1. society
2. unrest and war

CONTINENTAL ARMY UNIFORM
WORN AT THE SIEGE OF FORT
STANWIX, 1717 In 1775, the Conti nental Congress faced the daunting prospect offielding an army
to fight the largest military force
in the world . Money was scarce,
soldiers were hastily trained and
short of equipment, and uniforms
were hard to come by. (Many were
purchased from France.) At the start
of the war, ordinary enlisted men
often wore brown work clothes,
and although this outfit gave them
a unified look, it did not allow for
easy categorization of soldiers by
their units. When General Washington
finally issued dress specifications, he
chose the color already preferred by many
officers - dark blue - and then specified the
variety of colors to be used for the facings
and linings of the coat to establish the rank
and the unit of each soldier. Officers especially
needed distinctive clothing to distinguish them
from ordinary soldiers and from other officers, so that
the military hierarchy could be maintained at all times. The
coat pictured here belonged to a brigadier general, Peter Gansevoort, who was twenty-eight in 1777 and
in command of Fort Stanwi x in the Mohawk Valley of New York. The coat has a buff-colored lining (seen
inside the coattails) and bright red facings on the collar, lapels, and cuffs, marking him as a New York soldier. The color of the shoulder ribbons (red) reveals Gansevoort's rank. The ribbons could be easily replaced
with a new color, enabling a man to ascend in rank without having to get a new coat. Young Gansevoort
became a celebrated hero when he successfully defended Fort Stanwix against an attack by British and
Indians. His grandson, the author Herman Melville, named his second son Stanwix in honor of the event.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
154
CHAPTER
The War for America
1775-1783
•
LIKE MANY OF THE MEN who fought in the Revolutionary War on the
the Chapter
American side, Robert Shurtliff of Massachusetts had multiple reasons for
en listing. Early in the war, men joined the Continental army to fight what
th ey saw as British oppression. As the fighting dragged on, extra incentive
pay and promises of future frontier acreage additionally motivated new
The Second Continental Congress
~
recruits. By the war's eighth year, a severe manpower shortage caused towns
t o offer cash bounties of $50 in sil ver. Young, single, poor, and unsettled in
The First Year of War, 1775-1776
~
life, Robert Shurtliff stepped up. Thanks to a tall, muscular physique and
decent skill with a musket, the adventurous soldier readily won assignment
in the army's elite light infantry unit.
Shurtliff's reported age was eighteen, not unusual for the new recruits of
1782. Beardless boys who had been children when the British marched on
Lexington signed up for service in an army still needed after the decisive
battle at Yorktown. The British refused to end their occupation of New York
City until a peace treaty was signed , so for nearly two years , Washington's
That is, 10,000 men and 1 woman. " Robert Shurtliff" was actually Deborah
Sampson, age twenty-three, from Middleborough , Massachusetts. For seventeen months, Sampson masqueraded as a man, marching through woods,
163
How did the patriots promote support
for their cause in the colonies?
The Campaigns of 1777-1779: The North
and West 169
~
force of 10,000 men camped along the Hudson River north of the city,
skirmishing with the enemy.
160
Why did the British exercise restraint
in their efforts to defeat the rebellious
colonies?
The Home Front
'"
.
156
Why were many Americans reluctant to
pursue independence from Britain?
Why did the Americans need assistance
from the French to ensure victory?
The Southern Strategy and the End of
the War
~
173
Why did the British southern strategy
ultimately fail?
Conclusion: Why the British Lost
177
firing a musket, and enduring the boredom of camp. Misrepresenting her
age enabled her to blend in with the beardless boys, as did her competence
as a soldier. With privacy at a minimum, she faced constant risks of discovery. Soldiers slept six to a tent, "spooning" their bodies together for warmth .
Somehow, Sampson managed to escape detection. Although many thousands of women served the army as cooks, laundresses, and caregivers, they
were never placed in combat. Not only was Sampson defrauding the military, but she was also violating a legal prohibition on cross-dressing. Why
did she run this risk?
A hard-luck childhood had left Sampson both impoverished and unusu ally plucky. Her father deserted the family, causing her mother to place the
children in foster care. From age five forward, Deborah lived with a succession of families, learning household skills appropriate to a servant's life.
155
156
CHAPTER 7 I The Warfor America
nUJlfl:!l1
More unusually, she also learned to plow a field and to read and
write. Freed from servitude at age eighteen, she earned a living as a
weaver and then as a teacher, low-wage jobs but also ones without
supervising bosses. Marriage would have been her normal next step,
but either lack of inclination or a wartime shortage of men kept her
single and "masterless," rare for an eighteenth-century woman. But
like most single females, she was also poor; the $50 bounty enticed
her to enlist.
Sampson was unmasked after seventeen months of service when
she suffered a battle-related injury and the treatment revealed her
sex. She was discharged immediately, but her fine service record
kept her superiors from prosecuting her for cross-dressing. Sampson
spent many years seeking a pension from the government to compensate her for her war injury, to no avail.
What eventually made Sampson famous was not her war service
alone, but her effort to capitalize on it by selling her story to the
public. In 1797, now a middle-aged mother of three, she told her life
story (a blend of fact and fiction) in a short book. During 1802-1803,
Deborah Sampson In the mid-1790s, Deborah
she reenacted her wartime masquerade on a speaking tour of New
Sampson sat for this small portrait painted by
England and New York. Once again, she was crossing gender boundMassachusetts folk artist Joseph Stone. An engraved
aries, since women who were not actresses normally did not speak
copy of it illustrated The Female Review, a short
from public stages.
book about Sampson's unusual military career and
Except for her disguised sex, Sampson's Revolutionary War experilife published in 1797. Sampson, by then a wife and
ence
was similar to that of most Americans. Disruptions affected
mother, displays femininity in this picture. Note her
life, whether in military service or on the home front.
everyone's
long curly hair, the necklace, and the stylish gown with
Wartime shortages caused women and children to take up male
a low, lace-trimmed neckline filled in (for modesty's
labor. Soldiers fought for ideas, but they also fought to earn
sake) with a white neckerchief. Sampson the soldier
had used a cloth band to compress her breasts;
money. Hardship was widely endured. And Sampson's quest for
Sampson the matron wore a satin band to define her
personal independence - a freedom from the constraints of being
bustline. Rhode Island Historical Society.
female-was echoed in the general quest for political independence
that many Americans identified as a major goal of the war.
Political independence was not everyone's primary goal at first.
For more than a year after fighting began, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia resisted declaring America's independence. Some delegates cautiously hoped for reconciliation with Britain . The
. congress raised an army, financed it, and sought alliances with foreign countries - all while exploring diplomatic channels for peace.
Once King George III rejected all peace overtures, Americans loudly declared their independence,
and the war moved into high gear. In part a classic war with professional armies and textbook battles, the Revolutionary War was also a civil war and at times a brutal guerrilla war between committed rebels and loyalists. It also had complex ethnic dimensions, pitting Indian tribes allied with the
British against others allied with the Americans. And it provided an unprecedented opportunity for
enslaved African Americans to win their freedom, either by joining the British, who openly encouraged slaves to desert their masters, or by joining the Continental army and state militias, fighting
alongside white Americans.
*
The Second Continental
t .O.n.lreS.S........................................................ ..
On May 10, 1775, nearly one month after the
fighting at Lexington and Concord, the .~~(;.~~4
.G.~.~#~.t:~.t~ ..G.g~g~~~~ assembled in Philadelphia.
The congress immediately set to work on two crucial but contradictory tasks: to raise and supply an
army and to explore reconciliation with Britain.
To do the former, they needed soldiers and a commander, they needed money, and they needed to
work out a declaration of war. To do the latter,
however, they needed diplomacy to approach the
king. But the king was not receptive, and by 1776,
as the war progressed and hopes of reconciliation
faded, delegates at the congress began to ponder the
treasonous act of declaring independence-said
by some to be plain common sense.
Ikn-»kl;hl
Assuming Political and Military Authority Like members of the First Continental Congress (see chapter 6), the delegates to the second
were well-established figures in their home colonies, but they still had to learn to know and trust
one another. They did not always agree. The Adams
cousins John and Samuel defined the radical end
of the spectrum, favoring independence. If:)~~
P"i~~.~~f:)~ of Pennsylvania, no longer the eager
revolutionary who had dashed off Letters from a
Farmer in 1767, was now a moderate, seeking reconciliation with Britain. Benjamin Franklin, fresh
off a ship from an eleven-year residence in London,
was feared by some to be a British spy. Mutual suspicions flourished easily when the undertaking was
so dangerous, opinions were so varied, and a misstep could spell disaster.
Most of the delegates were not yet prepared to
break with Britain. Several legislatures instructed
their delegates to oppose independence. Some felt
that government without a king was unworkable,
while others feared it might be suicidal to lose
Britain's protection against its traditional enemies,
France and Spain. Colonies that traded actively
with Britain feared undermining their economies.
Probably the vast majority of ordinary Americans
were unable to envision independence. From the
Stamp Act of 1765 to the Coercive Acts of 1774
(see chapter 6), the constitutional struggle with
Britain had turned on the issue of parliamentary
The Second Continental Congress
power. During that decade, almost no one had
questioned the legitimacy of the monarchy.
The few men at the Continental Congress who
did think that independence was desirable were,
not surprisingly, from Massachusetts. Their colony
had been stripped of civil government under the
Coercive Acts, and their capital was occupied by
the British army. Even so, those men knew that it
was premature to push for a break with Britain.
John Adams wrote his wife Abigail in June 1775:
''America is a great, unwieldy body. Its progress
must be slow. It is like a large fleet sailing under
convoy. The fleetest sailors must wait for the dullest and slowest."
Yet swift action was needed, forthe Massachusetts
countryside was under threat of further attack.
Even the hesitant moderates in the congress agreed
that a military buildup was necessary. Around the
country, militia units from New York to Georgia
collected arms and drilled on village greens in
anticipation. On June 14, the congress voted to
create the .~~.~.#.~~~~~.. ~~y. Choosing the commander in chief offered an opportunity to demonstrate that this was no local war of a single rebellious
colony. The congress bypassed the Massachusetts
general already commanding the soldiers around
Boston and instead chose a Virginian, .G~.~t;g~
:w.:~~i~gt.()~. Washington's appointment sent the
clear message that there was widespread commitment to war beyond New England.
THE PROMISE
OF TECHNOLOGY
Muskets and Rifles Muskets were the
weapon of choice in the Revolutionary War.
Formal combat involved rows of soldiers firing in
unison at an enemy within a 50-yard range. The massed
fire made up for the notoriously inaccurate aim of each musket.
Long-barreled rifles, used to hunt game in frontier regions, offered much
greater accuracy due to spiral grooves inside the barrel. Grooved (rifled) barrels
imparted spin to the ball, which in turn stabilized and lengthened its flight,
enabling expert marksmen to hit small targets at 150 to 200 yards. Yet rifles
took twice as long to load and fire, and the longer barrels made them unwieldy
for soldiers on the march. Not for another half century would there be machinetooled, mass-produced firearms like the Colt revolver and the Remington rifle.
These new repeat-fire weapons were cheaper, more accurate, and far more deadly
in the hands of an individual shooter. York County Historical Society.
157
158
CHAPTER 7 I The Warfor America
IkU-oki:S'
until the soldiers were about twenty yards away. At
Next the congress drew up a document titled ''A
that
distance, the musket volley was sure and deadly,
Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Takand
the British turned back. Twice more, General
ing Up Arms," which rehearsed familiar arguments
Howe
sent his men up the hill and faced the same
about the tyranny of Parliament and the need to
blast of firepower; each time they had to step around
defend English liberties. This declaration was
the bodies of men felled in the previous attempts.
first drafted by a young Virginia planter, Thomas
On the third assault, the BritJefferson, a radical on the quesish
took the hill, mainly because
tion of independence. The modthe American ammunition superate John Dickinson, fearing
ply gave out, and the defenders
that the declaration would offend
Britain, was allowed to rewrite it.
quickly retreated. The 1J.;}.t~I.~ . ~f
Bunker Hill was thus a British
However, he left intact much of
victory, but an expensive one.
Jefferson's highly charged language
The dead numbered 226 on the
about choosing "to die freemen
British side, with more than 800
rather than to live slaves." Even a
wounded; the Americans sufman as reluctant about indepenfered 140 dead, 271 wounded,
dence as Dickinson acknowledged
and 30 captured. As General
the necessity of military defense
Clinton later remarked, "It was
against an invading army.
a dear bought victory; another
To pay for the military buildup,
such would have ruined us. "
the congress authorized a currency
Olllrh';,
Instead of pursuing the fleeissue of $2 million. The ContinenUil'l'l
~ British forces
ing Americans, Howe retreated
tal dollars were merely paper; they
.......... American defenses
to Boston, unwilling to risk more
were not backed by gold or silver.
raids into the countryside. If the
The delegates somewhat naively Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775
British
had had any grasp of the
expected that the currency would ........... ... ... ......... ... ........................ .
basic instability of the Ameribe accepted as valuable on trust as
it spread in the population through the hands of solcan units around Boston, they might have decidiers, farmers, munitions suppliers, and beyond.
sively defeated the Continental army in its infancy.
Instead, they lingered in Boston, abandoning it
In just two months, the Second Continental
Congress had created an army, declared war, and
without a fight nine months later. Howe used the
issued its own currency. It had taken on the major
time in Boston to inoculate his army against smallfunctions of a legitimate government, both milipox because a new epidemic of the deadly disease
tary and financial, without any legal basis for its
was spreading in port cities along the Atlantic.
authoriry, for it had not-and would not for a full
Inoculation worked by producing a light but real
year-declare independence from the authoriry of
(and therefore risky) case of smallpox, followed
the king.
by lifelong immunity. Howe's instinct was right:
During the American Revolution, some 130,000
Pursuing Both War and Peace Three days
people on the American continent, most of them
after the congress established the army, one of the
Indians, died of smallpox.
bloodiest battles of the Revolution occurred. The
Aweekafter Bunker Hill, when General Washington
British commander in Boston, Thomas Gage, had
arrived to take charge of the new Continental army,
recently received troop reinforcements, three talhe found enthusiastic but undisciplined troops. Sanented generals (William Howe, John Burgoyne,
itation was an unknown concept, with inadequate
and Henry Clinton), and new instructions to
latrines fouling the campground. The amazed general
attack the Massachusetts rebels. But before Gage
attributed the disarray to the New England custom
could take the offensive, the Americans fortified
of letting militia units elect their own officers, which
the hilly terrain of Charlestown, a peninsula just
he felt undermined deference. Washington quickly
north of Boston, on the night ofJune 16, 1775.
imposed more hierarchy and authority. "Discipline
The British generals could have closed off the
is the soul of the army," he stated.
peninsula to box in the Americans. But GenWhile military plans moved forward, the
eral Howe insisted on a bold frontal assault, .-.....'-'!
Second Continental Congress pursued its
sending 2,500 soldiers across the water and
contradictory objective: reconciliation with
up the hill in an intimidating but potentially
Britain. Delegates from the middle colonies
costly attack. The American troops, 1,400
(Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York),
strong, listened to the British drummers
whose merchants depended on trade with
pacing the uphill march and held their fire
Britain, urged that channels for negotiation
>
I
remain open. In July 1775, congress ional moderates
led by John Dickinson engineered an appeal to the
king called the Olive Branch Petition. The petition
affirmed loyalty to the monarchy and blamed all the
troubles on the king's ministers and on Parliament.
It proposed that the American colonial assemblies
be recognized as individual parliaments under the
umbrella of the monarchy. By late fall 1775, however, reconciliation was out of the question . King
George III rejected the Olive Branch Petition and
heatedly condemned the Americans as traitors.
Thereafter, it was hard to blame only ministers and
not the king himself for the conflict.
Thomas Paine, Abigail Adams, and the
Case for Independence Pressure for independence started to mount in January 1776, when a pamphlet titled .c:.'!.rf!:rf!:'!.!l:§er1:S.e. appeared in Philadelphia.
TIt.o.~!l:S. P.~e::, its author, was an English artisan and
coffeehouse intellectual who had come to America in
the fall of 1774. He landed a job on a Philadelphia
newspaper and soon met delegates from the Second
Continental Congress. With tl1eir encouragement, he
wrote Common Seme to layout a lively and compelling case for complete independence.
In simple yet forceful language, Paine elaborated on the absurdities of the British monarchy.
W hy should one man, by accident of birth, claim
extensive power over others? he asked. A king
might be foolish or wicked. "One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right
in kings," Paine wrote, "is that nature disapproves
it; otherwise she would not so frequently turn it
into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion."
Calling the British Icing an ass broke through the
automatic deference most Americans still had for
the monarchy. To replace monarchy, Paine advocated republican government based on the consent
of the people. Rulers, according to Paine, were only
representatives of the people, and the best form of
government relied on frequent elections to achieve
the most direct democracy possible.
Paine's pamphlet sold more than 150,000 copies in a matter of weeks. Newspapers reprinted it;
men read it aloud in taverns and coffeehouses; John
Adams sent a copy to his wife, Abigail, who passed
it around to neighbors in Braintree, Massachusetts.
New Englanders desired independence, but other
colonies, under no immediate threat of violence,
remained cautious.
!'\'l>~g~I...!'\'4.~~ was impatient not only for
independence but also for other legal changes that
would revolutionize the new country. In a series of
astute letters to her husband, she outlined obstacles
and gave advice. She worried that southern slave
owners might shrink from a war in the name of
liberty: "I have sometimes been ready to think that
kUWkMI
The Second Continental Congress
159
the passion for Liberty cannot be Equally strong in the
"Do not put such anlbnited power
Breasts of those who have
been accustomed to deprive
into the bands of the lusitaDds:'
their fellow Creatures of
Digan Adams advised. ".......
theirs." And in March 1776,
aD Men woald be tyrants if they
she expressed her hope that
coald!'
women's legal status would
improve under the new government: "In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to makeI desire you
would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourab le to them than your ancestors."
Her chief concern was husbands' legal dominion
over wives: "Do not put such unlimited power into
the hands of the Husbands," she advised. "Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could." Abigai l
Adams anticipated a more radical end to tyranny
than did Thomas Paine.
Ahigail Adams Abigail Smith Adams was twenty-two
when she sat for this pastel portrait in 1766. A wife
for two years and a mother for one, Adams exhibits
a steady, intelligent gaze. Pearls and a lace collar
anchor her femininity, whi le her facial expression
projects a confidence and maturity not often credited
to young women of the 1760s. A decade later, she
was running the family's Massachusetts farm while her
husband, John, attended the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia. Her frequent letters gave him the benefit
of her sage advice on politics and the war. Courtesy of the
Massachusetts Historical Society.
160
CHAPTER 7 I The Warfor America
Ifkl>l'fMI
The Continental Congress was, in fact, not
rewriting family law; that task was left to individual
states in the 1780s. John Adams dismissed his wife's
concerns. But to a male politician, Adams privately
rehearsed the reasons why women (and men who
were free blacks, or young, or propertyless) should
remain excluded from political participation. Even
though he concluded that nothing should change,
at least Abigail's letter had forced him to ponder the
exclusion, something few men-or women-did
in 1776. Urgent talk of political independence was
as radical as most could imagine.
The Declaration of Independence
In addition
Paine's Common Sense, another factor hastening
independence was the prospect of an alliance with
France, Britain's archrival. France was willing to
provide military supplies and naval power only if
assured that the Americans would separate from
Britain. By May, all but four colonies were agitating
for a declaration. The holdouts were Pennsylvania,
Maryland, New York, and South Carolina, the latter two containing large loyalist populations. An
exasperated Virginian wrote to his friend in the
congress, "For God's sake, why do you dawdle in
the Congress so strangely? Why do you not at once
declare yourself a separate independent state?"
In early June, the Virginia delegation introduced
a resolution calling for independence. The moderates still commanded enough support to postpone
a vote on the measure until July. In the meantime,
the congress appointed a committee, with Thomas
Jefferson and others, to draft a longer document
setting out the case for independence.
On July 2, after intense politicking, all but one
state voted for independence; New York abstained.
The congress then turned to the document drafted
by Jefferson and his committee. Jefferson began
with a preamble that articulated philosophical
principles about natural rights, equality, the right
of revolution, and the consent of the governed as
the only true basis for government. He then listed
more than two dozen specific grievances against
King George. The congress merely glanced at the
philosophical principles, as though ideas about
natural rights and the consent of the governed
were accepted as "self-evident truths," just as the
document claimed. The truly radical phrase declaring the natural equality of "all men" was likewise
passed over without comment.
For two days, the congress wrangled over the
list of grievances, especially the issue of slavery.
Jefferson had included an impassioned statement
blaming the king for slavery, which delegates from
Georgia and South Carolina struck out. They had
no intention of denouncing their labor system as
an evil practice. But the congress let stand another
to
of Jefferson's fervent grievances, blaming the king
for mobilizing "the merciless Indian Savages" into
bloody frontier warfare, a reference to Pontiac's
uprising (see chapter 6).
On July 4, the amendments to Jefferson's text
were complete, and the congress formally adopted
the .P..~.~~!l!.~~.i~.~.. 'J.O~4.~p.~~.4.~~.c.~. (See appendix
I, page A-I.) A month later, the delegates gathered
to sign the official parchment copy, handwritten
by an exacting scribe. Four men, including John
Dickinson, declined to sign; several others "signed
with regret ... and with many doubts," according
to John Adams. The document was then printed,
widely distributed, and read aloud in celebrations
everywhere. (Printed copies did not include the
signers' names, for they had committed treason,
a crime punishable by death.) On July 15, the
New York delegation switched from abstention to
endorsement, making the vote on independence
unanImous.
a
Why were many Americans reluctant to
pursue independence from Britain?
The First Year of War,
.1775=.1776 ...................................................... .
Both sides approached the war for America with
uneasiness. The Americans, with inexperienced
militias, were opposing the mightiest military
power in the world. Also, their country was not
IJnified; many people remained loyal to Britain.
The British faced serious obstacles as well. Their
disdain for the fighting abilities of the Americans
required reassessment in light of the Bunker
Hill battle. The logistics of supplying an army
with food across three thousand miles of water
were daunting. And since the British goal was to
regain allegiance, not to destroy and conquer, the
army was often constrained in its actions. These
patterns - undertrained American troops and
British troops strangely unwilling to press their
advantage - played out repeatedly in the first
year of war.
The American Military Forces
Americans
claimed that the initial months of war were purely
defensive, triggered by the British invasion. But the
war also quickly became a rebellion, an overthrowing oflong-established authority. As both defenders
and rebels, many Americans were highly motivated
to fight, and the potential manpower that could be
mobilized was, in theory, very great.
Local defense in the colonies had long rested
with a militia composed of all able-bodied men
n&-Wfi;fll The First Year of War, 1775-1776
over age sixteen. When the main threat to public
safety was the occasional Indian attack, a local militia made sense. But such attacks were now mostly
limited to the frontier. Southern militias trained
with potential slave rebellions in mind, but these,
too, were rare. The annual muster day in most
communities had evolved into a holiday of drinking, marching, and shooting practice.
Militias were best suited for limited engagements, not for extended wars. In forming the Continental army, the congress set enlistment at one
year, but army leaders soon learned that was inadequate to train soldiers and carry out campaigns. A
three-year enlistment earned a new soldier a $20
bonus, while men who committed for the duration of the war were promised a postwar land grant
of one hundred acres. For this inducement to be
effective, of course, recruits had to believe that the
Americans would win. Over the course of the war,
some 230,000 men enlisted, about one-quarter
of the white male adult population. (See "Global
Comparison." )
Women also served in the Continental army,
cooking, washing, and nursing the wounded. The
British army established a ratio of one woman
to every ten men; in the Continental army, the
ratio was set at one woman to fifteen men. Close
to 20,000 "camp followers," as they were called,
served during the war, probably most of them wives
of men in service. Children also tagged along, and
babies were born in the camps.
Black Americans were at first excluded from
the Continental army by slave owner George
Washington's orders. But as manpower needs
increased, northern states welcomed free blacks
into service; slaves in some states could serve with
their masters' permission. About 5,000 black men
served in the Revolutionary War on the rebel side,
nearly all from the northern states. Black Continental soldiers sometimes were segregated into
separate units, as with two battalions from Rhode
Island. While some of these men were draftees,
others were clearly inspired by ideals of freedom in
a war against tyranny. For example, twenty-three
blacks gave "Liberty," "Freedom," and "Freeman"
as their surnames at the time of enlistment.
Military service helped politicize Americans
during the early stages of the war. In early 1776,
independence was a risky, potentially treasonous idea. But as the war heated up and recruiters
demanded commitment, some Americans discovered that apathy had its dangers as well. Anyone
who refused to serve ran the risk of being called
a traitor to the cause. Military service became a
prime way of demonstrating political allegiance.
The American army was at times raw and inexperienced, and often woefully undermanned. It
never had the precision and discipline of European
professional armies. But it was never as bad as the
British continually assumed. The British would
learn that it was a serious mistake to underrate the
enemy.
The British Strategy
The American strategy was
straightforward; to repulse and defeat an invading
army. The British strategy was not nearly so clear.
Britain wanted to put down a rebellion and restore
monarchical power in the colonies, but the question was how to accomplish this. A decisive defeat
of the Continental army was essential but not sufficient to end the rebellion, for the British would
still have to contend with an armed and motivated
insurgent population. Furthermore, there was no
single political nerve center whose capture would
spell certain victory. The Continental Congress
moved from place to place, staying just out of
reach of the British. During the course of the war,
the British captured and occupied every major
port city, but that brought no serious loss to the
Americans, 95 percent of whom lived in the countryside.
Britain's delicate task was to restore the old
governments, not to destroy an enemy country.
Hence, the British generals were reluctant to ravage
the countryside, confiscate food, or burn villages.
There were thirteen distinct political entities to
capture, pacifY, and then restore to the crown, and
they stretched in a long line from New Hampshire
to Georgia. Clearly, a large land army was required
for the job. Without the willingness to seize food
from the locals, the British needed hundreds of
supply ships bringing food for storage-hence
their desire to capture the ports. The British strategy also assumed that many Americans remained
loyal to the king and would come to their aid.
Without a lot of loyal subjects, the plan to restore
royal government made no sense.
The overall British plan was · a divide-andconquer approach, focusing first on New York, the
state judged to have the greatest number of loyal
subjects. New York offered a geographic advantage as well: Control of the Hudson River would
allow the British to isolate the troublesome New
Englanders. British armies could descend from
Canada and move up from New York City along
the Hudson River into western Massachusetts.
Squeezed between a naval blockade on the eastern
coast and army raids in the west, Massachusetts
could be driven to surrender. New Jersey and
Pennsylvania would fall in line, the British thought,
due to loyalist strength. Virginia was a problem,
like Massachusetts, but the British were confident
that the Carolinas would help them isolate and
subdue Virginia.
161
GLOBAL
COMPARISON
How Tall Were Eighteenth-Century
. . . . . .~.~~ . ?~. .Ay.~~.~g~.?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
~~I
<Xl
(]>
180
160
,}
140
\
~\,~,
5'
]1
120
100
(
80
4'
3'
2'
60
40
l'
20
'-----"--0
o~--~~~~~~~~,~~~~~ ,~~~=
em
United States
Britain
Sweden
Norway'
France
Austria!
Hungary'
Netherlands"
in/ft
, Comparable data does not exist for 1850. i
•• Comparable data does not exist for 1750. I
Average Heights of Males
Although individuals within a population vary in
height for genetic reasons, variations between populations are generally due to differences in the basic standard
of living. A key factor is inadequate nutrition, which
typically stunts childhood growth and leads to shorter
adults. Military enlistment records provide large data sets
on height (but for males only), allowing historians to gain
insight into comparative standards ofliving. This figure
shows that American men during the Revolution were on
average 8 centimeters (em) or about 3 inches taller than
British and European men, indicating an abundance of
food and fewer endemic diseases than in Europe. Continental army soldiers exhibited modest but distinct regional
Quebec, New York, and New Jersey
differences, with southern soldiers an average of 1.3 em
taller than New England soldiers, while mid-Atlantic
soldiers were in between. A much wider spread occurred in
Britain, where officers from the gentry were a fuU15 em
taller on average than soldiers recruited from the working
class. What might account for these differences?
Studies of stature show that average height generally
declined in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe and the
United States as urbanization, industrialization, and the
disease environment changed. Major gains were posted
in the twentieth century, but in recent decades, average
height in the United States has stagnated, while European
males have continued to grow.
In late
1775, an American expedition was launched to
capture the cities of Montreal and Quebec before
British reinforcements could arrive (Map 7.1) .
This offensive was a clear sign that the war was not
purely a reaction to the invasion of Massachusetts.
162
A force of New York Continentals commanded
by General Richard Montgomery took Montreal
easily in September 1775 and then advanced on
Quebec. Meanwhile, a second contingent of Continentals led by Colonel Benedict Arnold moved
north through Maine to Quebec, a punishing trek
Iffb-»k4;f!' The Home Front
through freezing rain with woefully inadequate
supplies; many men died. Arnold's determination
was heroic, but in human costs, the campaign was a
tragedy. Arnold and Montgomery jointly attacked
Quebec in December but failed to take the city.
Worse yet, they encountered smallpox, which
killed more men than had battles.
The main action of the first year of the war
came not in Canada, however, but in New York, so
crucial to Britain. In August 1776, some 45,000
British troops (including 8,000 German
mercenaries, called Hessians) under the
command of General Howe landed
south of New York City. General
Washington had anticipated this move
and had relocated his army of 20,000
south from Massachusetts. The battle
~f...~().~g. J~~~~, in late August 1776,
pitted the well-trained British "redcoats"
(slang referring to their red uniforms) against a very
green Continental army. Howe attacked, inflicting
many casualties. A British general crowed, "If a
good bleeding can bring those Bible-faced Yankees
to their senses, the fever of independency should
soon abate." Howe failed to press forward, however, perhaps remembering the costly victory of
Bunker Hill, and Washington evacuated his troops
to Manhattan Island in the dead of a foggy night.
Washington knew it would be hard to hold
Manhattan, so he withdrew farther north to two
forts on either side of the Hudson River. For two
months, the armies engaged in limited skirmishing, but in November, Howe finally captured Fort
Washington and Fort Lee, taking nearly 3,000 prisoners. (See "Beyond America's Borders," page 166.)
Washington retreated quickly across New Jersey
into Pennsylvania. Yet again Howe unaccountably failed to press his advantage. Had he attacked
Washington's army at Philadelphia, he could have
taken the city. Instead, he parked his German
troops in winter quarters along the Delaware River.
Perhaps he knew that many of the Continental soldiers' enlistment periods ended on December 31,
making him confident the Americans would not
attack him. He was wrong.
On December 25, in an icy rain, Washington
stealthily moved his army across the Delaware River
and at dawn made a quick capture of the unsuspecting German soldiers. This impressive victory lifted
the sagging morale of the patriot side. For the next
two weeks, Washington remained on the offensive,
capturing supplies in a clever attack on British units
at Princeton. Soon he was safe in Morristown, in
northern New Jersey, where he settled his army for
the winter. Washington finally had time to administer mass smallpox inoculations and see his men
through the abbreviated course of the disease.
163
All in all, in the first year of declared war, the
rebellious Americans had a few proud moments
but also many worries. The inexperienced Continental army had barely hung on in the New York
campaign. Washington had shown exceptional daring and admirable restraint, but what really saved
the Americans was the repeated reluctance of the
British to follow through militarily when they had
the advantage.
Why did the British exercise restraint in
their efforts to defeat the rebellious colonies?
Th.e...H.ome . FrQnt. ................................... .
Battlefields alone did not determine the outcome
of the war. Struggles on the home front were
equally important. In 1776, each community contained small numbers of highly committed people
on both sides and far larger numbers who were
uncertain about whether independence was worth
a war. Both persuasion and force were used to gain
the allegiance of the many neutrals. Revolutionaries who took control of local government often
used it to punish loyalists and intimidate neutrals,
while loyalists worked to reestablish British authority. The struggle to secure political allegiance was
complicated greatly by a shaky wartime economy.
The creative financing of the fledgling government
brought hardships as well as opportunities, forcing Americans to confront new manifestations of
virtue and corruption.
Patriotism at the Local Level Committees
of correspondence, of public safety, and of inspection dominated the political landscape in patriot
communities. These committees took on more
than customary local governance; they enforced
boycotts, picked army draftees, and policed suspected traitors. They sometimes invaded homes to
search for contraband goods such as British tea or
textiles.
Loyalists were dismayed by the increasing
show of power by patriots. A man in Westchester,
New York, described his response to intrusions
by committees: "Choose your committee or suffer it to be chosen by a half dozen fools in your
neighborhood-open your doors to them-let
them examine yo ur tea-cannisters and molasses-jugs,
and your wives' and daughters' petty coats - bow
and cringe and tremble and quake-fall down and
worship our sovereign lord the mob . . .. Should
any pragmatical committee-gentleman come to
my house and give himself airs, I shall show him
the door." Oppressive or not, the local committees
BRITI S H
NORTH Atv£E RIC A
MAINE
(part of MASS.)
NEW YORK
.-'- -----------st
American winter quarters
1776--E 77
PENNSYLVANIA
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
a
I
a
75'W
\
25
I
I
50
50
I
I
~
British forces
t.i~
American victory
t»
British victory
75
100 miles
I
I
100 kilometers
,
70W
MAP 7.1 The War in the North, 1775-1778
After the earLy battLes in Massachusetts in 1775, rebeL forces invaded Canada but failed to capture Quebec. A Large British army Landed in New
York in August 1776, turning New Jersey into a continuaL battLe site in 1777 and 1778. Burgoyne arrived from EngLand to secure Canada and
attempted to pinch off New EngLand aLong the Hudson River, but he was stopped at Saratoga in 1777 in the key battLe of the earLy war.
READING THE MAP: Which generaL's troops traveLed the farthest in each of these years: 1775, 1776, and 177?? How did the
availabiLity of water routes affect British and American strategy?
CONNECTIONS: Why did the French wait untiL earLy 1778 to join American forces against the British? What did France hope to gain from
participating in the war?
FOR MORE HELP ANALYZING THIS MAP, see the map activity for this chapter in the OnLine Study Guide at bedfordstmartins.com/roarkcompact.
164
Iffb"»kMI
were rarely challenged. Their persuasive powers
convinced many middle-of-the-road citizens that
neutrality was not a comfortable option.
Another group new to political life-white
women - increasingly demonstrated a capacity
for patriotism as wartime hardships dramatically
altered their work routines. Many wives whose
husbands were away on military or political service took on masculine duties. Their competence
to tend farms and make business decisions encouraged some to assert competence in politics as well.
Abigail Adams managed the family farm in Massachusetts while John Adams was away for several
years doing politics, in which Abigail took a keen
interest. Eliza Wilkinson managed a South Carolina
plantation and talked revolutionary politics with
women friends. "None were greater politicians
than the several knots of ladies who met together,"
she remarked, alert to the unusual turn female
conversations had taken. "We commenced perfect
statesmen." Women from prominent Philadelphia families took more direct action, forming the
~Cl:~~~ ..A:'!~?~~.a.~i?11: in 1780 to collect money for .
Continental soldiers. A published broadside, "The
Sentiments of an American Woman," defended
their female patriotism: "The time is arrived to display the same sentiments which animated us at the
beginning of the Revolution, when we renounced
the use of teas [and] when our republican and laborious hands spun the flax."
loyalist out of resentment of the power of the lowlands gentry, generally of patriot persuasion. And,
of course, southern slaves had their own resentments against the white slave-owning class and
looked to Britain in hope of freedom.
Many Indian tribes hoped to remain neutral
at the war's start, seeing the conflict as a civil war
between English and Americans. Eventually, however, most were drawn in, many taking the British
side. The powerful Iroquois Confederacy divided:
The Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, and Onondaga
peoples lined up with the British; the Oneida and
Tuscarora tribes aided Americans. One young
Mohawk leader, r~.a.Yt!.1l4Cl;l1.~gt!.l;l (known also
by his English name, J?~t:P.~...ll.~~~), traveled to
England in 1775 to complain to King George
about cheating American settlers. "It is very hard
when we have let the King's subjects have so
much of our lands for so little value," he wrote,
The Loyalists
Around one-fifth of the American
population remained loyal to the crown in 1776,
and another two-fifths tried to stay neutral. With
proper cultivation, this large base might have
sustained the British empire in America. In general, ~~y'~i~~. had strong cultural and economic
ties to ~ngland; they thought that social stability
depended on a government anchored by monarchy and aristocracy. Perhaps most of all, they feared
democratic tyranny. They understood that dissolving the automatic respect that subjects had for
their king could lead to a society where deference
to one's social betters might come under challenge.
Patriots seemed to them to be unscrupulous,
violent, self-interested men who simply wanted
power for themselves.
The most visible loyalists (called !():~·~t:s. by their
enemies) were royal officials, not only governors
such as Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts but
also local judges and customs officers. Wealthy
merchants gravitated toward loyalism to maintain
the trade protections of navigation acts and the
British navy. Conservative urban lawyers admired
the stability of British law and order. Some colonists chose loyalism simply to oppose traditional
adversaries. Backcountry Carolina farmers leaned
Joseph Brant The Mohawk leader Thayendanegea,
called Joseph Brant by the Americans, had been
educated in English ways at Eleazar Wheelock's New
England school (which became Dartmouth College in
1769). In 1775, the thirty-four-year-old Brant traveled
to England with another Mohawk to negotiate the
tribe's support for the British. During his extended
stay in London, he had his portrait painted by the
English artist George Romney. Notice that Brant wears
a metal gorget around his neck over his English shirt,
along with an Indian sash, headdress, and armbands. A
gorget was a piece of armor worn by feudal knights to
protect the throat. Many military men, both white and
Indian, wore smaller versions when they dressed formally for portraits - or for war. Nationa l Gallery of Canada.
The Home Front
165