Category: Revolutionary War

Born a British citizen and a former Redcoat, George Washington had, by the 1770s, joined the growing ranks of colonists who were dismayed by Britain’s exploitative policies in North America.

In 1774, Washington joined the Continental Congress as a delegate from Virginia.

State representatives of the Continental Congress did not really want a national army, but the clashes at Concord and Lexington changed their minds. On June 15, 1775, Congress appointed George Washington commander-in-chief. (You can see an actual recruiting poster above.)

Washington had been managing his family’s plantation and serving in the Virginia House of Burgesses when the second Continental Congress unanimously voted him to lead the Revolutionary Army.Washington had been battle-tested veteran in the French and Indian War. His courage and leadership were well established. But in the summer of 1775 there was no American army and there were few men to be found with experience in battle.

On July 3, 1775, Washington officially took command of the poorly trained and under-supplied Continental Army. Somehow, Washington managed to forge a military force that defeated one of the most disciplined and well-trained armies in the world.

The Continental Army was a mixed bag of diversity: Germans, Dutch, Scottish, and Irish, as well as English volunteers took up arms. As many as 10% were African Americans: one Rhode Island regiment was over 50% black.Many Native Americans supported their neighbors. Some volunteered as Minutemen even before fighting broke out. When it did, Native Americans joined the Siege of Boston, and served in New York, New Jersey, Canada and elsewhere.

After six years of struggle and despite frequent setbacks, Washington managed to lead the American army to key victories forcing Great Britain to eventually surrender in 1781. General Washington with a kind of persistence required for the task, never relented, even when it all seemed so impossible.

When Washington stepped down as Commanding General in 1783, he wrote: “The unparalleled perseverance of the armies of the United States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle.”

 

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Even in the 1700’s women could be patriots and heroines. There are numerous accounts of brave women who nobly and courageously performed their patriotic duty during the American Revolution.

Here is the story of one such woman of South Carolina, Emily Geiger.

General Nathaniel Greene had retreated before Lord Rawdon who had divided his forces.. When Greene passed the Broad River, he wanted to send an order to General Thomas Sumter to join him so they could go on the attack against Lord Rawdon. But it seemed General Greene couldn’t find a man with the boldness to take on this mission and the danger involved.  The areas he traveled through was full of bloodthirsty Tories, eager to take out the Whigs  Finally, a teenage girl named Emily Geiger went to self to General Greene to offer her services a his messenger.

Why would a young girl be willing to put her life in danger for the cause? Her father John was not well enough to serve on the battlefield and so she wanted to serve her country in any way she could.

The general, surprised but delighted, agreed to let take on the mission of going past enemy lines to deliver a message. He  wrote a letter and gave it to her, telling  her about the contents just in case of an accident or capture.

Emily rode sidesaddle on horseback, traveling under the guise of taking a trip to her uncle’s house many miles away.

On the second day of her ride, Lord Rawdon’s scouts stopped her near the Congaree River. Emily who could not tell a lie without blushing, and was coming from the direction of Green’s army, was immediately held under suspicion and confined to a small room the size of a shed.        

The officer sent for an old Tory matron to search her for papers. Emily knew immediately she should destroy the letter, but didn’t know what to do with the pieces.

But as soon as the door closed, she started to eat the pieces of the letter, and got them all down before the matron Mrs. Hogabook arrived. After carefully searching Emily, the matron found nothing. The officer apologized for the error and allowed her to leave, even giving her an escort to her uncle’s house.

The next day, Emily set off taking a route that would avoid interception and soon arrived safely at Sumter’s camp. Emily delivered Greene’s verbal message, and how she had been stopped by the enemy scouts  Sumpter immediately went to join Greene and the main army at Orangeburgh.

Job well done, young and brave Patriot Emily, for helping make America free!

 

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Most Americans think about the fight for independence and sacrifices made by our Founders on the 4th of July. It’s summertime and the weather is usually hot while we are vacationing and visiting Independence Hall or Boston. But the story of the American Revolution is best told in the freezing days of winter.

“The oldest people now living in the country do not remember so hard a winter.”  

Those are the words of General George Washington, written as he and over 7000 patriots were holed up In January 1780.  Washington had decided to place his army at Morristown, New Jersey for the winter. When they arrived at the site in November 1779 there was already a foot of snow on the ground.  The temperature only made it above freezing a couple times. But that was before the blizzard struck in the new year.  As it did, James Thacher wrote in his journal:

“No man could endure its violence many minutes without danger of his life.” If a tent blew down, soldiers were “buried like sheep under the snow…almost smothered in the storm.”It was impossible to get supplies. George Washington wrote in a letter dated January 8.  “…the Troops, both Officers and Men, have been almost perishing for want.”

One might think this was Valley Forge, but it was a two-year old memory at this point. No, this was Morristown and it was much worse. Major General Johann de Kalb was there and wrote:

“Those who have only been in Valley Forge and Middlebrook during the last two winters, but have not tasted the cruelties of this one, know not what it is to suffer.”Private Martin was also there:

“We were absolutely, literally starved. I do solemnly declare that I did not put a single morsel of victuals into my mouth for four days and as many nights, except a little black birch bark which I gnawed off a stick of wood.”

That winter of 1780 was so severe that the waters around New York City completely froze and closed down navigation for several weeks (the only time in recorded American history that this has occurred).

Officers remembered ink freezing in their quill pens and one surgeon recorded:

“we experienced one of the most tremendous snowstorms ever remembered; no man could endure its violence many minutes without danger to his life. … When the storm subsided, the snow was from four to six feet deep, obscuring the very traces of the roads by covering fences that lined them.”

The cold and lack of food went on for months. Yet despite such severe hardships, men like these, the truest of Patriots, kept on for three more years. Private Martin said of those men:“They were truly patriotic, they loved their country, and they had already suffered everything short of death in its cause.”If they had not, the liberties they forged may never have spread across our land.

 

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What comes to mind when you think of the American War of Independence? Paul Revere and Lexington? Bunker Hill? Washington crossing the Delaware? Northern states are rightly proud of these spots and more. But did you know the British campaign in the South was in fact the final turning point in the war?The British forces had failed to crush the rebellion up north, so they decided to retake Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.At first they scored big.  They knocked down three American armies, as they captured Savannah and Charleston. The Parliament were cheerful. Lord George Germain announced that the Southern victories meant a “speedy and happy termination of the American war.”The British had a lot of early success in the North, too. But hold on. They were about to find out how a determined militia could mess up their plan.Southern guerrillas came out from the South Carolina swamps and forests, ambushing the Redcoats left and right. In no time this so called “pacified” territory was declared by British high command to be “in an absolute state of rebellion.” And it got worse for the Brits. Southern militia and back-country riflemen wiped out an army of 1,000 at Kings Mountain, South Carolina.British General Cornwallis then figured he’d better march an army of over 4,000 to North Carolina and end this once and for all. But American General Greene was not about to let that happen. So he led him on a merry chase, stopping for battles at Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse, exhausting Cornwallis and inflicting savage losses on his troops.Cornwallis decided he’d have better luck in Virginia, but is was not meant to be. In Yorktown, Virginia, Cornwallis finally surrendered to George Washington on October 17, 1781. (Depicted in image above.) Americans have held onto their arms ever since.

 

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13 Star American Flag	Dont Tread on Me Flag
Culpeper Minute Men Flag	George Washington & Thomas Jefferson Quote Flag

     

There were plenty of courageous and intelligent women who served and fought for independence during the American Revolutionary War. These” Daughters of Liberty” did more than their share to help win America’s freedom. Here’s a story of another who played a significant role.

Abigail Adams is best known as the wife of our second President of the United States John Adams, the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, and for for her extensive correspondence.  

Abigail Adams was the wife of American Patriot and Founding Father John Adams. John Adams was known to be cranky, ill-tempered, and just plain grumpy at times.  But he probably would have been a lot grumpier without the care and support of Abigail, his wife of fifty-four years, who he called his “Portia”. (If you’ve ever read William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, then you know that Portia is the beautiful and smart heroine of the play.)

In 1775 the Massachusetts Colony General Court appointed Abigail Adams, Mercy Warren, and the governor’s wife, Hannah Winthrop, to question fellow Massachusetts women who pledged by their word or deed to remain loyal to the British crown and worked against the independence movement.  

John Adams wrote to his wife saying, “you are now a politician and now elected into important office, that of judges of Tory ladies…As the Second Continental Congress was debating the Declaration of Independence, Abigail wrote in her letters to John her argument that now, with the a new form of government, it was the perfect time to start the effort to make the legal status of women equal to that of men.Abigail remained in Braintree to manage the farm and household and raise their children while John carried on his work as statesman and leading advocate for American independence. At that time women did not normally handle business affairs, but Abigail kept everything going at home. She traded livestock, hired help, bought land, oversaw construction, and supervised the planting and harvesting, no small tasks for anyone.

She once wrote, “I hope in time to have the reputation of being as good a Farmess as my partner has of being a good Statesman.”

Abigail served as unofficial advisor to John throughout his entire career. Their letters to each other clearly show how he sought her counsel on many issues, including his aspirations to be President. Thankfully, their extensive collection of correspondence allows us to learn what an extraordinary woman Abigail Adams was.Two of Abigail Adams’ more notable quotes are:

“Great necessities call out great virtues.”

“If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women.”

 

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Thomas Jefferson once referred to George Washington as:

“the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback.”

Washington’s friend, the Marquis de Chastellux, a French national, also observed that Washington:

“is a very excellent and bold horseman, leaping the highest fences, and going extremely quick, without standing upon his stirrups, bearing on the bridle, or letting his horse run wild.”

Jefferson knew a good horseman when he saw one, and this was the age when being an accomplished horseman was taken as a mark of a true gentleman.

A good horseman needs a good horse, and Washington had many magnificent ones to ride. During the American Revolutionary War, the two horses prominently connected to him were Blueskin, and “Old Nelson.”

Blueskin was a dashing stallion “of a dark iron-gray color, approaching to blue.”He was a spirited animal, known for his endurance during a long chase.  Blueskin was a gift to Washington from Colonel Benjamin Tasker Dulany of Maryland.

“Old Nelson” was a chestnut with a white blaze and white feet. He was described as a “splendid charger,” standing sixteen hands high.  He was a gift from Thomas Nelson, Jr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later governor of Virginia.

Old Nelson proved to be Washington’s favorite horse to ride into war because he was less skittish during cannon fire and the startling sounds of battle. Blueskin was his favorite hunting horse. Due to his near white hair coat, he was the horse most often portrayed in artwork showing Washington on horseback.

Washington chose to ride Nelson on the day the British army under the direction of Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781

Both horses served Washington well during the 8 1/2 years of the American Revolutionary War. Nelson and Blueskin survived intact and were retired to Washington’s stables in Mount Vernon to live a life of ease and celebrity.Washington always displayed great respect and affection for his horses, and it was clear that the horses loved him, too. It was reported that Washington would walk around the grounds of the estate, and stop at Nelson’s paddock, “when the old war-horse would run, neighing, to the fence, proud to be caressed by the great master’s hands.”

Blueskin lived at Mount Vernon until Washington returned him to to Mrs. Dulany in November 1785, with along with a letter of gratitude. “Old Nelson” died at the estate in 1790 at about the age of 27, quite old for a horse in that era.

Great men carry the honor and privilege of having great horses.

 

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At the time American society did not easily permit women to take part in the Revolutionary War. But there were many women who definitely had a significant role in the formation of this country. One of them was Catherine (Kate) Moore Barry.

Kate was a true American heroine.When her husband, Andrew, became a captain and commanding officer in the war, she proudly helped him acting as a spy and messenger and even fought in some battles with him.  She is best known for her role in warning the American militia the British were about to invade, just before the decisive Continental Army victory at the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781.

Acting as a scout for the American forces, Kate became known as the “Heroine of the Battle of Cowpens.”  She was an excellent horsewoman and knew every trail and shortcut around her South Carolina plantation.  Although there is no historical proof, it is said that she tied her baby to her bedpost and, using her knowledge and skills, gallantly rode her horse through Indian trails to warn her neighbors that the British were coming.

Kate had single-handedly rounded up an impressive amount of local Patriots to help General Morgan. With her help, Morgan laid a trap for General Corwallis and his men. After the trap proved a success, Cornwallis retreated right into the hands of George Washington in Yorktown, Virginia.

Thanks to the bravery of women like Catherine Barry, the victory at the the Battle of Cowpens became the turning point in the American War for Independence that ultimately led to the American colonies winning their independence. .

Yes, “girl power” from the 1780’s. Even then not all women were stay at home Moms.

 

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British Colonel George Hanger fought the American Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. He later said he had never seen better rifles than those made in America, nor men who could shoot better.

The British troops used the Brown Bess rifle, which could hit a man at 80 to 100 yards. It was unusual for a man to be even wounded by one if hit at 150 yards. But Hit a man at 200 yards?  

About that, Hanger wrote,

“you may just as well fire at the moon and have the same hopes of hitting your object.” As to British marksmanship, he thought little of it:

“excellent as they are to discipline the soldier and form him for parade and actual service in the line, the serjeant is just as capable of teaching him how to solve one of Sir Isaac Newton’s problems as to teach him to be a marksman.” But the Americans with their weapons and abilities, were a whole other story. Colonel Hanger wrote: “I have often asked what was the most they thought they could do with their rifle.  They have replied that they thought they were generally sure of splitting a man’s head at 200 yards, for so they termed their hitting the head.  I have also asked several whether they could hit a man at 400 yards.  They have replied certainly, or shoot very near him.” The Colonel experienced this Patriot marksmanship firsthand. He tells the a story of an American Patriot firing at him from 400 yards. The rifle ball missed him by a foot, but behind him a “horse staggered, fell down, and died.” Sorry about the poor horse, but good shot, indeed!

 

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George Washington wrote these words during the American Revolutionary War. As a young man he had served with the British militia and saw that the British lacked understanding of Colonial warfare. Most of all they were unwilling to listen to good advice.  But this knowledge would serve him very well decades later.General Washington was a master of strategy. He knew his Colonial army was no match for a large and trained British army. So, he chose his battles carefully, and was willing to receive good advice.Washington required hard work and demanded discipline from his soldiers, and made sure he led by example. He stayed with his men at Valley Forge during the entire winter, the harshest one on record. 2,500 American soldiers died that year. During the seven years of war, he visited his home a total of only 10 days.

He later wrote about Valley Forge,

“To see the soldiers without clothes, without blankets, without shoes…without a hut to cover them…and submitting without a murmur… can scarcely be paralleled.”Washington was willing to lead his army from the front, and was famous for his courage in battle. The American soldiers knew Washington would not ask them to do something he himself would not do. They would go anywhere with him and do anything for him. So they bled for him and helped bring forth a brand new country..

It was no surprise that George Washington was unanimously elected as the first President of the new nation, the United States of America, and four years later was re elected.

One of Washington’s men who had accepted no pay wrote:

At the end of the war, Washington was a hero. Congress had given him powers that were equivalent to those of a dictator, and he could have taken full control of the new nation. Instead, Washington resigned, opening the way for us to enjoy the liberties we have today.

Washington’s character and leadership made him a true military and political hero and America’s role model.  

 

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It was 1775 when American Colonel William Moultrie took possession of a fort made of palmetto logs in South Carolina, and he needed a flag. His troops’ clothing was blue. They had silver crescents on their caps, and the words “Liberty or Death.” So a blue flag was sewn, with a crescent in the upper corner. In Moultrie’s words:

“This was the first American flag displayed in the South.”

The next year, 1776, the Americans were defending Fort Sullivan in a battle with the British.  The blue flag was flying, but during the fight it fell down onto the beach, outside the fort.  Sergeant William Jasper leaped over the parapet, ran the length of the fort and recovered the flag.  He managed to get back into the fort and get the flag fastened and flying again.

The Americans fought off the British, and saved the fort. Fort Sullivan was later renamed Moultrie, in honor of Colonel Moultrie’s stand against the British.

The flag became an icon of the Revolution in the South. It was called the Moultrie, or the Liberty Flag. The new state of South Carolina incorporated its design into its state flag.

Later in April 1780, the British returned to Charleston Harbor, past Fort Moultrie, and captured the city. General Moultrie was captured with other American officers. While prisoner, a Loyalist tried to convince him to enlist in the British Army. Moultrie responded:

“When I entered into this contest, I did it with the most mature deliberation, and with a determined resolution to risque my life and fortune in the cause. The hardships I have gone through I look back upon with the greatest pleasure and honor to myself: I shall continue to go on as I have begun, that my example may encourage the youths of America to stand forth in defence of their rights and liberties.”

General Moultrie remained true to the Patriot cause. He is a true ,Revolutionary War hero and leader in South Carolina history.

Well done, General Moultrie.

 

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If Hollywood ever wants to create another box office hit war movie complete with mystery, romance, and swashbuckling action, it would have to be centered around Revolutionary War hero Peter Francisco. A five-year-old boy who was abandoned at a harbor in Virginia grew up to be one of our courageous soldiers in the War for Independence. 

Peter Francisco, born Pedro Francisco, was known as the “Virginia Giant”, the “Giant of the Revolution” and sometimes as the “Virginia Hercules”, was a Portuguese-born American patriot and soldier of the American Revolution. Peter is said to have stood six and a half feet tall, and weighed in at 260 pounds.

At age 16 Peter enlisted as a private. It did not take long before his fighting skills and bravery became well known. He was always in the middle of every battle he fought, and was wounded repeatedly, but kept on fighting in more battles.  

When General “Mad Anthony” Wayne stormed Stony Point, Peter was the second man over the British walls. But by that time he was already famous for his exploits. After several years in the northern battles, he joined a militia company in the South. At the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in March he killed eleven British soldiers before getting bayoneted in the leg.

While recovering, he encountered nine British soldiers. Unarmed, Peter seized a sword from one of the men. He then killed that man and wounded and drove off the other eight. Their commander sent a hundred men to chase him, but they failed to even find him.

He later wrote of escape, “This was the last favor I ever did for the British.”

General George Washington is reputed to have said of Peter:

“Without him we would have lost two crucial battles, perhaps the War, and with it our freedom. He was truly a One-Man Army.”

 

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The battle was on Christmas Day of 1776. The place was Trenton, on the Delaware River of New Jersey. It was the scene of “Washington crossing the Delaware.”America had declared its independence not quite six months before, but the year’s battles had been one disaster after another. Philadelphia was in panic. The Continental Congress had to flee the city, but before it left this instruction was given to General Washington:“…until Congress shall otherwise order, General Washington shall be possessed of full power to order and direct all things.”The Americans had been driven out of New York, and the harsh winter took its toll on Washington’s troops. Many of them were about to have their enlistment expire, and the General needed to act fast. He decided to attack at Trenton. The password for this operation was “Victory or Death.”It was a cold, dark night. Heavy snow and sleet came down as Washington and his men crossed a river running with flowing ice. His soldiers were poorly clothed, some without gear for their feet. Landing on the other side, they marched on to Trenton, some leaving traces of blood on the snow. Two froze to death.But the rebels surprised the Hessians, who attempted to form up in the town. American artillery and attack from front and read swiftly brought the battle to an end. Four Americans were wounded in the attack. The Hessians lost 20 killed and about 100 wounded.  One thousand Hessians were captured.Lieutenant James Monroe was wounded in the battle. The army’s surgeon saved his life, repairing a damaged artery in his shoulder. James Monroe went on to be America’s fifth president.  Founding Father and future president James Madison, and future Supreme Court Justice James Marshall were also present at the battle.This is not the end of the story, though. Washington’s decision to attack at Trenton not only gave the army and our new nation a need boost of morale, but provided a valuable resource after the war.The Hessian prisoners at Newtown signed a parole of honor, and Washington allowing them to keep their personal baggage without examination. They were all treated well, and were scattered throughout the western counties of Pennsylvania and parts of Virginia. Many decided to stay in America when the war was over, settling in the German communities of the Keystone State. Among them were critically needed metal workers, Germans of high skill. Their contributions were vital to the new nation’s industry, one that eventually became second to none.

 

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