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When the American war for independence from Great Britain began in
1775, 15-year-old Joseph Martin was too young to join the Continental
army. But when recruiters returned to his Connecticut village a year
later, he was ready to go.

The recruiters were looking for volunteers to go to New York, where the
British were rumored to have 15,000 troops. “I did not care if there had
been fifteen times fifteen thousand,” Martin said later. “I never spent a
thought about numbers. The Americans were invincible, in my opinion.”

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Just two days after the Declaration of Independence was signed, Martin
traded his plow for a musket, an early type of rifle. A week later, he
arrived in New York City, where he hoped to “snuff [sniff] a little
gunpowder.” As he recalled, “I was now, what I had long wished to be, a
soldier; I had obtained my heart's desire; it was now my business to
prove myself equal to my profession.

If Martin had known what lay ahead, he might not have been so
pleased about his new profession. The army in New York was ill trained,
ill equipped, and just plain ill. “Almost the whole regiment are sick,”
reported a Massachusetts officer of his unit.

The British army, in contrast, was well trained, well equipped, and well
supported by the British navy. Rather than the 15,000 troops Martin
had heard of, the British had assembled a force of 25,000 men in New
York. More than 400 British ships floated in the harbor. This was the
biggest army and the largest fleet the British had ever sent overseas.

In the face of such overwhelming force, the Americans should have

been easily defeated. But they were not. In this chapter, you will read

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how soldiers like Joseph Martin stood up to mighty Great Britain in a
successful revolution that created a new nation.

The Patriots were in a weak position when the American Revolution

began. They had a hastily organized, untrained army and a small navy.
Their weaknesses were far more obvious than their strengths.

American Weaknesses The Continental army was always short of

men. General George Washington never had more than 20,000 troops
at one time and place. Many soldiers enlisted for six months or a year.
Just when they were learning how to fight, they would pick up their
muskets and go home to take care of their farms and families.

Few Americans were trained for battle. Some were hunters and could
shoot well enough from behind a tree. But when facing a mass of well-
disciplined redcoats, they were likely to turn and run.

The army was plagued by shortages. Guns and gunpowder were so

scarce that Benjamin Franklin suggested arming the troops with bows
and arrows. Food shortages forced soldiers to beg for handouts.

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Uniforms were scarce as well. In winter, one could track shoeless
soldiers by their bloody footprints in the snow.

Such shortages outraged Washington. But when he complained to the

Second Continental Congress, nothing changed. Congress, the new
nation's only government, lacked the power to raise money for supplies
by taxing the colonies—now the new nation's states.

In desperation, Congress printed paper money to pay for the war. But
the value of this money dropped so low that merchants demanded to
be paid in gold instead. Like everything else, gold was scarce.

American Strengths Still, the Americans did have strengths. One was
the patriotism of people like Joseph Martin, who willingly gave their
lives to defend the ideal of a country based on liberty and democracy.
Without them, the war would have been quickly lost.

The Americans also received help from overseas. Motivated by their old
hatred of the English, the French secretly aided the Americans. During
the first two years of the war, 90 percent of the Americans' gunpowder
came from Europe, mostly from France. In addition, a Polish Jew named
Haym Salomon, who immigrated to New York in 1775, helped to finance
the war effort.

The Americans' other great strength was their commander. General

Washington was more than an experienced military leader. He was also
a man who inspired courage and confidence. In the dark days to come,
it was Washington who would keep the ragtag Continental army
together.

In contrast to the American colonies, Great Britain entered the war from
a position of strength. Yet, despite both their real and their perceived
advantages, the British forces encountered many problems.

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British Strengths With a professional army of about 42,000 troops at

the beginning of the war, British forces greatly outnumbered the
Continental army. In addition, George III hired 30,000 mercenaries from
Germany. These hired soldiers were known as Hessians (HEH-shenz)
because they came from a part of Germany called Hesse-Cassel. The
British were also able to recruit many Loyalists, African Americans, and
American Indians to fight on their side.

British and Hessian troops were well trained in European military

tactics. They excelled in large battles fought by a mass of troops on
open ground. They also had far more experience firing artillery than
Americans had.

The British forces were well supplied, as well. Unlike the pitifully
equipped Continental army, they seldom lacked for food, uniforms,
weapons, or ammunition.

British Weaknesses Even so, the war presented Great Britain with
huge problems. One was the distance between Great Britain and
America. Sending troops and supplies across the Atlantic was slow and

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costly. News of battles arrived in England long after they had occurred,
making it difficult for British leaders to plan a course of action.

A second problem was that King George and his ministers were never
able to convince the British people that defeating the rebels was vital to
the future of Great Britain. The longer the war dragged on, the less
happy the British taxpayers became about paying its heavy costs.

A third problem was poor leadership. Lord George Germain, the man
chosen to direct the British troops, had no real sense of how to defeat
the rebels. How could he? He had never set foot in North America. Nor
did it occur to him to go see for himself what his army was up against.
If he had, Germain might have realized that this was not a war that
could be won by conquering a city or two.

To end the revolution, Germain's forces would have to crush the

Patriots' will to fight, state by state. Instead, Germain kept changing
plans and generals, hoping that some combination of the two would
bring him an easy victory.

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After the British abandoned Boston in the spring of 1776, Germain
came up with his first plan for winning the war. British forces in
America, led by General William Howe, were ordered to capture New
York City. From that base, British troops would then move north to
destroy the rebellion at its heart: Massachusetts.

To block the British invasion, Washington hurried with his army from
Boston to New York. It was there that he heard the good news: by
signing the Declaration of Independence, Congress had finally declared
the colonies to be “free and independent states.”

Washington had the Declaration of Independence read aloud to his

troops. The time had come, he said, to “show our enemies, and the
whole world, that free men, contending for their own land, are superior
to any mercenaries on Earth.” The Declaration made it clear that the
troops had the support of all the colonies, who agreed that
independence was a prize worth fighting for.

African Americans and the War For African Americans, however, the
Declaration of Independence raised both hopes and questions. Did
Jefferson's words “all men are created equal” apply to them? Would
independence bring an end to slavery? Should they join the revolution?

Even before independence was declared, a number of African

Americans had joined the Patriot cause. Black militiamen, both free and
slave, fought at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Early in the war,
however, blacks were banned from the Continental army. Washington
did not want the army to become a haven for runaway slaves.

In contrast, the British promised freedom to all slaves who took up

arms for the king. As a result, thousands of runaways became Loyalists
and fought for Great Britain.

A shortage of volunteers soon forced Washington to change his mind.

By 1779, about 15 percent of the soldiers in the Continental army were
African Americans. Large numbers of black sailors also served in the
Continental navy.

As black Americans joined the war effort, some whites began to

question their own beliefs. How could they accept slavery if they truly
believed that all people are created equal, with the same rights to life,
liberty, and happiness? By the war's end, Vermont, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania had all
taken steps to end slavery.

Defeat in New York On August 27, 1776, the American and British
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armies met in Brooklyn, New York, for what promised to be a decisive
battle. The Americans began their defense of the city in high spirits. But
the inexperienced Americans were no match for the British, with their
greater numbers and superior training. In two days of fighting, the
British lost only 377 men, while the Americans lost 1,407.

Satisfied that the war was nearly won, Howe ordered a halt to the
British attack. Washington, he assumed, would do what any self-
respecting European general would do in a hopeless situation. He would
surrender honorably. And so Howe waited.

Washington had no intention of giving up. But for his army to survive,
he would have to retreat. Even though Washington knew this, he could
not bring himself to utter the word retreat.

An officer named Thomas Mifflin rescued him from his pride. “What is
your strength?” Mifflin asked. “Nine thousand,” Washington replied. “It
is not sufficient,” said Mifflin bluntly. “We must retreat.”

Fading Hopes The battle for New York City was the first of many
defeats for the Americans. In the weeks that followed, British forces
chased the Americans out of New York, through New Jersey, and finally
across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.

For Joseph Martin and his comrades, this was a trying time. There was
little food to eat, and the soldiers grew weak from hunger. As the
weather turned cold, muddy roads and icy streams added to their
misery. With their terms of enlistment nearly up, many soldiers headed
for home. Along the way, they spread the word that anyone who
volunteered to risk his life in the Continental army had to be crazy.

By the time Washington reached Pennsylvania, only a few thousand

men were still under his command. Many of his remaining troops, he
reported, were “entirely naked and most so thinly clad [clothed] as to
be unfit for service.” More troops had to be found, and found quickly, he
wrote his brother. Otherwise, “I think the game will be pretty well up.”

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By the end of 1776, the British also thought the war was just about
over. General Howe offered to pardon all rebels who signed a statement
promising to “remain in peaceful obedience” to the king. Thousands
took him up on his offer.

The Crisis Washington knew he had to do something—quickly.

Gathering his last troops together, he read to them from Thomas
Paine's new pamphlet, The Crisis.

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 their country; but he that stands it now,
deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Next, Washington outlined a daring plan to attack Hessian troops who

were camped for the winter in Trenton, New Jersey. Heartened by
Thomas Paine's words, his men did not “shrink from the service of their
country.”

Victory in Trenton Late on December 25, 1776, Washington's army

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crossed the ice-choked Delaware River in small boats. On the New
Jersey shore, Washington gave his men the password for the long
nighttime march ahead: “Victory or death.”

As the American troops made their way toward Trenton, a driving snow
chilled them to the bone. Ice and rocks cut through their worn-out
shoes. One officer reported to Washington that the troops' guns were
too wet to fire. “Use the bayonets,” the general replied. “The town must
be taken.”

When the Americans reached Trenton, they found the Hessians happily
sleeping off their Christmas feasts. Caught completely by surprise, the
mercenaries surrendered. Washington took 868 prisoners without
losing even a single man. A week later, the Americans captured another
300 British troops at Princeton, New Jersey. These defeats convinced
Howe that it would take more than capturing New York City and
issuing pardons to win the war.

News of Washington's victories electrified Patriots. “A few days ago

they had given up their cause for lost,” wrote an unhappy Loyalist.
“Their late successes have turned the scale and they are all liberty mad
again.” The game was not yet up.

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When the American Revolution began, both sides adopted the same
military strategy, or overall plan for winning the war. That strategy was
to defeat the enemy in one big battle.

After barely escaping from his loss in New York, Washington revised his
strategy. In the future, he wrote Congress, he would avoid large battles
that might put his army at risk. Instead, the war would be “defensive.”
Rather than defeating the British, Washington hoped to tire them out.

A New British Strategy Germain revised the British strategy as well.

His new plan was to divide the rebels by taking control of New York's
Hudson River Valley. Control of this waterway would allow the British to
cut New England off from the rest of the states. Without men and
supplies from the New England states, the Continental army would
surely collapse.

To carry out this plan, General John Burgoyne (ber-GOIN) left Canada in
June 1777 with about 8,000 British soldiers and American Indian
warriors. He planned to move this army south to Albany, New York.
There he would meet up with General Howe, who was supposed to
march his army north from New York City.

Problems with Burgoyne's Plan There were two big problems with
Burgoyne's plan. The first was that what looked like an easy invasion
route on a map was anything but easy. The route Burgoyne chose from
Canada to Albany took his army through more than 20 miles of tangled
wilderness. His army had to build bridges, chop down countless trees,
and lay out miles of log roads through swamps as it crept toward
Albany.

To make matters worse, Burgoyne didn't travel light. His army was
slowed by more than 600 wagons, 30 of them filled with his personal
baggage. Even in the wilderness, “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne sipped
champagne with his supper.

The second problem with Burgoyne's plan was that General Howe had
his own ideas about how to win the war. Instead of marching to Albany,
Howe headed for Philadelphia, the rebels' capital. There he hoped to
lure Washington into another major battle. Howe hoped it would be the
last one.

Washington, however, refused to risk his army in another big battle. He

would not fight for Philadelphia. Instead, he played hide-and-seek with
Howe, attacking here and there and then disappearing into the
countryside.

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A Turning Point By the time the slow-moving Burgoyne finally reached
Saratoga Springs on the Hudson River, the area was swarming with
militia. Although the rebels outnumbered his army, Burgoyne ordered
an attack. Again and again the rebels beat back Burgoyne's troops. On
October 17, 1777, Burgoyne accepted defeat.

Burgoyne's surrender marked a turning point in the war. Before the

victory at Saratoga, most of the world believed that the American cause
was hopeless. Now the Americans had shown they could stand up to a
British army and win.

Not long after this victory, France came into the war as an ally of the
United States. The French government sent money, weapons, troops,
and warships to the Americans. Spain also entered the war against
Great Britain. The American cause no longer looked quite so hopeless.

Winter at Valley Forge Saratoga was a stunning victory, but the war
was far from over. While General Washington's army roamed the
countryside, Howe's forces still occupied Philadelphia.

Late in 1777, Congress declared a day of thanksgiving for the army's

successes. By this time, Washington and his army were on their way to
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to make camp for the winter. Joseph Martin
described the army's “celebration”:

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We had nothing to eat for two or three days previous . . .
But we must now have what Congress said, a sumptuous
[lavish] Thanksgiving . . . It gave each and every man a gill
[a few ounces] of rice and a tablespoon of vinegar! The
army was now not only starved but naked. The greatest
part were not only shirtless and barefoot, but destitute of
[without] all other clothing, especially blankets.

Washington's troops were hungry because many farmers preferred to

sell food to the British. The British paid them in gold, whereas Congress
paid them in paper money. As for uniforms and blankets, merchants
had raised the prices for these items sky-high. This desire for profits at
the army's expense outraged Washington. “No punishment,” he fumed,
“is too great for the man who can build his greatness upon his country's
ruin.”

To help lift his men from their misery, Washington put Baron Friedrich
von Steuben (FREE-drik von STU-bin) in charge of training. A military
officer from Prussia (in modern-day Germany), von Steuben arrived in
December 1777 and set to work turning the Continental army into an
organized fighting force. The Prussian's method, wrote Martin, was
“continual drill.” It worked wonders. “The army grows stronger every
day,” wrote one officer. “There is a spirit of discipline among the troops
that is better than numbers.”

Another foreign volunteer, the Marquis de Lafayette (mar-KEE duh la-

fey-ET), also helped raise the troops' spirits. Although he was one of the
richest men in France, Lafayette chose to share the hardships of Valley
Forge. He even used his own money to buy the men warm clothing.
“The patient fortitude [courage] of the officers and soldiers,” Lafayette
wrote, “was a continual miracle.”

When at last spring arrived, Washington received news that the British
were about to abandon Philadelphia. The time had come to put his
newly trained army to the test.

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The Battle of Monmouth By this time, Sir Henry Clinton had replaced
General Howe as commander of the British forces in North America. In
Clinton's view, taking over Philadelphia had gained the British nothing.
He ordered his army to retreat to New York City, where the Royal Navy
could keep it supplied by sea.

Now it was Washington's turn to chase an army across New Jersey. On

June 28, 1778, he caught up with the retreating British near Monmouth,
New Jersey. In the battle that followed, Washington seemed to be
everywhere, constantly rallying his men to stand and fight. “Cheering
them by his voice and example,” wrote Lafayette, “never had I beheld
[seen] so superb a man.”

Late that night, the British slipped across the Hudson River to safety in
New York City. Washington camped with his army nearby. It was
pleasing, he wrote, “that after two years maneuvering . . . both armies
are brought back to the very point they set out from.” Neither army
knew it yet, but the war in the North was over.

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After failing to conquer any state in the North, the British changed
strategies yet again. Their new plan was to move the war to the South.
There, they believed, thousands of Loyalists were just waiting to join
the king's cause.

Clinton began his “southern campaign” with a successful attack on

Savannah, Georgia. From Georgia, he moved north to take control of
North and South Carolina. At that point, Clinton returned to New York
City, leaving Lord Charles Cornwallis to control the war in the South.

Saving the South Cornwallis soon learned that he did not really
control the Carolinas after all. Guerrillas—soldiers who are not part of a
regular army—kept the American cause alive. One of them was Francis
Marion, who was also known as the “Swamp Fox.” Marion's band of
rebels harassed the British with hit-and-run raids. They attacked and
then faded into the swamps and forests like foxes.

Late in 1780, Washington sent General Nathanael Greene to slow the

British advance through the South. Greene's army was too small to
meet Cornwallis in a major battle. Instead, Greene led Cornwallis's
troops on an exhausting chase through the southern backcountry. He
wrote of his strategy, “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”

Greene's strategy worked wonderfully. In April 1781, Cornwallis wrote

that he was “quite tired of marching about the country.” He moved his
army to Yorktown, a sleepy tobacco port on Chesapeake Bay in
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Virginia, for a good rest.

A Trap at Yorktown By the time Cornwallis was settling into Yorktown,

France had sent nearly 5,000 troops to join Washington's army in New
York. In August, Washington learned that another 3,000 troops were
scheduled to arrive soon in 29 French warships.

Washington used this information to set a trap for Cornwallis. Secretly,

he moved his army south to Virginia. When they arrived, they joined the
French and surrounded Yorktown on land with more than 16,000
troops.

Meanwhile, the French warships showed up just in time to seal off the
entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Their appearance was crucial to the
American victory. Now Cornwallis was cut off from the British navy and
any hope of rescue by sea.

The trap was sprung on October 6, 1781. Joseph Martin watched as a

flag was raised to signal that American and French gunners should
open fire on Yorktown. “I confess I felt a secret pride swell in my heart,”

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he wrote, “when I saw the ‘star-spangled banner' waving majestically.”
The shelling went on for days, until “most of the guns in the enemy's
works were silenced.”

Cornwallis Surrenders At first Cornwallis clung to the hope that the

British navy would come to his rescue, even as Yorktown was exploding
around him. When no ships arrived, he finally agreed to surrender.

On October 19, 1781, American and French troops formed two long
lines that stretched for more than a mile along the road to Yorktown—
the French on one side and the Americans on the other. The two lines
could not have looked more different. The French were dressed in
elegant uniforms that gleamed with gold and silver braid in the
afternoon sun. The Americans' uniforms—and not everyone even had
uniforms—were patched and faded. Behind the lines stood civilians who
had traveled for miles to witness the surrender.

After hours of waiting, the crowd watched as 8,000 British troops left
Yorktown to lay down their arms. The defeated troops moved “with slow
and solemn step.” They were accompanied by a slow tune known as

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“The World Turned Upside Down.” This same sad tune had been played
at Saratoga after the British surrender.

Cornwallis did not take part in this ceremony, saying that he was ill. In
reality, the British commander could not bear to surrender publicly to
an army that he looked down on as “a contemptible and undisciplined
rabble [mob].” While Cornwallis sulked in his tent, his men surrendered
their arms. Many of them wept bitter tears.

To the watching Americans, there was nothing sad about that day. “It
was a noble sight to us,” wrote Martin, “and the more so, as it seemed
to promise a speedy conclusion to the contest.”

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The conclusion of the war did not come as quickly as Martin had hoped.
When Lord North, the British prime minister, heard about Cornwallis's
defeat at Yorktown, he paced up and down the room repeating, “Oh
God! It is all over!” When the British people heard about the defeat,
most of them accepted it. The loss at Yorktown drained any remaining
support for the war. Still, months dragged by before King George was
finally forced to accept that the British had been defeated.

For most Americans, the end of the war was a time for joy and
celebration. They had gained the freedom to govern themselves and
create their own future. But liberty came at a high price. At least 6,200
Americans had been killed in combat. An estimated 10,000 died in
camp of diseases, and another 8,500 died while in captivity as British
prisoners. As a proportion of the total population, more Americans died
fighting in the American Revolution than in any other conflict except
the Civil War, in which Americans fought one another.

The Treaty of Paris Early in 1783, representatives of the United

States and Great Britain signed a peace treaty in Paris. The Treaty of
Paris had three important parts. First, Great Britain agreed to recognize
the United States as an independent nation. Second, Great Britain gave
up its claims to all lands between the Atlantic Coast and the Mississippi
River, from the border of Canada south to Florida. Third, the United
States agreed to return all rights and property taken from Loyalists
during the war.

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Many Loyalists did not trust the treaty's promise of fair treatment —and
for good reason. During the war, Loyalists had been treated badly by
Patriots. More than 80,000 Loyalists, both black and white, left the
United States to settle in British Canada.

The Impact of the American Revolution The American Revolution

had a major impact in other parts of the world. In Europe, it thrilled
liberals who dreamed of creating their own democracies. The American
example was especially influential in France, which soon had its own
revolution. As one Frenchman wrote, “They [Americans] are the hope of
the human race; they may well become its model.” Indeed, in the
1800s, that model would help inspire revolts against European rule in
South America.

In this chapter, you read how the American colonies won their
independence from Great Britain.

American Strengths and Weaknesses The Continental army was

short of men, and few men were trained for battle. The Americans also
lacked adequate weapons and food. Their strengths included
patriotism, support from France, and Washington as their military
leader.

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British Strengths and Weaknesses British troops greatly
outnumbered American troops and were better trained and equipped.
Sending troops and supplies to the colonies was slow and costly. The
British also had poor leadership and a lack of support from people at
home.

Great Britain Almost Wins the War The British won a series of
victories early in the war. After the loss of New York City, only
Washington's leadership kept the colonists going.

A Pep Talk and Surprising Victories Thomas Paine's The Crisis

encouraged Americans to keep fighting. Colonial victories at Trenton
and Princeton gave new hope for their cause.

The Tide Begins to Turn The colonists' victory in the Battle of

Saratoga in 1777 marked a turning point in the war. Shortly afterward,
France and Spain joined the colonies as allies.

The War Goes South The British moved south into Georgia and the
Carolinas, but American troops slowed their advance. The British
surrendered after the Battle of Yorktown.

The War Ends The conflict ended with the signing of the Treaty of
Paris in 1783. Under the terms of the treaty, Great Britain recognized
the United States as an independent country.

Everyone knows stories about George Washington. From

chopping down the cherry tree to helping the nation win
independence, the stories make Washington sound larger than
life. Washington's writings reveal a more complex person.
Behind his strong public presence was a man of many
sentiments. He balanced a deep love of his family with a
commitment to fighting for his country. He coupled bravery
with concern, caution, and compassion.

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In 1775, the Continental Congress asked George Washington to lead the

colonial army. Washington was living on his estate at Mount Vernon,
Virginia, at the time. He had proven his military skills in the French and
Indian War. And he had the added benefit of coming from the South. If
he were to command the army, Congress thought, he might tie the
Southern Colonies more firmly to the cause.

Washington believed deeply in that cause. Still, he had his doubts

about taking on the important job Congress offered. Young soldiers like
Joseph Plumb Martin, a Connecticut farm boy, looked forward to going
to war. But Washington was 43 years old and had fought in wars before.
He knew it would be hard to leave his home and family. In a letter to his
wife, Martha, he said, “I should enjoy more real happiness in one month
with you at home, than I have the most distant prospect of finding
abroad [away from home] if my stay were to be seven times seven
years.”

Eventually, Washington did lead the colonists to victory, but in 1775, he

was not sure he would be able to do so. He worried he would not be
clever enough to ensure that the colonists would win the war. He

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thanked Congress for the honor of being asked to lead. He told them
about his concerns, but said he would do everything he could to help
the colonists reach their goal. In a speech to Congress, he said,

I feel great distress from a consciousness that my abilities

and military experience may not be equal to the extensive
and important trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I
will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every
power I possess in their service and for the support of the
glorious cause.

The Man's Compassion

Washington was a general, but he understood the hardships his soldiers

faced. At the top of the list was low pay. He felt bad that his men had to
do so much hard work for so little money. He also knew that low pay
kept some men from enlisting. A soldier “cannot ruin himself and family
to serve his country,” he told Congress.

Washington witnessed the terrible shortages his soldiers lived with.

Joseph Plumb Martin felt the sting of the shortages. He went for days
without food and made simple moccasins to keep his feet off the ice.
Years later, Martin wrote in his A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier
(1830) that it was ironic that soldiers for a noble cause were so poorly
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equipped. He described the soldiers marching through Princeton, New
Jersey.

The young ladies of the town . . . had collected and were

sitting in the stoops and at the windows to see the noble
exhibition of a thousand half-starved and three-quarters
naked soldiers pass in review before them.

The soldiers' suffering upset Washington. He repeatedly asked for more

supplies. During the harsh winter at Valley Forge, he wrote to Congress.
In a letter dated December 23, 1777, he accused the congressmen of
not understanding what his soldiers went through.

I can assure those gentlemen that it is a much easier and

less distressing thing to draw remonstrances [listen to
protests] in a comfortable room by a good fireside, than to
occupy a cold, bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow,
without clothes or blankets. However, although they seem
to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I
feel superabundantly for them, and, from my soul, I pity
those miseries, which it is neither in my power to relieve or
prevent.

The General's Concerns

George Washington balanced sympathy for his soldiers with his

responsibility as their leader. For example, he knew that soldiers did not
want to leave home any more than he did. But his sympathy only went
so far. When it came down to it, Washington worried that homesick
men made poor soldiers. They threatened his mission. They threatened
the colonists' success. “Men just dragged from the tender scenes of
domestic life,” he wrote, were easily scared by the hard life of a soldier.
Such soldiers might desert the army and encourage others to desert,
too.

The compassionate Washington wanted his soldiers to get paid more.

But he still expected them to fight, and fight hard. He scorned their lack
of discipline. He was horrified by what happened at the Battle of New
York, in 1776.

I found the troops . . . retreating [as fast as possible], and

those ordered to support them . . . flying in every direction
and in the greatest confusion . . . I used every means in my
power to rally and get them into some order, but my
attempts were . . . ineffectual. . . On the appearance of a

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small party of the enemy . . .their disorder increased and
they ran away in the greatest confusion without firing a
single shot.

The general knew that such chaos would never win the war. He did
everything he could to see to it that soldiers who neglected their duties
were punished.

Similarly, while Washington sympathized with his soldiers being hungry,

as general he prohibited them from stealing food. His reason was
practical as much as it was moral. Too often, people killed soldiers who
tried to steal from them. He wrote to one of his colonels,

Every attempt of the men to plunder houses, orchards,

gardens, etc., [should] be discouraged, not only for the
preservation of property and sake of good order, but for
the prevention of those fatal consequences which usually
follow such diabolical practices.

Of course, the general's rules were not always obeyed. During the
winter at Valley Forge, an officer ordered Joseph Plumb Martin to steal
to help keep the soldiers from starving. The work was “not altogether
unpleasant,” Martin wrote in A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, but
it was definitely stealing. He described it this way.

I had to travel far and near . . . and at all times to run the
risk of abuse, if not injury, from the inhabitants when
plundering them of their property, (for I could not, while in
the very act of taking their cattle, hay, corn and grain from
them against their wills, consider it a whit better than
plundering—sheer privateering) [stealing under the
authority of a government].

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Worry and Praise, Courage and Kindness

George Washington worried about his reputation. He wanted people to

respect him. But if the colonies lost the war, Washington knew that
people would think less of him. That worry gave even the great general
cause for concern. He once wrote to his cousin that “I never was in such
an unhappy, divided state since I was born.” To a confidant, he wrote
that his army service was “one continued round of annoyance and
fatigue.”

Nonetheless, Washington kept fighting for the cause of freedom. As the

war dragged on, he praised his soldiers for putting up such a good fight
against the British, the most powerful army in the world. In a letter, he
wrote,

Without arrogance . . . it may be said that no history . . .

Can furnish an instance of an army's suffering such
uncommon hardships as ours have done, and bearing them
with the same patience and fortitude.

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When the war was over, Washington did everything he could to see that
the soldiers received fair pay from the new government.

When he said goodbye to his officers, George Washington again

balanced courage and kindness. The commander in chief, one general
reported, was “suffused in tears.” He could not speak because he had
such strong feelings for his men. In the final goodbye, Washington
revealed both his warrior spirit and his caring heart.

The American Revolution (1775–1783) was fought at sea as well as on

land. The small Continental navy battled Britain's powerful Royal Navy
in both American and European waters. Let's meet three commanders
who helped lead the American navy to victory.

John Barry

Captain John Barry was born in Ireland in 1745. He came to America in

1760 and settled in Philadelphia, where he became a wealthy and
successful shipping captain. In 1776, Congress appointed him to the
Continental Navy.

During the Revolutionary War, Captain Barry earned fame for his daring
captures of enemy ships. In the spring of 1776, he led one of the
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Revolution's first successful sea battles against the British. His ship, the
Lexington, captured the heavily armed British ship, the H.M.S. Edward .

In 1777, the British gained control of Philadelphia. Barry successfully

attacked the English from the Delaware River. Barry commanded only
four small boats. Yet he captured several enemy boats and a large ship
full of supplies.

After the war, President George Washington made Barry a commodore

(senior captain). As commodore, Barry trained other officers and helped
shape the first navy of the United States. Many historians have called
Commodore Barry the “Father of the American Navy.”

Nicholas Biddle

Captain Nicholas Biddle was born in 1750 to well-to-do family in

Philadelphia. He was just 13 when he went to work on a merchant ship.

In 1772, Biddle joined the British Royal Navy. When the Revolutionary
War broke out, he left the Royal Navy to join the American cause.

Biddle's role in the Revolution was brief but significant. He captured

British ships carrying guns, ammunition, and other supplies. Later,
despite being outnumbered and outgunned, he captured two English
ships carrying 400 soldiers. In 1777, he commanded the Randolph, the
Continental navy's first warship.

In 1778, Biddle led a brave but doomed attack against the British
Yarmouth off the coast of South Carolina. The British blew up the
Randolph, killing Biddle and all but four of the ship's 315 men.

John Paul Jones

Captain John Paul Jones became the most famous American naval
commander during the Revolution. His original name was John Paul. The
son of a gardener, he was born in Scotland in 1747. At the age of 12,
Paul worked as a cabin boy on the British ship Friendship. He later
worked on a slave ship.

In 1772, Paul bought his own boat. The next year, he killed the leader of
a ship rebellion. To avoid standing trial, he ran away to Virginia and
changed his name to John Paul Jones.

At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Jones was a lieutenant on the

Continental navy's first ship, the Alfred . Although unpopular with other

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sailors, he was a skillful leader. Congress promoted him to captain in
1776. The following year, Jones sailed to Europe. His actions there
made him an American hero.

In 1778, Jones boldly attacked the British in the Irish Sea and along the
coast of Scotland. He unsuccessfully tried to burn their ships and
kidnap an English nobleman. Jones then attacked and captured the
British Drake. He ended his campaign with many prisoners and
treasures. Surprised and angered by the attacks, England condemned
Jones as a pirate.

Jones's greatest triumph was the battle of the Bonhomme Richard (Poor
Richard) in 1779. The Richard was an old, broken-down ship named
after Benjamin Franklin. (Franklin published almanacs under the name
Poor Richard.) On September 23, Jones, commanding the Richard, led a
small fleet into battle against two enormous new British warships, the
H.M.S. Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough.

The gun battle that followed lasted three and a half hours. Jones and
his men fought fiercely. When the English demanded that he surrender,
Jones declared, “I have not yet begun to fight!”

Despite many deaths and injuries, Jones's men did not give up. While
another ship attacked the Scarborough, Jones pulled the Richard next to
the Serapis and tied them together. He and his men boarded the
Serapis and attacked the enemy with guns and grenades. The Serapis
blew cannon holes into the Richard, but it was too late. As the Richard
sank, the British surrendered to Jones and his American fleet. Jones had
won his most famous and important sea battle of the war.

After the war, Jones was hailed as a hero throughout the newly formed
United States. In 1787, he was the only Revolutionary naval officer to
receive a Congressional medal of honor.

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