claimed a famous victory in Saratoga. The surrender of a British army encouraged France to openly join the conflict. France didn't want to join the war unless it seemed winnable. As a consequence of losing the battle at Saratoga, the British could not hold Philadelphia and ultimately had to abandon it. This was a huge step backward for the British.
Medical Tactics
George Washington's military genius is undisputed. Yet American independence must be partially attributed to a strategy for which history has given the infamous general little credit: his controversial medical actions. Traditionally, the Battle of Saratoga is credited with tipping the revolutionary scales. Yet the health of the Continental regulars involved in battle was a product of the ambitious initiative Washington began earlier that year at Morristown, close on the heels of the victorious Battle of Princeton. Among the Continental regulars in the American Revolution, 90 percent of deaths were caused by disease, and Variola the small pox virus was the most vicious of them all.
On the 6th of January 1777, George Washington wrote to Dr. William Shippen Jr., ordering him to inoculate all of the forces that came through Philadelphia. He explained that: "Necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure, for should the disorder infect the Army . . . we should have more to dread from it, than from the Sword of the Enemy." The urgency was real. Troops were scarce and encampments had turned into nomadic hospitals of festering disease, deterring further recruitment. Both Benedict Arnold and Benjamin Franklin, after surveying the havoc wreaked by Variola in the Canadian campaign, expressed fears that the virus would be the army's ultimate downfall.
At the time, the practice of infecting the individual with a less-deadly form of the disease was widespread throughout Europe. Most British troops were immune to Variola, giving them an enormous advantage against the vulnerable colonists. Conversely, the history of inoculation in America was pocked by the fear of the contamination potential of the process. Such fears led the Continental Congress to issue a proclamation in 1776 prohibiting Surgeons of the Army to inoculate.
Washington suspected the only available recourse was inoculation, yet contagion risks aside, he knew that a mass inoculation put the entire army in a precarious position should the British hear of his plans. Moreover, Historians estimate that less than a quarter of the Continental Army had ever had the virus; inoculating the remaining three quarters and every new recruit must have seemed daunting. Yet the high prevalence of disease among the army regulars was a significant deterrent to desperately needed recruits, and a dramatic reform was needed to allay their fears.
Weighing the risks, on February 5th of 1777, Washington finally committed to the unpopular policy of mass inoculation by writing to inform Congress of his plan. Throughout February, Washington, with no precedent for the operation he was about to undertake, covertly communicated to his commanding officers orders to oversee mass inoculations of their troops in the model of Morristown and Philadelphia. At least eleven hospitals had been constructed by the year's end.
Variola raged throughout the war, devastating the Native American population and slaves who had chosen to fight for the British in exchange for freedom. Yet the isolated infections that sprung up among Continental regulars during the southern campaign failed to incapacitate a single regiment. With few surgeons, fewer medical supplies, and no experience, Washington conducted the first mass inoculation of an army at the height of a war that immeasurably transformed the international system. Defeating the British was impressive, but simultaneously taking on Variola was a risky stroke of genius.
Benjamin Franklin & the French (Part Deux)
Franklin’s popularity, persuasive powers, and a key American battlefield victory were crucial factors that led France to join the war in 1778.
France provided the money, troops, armament, military leadership, and naval support that tipped the balance of military power in favor of the United States.
On February 6, 1778, France and the United States signed the Treaty of Alliance. The French viewed the war as an opportunity to weaken Britain. Many Americans opposed a French alliance, fearing to "exchange one tyranny for another", but this changed after a series of military setbacks in early 1776.
To encourage French participation in the struggle for independence, the US promised promotion and command positions to any French officer who joined the Continental Army. One outstanding Officer was Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, whom Congress appointed a major General. In addition to his military ability, Lafayette showed considerable political skill in building support for Washington among his officers and within Congress, liaising with French army and naval commanders, and promoting the Patriot cause in France. 17 American Counties and over 70 American cities are named after him.
Rhode Island - August 1778
This failed American campaign, often overlooked as insignificant, not only stopped American military momentum gained from Saratoga and the recovery of Philadelphia, it showed that alliance with France would not bring a speedy end to the war. The northern theater remained in a stalemate for the rest of the war.
Internal Conflict
Washington's Aides-de-Camp was a group of men very close and trusted to Washington who he could rely on. One of these men to join Washington was 20 year old Alexander Hamilton.
When things were good things were good but when things were bad, some blamed Washington. One general named Charles Lee began complaining about Washington and Washington released him from his service. This didn't stop the general from complaining and blaming. Men close to Washington were angered by this and demanded action. Washington told them that it's a distraction and they need to focus on beating the British.
However, John Laurens challenged Charles Lee to a duel. This was seen as childish and uncivilized to many.
10 Rules of Dueling
1.) Issue the challenge, if they apologize, no need to continue
2.) Find a friend to act as mediator between both of you. Talk is over. Charles Lee brought his friend Major Edwards, while Laurens brought Alexander Hamilton.
3.) Have your friends meet and negotiate. If they can't be convinced, choose a spot. Which was agreed to be in the woods.
4.) Find a doctor to be present. Have him turn his back so he has deniability.
5.) Have the duel in the early morning.
6.) Say your goodbyes, organize your estate, write love letters & goodbye letters
7.) Pray and give last confessions
8.) Last chance for your friends to negotiate.
9.) Look your opponent in the eye and aim no higher.
10.) Ten paces then fire.
They approached each other within about five or six paces and exchanged a shot almost at the same moment. As Col Laurens was preparing for a second discharge, General Lee declared himself wounded. Col Laurens, as if apprehending the wound to be more serious than it proved advanced towards the general to offer his support. The same was done by Col Hamilton and Major Edwards under a similar apprehension. General Lee then said the wound was inconsiderable, less than he had imagined at the first stroke of the Ball, and proposed to fire a second time. This was warmly opposed both by Col Hamilton and Major Edwards, who declared it to be their opinion, that the affair should terminate as it then stood. But General Lee repeated his desire, that there should be a second discharge and Col Laurens agreed to the proposal. Col Hamilton observed, that unless the General was influenced by motives of personal enmity, he did not think the affair ought to be persued any further; but as General Lee seemed to persist in desiring it, he was too tender of his friend’s honor to persist in opposing it. The combat was then going to be renewed; but Major Edwards again declaring his opinion, that the affair ought to end where it was, General Lee then expressed his confidence in the honor of the Gentlemen concerned as seconds, and said he should be willing to comply with whatever they should cooly and deliberately determine. Col. Laurens consented to the same.
Col Hamilton and Major Edwards withdrew and conversing awhile on the subject, still concurred fully in opinion that for the most cogent reasons, the affair should terminate as it was then circumstanced. This decision was communicated to the parties and agreed to by them, upon which they immediately returned to Town; General Lee slightly wounded in the right side.
During the interview a conversation to the following purport past between General Lee and Col Laurens—On Col Hamilton’s intimating the idea of personal enmity, as beforementioned, General Lee declared he had none, and had only met Col. Laurens to defend his own honor—that Mr. Laurens best knew whether there was any on his part. Col Laurens replied, that General Lee was acquainted with the motives, that had brought him there, which were that he had been informed from what he thought good authority, that General Lee had spoken of General Washington in the grossest and most opprobrious terms of personal abuse, which He Col Laurens thought himself bound to resent, as well on account of the relation he bore to General Washington as from motives of personal friendship, and respect for his character. General Lee acknowleged that he had given his opinion against General Washingtons military character to his particular friends and might perhaps do it again. He said every man had a right to give his sentiments freely of military characters, and that he did not think himself personally accountable to Col Laurens for what he had done in that respect. But said he never had spoken of General Washington in the terms mentioned, which he could not have done; as well because he had always esteemed General Washington as a man, as because such abuse would be incompatible with the character, he would ever wish to sustain as a Gentleman.
Upon the whole we think it a piece of justice to the two Gentlemen to declare, that after they met their conduct was strongly marked with all the politeness generosity coolness and firmness, that ought to characterise a transaction of this nature.
Alex Hamilton
Spain Joins - 1779
Seeing a chance to get one over on Britain, their rivals, The Spanish joined France in the war, implementing the Treaty of Aranjuez signed in April 1779.
Betrayal of Benedict Arnold
From the first, he distinguished himself as one of New Haven’s more vocal and combative patriots. On hearing of the Boston Massacre, he thundered, “Good God, are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their glorious liberties?” When in April 1775 he learned of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, he seized a portion of New Haven’s gunpowder supply and marched north with a company of volunteers. He lead an expedition to capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York State and its 80 or more cannons. The American Revolution as it actually unfolded was so troubling and strange that once the struggle was over, a generation did its best to remove all traces of the truth. Although it later became convenient to portray Arnold as a conniving Satan from the start, the truth is more complex and, ultimately, more disturbing. Without the discovery of his treason in the fall of 1780, the American people might never have been forced to realize that the real threat to their liberties came not from without, but from within.
In 1778, the Patriots retook Philadelphia. The Philadelphia aristocracy went from hanging out with British officers to hanging out with Benedict Arnold and American Officers. This outraged the general public. Arnold had been shot in the thigh and was still recovering so Washington named him as the Military Governor of Philadelphia. Arnold had lost a lot of his own personal fortune during the war and saw the Philadelphia aristocracy as an opportunity to build his own fortunes back up.
Arnold also fell in love with a rich man's daughter. Her family were also loyalists and didn't approve of the trouble making rebels. Arnold received a lot of criticism. Arnold’s financial dealings in Philadelphia had failed to yield the anticipated returns. Becoming a land baron in New York might be the way to acquire the wealth and prestige that he had always craved and that Peggy and her family expected.
Arnold had decided to journey to New York, stopping to visit Washington at his headquarters in New Jersey. Fearing that Arnold might escape to New York before he could be brought to justice for his sins in Philadelphia, a lawyer hurriedly put together a list of eight charges, most of them based on rumor. Washington had refused to take sides in the dispute between Philadelphia’s radicals and conservatives. It’s likely that Washington had heard at least some version of the claim, and just as likely that he took the charges against Arnold with a grain of salt. Still, Reed’s position on the Supreme Executive Council required that Washington accord him more civility than he probably deserved. Harassed by Lawyers, carrying a frightening burden of debt, Arnold nonetheless had the satisfaction of marrying the woman that he loved. Arnold began to realize that he was, in fact, in serious trouble.
If the last nine months had taught him anything, it was that the country to which he had given everything but his life could easily fall apart. Instead of a national government, Congress had become a façade behind which 13 states did whatever was best for each of them. Arnold had begun to believe that the experiment in independence had failed. And as far as he could tell, the British had a higher regard for his abilities than his own country did. That February, the Royal Gazette had referred sympathetically to his plight in Philadelphia: “General Arnold heretofore had been styled another Hannibal, but losing a leg in the service of the Congress, the latter considering him unfit for any further exercise of his military talents, permit him thus to fall into the unmerciful fangs of the executive council of Pennsylvania.” Perhaps the time was right for him to offer his services to the British.
Arnold's new wife regarded the Revolution as a disaster from the start. Not only had it initially forced her family to flee from Philadelphia; it had reduced her beloved father to a cringing parody of his former self. With her ever-growing attachment to Arnold fueling her outrage, she had come to despise the revolutionary government that was now trying to destroy her husband. Arnold still felt a genuine loyalty to Washington. On May 5, Arnold wrote his commander what can only be described as a hysterical letter. “Having made every sacrifice of fortune and blood, and become a cripple in the service of my country, I little expected to meet the ungrateful returns I have received of my countrymen, but as Congress have stamped ingratitude as a current coin I must take it. I wish your Excellency for your long and eminent services may not be paid of in the same coin.” Money was also a motivator for Arnold. If he handled the negotiations correctly, turning traitor could be extremely lucrative. Not only would he be able to walk away from his current financial obligations, he might command a figure from the British that would make him independently wealthy for life.
So Benedict Arnold surrendered his troops to the British and betrayed the Patriots for money, his wife and to avoid unjust charges.
New Hampshire makes slavery illegal
Kings Mountain, South Carolina - October 1780
The annihilation of loyalist militia on the South Carolina frontier forced the British to revise their southern strategy and demonstrated that their overextended forces could be defeated in detail.
Cowpens, South Carolina - January, 1781
This sudden defeat of a substantial British force stopped British offensive momentum in the south and renewed the spirits of American forces, initiating the campaign that brought the war to an end.
Battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina - March, 1781
The battle was "the largest and most hotly contested action" in the American Revolution's southern theater. Before the battle, the British had great success in conquering much of Georgia and South Carolina with the aid of strong Loyalist factions and thought that North Carolina might be within their grasp. In fact, the British were in the process of heavy recruitment in North Carolina when this battle put an end to their recruiting drive.
In the wake of the battle, Greene moved into South Carolina, while Cornwallis chose to march into Virginia and attempt to link with roughly 3,500 men under British Major General Phillips and American turncoat Benedict Arnold. These decisions allowed Greene to unravel British control of the South, while leading Cornwallis to Yorktown, where he eventually surrendered to General George Washington and French Lieutenant General Comte de Rochambeau.
Siege of Yorktown, Virginia - October, 1781
Not a pitched battle but a protracted siege that ended in the surrender of a substantial British army, this operation was the zenith of French-American cooperation and the end of major British military operations in America.
1782- Martin Van Buren born
In the closing days of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette wrote his old commander George Washington suggesting an experiment. The two would purchase land where Washington's enslaved laborers would then work as free tenants. Lafayette believed that Washington's participation in the project would help to "render it a general practice." Lafayette hoped that his plan would prove successful in the United States and then spread out into the West Indies.
Lafayette expressed the passionate sentiment that "If it be a wild scheme, I had rather be mad in this way, than to be thought wise in the other task."1 Washington responded warmly to the idea but preferred to discuss the details in person, explaining: "The scheme...which you propose as a precedent, to encourage the emancipation of the black people of this Country from that state of Bondage in wch. they are held, is a striking evidence of the benevolence of your Heart. I shall be happy to join you in so laudable a work; but will defer going into a detail of the business, 'till I have the pleasure of seeing you."
By June of 1785, Lafayette was ready to begin the experiment, ordering his attorney to purchase a plantation in French Guiana with the proviso that none of the enslaved people on the plantation be sold or exchanged. Lafayette informed Washington in February of 1786 that he had secretly acquired an estate "in order to Make that Experiment which you know is my Hobby Horse."
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