REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA

FLEA MARKET DECLARATION

                In 1989, a financial analyst was browsing through a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.  He bought an old picture for the frame.  It cost him $4.  When he got home he removed the picture and found a document concealed behind it.  It was a copy of the Declaration of Independence.  One of 500 printed at the time of the declaring of war.  They were known as the Dunlop broadsides and only 23 had survived.  He ended up selling it at auction in 1991 and it brought $2.4 million.  It was sold again in 2000 and purchased by television producer Norman Lear for $8.14 million.  He took it on a tour of the country to bring the “People’s Document” to the public.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/declaration-of-financial-independence/

BETSY ROSS – FRAUD?

                Even today, schoolchildren are taught that a seamstress in Philadelphia designed the American flag.  Unfortunately, there is little evidence of this.  There was a Betsy Ross and she did sew flags for the new American navy during the Revolution, but the claim that she invented the flag is mainly based on a story told by her grandson. In 1870,  William Canby told the Historical Society of Pennsylvania that his mother had designed the flag for a congressional committee.  As Canby told it, his grandmother was visited by George Washington, Robert Morris, and George Ross.  She showed them a sketch of a flag with stars and stripes.  They approved it and the rest was history, according to Canby.  Soon Ross was being added to school textbooks.  Unfortunately, there is no proof  for the story.  We do know that on June 14, 1777, Congress passed the Flag Resolution that called for a flag with thirteen red and white stripes and stars in a field of blue in the corner.  This is why June 14 is celebrated as Flag Day.

–  maroon  28

JONES’ GRENADE THROWER

                John Paul Jones was famously losing the battle with the HMS Serapis when he uttered his famous response to a surrender demand:  “I have not yet begun to fight!”  At the time, this seemed an act of false bravado and the statement would have been forgotten if Jones had gone on to lose the battle.  And he should have lost.  With the ships lashed together, the Bonhomme Richard was taking a beating.  Jones needed a miracle and it was provided by a sailor named William Hamilton.  Hamilton climbed into the ship’s rigging with a heavy bucket of grenades and a slow match between his teeth.  High above the deck of the Serapis, he started lobbing grenades down on the British ship.  One of them bounced down a hatch where it exploded.  Another landed in a ammunition causing a huge explosion.  At least twenty of the enemy were killed and others with clothes on fire jumped overboard.  The British were stunned and soon after, their captain surrendered.

–  Whitcomb 67

DEBORAH SAMPSON

                She was born dirt poor.  She was an indentured servant from ages 10-18.  Her life was miserable, but she taught herself to read and write.  She was very patriotic and enlisted in disguise into the Continental Army to fight for independence.  However, she got drunk with the enlistment bonus and revealed her identity.  So she went to another town and tried again.  This time she was successful and joined a unit where she was nicknamed Molly for her feminine looks.  Apparently, none of her mates made the jump to if he looks like a female, he might just be a female.  Robert (she had named herself Robert Shurtleff) participated in several skirmishes with Tory guerrillas and once was wounded in hand-to-hand combat.  She took a saber cut to the side of the head.  She later was wounded in the thigh in a Tory ambush.  She crawled into some bushes to nurse herself.  She was eventually found out when she caught the flu and a doctor discovered her gender.  He decided not to rat her out and she stayed in the Army until discharged in 1783.  She married a farmer and had three kids.  She died at age 66.

–  maroon 50

THE LIBERTY BELL

                In 1751, the colony of Pennsylvania commissioned a bell from a London bell-maker to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Pennsylvania.  It was inscribed with a line from the Bible:  “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants therof…”  Unfortunately, the first time it was rung, it cracked.  It was recast, but the new version gave off a harsh tone, so it was recast again.  This was the bell that rang out for the accession of King George III in 1760 and the reading of Declaration f Independence on July 8, 1776.  During the Revolution, when Philadelphia was captured, the Liberty Bell was taken from the city and hidden in a church basement in Allentown, Pa.  It was rung for the adoption of the Constitution and for other noteworthy events in the history of early America.  The last time it was rung was for the death of John Marshall on July 8, 1835.  It was occasionally taken on trips to mark special occasions, but that ended in 1915.  That was the year when 250,000 schoolchildren in San Francisco signed a petition asking for it to visit.  It cracked further on the trip and this was the last time it left Independence Hall.

–  Whitcomb 91

ARNOLD’S LEG

                The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War.  The victory resulted in France’s entry into the conflict on the side of the Colonies.  The win would not have happened without the valorous leadership of Benedict Arnold.  He led a decisive charge and was wounded in the leg.  Although Gen. Gates, who was in overall command, was given official credit for the victory, the result was more attributable to Arnold.  He was promoted for Major General after the battle and seemed headed for greater things, especially because Washington held him in high esteem.  However, his path took a different turn and he ended up the poster boy for treason in American History.  In 1887, a statue was dedicated to his performance in the battle.  It is a statue of only a leg and the epaulets of a major-general.

–  Whitcomb 97

THE HAMILTON-REYNOLDS AFFAIR

                Alexander Hamilton was involved in the first major political sex scandal in the U.S.  In 1791, when Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury, he was visited by the comely Maria Reynolds.  Hamilton was 34 and married, Maria was 23 and available.  Her husband James had left her and she was in financial difficulty. Hamilton took pity on her and later went to her boarding house.  Guess what happened?  The affair last about a year, during which James returned and proceeded to blackmail Hamilton.  Probably in cahoots with Maria.  Hamilton paid around $1,300 over a few months.  Eventually, Hamilton broke off the affair and the payments.  It did not end there because when Reynolds got arrested for criminal activities, his accomplice told three congressmen, including Sen. James Monroe, that Hamilton had been involved in shady political malfeasance.  Hamilton learned of this and met with the trio.  He told them that he was innocent of political corruption, but he was guilty of the affair.  They backed off, but later the press got the story.  At this point, Hamilton came clean to the American public by way of a 100-page booklet known as the Reynolds Pamphlet.  It described the affair in scintillating detail.  Hamilton was embarrassed and it took his wife a while to forgive him, but his political career was resilient.

–  Whitcomb  130,,,,,  /  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton#Reynolds_affair_scandal

FRANKLIN ALMOST ELECTROCUTED A GOOSE

                After discovering electricity in his famous kite experiment, Benjamin Franklin began to experiment with the uses of electricity.  This included electrocuting various animals.  One of these involved a turkey.  Unfortunately, he accidentally touched the two wires together and there was a loud cracking noise and Franklin felt electricity rush through his body.  He lost sight and hearing.  He violently shook.  He lost the sense of touch for about ten minutes.  “Well, I meant to kill a turkey and instead I nearly killed a goose.”

–  maroon 99

FRANKLIN ON MAKING REVISIONS

                Benjamin Franklin was part of the committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence.  Jefferson was chosen to write the document, but then the others suggested changes.  Franklin could sense that Jefferson was a little upset with some of the revisions, so he told him a little story about a hat-maker.  John Thompson was opening his first hat shop so he commissioned a sign that had a hat on it, his name, and “Hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money”.  He ran the idea by his friends. One pointed out that “hatter” was not necessary because the sign mentions he makes hats.  Another suggested he take out “makes” because his customers would not care who made the hats.  The next told him to remove “for ready money” because nobody sold hats on credit.  Another mused that “sells” was unnecessary because no one gives them away.  And why do you need the word “hats” if there is a picture of one.  John Thompson ended up with a sign with his name on it and the picture of a hat.

–  maroon 100

THE NOMADIC DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

                Here is the history of the Declaration of Independence.

1. Declaring independence was approved by vote of the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.
2. July 4, 1776 – President of the Second Continental Congress John Hancock and the clerk signed the document.
3. July 19, 1776 – New York, which had abstained on July 2, made it unanimous.
4. August 2, 1776 – Most of the 56 signers put their signatures on it.
5. 1776-1790 – Packed in a trunk, the Declaration moved around. It spent time at Lancaster and York, Pennslyvania, Annapolis, Maryland, and Trenton, New Jersey.
6. 1790-1814 – It moved to various government buildings as the capital moved from New York to Philadelphia to Washington.  During the War of 1812, when Washington was captured, it was hastily removed to a church basement in Leesburg, Virginia.
7. 1814-1876 –  When it was returned, it stayed in different buildings until it was put in the Department of State.  It was wrapped up like a scroll.  In 1841, Secretary of State Daniel Webster had it framed and placed on a wall in the Patent Office (which was part of the Department of State).  It stayed there for 35 years, decaying.
8. In 1876, it made a trip to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.
9. 1877-1894 – It was housed in the library of the Department of State.
10. 1894-1921 – It was placed between two panes of glass to slow the deterioration and put in a safe in the State, War, and Navy Building.
11. 1921-1941 – It was displayed in the Library of Congress.
12. 1941-1944 – Because of the war, it was put in Fort Knox.
13. 1944-1952 – It was back in the Library of Congress, but now in a vacuum-sealed glass case.  It was guarded by servicemen.
14. 1952 to present – In 1952, it was transported in an armored personel carrier escorted by tanks to the National Archives Building.  With a copy of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it was placed in a bullet-proof, helium-filled glass case.  In 1986, a lunatic with a hammer damaged the outer case, but the inner case was unharmed.  The case can be lowered 22 feet into a 55 ton steel vault.

–  Whitcomb 87-89

FRANKLIN’S TRAITOROUS SON

                William Franklin was the illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin.  At age 21, he helped his father with his famous kite experiment.  They were close and Franklin used his influence to get his son appointed Governor of New Jersey.  However, when the Revolution broke out, William became a loyalist.  His father disowned him and he fled to England.  Franklin:  “Indeed nothing has ever hurt me so much… as to find myself deserted in my old age by my only son.”  When Franklin died, he only left his son a worthless piece of land in Nova Scotia.

–  Whitcomb 54

THE FEMALE PAUL REVERE

                On April 25, 1777, a force of 2,000 redcoats landed at Westport, Connecticut and marched on Danbury.  There they burned homes and destroyed rebel supplies.  The raid was similar to the one on Concord, Massachusetts a year earlier.  Col. Henry Ludington was in command of the militia forces in the area.  A messenger arrived at his home that night with word of the raid and a plea that he call out the militia to prevent further depredations.  He realized he would have to stay home to organize his men as they gathered.  He needed to get to the word to them, so he asked his sixteen year old daughter Sybil to play the role of Paul Revere.  Sybil took the family horse and rode out that night to warn the patriots and to get word to her father’s soldiers.  She risked her life riding on dark roads frequented by highwaymen and other outlaws.  She would stop at houses saying:  “There’s trouble.  Bring your gun.  The British are burning Danbury.  The colonel wants you right away.”  By the next afternoon, almost all her father’s regiment had assembled.  It turned the British back at Ridgefield, Connecticut.  But Sybil got no recognition.  Longfellow did not write a poem about her.

–  maroon 109  

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK STIFFED

                George Rogers Clark was a great hero of the Revolutionary War.  He led a group of frontiersmen in fighting the British in the Ohio River Valley.  His greatest feat was the capture of the British fort and settlement at Vincennes.  To reach it, he led his men on a 200-mile trek through a frozen swamp.  The last two days were without food.  His victories resulted in the Northwest Territory being part of the Treaty of Paris.  Unfortunately, his campaign left him broke.  He had paid for it partly with his own money and put up his land as security.  His expected reimbursement for his expenses did not come through partly because of bureaucratic red tape and nitpicking about the “exorbitant” prices he had been forced to pay for supplies.  Some of his bills were lost (and later found in an attic in 1913.  When the Virginia legislature presented him with a secondhand sword (barely used, they claimed), which he broke over his knee and threw in the Ohio River.  He lost his lands and became penniless.  His late years were marked by poverty, poor health, and depression.  As he approached death, Virginia gave him a new sword and $400 pension.  In 1928, a one million dollar memorial honoring him was put up at Vincennes. 

–  Whitcomb 45-46

THOMAS PAINE, VILLAIN

                Thomas Paine may have done more for independence than anyone besides Washington.  His pamphlet “Common Sense” convinced many undecided colonists to support independence.  His “The Crisis” was read to Washington’s army (which he was a private in) to inspire the men to stick around during the darkest moments of the Revolution.  However, this status changed after the war when he published “The Age of Reason”.  The public considered it to be atheistic and back then atheists were not tolerated.  His second strike was when he criticized Washington because Washington refused to pull strings to get him out of a Parisian jail during the French Revolution.  He called him an “imposter” who had abandoned good principles.  He returned to America a broken man and unable to call on the charity of his Revolutionary friends due to his persona non grata status.  His last years were spent on a farm isolated from society.  He died in poverty.  His grave was defaced.

–  Whitcomb 46-47

KEEP THE CAMPFIRES BURNING

                One week after his game-changing victory at Trenton, Washington decided to tempt fate by recrossing the Delaware.  British General Cornwallis, seeking revenge, swooped down on the Rebel army.  His superior army arrived in the late afternoon, enough daylight remained for an assault that would likely have ended the Revolution.  The overconfident Cornwallis decided to wait until the next day and do it right.  Through the night, the Americans remained encamped with their campfires burning.  The next morning when the redcoats attacked, all they found was the remains of the campfires.  It turns out that the old fox had fled during the night on a back road.  Washington had the horses’ hooves and wagon wheels covered with rags to reduce the noise.  He left a few men to keep the fires burning.  Washington had a big head start as he marched on Princeton, where he surprised and defeated a British detachment coming to join Cornwallis.  This was the cherry on the top of the Trenton victory and all because the British thought they had him in the bag.

–  Whitcomb 71

HAIR BUYER IS DUPED

                The crowning victory of George Rogers Clark’s campaign in the Ohio River Valley was the capture of Vincennes.  Clark and his men traversed 200 miles of wilderness to reach the fort.  Two miles of this involved wading shoulder-deep through a frozen swamp.  He arrived at the British settlement with only 130 men.  British Col. Henry Hamilton had three times as many and a reputation for being a villain.  He was known as “Hair Buyer” because he paid Indians for scalps.  Clark used psychological warfare on the British.  He had his men march on the far side of a hill with flags on long poles.  All the British could see were the flags, which Clark recycled to make his army seem much larger.  He then bombarded the fort for several days, meanwhile faking the British into thinking he was receiving reinforcements.  In fear of a massacre, the British decided to surrender.  When Hamilton turned his sword over to Clark and saw the size of his army, he remarked:  “Colonel Clark where is your army?”  When he learned the truth, he started crying.

–  Whitcomb 73-74

THE TURKEY SYMBOL

                When it came to discussing the national symbol, Ben Franklin made a case for the turkey.  He described it as a “respectable bird and withal a true, original native of America.”  He argued against the bald eagle as having “bad moral character” which lived by “sharping and robbing”.  I have no idea what sharping meant, but it must not be good.  He also accused eagles of “being poor and often very lousy.”  His colleagues did not buy his arguments and decided to go with the majestic, soaring bald eagle instead of the blustery, show-off turkey.

–  Whitcomb 97

CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON

                The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew their signatures made them traitors in the eyes of the British.  If the Colonies failed, it could be their death warrant.  Charles Carroll was not so much concerned with his own life but with any other Charles Carrolls who might be mistaken for him.  To avoid any confusion, he signed himself as Charles Carroll of Carrollton.  He was the only signer to identify himself.  He was also the only Catholic.  He was the richest delegate to the Second Continental Congress.  He lived longer than any other signer, dying in 1832 at age 95.

–  Whitcomb 111

CONTINENTAL SOLDIER PERKS

                Gen. Washington’s men were paid $6.66 per month.  They were supposed to get a daily ration of twelve ounces of pork or one pound of beef and one pound of salted fish.  They also got one pound of bread or flour.  One pint of milk and one quart of spruce beer were included.  Vegetables were provided weekly.

–  Whitcomb 147

GENTLEMAN JOHNNY’S BAGGAGE

                Gen. John Burgoyne had a brilliant plan to march from Canada into New York and cut the New England colonies off from the rest.  Divide and conquer – a tried and true tactic.  And it would be so easy because his British army with its ferocious Indian allies could easily handle the country bumpkins that stood in his way.  He underestimated them and the wilderness he would have to march through.  The roads were bad enough without those pesky colonials felling trees along the path and blocking streams to flood areas.  This slowed Burgoyne considerably and it did not help that Gentleman Johnny insisted on bringing thirty carts of personal baggage.  He loved his comforts like silver plate, vintage wines, and extensive wardrobe for himself and his mistress.  His journey ended at a place called Saratoga where he was forced to surrender to the rebels.

–  Whitcomb 150

MOLLY PITCHER

                Mary Hayes’ husband joined the Continental Army and she went along as a camp follower.  Camp followers were women who accompanied armies on the march to provide services like cooking and laundering.  And maybe some professional comforts.  “Sergeant Molly” was at Valley Forge and she made some money to supplement her husband’s salary by washing and cooking.  She was like one of the guys.  She smoked a pipe, chewed tobacco, and swore a lot.  The next summer, she was with her husband at the Battle of Monmouth.  He was a cannoneer with the 1^st Pennsylvania Artillery.  Molly had an important role that very hot day.  She carried water from a nearby spring to the parched soldiers.  They would yell “Molly, the pitcher!”, hence her famous nickname.  When her husband was felled by heat stroke (some say he was wounded), she took his place swabbing his cannon.  In 1822, the Pennsylvania legislature granted her a $40 yearly pension.

–  Whitcomb 160

***  Another claimant to the Molly Pitcher legend was Margaret Corbin.  She was a camp follower who followed her husband into the Continental Army.  They ended up in Fort Washington during a British bombardment.  Her husband was wounded by an explosion.  She took his place at his cannon and helped fire it.  She herself was wounded by a cannon ball and crippled for the rest of her life.  She was buried with full military honors at West Point.

–  Ayres 67-68

THE AMERICAN TURTLE

                David Bushnell was attending Yale during the buildup to the Revolution.  He participated in debates about whether war with England was a good idea.  Opponents argued that the Royal Navy was too powerful and would easily blockade the Colonies, cutting off trade.  When the war broke out, Bushnell returned home and began working on a vessel that could break the blockade.  It would submerge and blow up British warship stealthily.  Working from a shed by the Connecticut River, he built a strange craft resembled a metal egg.  Bushnell named it the “American Turtle” (usually simply called the Turtle).  It had fin-like paddles and two foot-controlled pumps for submerging and surfacing.  Inside, the one-man crew would peddle the fins for propulsion.  It could make 3 miles per hour below the water.  When it got underneath the ship the idea was to attach and explosive which would be set to explode after the Turtle exited the vicinity.  The submarine was tested successfully by Bushnell’s brother and transported to New York harbor to take on the British fleet.  The target was the HMS Eagle, but Bushnell’s brother fell ill and a soldier named Ezra Lee was arm-twisted into making the attempt.  The Turtle was towed to the area near the Eagle and then Lee was set loose.  He submerged and proceeded under the ship during the night.  The idea was to use an auger to bore into the ships keel and attach the dynamite.  But Bushnell did not take into consideration the copper sheeting covering the wood.  Lee was not able to attach the explosive and retreated.  At this point the British finally spotted the strange craft and sent a boat after it.  Lee decided to blow up the Turtle when the boat got near enough, but when the British got close they panicked at the sight of the bizarre creature and fled.  Lee was able to set the sizzling explosive loose and it blew up harmlessly.  The Turtle never sailed again.

–  Ayres  43-45

BENEDICT ARNOLD – Hero to Traitor?

                Benedict Arnold could have had cities named after him.  Before he became a traitor, he was one of the top three generals in the Continental Army.  He helped capture Fort Ticonderoga, he led an epic campaign to Quebec, he fought an amazing naval battle using a makeshift gleet, and then came Saratoga.  Although he was second-in-command to the inferior Gen. Horatio Gates, it was Arnold who led the decisive assault that won the victory.  In the process of leading his men from the front, he was wounded in the leg and limped the rest of his life.  His victory was the turning point of the Revolution as France allied with the Colonies.  But not for the first time, Arnold was not given the credit he deserved and was not promoted to a level equivalent to his accomplishments and talents.  And he was not the type to take disrespect lying down.  He threatened to resign, but Washington talked him out of it, unfortunately. Washington had a soft spot for Arnold and commiserated with his ill-treatment.  Because of his wound, he was appointed military commander of Philadelphia.  There he met the vivacious Peggy Shippen, the daughter of a leading Tory.  Before meeting Arnold, she had been friendly with British officers, including John Andre.  It was not hard for Peggy to move her husband from resentment to revenge.  She convinced him he had no reason to remain loyal to ingrates.  Her father put him in touch with Gen. Clinton and he negotiated the turning of his coat for a Brigadier Generalship and a lot of money. (Peggy was expensive and Benedict liked to live large.)  When Arnold was given the command of West Point (at that time a key fort on the Hudson River), he was able to promise to help the British to capture the fort.  The arrangements were made through John Andre, but the gig was up when Andre was caught dressed as a civilian behind enemy lines with plans for West Point in his boot.  Arnold had just enough warning to flee to British lines and assume his generalship.  Meanwhile, the negligee-clad Peggy distracted Washington, who had just arrived at West Point to visit his friend.  Washington offered to exchange Andre for the most wanted man in America, but the British refused.  Arnold was given command of a motley crew of Loyalists and deserters and given some dirty jobs like capturing Richmond, Virginia and attacking New London, Connecticut.  He was competent as usual, and disrespected, as usual.  When the war ended, he and Peggy moved to England where they were treated as pariahs.  Before he died, he requested to be buried in his old Continental Army uniform and expressed regret that he had abandoned it.

–  Ayres  155-160 

THE CORSET-MAKER

                Thomas Paine was born the son of a corset-maker.  He learned the trade in his father’s shop, but when he was a teenager, he ran away to become a sailor.  He eventually returned to marry his childhood sweetheart and open his own corset shop.  Unfortunately, he wife died and he was plunged into depression and alcoholism.  He closed his shop and tried various jobs, but he did not have the temperament to hold a job.  He was fired as a tax-collector twice.  This led to his hatred of bureaucracy and monarchical government, specifically King George III.  His life changed when he was commissioned to write a campaign song for a candidate for Parliament.  He then was successful at writing political speeches.  He met Benjamin Franklin in London and Franklin convinced his to take his rabblerousing talents to America.  He arrived in the Colonies in 1774 and immediately became a flame-throwing revolutionary.  He was the man most responsible for changing the movement from one demanding equality with English citizens to independence from British rule.  His pamphlet “Common Sense” made him wealthy, but not content.  He continued to drink and rub people the wrong way.  His agnosticism made him unpopular.  When he died in 1809, only six people attended his funeral.

–  Ayres 187-191

THE BOSTON RUM PARTY

                Colonists loved tea. Why would they dump cheap tea in a harbor?  It was a matter of principle and smuggling.  The British East India Company was the most powerful corporation in England.  When it had to increase its prices to cover British taxes, the colonists turned to the cheaper alternative of smuggled tea.  Some of the smugglers were future revolutionaries like John Hancock.  Because of the ready availability of cheaper smuggled tea, no one was buying the British East India Company tea.  It had a seven year’s supply sitting in its warehouses.  It’s lobbyists convinced Parliament to pass the Tea Act which cut a lot of the company’s taxes and allowed it to undercut any competitors in the Colonies.  The colonists were upset with this British “monopoly” on tea and they were egged on by the smugglers.  There were protests in New York City, Greenwich, Philadelphia, Charleston, and Annapolis.  In Annapolis, a ship captain was kidnapped and forced the watch the torching of his ship.  Samuel Adams led the protest in Boston.  He urged Governor Hutchinson to prevent the three tea ships in the harbor from unloading their cargo.  When the governor refused, a meeting was held at the home of Benjamin Edes.  A large bowl of rum punch provided refreshment and soon the idea of dumping the tea seemed appropriate for the situation.  Then someone suggested they dress as Indians and historians smiled. 

–  Ayres  208-210

CHARLES LYNCH

                Charles Lynch was a justice of the peace in backwoods Virginia when the Revolution broke out.  His county was the scene of vicious guerrilla warfare between patriots and loyalists.  Lynch decided to do something to restore order.  He established an unofficial court, appointed law officers, and ordered arrests of criminals and troublemakers.  He punished people with fines and whippings.  Order was established, but he made plenty of enemies who resented his high-handed rule.  His actions were greatly exaggerated.  He entered legend as a hangman with no regard for fair trials, hence the term “lynching”.  In reality, he only issued one death sentence.  A group of plotters planned to sabotage the lead mines in the area.  Lynch felt he had no choice but to hang the traitors.  An investigation later exonerated him for the executions, but it was too late for his reputation.

–  Ayres  214-216

CONSTITUTIONAL REJECTIONS

                James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution” because his Virginia Plan became the blueprint for the document.  But not all his ideas made it into the final draft and other ideas by delegates were shot down.  Here is a list of some of the ideas that did not make it (most of them thankfully).

1. Madison proposed a national university and Congress should be able to veto state laws
2. Elbridge Gerry wanted three presidents, one each from the northern, middle, and southern states. This was voted down 7 states to 3.
3. Roger Sherman felt the president should be like a clerk who implemented the laws
4. Franklin did not think the president should be paid. A salary would attract greedy men.
5. Jefferson proposed a one year term limit for the chief executive.
6. George Reed floated the idea that state boundaries should be eliminated and there should be no state governments.
7. Some delegates feared the rise of the west so they wanted to limit new states to 13, like the original 13.

–  Bathroom 126-129

FACTS ABOUT WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE

1. The famous painting was by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze in his Dusseldorf, Germany studio in 1850-51. Leutze grew up in America and then returned to his homeland.  He painted it after the failed Revolution of 1848 in the hope that it would inspire liberal reforms.  It was first displayed in New York City and then in the Capitol Rotunda.  It was bought for the huge sum of $10,000, changed hands several times, and ended up being donated to the New York Museum of Art.
2. There are two future Presidents in the painting – Washington and Monroe (holding the flag). 
3. Mistakes in the painting:

                –  the flag was not adopted until a year later

                –  the boats were much bigger at 40-60 feet long

                –  the men would not have had their guns in the air because the barrels would have gotten wet

                –  most experts argue no one would have been standing, but some point out that the actual boats were large and standing would have been a better option that sitting with water in the bottom

4. The plan was actually for three crossings. Col. Cadwalader was to cross with 1,800 men to block reinforcements from marching to Trenton.  Gen. Ewing was to cross with 800 to block a Hessian retreat from Trenton.  The weather gave these two forces the excuse to not cross.
5. Besides 2,400 soldiers, the boats carried 18 cannons and their horses. Plus horses for some of the officers.
6. The temperature hovered around freezing. Rain turned to sleet which turned to snow.
7. The boats were called Durham boats and were used for transporting iron ore and bulk goods. The boatmen were a special regiment led by Col. John Glover.  Earlier, the Marbleheaders had evacuated Washington’s army from Long Island, thus saving the Revolution.

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/washingtons-revolutionary-war-battles/the-trenton-princeton-campaign/10-facts-about-washingtons-crossing-of-the-delaware-river/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_(1851_painting)

–  Uncle 2  p. 248

PAUL REVERE’S RIDE

                Paul Revere was a well-known silversmith in Boston.  He was also a spy and courier for the Sons of Liberty.  It was not a secret that the British were interested in the munitions stored in Concord, but when Dr. Joseph Warren acquired intelligence about when the troops were marching (possibly from Gen. Gage’s wife), he called in Revere and William Dawes.  He tasked them with warning the countryside and John Hancock and Samuel Adams in particular.  The duo were hiding out in Lexington.  Warren knew the British were crossing the bay and then marching via Charlestown, so Revere did not need a signal from Old North Church.  In fact, it was Revere who had the two lanterns posted to warn the militia in Charlestown.  He then crossed the Charles River by boat and borrowed a horse in Charlestown.  He was nearly captured by a British patrol outside Charlestown.   Dawes took the land route.  Revere actually yelled “The Regulars are coming out!”  He reached Lexington and warned Hancock and Adams.  Dawes arrived a half hour later.  They were joined by a Samuel Prescott. He was a young man who was returning to Concord after visiting his girlfriend in Lexington.  The trio were stopped by British soldiers.  Dawes escaped and turned around.  Revere tried to escape, but was capture.  Prescott managed to escape and got to Concord.  In 1860, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow took the facts and rearranged them a bit to create a poem he hoped would encourage patriotism instead of secession.

https://www.biography.com/news/paul-reveres-ride-facts

–  Bath 2  pp. 405-406

“I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT”

                John Paul Jones had already made a name for himself before his signature battle.  His Ranger was part of the fledgling American navy.  In 1778, he had conducted some daring and well-publicized raids on the British coast.  In 1779, he came into port in France and was given the old ship Duc De Duras by the French government through the machinations of Ambassador Benjamin Franklin.  Jones renamed the frigate Bonhomme Richard in honor of Franklin.  Jones was given command of a small fleet that included five other warships.  One of them was a frigate named Alliance.  The French intended for him to singe the lion’s tail for them.  Mission accomplished as his fleet took 16 merchant ships in the following weeks.  On Sept. 23, 1779 Jones spotted a British merchant convoy escorted by the 50-gun frigate HMS Serapis and a sloop of 20 guns.  Although the Serapis was much superior to the 40-gun Bonhomme Richard, Jones did not hesitate to attack.  The battle (officially the Battle of Flamborough Head) began after dark, but there was full moon.  The battle commenced with exchanging of broadsides, with the American ship getting the worst of it.  Jones knew his only hope was to fight in close.  An attempt to board failed, but the maneuvering by the ships got them entangled.  Jones’ crew used grappling hooks to keep the ships locked together.  Meanwhile, cannons continued to blast away.   Jones put marines in his fighting tops to pick off British tars on the deck.  As though things were not chaotic enough, the French ship Alliance entered the battle and fired at the Bonhomme Richard!  At some point the British Captain Pearson yelled “Have you struck your colors?”  Supposedly, Jones responded with the iconic “I have not yet begun to fight”.  These would have been famous last words had not a William Hamilton made his mark on history.  Hamilton climbed into the sails with a bucket of grenades and started hurling them onto the Serapis.  One of them bounded down a hatch and exploded in a cache of gunpowder.  The subsequent explosion convinced Pearson to surrender.  Jones transferred to the Serapis from the sinking Bonhomme Richard.  The “Father of the U.S. Navy” had survived to become immortal.

https://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/Bonnehome.html

https://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/lhd6/pages/history.aspx

https://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/shipwrecks/battle_lesson/battle_lesson.htm

THE MAN WHO DIDN’T KILL WASHINGTON

                Patrick Ferguson was a British officer who was considered one of the best shots in the British Army.  He even invented a very accurate rifle.  A few days before the Battle of Brandywine in September, 1777, Ferguson was with a picked band of three sharpshooters who were patrolling in front of British lines.  They were looking for targets to prove the efficacy of Ferguson’s rifle and the benefits of incorporating sharpshooters into the British Army.  Suddenly, two riders appeared in a clearing across from where Ferguson and his men were standing.  The riders were clearly juicy targets based on their fancy uniforms.  As his men took aim, Ferguson ordered them to stop.  He decided that although he could easily have shot either one, they should take them captive.  When Ferguson yelled at the two to surrender, they reacted by racing away and escaped.   Ferguson could not bring himself to shoot a man in the back.  After the battle, as he lay in a hospital with an arm wound, Ferguson talked to some captured Continental Army officers and discovered that the man whose life he had spared was George Washington.  Washington had gone out to reconnoiter British lines with one of his officers.  It is unknown whether Ferguson regretted not winning the Revolutionary War by killing the “indispensable man”.

–  Shenkman  pp34-36

FORGOTTEN HERO:  Joseph Warren

                Everyone has heard of Sam Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere.  They were all Boston patriots that gave the British hell, but none died for what they believed in.  Joseph Warren did.  Warren graduated from Harvard and became a doctor.  When a smallpox outbreak occurred, he made the bold decision to inoculate his patients, thus saving many lives and earning him the reputation as the leading doctor in Massachusetts.  He got involved in the movement opposing British policies.  He became a leading Son of Liberty.  He wrote the Suffolk Resolves which demanded that Britain repeal the Intolerable Acts.  He operated a system of couriers to keep other colonies informed about rebel activities in Massachusetts.  He gathered intelligence and found out the British were going to try to capture John Adams and Hancock at Lexington.  He figured out they would continue on to Concord.  When the British began the move, he sent Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn the duo and the Minutemen.  While Adams and Hancock fled, Warren joined the ranks and took shots at the marching Redcoats.  He got his wig shot off.  Warren continue in the army as it laid siege to Boston.  He insisted on being just a private, but was soon promoted to Major General.  He helped organize the army.  When the British threatened to assault Breed’s Hill, Warren went to the site of the fight.  He refused to take command even though his rank allowed him to.  He felt that he did not have the military experience, but he could take his place in the redoubt alongside the common soldiers.  When the British finally broke in, Warren was killed instantly when a bullet hit him in the face.  The enraged British mutilated his body by bayonetting his face and then dumped the body in a common grave.  Later, the body was identified by way of two artificial teeth that Paul Revere had made for him.  This was one of the first times dental records were used to identify a body.  Here’s a picture so you can identify him, since he is not on any our currency.  Don’t get me started.

https://historycollection.co/18-all-but-forgotten-american-war-heroes/

FORGOTTEN HERO:  John Stark

                If you live in New Hampshire, you probably have heard of John Stark.  If not, you are probably saying “who?”  Stark was a warrior.  When he was 24 years old, he was on a hunting and trapping trip when he was captured by the Abenaki Indians.  When ordered to run a gauntlet of Indians armed with sticks to beat him, Stark attacked the first Indian, took his club, and beat him with it.  The Indian chief was so impressed, Stark was adopted into the tribe and spent the winter.  He joined Roger’s Rangers during the French and Indian War.  He once walked 40 miles through deep snow to get aid for the wounded.  When Lexington and Concord started the Revolutionary War, he led a regiment from New Hampshire to join the army at Boston.  He was a key figure in the Battle of Bunker Hill.  His men defended the rail fence and defeated several assaults.  His order was to:  “Aim for their waistbands”.  He participated in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton.  Stark had a prickly personality and when he was passed over for promotion, he left the Continental Army and returned to New Hampshire.  However, when Gen. Burgoyne invaded New York and threatened to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies, he put his uniform back on.  He won a spectacular victory at Bennington which doomed Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga.  Before the battle, he told his men:  “We’ll beat them before night, or Molly Stark will be a widow.”  Stark returned to the Continental Army and after the war retired to his farm where he raised his eleven children.  He died at age 93.

https://historycollection.co/18-all-but-forgotten-american-war-heroes/

FORGOTTEN HERO:  John Glover

                Without John Glover, the Revolution would not have succeeded.  He was that important.  Glover was a successful shipowner and merchant before the war.  He was given command of a regiment of seamen and fishermen from Gloucester and Marblehead in Massachusetts.  They became known as the Glover’s Marbleheaders.  Gen. Washington realized that this regiment had a special skill set and used it for special missions.  The first of these came after his army was badly defeated in the Battle of Long Island.  His forces retreated to fortifications on Brooklyn Heights, but the superior British army was primed to assault the position and end the revolution.  Washington needed to get his army out of this precarious position, but retreat was not simple because the East River stood in the way.  In one night, his “amphibious regiment” evacuated the army under the noses of the British.  If not for the Marbleheaders, the revolution would have ended that week.  They fought bravely in the next series of battles which resulted in the British capturing New York City and ended up in Pennsylvania with the rest of the demoralized army.  Washington badly needed a victory to restore the spirits of his men.  He decided to  cross the Delaware River and surprise the Hessian garrison at Trenton.  He could only cross the river with the help of his Marbleheaders.  Glover’s men transported 2,400 men, 18 cannons, and horses across on a wintry night with no losses.  They then marched the nine miles through the snow with their comrades, fought in the battle, and then transported the army back to their camp.  Along with over 2,000 Hessian prisoners.  A week later, they repeated the performance for the Battle of Princeton.  Had not Washington won these two victories, the revolution probably would have failed.  This was the last act of the Marblehead regiment as the men went home with their enlistments up.  Washington persuaded Glover to remain and promoted him to Brigadier General.  He was forced to retire in 1782 due to ill health.

https://historycollection.co/18-all-but-forgotten-american-war-heroes/

THE PETTICOAT CODE

                One of Gen. George Washington’s greatest strengths was intelligence gathering.  His most successful spy ring was the Culper Ring.  It was organized by a farmer named Abraham Woodhull.  Abraham would make trips to British occupied New York City and file reports on British forces and plans.  He recruited spies to gather information.  The reports were delivered to a Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge who was in charge of spying for Washington.  The deliveries were made by a courier/smuggler named Caleb Brewster.  Woodhull and Brewster enlisted the help of a patriotic woman named Anna Strong.  When Brewster was ready to make another run, she would put a black petticoat on her cloths line as a signal to Woodhull.  Woodhull would then complete his latest report and hide it in one of six coves.  Anna would then put up a certain number of handkerchiefs to tell which cove Brewster would find the report in.

https://historycollection.co/odd-details-about-famous-historical-events-nobody-talks-about/10/

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUBMARINE

                In 1620, a Dutch chemist named Cornelius van Drabbel supposedly submerged in a boat covered with greased leather and propelled by oars.  In 1776, David Bushnell built the Turtle which Sgt. Ezra Lee propelled via a bicycle type propeller.  He attempted to attach an explosive device to the keel of a British warship but the copper sheathing prevented this.  In 1800, Robert Fulton of steamboat fame built the Nautilus and tried to sell it to Napoleon, but a test run failed to sink a British warship.  In 1864, the Confederacy developed the Hunley.  After sinking three times in tests, it eventually was able to sink the USS Housatonic.  Unfortunately, it went down too.  After this first successful sub attack, nations continued developing underwater vehicles.  In 1865, German-American Julius Kroehl constructed Sub Marine Explorer which was the first sub to dive, cruise underwater, and resurface.  One year later, British inventor Robert Whitehead invented the first self-propelled torpedo.  The big problem with propulsion was their electric engines had to rely on batteries that could not be recharged.  In the 1890’s, John Holland and Simon Lake (working separately) developed gasoline engines (later replaced by diesel engines) which could recharge the batteries that ran the electric engines while submerged.  Lake invented the periscope.  So the sub was ready to change the nature of naval warfare in World War I.

                –  Strange 191-2  /  Wikipedia

FACTS ABOUT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD

1. The phrase “the shot heard ‘round the world” comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem “Concord Hymn” from 1837.
2. “One if by land and two if by sea” comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” from 1861.
3. Dr. Joseph Warren (a radical leader who was later killed fighting on Breed’s Hill) sent Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were hiding in Lexington and to warn the militia in Concord that the British were coming. What Revere actually yelled was:  “The regulars are coming out.”
4. Neither Revere nor Dawes made it to Concord. They were joined on the way by a young doctor named Samuel Prescott who was returning from a date with his girlfriend in Concord.  The three ran into a British patrol.  Revere was captured, Dawes was unhorsed and had to walk back to Lexington.  Prescott was the only one of the trio to reach Concord.
5. It is still unclear who fired the first shot at Lexington. One strong possibility was a colonist (not in the group gathered on the green) sniped at the British.  Another possibility is a jittery British soldier opened fire.
6. There were 77 militiamen led by Capt. John Parker facing the British at Lexington. About 25% of the men were related to Parker who was a French and Indian War veteran.  Eight were killed and ten were wounded.  One of the wounded was a slave named Prince Estabrook.  The British suffered only one soldier wounded.
7. The British expedition was a total failure. Adams and Hancock were not captured.  The military supplies and weapons they were trying to capture in Concord had already been removed to safety.
8. The war might not have begun if just the British had opened fire at Lexington. It was the decision of the militia at Old North Bridge outside Concord that started the war.  Those men opened fire on a unit of British regulars, killing several, and creating the momentum for the rest of the day.
9. The force sent to Concord would probably have been wiped out if not for a relief force that met it in Lexington on the way back. This reinforced army could have been cut off before it reached Boston, but a large colonial force led by Col. Timothy Pickering let it pass by.  Pickering was blamed for his inaction.
10. The survivors of the march to Concord had marched 40 miles in 21 hours by the end of the day.
11. Both the British and the militiamen were armed with muskets. The colonists used few, if any, rifles.  The muskets were accurate to only about 80 yards.  73 British were killed and 174 were wounded.  The colonists lost 49 dead and 41 injured.  It is estimated that only 2% of shots fired by the militia actually hit a British soldier.

https://www.ducksters.com/history/battle_of_lexington_and_concord.php

https://learnodo-newtonic.com/battle-of-lexington-and-concord-facts

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BUNKER HILL

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-battle-of-bunker-hill#:~:text=It%20was%20one%20of%20the,patriots%20sustained%20over%20400%20casualties.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/503234/11-facts-about-battle-bunker-hill

1. The battle was actually fought on Breed’s Hill. Col. William Prescott had been ordered to fortify the higher Bunker Hill, but for some reason he proceeded to a hill closer to Boston.  He either disobeyed orders or was not good with geography.  Breed’s Hill was a poor choice.  The British could, and should, have used their navy to land forces behind it and thus cut off Prescott’s men.
2. The battle was a pyrrhic victory for the British who lost almost half of their 2,200 men. The colonists suffered about 400 casualties out of 1,200.  Although a defeat, the fact that the colonists stood up to the best army in the world made the Revolution viable.
3. The battle was witnessed by a future president. John Quincy Adams watched with his mother Abigail.  Benjamin Pierce, the father of future President Franklin Pierce, fought in the battle.
4. 150 African-Americans fought in the battle. Salem Poor was commended by white officers for his leadership and bravery.  He is credited by some for killing British Major Pitcairn (although another black named Peter Salem may have done this).
5. Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the key figures in the rebellion, was appointed Major General, but insisted in fighting in the ranks as a common soldier. He was killed in the battle and buried in the common grave.  Months later, in an early example of forensics, his body was identified by his friend Paul Revere.  Revere, an amateur dentist, was able to identify the body by way of a false tooth.
6. The famous phrase “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” was most likely said by Gen. Israel Putnam, not by Prescott. It was actually not good advice because the normal British tactic was to march up to an enemy position, absorb the enemy volley, and then charge while they were reloading.  It would have been smarter to open fire at a longer range and get more shots in. 
7. Besides the fight for the redoubt Prescott built on the hill, there was a separate fight for a rail fence on the side of the redoubt. On the other side, the British burned the town of Charlestown to deprive the rebels of using it for sniping.
8. When the rebels began to run low on ammunition, they began to fire nails, scrap metal, and broken glass. At the end, some were throwing rocks.

PATRICK HENRY’S WIFE

                After Patrick Henry’s wife Sarah gave birth to her sixth and last child, she suffered from postpartum depression.  Instead of sending her to a mental hospital which had a bad reputation, he decided to humanely lock her in the cellar in a straitjacket.  He did provide a female slave who had no experience in dealing with this sort of problem.  After four years, she died.  It was probably a suicide.  Henry secretly buried her in the cellar and remarried two years later.

https://historycollection.co/16-terrible-facts-about-the-american-founding-fathers-that-didnt-make-it-to-the-history-books/?fbclid=IwAR0_bO1HlyMPT7bM3BzticHkptz703oNtqLE0hJe_S-HFJWg40AVGMSrvs0

MORRIS’ CATHETER

                Gouverneur Morris was the Founding Father who wrote the Preamble to the Constitution.  He had a peg leg, the result of a carriage accident.  In 1816, he was suffering greatly from a urinary tract blockage.  Rather than go to a doctor, he decided to solve the problem for himself.  His solution to the blockage by inserting a whale bone into his penis.  The result was an internal injury that resulted in an infection that took his life.

https://historycollection.co/16-terrible-facts-about-the-american-founding-fathers-that-didnt-make-it-to-the-history-books/3/?fbclid=IwAR0_bO1HlyMPT7bM3BzticHkptz703oNtqLE0hJe_S-HFJWg40AVGMSrvs0

THOMAS PAINE’S BONES

                Thomas Paine may have written the most important book in American History.  His “Common Sense” convinced many colonists to support independence.  It was a huge hit and still holds the record for per capita sales in America.  He also wrote “The Crisis”.  In spite of his positive role in his country’s birth, he was not popular.  He was a deist who criticized organized religion.  When he died in 1809 in New York City, his funeral was attended by only six people.  Churches refused burial because of his beliefs, so he was buried under a maple tree on his farm.  In 1819, a journalist named William Cobbett decided Paine would be better off buried in his native England.  He dug up the bones, but never got around to interring them across the ocean.  Twenty years later, when Cobbett died, his relatives auctioned off the bones.

https://historycollection.co/16-terrible-facts-about-the-american-founding-fathers-that-didnt-make-it-to-the-history-books/4/?fbclid=IwAR0_bO1HlyMPT7bM3BzticHkptz703oNtqLE0hJe_S-HFJWg40AVGMSrvs0

FACTS ABOUT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

1. It was written by a five man committee: Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.  John Adams was supposed to write the draft, but he deferred to the more talented writer, Jefferson.  The committee made 86 edits, but left the Preamble the way Jefferson wrote it.
2. The Declaration was the result of the passage of the Lee Proposal on July 2. Richard Henry Lee had proposed independence on June 7 and after debating, the vote occurred on July 2.  Adams insisted that July 2 should be celebrated as Independence Day, but July 4 was settled on because that is the day the delegates voted to accept the document.
3. The only delegate to sign on July 4 was the president of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock. Most of the 56 signers signed on August 2. The last to sign was Thomas McKean.  George Washington did not sign because he had left to command the Continental Army.  Two delegates, Robert Livingston and John Dickinson, refused to sign because they opposed independence at that point.  One signer, Richard Stockton, later renounced his signature after captured and mistreated by the British.  Nine signers did not leave to see independence achieved.  One, Button Gwinnett, was killed in a duel.
4. Eight of the signers were born in England. Six signed both the Declaration and the Constitution –  Ben Franklin, George Reed, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, George Clymer, and James Wilson.  The oldest signer was Franklin, the youngest was Edward Rutledge (26). 
5. Around 200 copies were printed by John Dunlop to be distributed to the colonies. These became known as the “Dunlop broadsides”.  Only 26 survive.  One was found at a flea market in 1989.  It was behind an old picture that was bought for $4 (for the frame).  It was sold for $8 million to famous TV writer Norman Lear.
6. It took 442 days from the start of the Revolutionary War for independence to be declared.
7. After the Declaration was read to Washington’s army in NYC, the crowd went wild and tore down a statue of King George III. The statue was melted down and made into 42,000 musket balls.
8. The official Declaration traveled quite a bit before settling down in Washington, D.C. It was moved when the British raided the capital in the War of 1812 for safekeeping.  In 1876, it made a trip to Philadelphia for the Centennial Celebration.  In WWII, after Pearl Harbor, it was stored at Fort Knox.

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-declaration-of-independence

https://patch.com/wisconsin/brookfield-wi/declaration-independence-10-fun-facts-you-might-not-know

https://www.history.com/news/9-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-declaration-of-independence

https://www.military.com/july-4th/fun-facts-about-the-declaration-of-independence.html

YANKEE DOODLE

Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.

[Chorus]
Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.

                “Yankee Doodle” is now considered to be one of the great patriotic American songs.  Connecticut has it as the state anthem.  School children learn it.  But it was not originally meant to swell hearts with pride.  The song was created by a British army doctor named Richard Schuckburg during the French and Indian War.  He set it to an old folk tune.  He meant it to mock the colonial militia who fought with the Redcoats.  The word “yankee” probably came from the Dutch word jancke which meant “johnny”.  It was a pejorative for British colonists.  “Doodle” was a fool or bumpkin.   He’s riding a pony, not a horse.  “Macaroni” is a reference to foppish young men in England who adopted outlandish clothing and behavior.  These middle-class men had aristocratic pretensions.  They wore tall wigs, tiny hats (with feathers), colorful stockings, embroidered waistcoats, and slippers. They behaved effeminately and were thought by most to be gay.  Because some of the fashion was associated with Italians, the group got the name “macaronis”.  The song accuses colonists of trying to join the macaronis by simply sticking a feather in their caps.  In other words, the rube of the song wants to be a “dandy” or faux aristocrat.  The song was so offensive the Redcoats sang it as they marched on Concord on that fateful day in 1775.  However, on their way back to Boston, it was the minutemen who were tauntingly singing it.  At that point the song was reappropriated by the rebels and renamed the “Lexington March”.  With a hint of irony, it became a popular song associated with independence.                

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/sunday-review/that-diss-song-known-as-yankee-doodle.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle

–  The Greatest War Stories Never Told  pp. 42-43

THE 78 YEAR OLD MINUTEMAN

                Samuel Whittemore was born in England, but migrated to colonial Massachusetts.  He joined the colonial militia and served in King George’s War (1744-1748).  He was 50 years old at the Siege of Louisbourg.  He led an assault and came out of the chaos with a brand-new sword.  Thirteen years later, in the French and Indian War, he again was fighting at Louisbourg.  He was now 64.  Time to retire?  Hell, no.  He didn’t have enough weapons yet.  So he went off at age 68 to put down Pontiac’s Rebellion.  He came out of a hand-to-hand battle with a nifty pair of dueling pistols.  He returned to his farm to finally settle down.  Then came “the shot heard around the world”.  On April 19, 1775 he was working on his farm near Lexington when he heard that the British were retreating back to Boston after killing minutemen at Lexington and destroying supplies at Concord.  He grabbed his musket, his sword, and his dueling pistols and found a nice spot behind a stone wall along the road.  When the Redcoats marched by, he shot one with the musket and two with the pistols.  He reached for the sword, but by that time the enraged British were upon him.  He was shot in the face and then his body was used as a pin cushion for bayonets.  He was also clubbed.  They left a clearly dying old badass lying there.  He was carried by his mates to a doctor who frowned and shook his head.  He underestimated Samuel who went on to live to age 96.  In 2005, the state of Massachusetts declared him an “Official State Hero”.

https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/samuel-whittemore-the-oldest-bravest-and-maybe-craziest-american-revolutionary/

https://blog.uspatriottactical.com/american-heroes-stone-cold-samuel-whittemore/

–  The Greatest War Stories Never Told  pp. 44-45

FACTS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF TRENTON

1. The Battle took place at the darkest moment of the war for the Continental Army. New York City had been lost in a series of defeats, Forts Lee and Washington had fallen in embarrassing performances, the army had been forced to retreat across New Jersey with the British in pursuit, and  it had crossed the Delaware to refuge in Pennsylvania.  His small army was exhausted, dispirited, hungry, and disease-ridden.  The enlistments of many were coming up and they were planning on going home in the new year.  Washington wrote in a letter to his cousin “I think the game is nearly up.”  He decided desperate times require desperate actions.
2. Washington was not a great general, but he was an inspiring leader. His plans tended to be too complicated and he did have a tendency to take big risks, most of which resulted in near disaster.  This plan was to cross the river with three forces and converge on the Hessian garrison at Trenton.  Considering the state of his army and the fearsome reputation of the Hessians (who had kicked his ass in the past), his subordinates thought the plan was insane.  Washington convinced them it was the only hope to restore morale and keep the men from going home.  He was right.
3. The Hessians were commanded by Col. Johann Rall. Rall had a low opinion of the Continentals.  He refused to fortify the town and disregarded warnings of a possible attack.  Besides, no one fought in wintertime in 18^th Century warfare.  One of Washington’s strengths was his spy network.  John Honeyman, a butcher and bartender, masqueraded as a Tory to interact with the British.  He convinced them that Washington’s army was in bad shape and incapable of going on the offensive.  He allowed himself to be captured and brought before Washington.  He confirmed that Trenton was ripe for the taking.
4. Before the crossing, the men were inspired by the recently published “The Crisis” by Thomas Paine. The lines that most resonated were:  “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.” 
5. The crossing was made in big Durham boats manned by Col. John Glover’s Marbleheaders. The water had ice cakes in it.  2,400 men were brought across and no one was lost in the crossing.  18 cannons and several horses were also transported.  The artillery was commanded by Gen. Henry Knox.  He went over in the same boat as his good friend Washington.  In one of the few jokes Washington ever told, he loudly told Knox: “Shift your fat ass Henry, but slowly or you’ll swamp the boat.”  He knew how to break the tension.
6. The crossing was efficiently done, but took three hours longer than Washington had planned. It was now impossible to make a night attack, but Washington would not back down.  The password was “Victory or Death”.
7. The army had to march 19 miles. Many of the men did not have proper shoes.  Two men froze to death on the march.  The soldiers had 60 rounds of ammunition and three days rations. 
8. In spite of the broad daylight, the Hessians were taken totally by surprise. And they shouldn’t have been.  Although it is a myth that they were drunk from Christmas celebrating, they were definitely not on guard.  Rall had not taken the warnings of an attack seriously, but an unrelated attack on an outpost by a militia group the night before was deemed to be the forewarned attack.
9. Christmas night, as Rall was playing cards with some of his officers, a spy knocked on the door with important information. Rall told the soldier at the door to take a message.  The message warned that Washington was on the march and would attack in the morning.  When the note was brought to him, Rall was dealing cards and he put it in his pocket, unread.  It was found there when his body was prepared for burial.  Still unread.  Such is the role of luck in history.
10. The battle lasted about an hour. The Hessians attempted to put up a fight, but mainly due to cannon fire by Knox’s men and the overwhelming number of enraged rebels (2,400 versus 1,400), the fight was hopeless.  All resistance collapsed after the mortal wounding of Rall.  The Hessians had 22 killed, 83 wounded, and 918 captured.  Washington lost the two frozen and five wounded.  One of the wounded was future President James Monroe who came close to death from a shoulder wound.

In conclusion, Washington’s plan was insane, but necessary.  However, it should have resulted in the end of the Revolution.  If Rall had read the note and the Hessians had been ready for an attack, it is highly likely that the Continental Army would have suffered another defeat.  Very likely, its last defeat.

https://www.american-revolutionary-war-facts.com/American-Revolutionary-War-Battle-Facts/Battle-of-Trenton-Facts.html

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/trenton

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battles-of-trenton-and-princeton

https://learnodo-newtonic.com/battle-of-trenton-facts

BENEDICT ARNOLD’S WACKY ADVENTURE

            Benedict Arnold was not always a traitor.  In fact, he was quite a hero before he went over to the dark side.  His resume included several noteworthy accomplishments.  He helped Ethan Allen captured Fort Ticonderoga.  He followed this up with a proposal to capture Quebec.  He pointed out to the Continental Congress that its capture would deprive Britain of a launching point for an invasion of New York and might foment a rebellion by French Canadians.  Congress turned down the hare-brained plan, but then reconsidered and ordered Gen. Schuyler to attack Quebec via Lake Champlain.  An enraged Arnold went to George Washington and convinced him to approve a second expedition via Maine.  Arnold was given 1,100 men, including Lt. Col. Daniel Morgan’s riflemen.  A holdup in pay pushed the departure back to September which meant worse weather.  That was only part of the problem.  The bateaux were built by a closet loyalist and they leaked badly, damaging food and supplies.  The faulty map indicated the journey would be 180 miles and could be made in 20 days.  It was actually 350 miles.  350 miles of the worst territory imaginable.  They had to portage (carry a boat across land) the boats around a water fall and a later portage was 12 miles through swampy ground.  They were often lost.  It rained heavily and the men were miserable in the wet and cold.  Due to the high current in some of the rivers, the men sometimes had to pull the boats upstream.  Several bateaux overturned causing a shortage of provisions.  The men were forced to eat shoe leather and candle wax.  450 men turned back, but Arnold kept the rest going through his inspirational leadership.  When they arrived at Quebec on Nov. 9, Arnold had about 600 starving men with him.  It had taken twice as long as planned.  The men recuperated and they were joined by reinforcements led by Gen. Richard Montgomery.  On the night of New Year’s Eve in 1775, Arnold and Montgomery led an attack on the well-defended city in a snow storm.  Montgomery was killed by a cannon-blast and Arnold was seriously wounded in the leg.  The Battle of Quebec was a fiasco, but Arnold had proven himself an incredible leader.  Unfortunately, the lack of credit for this and for his subsequent heroism at Saratoga would feed into his personality flaws.  

https://www.history.com/news/benedict-arnold-canada-invasion-revolutionary-war

https://www.thoughtco.com/arnold-expedition-2360178

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold%27s_expedition_to_Quebec

THE DAY THE REVOLUTION SHOULD HAVE ENDED

            George Washington crossing the Delaware on Dec. 25, 1776 to attack Trenton was daring.  Washington crossing again on Dec. 29 was insane.  In spite of the British now being on the alert and seeking revenge, Washington decided to return to the scene of his Christmas victory.  He camped at Trenton and sure enough Gen. Cornwallis came swooping down with an army of 8,000.  His army was superior in numbers and quality, so victory in a pitched battle was almost guaranteed.  Crushing Washington’s army would probably end the Revolution, but once again Washington was blessed with his opposition.  Cornwallis arrived in the afternoon.  Washington’s men disputed the bridge separating his army from the British and Cornwallis decided that it was getting late and he would get a good night’s sleep and finish the war tomorrow.  The discovery of a ford that would put his army on Washington’s flank virtually assured victory.  Washington foolishly decided to stand his ground as his glowing campfires and the noise of men digging fortifications proved.  The next morning when the British attacked, they found an empty camp with the ashes of fires that had been kept up by a few men.  Surprise!  During the night, Washington had taken his army on a back road to Princeton.  The wagon wheels had been covered with rags to muffle the sounds and the British were clueless about the 18-mile march.

            Washington arrived at Princeton in the early morning.  His army ran into a 1,000 redcoat force under Lt. Col. Mawhood that was marching to join Cornwallis.  The battle opened with Mawhood’s men exchanging fire with a unit led by Washington’s friend Gen. Hugh Mercer.  A British bayonet charge forced the Americans back.  Mercer ended up surrounded.  When he refused to surrender, he was stabbed numerous times.  Apparently his uniform made the British think he was Washington.  An advancing militia unit panicked and began to run when Washington rode up and rallied the men.  Continental regulars came up in the nick of time and Washington led them forward to within 30 yards of the Brits.  With Washington between the lines, volleys were exchanged.  Washington’s aides held their breath as the powder smoke dissipated to reveal an unwounded commander-in-chief.  With artillery flaying them, an American bayonet charge convinced the British this was not their day.  Mawhood retreated back to Princeton and many of his men took refuge in Nassau Hall on the university campus.  Alexander Hamilton brought up three cannons and opened fire.  According to legend, one cannon ball hit the head of King George II in a portrait in the chapel.  (The painting was replaced later by one of Washington.)  The British surrendered soon after and Washington had another morale-boosting win that helped convince his men to stick with the cause.  His insane crossing of the Delaware came up smelling like roses because a British general was in no hurry to keep the Colonies as part of the England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Princeton

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/washingtons-revolutionary-war-battles/the-trenton-princeton-campaign/10-facts-about-the-battle-of-princeton/

https://www.britishbattles.com/war-of-the-revolution-1775-to-1783/battle-of-princeton/

THE CAPTURE OF VINCENNES

Fort Vincennes was a British fort located in the Ohio River Valley.  It was built to guard the frontier after the French and Indian War.  During the Revolutionary War, Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark (older brother of William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame) was determined to take the Ohio River Valley for the future United States.  When he learned that Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton had taken command of the fort, Clark knew he could not give him time to expand British power in the area.  He was also motivated by the desire to take on the notorious “Hair-Buyer” Hamilton who had a reputation for buying scalps from the Indians.  Although it was still winter, he set out from Kaskaskia with 172 American and French militia.  They left on Feb. 6, 1779.  The journey was 180 miles, much of it wading through water.  Food ran short and the men threatened to desert, but the leadership of Clark kept them going until they arrived in the town of Vincennes on Feb. 23.  The next day, Clark’s men opened fire on the fort and demanded its surrender.  Hamilton refused.  Clark made his force seem much larger by marching his men with just flags in view to make it seem he had many more.  And he showed Hamilton what would happen if the fort was taken by force.  A war party of French and Indians was ambushed on its way back to the fort.  Four Indians were captured.  Clark had them brought to kneel before the fort and then they were tomahawked and scalped.  Message received.  Hamilton surrendered the fort the next day.  It was renamed Fort Patrick Henry.  Clark had suffered no casualties, but when a cannon was fired in the fort to celebrate the win, it exploded and killed or wounded five men.  One of the dead was Clark’s second-in-command Joseph Bowman.  The cannon had been sabotaged by the British.  The capture of Vincennes was a factor in Great Britain ceding the Northwest Territory as part of the Treaty of Paris.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/vincennes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Fort_Vincennes

CHARLES LEE – VILLAIN?

                Charles Lee has gone down in American History as one of the villains of the Revolutionary War, but perhaps he has been given a raw deal.  Lee was born on Feb. 6, 1732 in England.  His father was a general in the British army.  He was well-educated and spoke several languages, including Latin, Greek, and French.  When he reached adulthood, his father purchased him an officer’s commission in his regiment and he began a military career.  He fought in the French and Indian War and survived the Battle of Monongahela under Gen. Braddock.  (A battle Washington gained fame in.)  He was wounded during a failed attack on Ft. Ticonderoga and was at Montreal for the close of the fighting in the war.  During the war he married the daughter of a Mohawk chief and she had twins.  He then fought in Portugal under Gen. Burgoyne.  When the Seven Years’ War ended, he became an aide to the King of Poland and fought in the Russo-Turkish War.  He fought a duel where he lost two fingers, his opponent lost his life.  In 1773, he settled on an estate in Virginia.  He was a supporter of independence. 

                When the Continental Army was created, he was considered for commander, but ended up third in command after Artemus Ward.  He moved up when Ward resigned for health reasons.  He was sent to command in the South and became the “Hero of Charleston” when the British were unable to take the city due to the defense of Fort Sullivan (later named Moultrie for its commander).  Ironically, Lee had wanted to abandon the fort.  He had a reputation for underestimating and denigrating colonial military abilities.  He also underestimated the abilities of George Washington.  He often criticized his boss behind his back and this picked up after the fall of Fort Washington in 1776.  Washington was aware of some of the carping, but had a high opinion of Lee’s military abilities and put up with his personality (which included keeping numerous dogs).  At the darkest moment of the Revolution, with Washington retreating across New Jersey, Lee took his good old time rejoining Washington with part of his army.  On Dec. 12, he was embarrassingly captured while at a tavern.  He was held until 1778 and during his captivity he was quite chummy with his captors.  He even discussed how the British could win the war.  When he returned, he was restored to Washington’s second in command.  He was unimpressed with the improved Continental Army that came out of Valley Forge and was critical of the idea of provoking a battle.  When Washington insisted on taking his new carriage out for a drive, Lee changed his mind and insisted on being given command of the vanguard.

                 On June 28, 1778, Lee moved on the British rearguard, but when the British responded with a larger force, Lee approved an already underway retreat.  Although the retro action was disciplined, Washington was unaware of the changed situation until he came upon retreating units.  Perplexed and angered, Washington exchanged heated words with Lee.  According to legend, Washington fired Lee on the spot.  In actuality, Lee was left to command a delaying action as Washington set up the defensive line that later blunted the British attack and resulted in the battle being considered a victory.  In the aftermath, Lee wrote an insulting letter demanding an apology.  Meanwhile, Washington’s supporters created the narrative that Lee was a poltroon who had nearly cost the army a defeat through his cowardly retreat.  This ended up in him being court-martialed for disobeying orders to attack, a shameful retreat, and  for disrespect.  The trial came down to Washington or Lee so the result was obvious.  Lee probably was not guilty of the first two charges, but was definitely guilty of disrespect.  He was suspended for a year (a lenient penalty that reflected the belief that he had not behaved cowardly in the battle.)  But Lee refused to let it lie and was wounded in a duel with Washington’s aide John Laurens.  Lee retired to his estate and died in 1882.  By then, he had firmly been established as one of the biggest jerks in the Revolution, but probably not a villain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lee_(general)

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/charles-lee/

https://www.americanheritage.com/military-crimes-charles-lee#9

GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS AN INCREDIBLY LUCKY MAN

1. In 1752, the 19-year-old Washington was on an expedition in the wilds of Pennsylvania. His Indian guide took a shot at him that whizzed by his head.
2. In 1755, Washington was serving as an aide to British Gen. Braddock and participated in the Battle of the Monongahela. He had two horses shot from under him, four bullet holes in his coat, and his hat shot off.
3. In 1775, he came up with a risky plan to make an amphibious landing to attack Boston. It almost surely would have been a disaster, but bad weather caused its cancellation.
4. In 1776, his army was defeated badly on Long Island. The British did not press the retreating army when it was vulnerable to destruction.  That night, Washington was able to escape in boats in a fog.
5. In 1776, he made a daring plan to attack the fearsome Hessians in Trenton. If it would have failed, most of his soldiers were planning to go home since their enlistments were up.  It totally relied on surprise.  The night before the battle, a spy delivered a note warning of the attack to the Hessian commander.  He was playing cards and put the note in his pocket, he never read it.
6. In 1777, when Washington’s army recrossed the Delaware and camped near Trenton, the British swooped down on his army. Washington was very vulnerable, but Lord Cornwallis decided to not attack until the next day.  During the night, Washington snuck away to attack Princeton.
7. At Princeton, Washington attacked, but there was a moment when part of his army was pushed back. Washington rode up to rally his men.  He was in front of them when the British fired a volley from about 30 yards away.  His aides closed their eyes, fearing the worst, but when the smoke cleared, Washington was still there, unscathed.
8. In 1777, Washington was out on a personal reconnaissance when he encountered Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson was considered the best shot in the British army.  He had invented a very accurate breechloading rifle.  He could have easily shot the unknown horseman from that distance.  He decided not to.
9. In 1778, Washington wanted to attack the British rearguard as it moved to New York City. Gen. Charles Lee was given command of the attack.  When his men approached the British, they responded by sending back a large force to reinforce the rearguard.  Lee did not push the attack and his men retreated on their own.  He did not rally them.  When Washington came up and saw the retreat, he exploded at Lee.  Washington organized a defense against the approaching army.  His men fought well on the defensive and held the battlefield as the British backed off at the end of the day.  It was a morale-boosting victory that gave the Continental Army something to build on leading to Yorktown.  But if Lee had carried out Washington’s wishes and attacked the rearguard, he would have been marching into a trap and likely would have been badly handled.

https://www.cracked.com/article_20182_5-reasons-george-washington-was-either-lucky-or-wizard.html

https://www.americanheritage.com/miraculous-care-providence#3

THE LIBERTY BELL

                This is the anniversary of one of the supposed crackings of the Liberty Bell.  According to legend, the bell got a serious crack when it was rung to honor the death of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.  In 1751, the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned the bell for 100 pounds. It was meant to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of William Penn’s 1701 Charter of Privileges (the original constitution of Pennsylvania).  It was engraved with “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”.   It was flawed from the beginning due to poor ingredients.  It was delivered in August, 1752 and cracked in testing so it was recast twice before being placed in the State House (later renamed Independence Hall).  It was 70% copper, 25% tin, and included lead, zinc, gold, silver, and arsenic.  The final bell still had flaws.  It weighs 2,080 pounds and is 12 feet in circumference and 3 feet tall.  It was not rung on July 4, 1776 as is commonly believed, but it was probably rung on July 8, 1776.  During the war, it was hidden in a church in Allentown, Pa. when Philadelphia was occupied by the British.  Over the years it was rung for the signing of the Constitution, and the deaths of Franklin, Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson / Adams.  The first crack apparently occurred when it was rung for Lafayette during his 1824 visit to the U.S.  In the 1830’s it acquired its name when abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison adopted it as a symbol of freedom.  Before this it was called the State House Bell.  The most popular story of its crack is that it occurred when the bell was rung upon the death of Marshall on July 8, 1835.  There is no proof for this story.  In 1846, it cracked more for Washington’s birthday and has not been rung since.

https://www.history.com/news/why-is-the-liberty-bell-cracked

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-liberty-bell

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51529/how-did-liberty-bell-get-cracked

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Bell

BLOODY BANESTRE

                Banestre Tarleton and I go way back.  I wrote a report about him in high school. I can’t remember what motivated me to write about the second most villainous figure in the American Revolutionary War (Benedict Arnold being #1).  He certainly Is a fascinating figure.  Don’t think I was rooting for his side.  Actually, he may have won the war for the Americans, as you shall see.

                Banestre was born on August 21, 1754.  His father was wealthy, partly from the slave trade.  He had been mayor of Liverpool at one time.  Banestre graduated from Oxford and hoped to become a lawyer.  Unfortunately, he inherited a lot of money and proceeded to spend it on gambling and women.  He was left with only enough money to purchase a commission in the British army.  In 1776, he arrived in America as a Lt. Colonel.  He quickly showed his abilities and became a cavalry commander.  In December, he captured Gen. Charles Lee at a tavern.  This ironically helped the Continental Army because Lee was a thorn in Washington’s side and probably would have been a negative factor preventing Washington’s victories at Trenton and Princeton.  He was sent to the South to serve under Gen. Cornwallis.  He became a great raider and scout.  His unit engaged in guerrilla warfare with Francis Marion and others.  On May 12, 1780 he sealed his position in infamy in the Battle of Waxhaws.  He surprised and easily defeated a colonial unit.  After the Americans waved the white flag of surrender, someone fired a shot that hit Tarleton’s horse.  Enraged, his men waded into the Americans, including the wounded.  113 Americans were killed, most of them murdered.  The British lost only 5 dead.  This incident was propagandized by the patriots and the phrase “Tarleton’s Quarter” became common.  Quarter refers to acceptance of surrender.  Tarleton’s men had given no quarter at Waxhaws.  Although he became infamous, he was not a demon.  (He was portrayed as one in Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot” where he is clearly the model for Tavington.  The real Tarleton never burned a church with colonists in it.)

                  In 1781, the patriots got their revenge when Daniel Morgan pulled off the American Cannae at the Battle of Cowpens.  Tarleton survived this butt-whipping.  Had he not marched into Morgan’s trap, it is likely the British would have won the Southern Campaign and the siege of Yorktown would have been avoided.  Tarleton lost two fingers at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.  He surrendered at Yorktown and returned to England.  He was elected to Parliament.  He opposed ending the slave trade and was a vocal opponent of abolitionists.  In 1820, he was knighted.  He died at age 78 in 1833.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bloody-ban-tarleton-born-in-britain

https://thehistoryjunkie.com/banastre-tarleton-facts/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banastre_Tarleton

THE BROWN BESS MUSKET

Here are some facts about one of the most famous firearms in history. 

1. The Long Land Service Musket became the official musket of the British army in 1722. It was a flintlock musket (which means the bullet was expelled after a flint created a spark in the firing pan).  It replaced the mostly matchlock muskets of the period.  It was used until replaced by the Enfield rifled musket in 1853. 
2. There are various theories as to its name. One is that it was named after its brown varnishing.  The “bess” may have been a reference to Queen Elizabeth (nicknamed Bess) or a shortening of arquebus.  Or it could have been named after prostitutes, who were called “brown bessies”.  Perhaps soldiers named their muskets after others who comforted them.
3. It was revolutionary because it was a standardized firearm. This greatly improved supply because the bullets could be the same.  And repairs were simplified.  The original Long Land Service Musket was about 62”.  It weighed between 9-11 pounds.  The bullet was between .73-.79 caliber.  That was a one-ounce chunk of metal that caused quite a bit of damage.  If it hit bone, it would shatter the bone and require amputation to avoid infection.  The musket could be equipped with a 17” socket bayonet.
4. It was notoriously inaccurate. Although advertised as accurate to 200 yards, in reality you had about a 50/50 chance of hitting a man at 80 yards.  And that was on the firing range, not in the chaos of battle.  Part of the inaccuracy was due to the smoke the weapon put out.  And part was due to the British army put no emphasis on accuracy.  The soldiers were trained in the 18 steps for firing it, but they were given little practice.  Heck, the gun did not even have a sight.  Who needs a sight when you have your eyes closed because of the smoke from firing it?  You were just supposed to aim it in the general direction of the enemy.  Since they were approaching you in a line or column, hopefully you would hit someone.
5. How inaccurate? In the American Revolutionary War, at Lexington, it is estimated that only about 1 of 400 shots fired by colonists at RED-COATED soldiers, 30 yards away, and with their muskets propped on stone walls, actually wounded a Brit.  The success rate for the British at Waterloo was .75%.  That’s less than 1% hit French soldiers marching toward them in blocks of men.
6. The British army stressed rapidity over accuracy. A good soldier could fire three shots per minute.  I’ll condense the 18 steps.  Pull out a paper cartridge that has the powder and ball in it.  Bite the cartridge open, pour a little into the open firing pan and close the pan.  Pour the rest down the barrel and spit the ball in.  Use the ramrod to pack the ball down.  Cock the flintlock back. “Aim” and fire.
7. It became increasingly hard to ram the ball down because leftover powder would foul the barrel. One solution was to pee down the barrel. While the battle is going on.  Oh, and be careful because the barrel will be hot from all the firing.  You had to replace the flint after about 20 firings.

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2019/03/17/brown-bess-the-story-of-historys-most-famous-musket/

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2017/07/05/the-brown-bess-eight-amazing-facts-about-the-musket-that-made-the-british-empire/

FRANCISCO’S FIGHT

                Pedro Francisco (later known as Peter) was born on an island off Portugal.  At age 5, he was kidnapped and ended up on a pier in Virginia.  Put in an orphanage, he was adopted by Patrick Henry’s uncle and grew up on his plantation.  He was apprenticed to be a blacksmith because he grew up big.  He was 6’8” and 260 pounds.  He became known as the Virginia Hercules or the Virginia Giant.  At age 16, he joined the 10^th Virginia Regiment in 1776.  He served in several battles.  He was at Valley Forge.  He was wounded several times.  He was the second man into the fort in the Battle of Stony Point (for which he received $200).  He killed 12 British soldiers and captured a flag.  According to legend, he rescued a stuck cannon in the retreat from the Battle of Camden.  He carried the 1,000- pound barrel on his shoulder.  He killed several British at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse while leading a cavalry charge.  One day, when he was away from the army recovering from a wound, he was captured by eleven cavalrymen from Tarleton’s Legion.  One of them demanded Francisco’s silver belt buckles.  When he leaned over to take them, Peter grabbed his sword and hit him in the head.  The redcoat fired a pistol that grazed Peter.  He slashed at the foe’s hand and nearly severed it.  Another Brit attempted to shoot him, but his musket misfired.  Francisco grabbed the musket and clubbed the man to the ground.  When the dust cleared, Francisco had killed three Englishmen and escaped on one of their horses with eight of the other horses in tow.  This became known as “Francisco’s Fight” and made him a hero of the Revolution.  Some of these feats have been questioned by historians, but there is no doubt the Peter Francisco was a badass that fought bravely for independence. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco%27s_Fight

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Francisco

https://www.historyisfun.org/blog/peter-francisco/

https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/07/peter-francisco-fact-or-fiction/

GENERAL HOWE’S DOG

                The Battle of Germantown was fought on October 4, 1777.  Washington had recently suffered defeats and the loss of Philadelphia, so he was looking for a comeback.  Unfortunately, his plan (as usual) was overly complex.  He did take the British at Germantown by surprise, but a fog causes confusion among his units.  Two of them fired on each other in the confusion.  In spite of this, the British were shocked and victory was within grasp.  Washington mistakenly let his attack’s momentum dissipate by spending a lot of time and effort to capture an imposing building called Chew’s House.  Numerous assaults were unsuccessful and meanwhile British Gen. William Howe organized a counterattack.  When Howe rushed to the battlefield, his little dog followed him.  When the Americans retreated, and the dog followed.  After the battle, when Washington discovered who the dog belonged to, he had the dog returned to its owner.  He had Alexander Hamilton write the following note:

“General Washington’s compliments to General Howe, does himself the pleasure to return [to] him a Dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the Collar appears to belong to General Howe.”

By the way, some historians believe Washington took advantage of returning the dog in order to scout out the British camp.

https://www.americanheritage.com/case-generals-dog

https://americacomesalive.com/a-dog-on-the-battlefield-and-the-character-of-george-washington/

THE FOUNDING FATHER WHO WAS A SPY

                If it wasn’t for a prostitute, we’d have one more Founding Father to idolize.  Benjamin Church should be mentioned with the likes of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, John Adams, and Joseph Warren.  Instead, his name is mentioned with Benedict Arnold.  Church was born in Rhode Island, the son of a merchant and deacon.  His wealthy family put him through Harvard and he became a doctor.  When trouble brewed between the colonies and Britain, he was a prominent patriot.  He joined the Sons of Liberty and was a member of the Committee of Correspondence.  He was elected to the Provisional Government of Massachusetts.  He examined the body of Crispus Attucks and treated the wounded of the Boston Massacre.  He was the keynote speaker for the third annual Massacre Day commemoration.  He was appointed the first Surgeon General for the Continental Army, but suspicions began to rise about his patriotism.  After Lexington and Concord, he insisted on making a trip into the besieged Boston.  He was spotted meeting with British General Gage.  He claimed he had been arrested and released.  In July, 1775, he sent a coded letter to Gage that was intercepted by a prostitute friend of Gage.  The letter found its way to Washington and when it was decoded, it included information about the strength of Washington’s army. It proclaimed his loyalty to England and asked for instructions.  A court of inquiry was called.  Church argued that he was presenting exaggerated information about the army to get Gage to forego an attack.  The court was not convinced and declared the letter to be “criminal correspondence”.  Church was put under guard and in 1778 he was banished.  On his way to Martinique, his ship disappeared.  For decades, historians disputed his guilt.  However, in the early 20^th Century, Gage’s personal files became available to historians.  This new information proved that Church was indeed a British spy.  And America’s first traitor. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Church_(physician)

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/americas-first-traitor-d2afcb86d75