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Major funding for "the
American revolution"

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was provided by the better angels society

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and its members Jeannie
and Jonathan lavine

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with the crimson lion foundation

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and the blavatnik family foundation.

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Major funding was also
provided by David m. Rubenstein,

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the Robert d. And Patricia
e. Kern family foundation,

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the Lilly endowment,

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and by better angels society members:

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Eric and Wendy schmidt,
Stephen a. Schwarzman,

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and Kenneth c. Griffin
with Griffin catalyst.

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Additional support was provided by

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the Arthur vining Davis foundations,

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the pew charitable trusts,

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Gilbert s. Omenn and Martha a. Darling,

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the park foundation,

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and by better angels society members:

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Gilchrist and Amy berg,
Perry and Donna golkin,

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the michelson foundation,
Jacqueline b. Mars,

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the kissick family foundation,
Diane and hal brierley,

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John h.N. Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell,

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John and Catherine debs,

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the fuller ton family charitable fund,

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and these additional members.

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"The American revolution"

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was made possible with support

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from the corporation
for public broadcasting,

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and viewers like you. Thank you.

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The American revolution caused

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an impact felt around the world.

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The fight would take
ingenuity, determination,

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and hope for a new tomorrow
to turn the tide of history

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and set the American story in motion.

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What would you like the power to do?

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Bank of america.

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The plan laid down for our education

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was entirely broken in upon by the war.

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Instead of morning lessons,
we were to knit stockings;

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instead of embroidering, to
make homespun garments;

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and in place of the
music of the harpsichord,

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to listen to the loud, clanging trumpet

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and never-ceasing drum,

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for in every direction that we traveled...

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and heaven knows we left
but little of Virginia unexplored...

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we heard naught but the din of war.

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Our late peaceful country

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now became a scene
of terror and confusion.

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Betsy ambler.

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Our images of the American revolution

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tend to be images of men in
wigs in wood-paneled rooms,

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and that helps to reinforce an image

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of the American revolution
as just a war about ideals.

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I think that we really do
a disservice to... History

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and to the experiences of
the people who lived through it

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when we paper over the
violence of the American revolution

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with this set of very idealized images

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that we have of the founding fathers

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signing documents in Philadelphia.

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The United States came out of violence.

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I peeped out at the bay

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and saw something resembling
a wood of pine trees trimmed.

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I declare at my noticing this

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that I could not believe my eyes,

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but judge you of my surprise
when, in about 10 minutes,

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the whole bay was full of shipping

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as ever it could be.

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I do declare that I thought
all London was afloat.

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Private Daniel mccurtin.

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On Saturday morning, June 29, 1776,

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colonel Henry Knox,
whose artillery had convinced

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the British to flee
Boston, was breakfasting

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with his wife Lucy on the second floor

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of a commandeered
mansion at number 1 Broadway

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when he, too, spotted the British ships

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that private mccurtin had seen

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as they approached New
York harbor unopposed.

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My god, you can scarcely conceive

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of the distress and
anxiety... the city in an uproar,

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the alarm guns firing,

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the troops repairing to their posts.

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Martha Washington
and other officers' wives,

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including Lucy Knox
and her infant daughter,

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were sent away from
the city for their safety.

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The royal Navy
anchored off staten island

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and began to disembark
some 10,000 British regulars.

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Crowds of local loyalists cheered them

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as they stepped ashore.

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The royal Navy, as
one contemporary put it,

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was the "canvas wings
of the British state."

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It enabled the British to
appear off the coastline

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almost anywhere unhindered.

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We expect a very bloody summer

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at New York, as it is here, I presume,

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the grand efforts of
the enemy will be aimed,

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and I am sorry to say that we are not,

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either in men or arms, prepared for it.

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George Washington.

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By the summer of 1776, the revolution,

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which began as a quarrel over
the rights of British subjects,

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had become a war for
American independence,

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and as that revolution
spread throughout the colonies,

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thousands of Americans,
patriots and loyalists alike,

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would be driven from their homes.

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11-year-old Betsy ambler
of yorktown, Virginia,

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and her family had been
among the earliest refugees.

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Her mother suffered from what
Betsy called "a nervous malady."

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In 1775, the constant talk of war

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and yorktown's vulnerability
to an attack by water

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had so terrified her mother
that her father decided

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to move the family, Betsy said,

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"and seek a safe retreat for her."

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The amblers were more fortunate
than most displaced families.

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They and their relatives
owned farms and plantations

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worked by enslaved people
scattered across the state.

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They settled first in a small house

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in the tiny village of new
castle in Hanover county.

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It was there that
Betsy's mother gave birth

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to another daughter... Lucy.

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Since Lucy "made her appearance
just after the declaration,"

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Betsy recalled, their father called her

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"his only independent child."

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Now a fully committed patriot,

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Betsy's father had lost his paid position

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as collector of royal customs,

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and a royal Navy blockade
would soon choke off the shipping

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on which his profits as a
merchant had been made.

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The war, though it was to involve

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my immediate family in poverty
and perplexity of every kind,

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was for the foundation of independence

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and prosperity for my country,

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and what sacrifice would
not an American, a virginian,

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at the earliest age, have
made for so desirable an end?

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Betsy ambler.

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What to do with this city puzzles me.

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It is so encircled with
deep, navigable water

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that whoever commands the
sea must command the town.

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General Charles Lee.

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George Washington had assigned

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a former British officer,
general Charles Lee,

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to fortify New York City
and its surroundings.

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The patriot commanders feared

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they could not hold the town for long

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but hoped to make the British pay

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the highest possible price for its capture.

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Since no one could say where or
when British attacks would come,

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Washington had been
forced to scatter his army

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and its 121 Cannon
all around the harbor.

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New York is an archipelago.

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It's a confluence of islands.

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It's a problem.

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If you don't control

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the naval approaches
in and around New York,

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you cannot properly defend New York.

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New York was one of
the best natural harbors

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on the Atlantic seaboard,
and although the town

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still occupied just a single square mile

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at Manhattan's southern tip,
it was the second-largest city

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in the newly created United States

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and the gateway to the Hudson river.

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If the British commander,
general William howe,

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could capture it, his forces would be free

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to ascend the river and
divide rebellious new England

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from the rest of the states.

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This whole war, in many
ways, is a water campaign.

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It's who controls the coast,

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but it's also who controls
the rivers and the lakes.

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This is where the fighting would be,

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wherever water provided you with a way

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to get into the interior of the country.

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Both the British and the Americans

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had considered New York
and the farming communities

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that bordered it to be loyalist strongholds.

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For weeks, patriots
had prowled the streets,

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roughing up loyalists.

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Thousands fled with what
belongings they could carry.

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Hundreds more were arrested.

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Several dozen were hauled
away to simsbury, Connecticut,

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and imprisoned in an
abandoned copper mine

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70 feet below the earth

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that the patriots called
the catacomb of loyalty.

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A committee for detecting
and defeating conspiracies,

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chaired by the attorney John Jay,

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held daily inquisitions.

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40 men, including the
mayor of New York City,

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were jailed for plotting to
assassinate George Washington.

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A member of Washington's
own personal guard

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was found to be involved and hanged

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while 4 brigades of troops looked on.

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The city had been
home to 25,000 people.

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By the summer of 1776, just
5,000 of them would remain,

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and those loyalists left behind

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had learned to keep their
opinions to themselves.

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To see the vast number
of houses shut up,

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one would think the
city almost evacuated.

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Troops are daily coming in.

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They break open the
houses they find shut up

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to quarter themselves.

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Necessity knows no law.

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Continental soldiers and
militiamen from 10 states

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continued to stream into town.

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Eventually, there would
be more than 20,000 of them

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in and around New York.

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They moved into abandoned houses,

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tore up parquet floors for firewood,

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and hurled refuse from the windows.

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Despite a 10 P.M. curfew,
troops flocked to a Warren

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of West Side brothels built on
land owned by Trinity church.

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Customers called it the holy ground.

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On the afternoon of July
12th, 2 British warships

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slipped their anchors off staten island,

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moved into the harbor
past the tip of Manhattan,

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and began sailing up the Hudson.

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The Cannon from the city

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did but very little execution, as
not more than half the number

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00:12:03,020 --> 00:12:06,526
of the men belonging
to them were present.

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The others were at their cups,

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and at their usual place of
abode on the holy ground.

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00:12:13,660 --> 00:12:16,936
Lieutenant Isaac banks.

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Later that same evening,

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a still-larger British fleet,
more than 100 vessels,

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began streaming through the narrows

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and into New York harbor.

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Its commander was
general William howe's

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elder brother vice admiral Richard howe.

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Both had once expressed
sympathy for the colonists,

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and both had been empowered
to negotiate with rebel leaders

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and issue pardons in hopes
of avoiding further bloodshed,

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but while the admiral
was crossing the Atlantic,

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congress had declared
American independence.

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We learned the deplorable situation

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of his majesty's faithful subjects,

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that they were hunted after and shot at

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in the woods and swamps
to which they had fled

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00:13:02,110 --> 00:13:04,656
to avoid the savage fury of the rebels.

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We also heard that the congress
had now announced the colonies

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to be independent states.

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That proclaims the villainy and
madness of these deluded people.

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To my dear Betsey, my wife...

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00:13:21,260 --> 00:13:25,206
it is hard to be quite happy
when one full half, at least,

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of both body and soul is left at home,

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00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,746
but, believe it, I am not more mortal here

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in the neighborhood
of the British Cannon

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than I should be was I happy
in your peaceful, loving arms.

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Till my god calls me, I am immortal.

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Philip vickers fit hi an.

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Philip vickers fit hi an of
cohansey, New Jersey,

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00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:53,366
was a newly married 28-year-old
presbyterian clergyman,

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recently appointed
chaplain of a militia brigade.

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He was a graduate

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of the college of New
Jersey at Princeton,

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00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,246
where his classmates had included

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00:14:03,270 --> 00:14:06,886
Aaron burr and James Madison.

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00:14:06,910 --> 00:14:09,616
After college, he spent a year as a tutor

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00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:11,656
on a Virginia plantation,

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00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:15,956
where, seeing the inhuman
cruelty of slavery up close,

256
00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:18,866
he introduced the
owner's children to the work

257
00:14:18,890 --> 00:14:23,296
of the enslaved poet phillis wheatley.

258
00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,936
In New York, fit hi an found
himself sleeping on the floor

259
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,006
of a loyalist's abandoned home,

260
00:14:30,030 --> 00:14:32,776
conducting prayer meetings twice a day

261
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,516
and afterwards visiting the hospitals

262
00:14:35,540 --> 00:14:38,346
filled with men dying from dysentery.

263
00:14:38,370 --> 00:14:40,016
Amen. Amen.

264
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:41,416
Here I must daily visit

265
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,426
among many in a contagious disorder,

266
00:14:44,450 --> 00:14:47,526
but I am not discouraged nor dispirited.

267
00:14:47,550 --> 00:14:50,056
I am willing to hazard and suffer equally

268
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,096
with my countrymen since
I have a firm conviction

269
00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,396
that I am in my duty.

270
00:14:56,420 --> 00:14:58,366
When we really take a look

271
00:14:58,390 --> 00:15:00,506
at what these regiments were like,

272
00:15:00,530 --> 00:15:03,906
we see a lot of individuals
who are not carrying arms...

273
00:15:03,930 --> 00:15:06,446
including women, including children,

274
00:15:06,470 --> 00:15:10,346
including servants, medical
personnel, chaplains...

275
00:15:10,370 --> 00:15:12,186
and there are all kinds
of individuals there

276
00:15:12,210 --> 00:15:15,016
that are essential parts of these armies

277
00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,056
that are doing essential labor,

278
00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,886
without whom, I think,
the army couldn't operate.

279
00:15:19,910 --> 00:15:24,566
August 1st... there is a
report pretty well confirmed

280
00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:27,736
that near 40 sail of the
enemy came in this afternoon

281
00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:29,896
and are joining the fleet.

282
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,866
We are all uncertain.

283
00:15:32,890 --> 00:15:35,236
The ships that came in that day

284
00:15:35,260 --> 00:15:38,476
were straggling in from
a failed British expedition

285
00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:41,116
in south Carolina.

286
00:15:41,140 --> 00:15:43,576
The royal governors
of the southern colonies,

287
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,346
who had all been driven to
ships anchored off their coasts,

288
00:15:47,370 --> 00:15:49,586
continued to insist that the rebellion

289
00:15:49,610 --> 00:15:53,726
had been stirred up by only
a tiny minority of radicals,

290
00:15:53,750 --> 00:15:57,526
that the overwhelmingly
loyal populace of their colonies

291
00:15:57,550 --> 00:16:00,866
would take up arms
in support of the crown,

292
00:16:00,890 --> 00:16:03,390
provided help was sent.

293
00:16:04,730 --> 00:16:09,076
In June, British warships had
converged on Charleston harbor,

294
00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:11,576
where their 262 guns

295
00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,900
opened fire on a rebel
fort on Sullivan's island.

296
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,656
More than 7,000 cannonballs were fired.

297
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:23,316
Most that hit their target

298
00:16:23,340 --> 00:16:28,026
were absorbed by the
fort's sturdy palmetto walls.

299
00:16:28,050 --> 00:16:31,496
Within the fort, patriot
colonel William moultrie

300
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,296
ordered his men to "distress

301
00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,366
in every shape to the
utmost of your powers."

302
00:16:38,390 --> 00:16:40,166
They did.

303
00:16:40,190 --> 00:16:45,376
They had just 31 guns, but
they proved deadly accurate,

304
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,046
toppling masts, riddling hulls,

305
00:16:48,070 --> 00:16:51,416
blowing sailors and sea captains apart.

306
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,556
The British flagship
alone was hit 70 times,

307
00:16:55,580 --> 00:17:00,586
and 111 crewmen were killed or maimed.

308
00:17:00,610 --> 00:17:04,526
By evening, the
battered fleet pulled away.

309
00:17:04,550 --> 00:17:07,396
"We never had such
a drubbing in our lives,"

310
00:17:07,420 --> 00:17:10,196
one British sailor remembered.

311
00:17:10,220 --> 00:17:13,936
It took 3 weeks to repair
the damage to their ships

312
00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,276
before they made their way back north

313
00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:20,176
to join the forces threatening New York.

314
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,576
The British would not
attempt to recapture

315
00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,840
a southern colony again for 2 1/2 years.

316
00:17:33,550 --> 00:17:35,226
It seems to be the intention

317
00:17:35,250 --> 00:17:38,366
of the white people to
destroy us as a people,

318
00:17:38,390 --> 00:17:41,936
but I have a great many young
fellows that would support me,

319
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,836
and we are determined to have our land.

320
00:17:44,860 --> 00:17:46,590
Tsi'yu-gunsini.

321
00:17:47,830 --> 00:17:51,676
In the summer of
1776, cherokee warriors

322
00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:56,116
led by tsi'yu-gunsini,
"dragging canoe" in English,

323
00:17:56,140 --> 00:17:58,716
began attacking frontier settlements

324
00:17:58,740 --> 00:18:00,546
west of the appalachians

325
00:18:00,570 --> 00:18:06,226
on land now claimed by
Virginia and the carol in as.

326
00:18:06,250 --> 00:18:09,496
The royal proclamation of 1763

327
00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,626
had expressly barred
colonists from purchasing

328
00:18:12,650 --> 00:18:16,836
or moving onto Indian lands
west of the appalachians,

329
00:18:16,860 --> 00:18:20,606
but British officials had
been powerless to enforce it

330
00:18:20,630 --> 00:18:23,106
or to keep some native Americans,

331
00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:25,746
including dragging canoe's own father,

332
00:18:25,770 --> 00:18:30,540
from leasing or selling land
to settlers and speculators.

333
00:18:31,810 --> 00:18:36,356
We think of the revolution
as a war against empire,

334
00:18:36,380 --> 00:18:40,026
but it very quickly
becomes a war for empire.

335
00:18:40,050 --> 00:18:42,426
One war aim of the American revolution

336
00:18:42,450 --> 00:18:46,466
is to take the Ohio valley and the south.

337
00:18:46,490 --> 00:18:49,596
That's what Americans wanted.

338
00:18:49,620 --> 00:18:53,266
The British government had
kept them from taking native lands,

339
00:18:53,290 --> 00:18:56,236
so for the shawnees and the delawares,

340
00:18:56,260 --> 00:18:59,346
cherokees, and many other people,

341
00:18:59,370 --> 00:19:01,516
the American revolution was a war

342
00:19:01,540 --> 00:19:03,546
to protect these places against an enemy

343
00:19:03,570 --> 00:19:06,916
they already knew quite well.

344
00:19:06,940 --> 00:19:08,516
Our shawnee nation,

345
00:19:08,540 --> 00:19:12,656
from being a great people,
are now reduced to a handful.

346
00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:17,056
The red people, who were once
masters of the whole country,

347
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,226
hardly possess ground
enough to stand on.

348
00:19:20,250 --> 00:19:22,396
The lands where but lately we hunted

349
00:19:22,420 --> 00:19:24,266
are now thickly inhabited

350
00:19:24,290 --> 00:19:27,006
and covered with forts and armed men,

351
00:19:27,030 --> 00:19:29,376
and wherever a fort appears,

352
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,746
there will soon be
towns and settlements.

353
00:19:33,770 --> 00:19:35,716
In may 1776,

354
00:19:35,740 --> 00:19:38,746
a delegation of shawnees,
delawares, anishinaabe,

355
00:19:38,770 --> 00:19:42,586
and haudenosaunee came
to the cherokee town of chote.

356
00:19:42,610 --> 00:19:46,526
They said, "enough is enough."

357
00:19:46,550 --> 00:19:48,626
"We've had year after year

358
00:19:48,650 --> 00:19:52,166
"of illegal settlement
coming onto our lands.

359
00:19:52,190 --> 00:19:54,496
"Now a war has come

360
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:59,306
"that has divided those
settlers from their government.

361
00:19:59,330 --> 00:20:02,336
This is the time to strike."

362
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:04,406
It is better to die like men

363
00:20:04,430 --> 00:20:06,946
than to diminish away by inches.

364
00:20:06,970 --> 00:20:09,416
The cherokees have a hatchet.

365
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,710
Take it up and use it immediately.

366
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,026
British agents still in Indian country,

367
00:20:18,050 --> 00:20:21,126
who had armed the
cherokees to fight the rebels,

368
00:20:21,150 --> 00:20:23,396
now urged them to be patient

369
00:20:23,420 --> 00:20:26,696
and wait until British
troops could join them.

370
00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,636
Dragging canoe would
not listen to the British

371
00:20:29,660 --> 00:20:32,436
or to the elders of his father's generation,

372
00:20:32,460 --> 00:20:35,276
who had urged diplomacy.

373
00:20:35,300 --> 00:20:38,330
He rallied the young
men and went to war.

374
00:20:40,330 --> 00:20:43,116
They killed and scalped
settlers in the Carolina

375
00:20:43,140 --> 00:20:46,986
and Virginia back country,
burned their cabins and crops,

376
00:20:47,010 --> 00:20:49,986
and drove off their livestock.

377
00:20:50,010 --> 00:20:55,026
The result is, as the older
chiefs feared it would be,

378
00:20:55,050 --> 00:20:57,326
that those American colonies

379
00:20:57,350 --> 00:21:01,996
immediately send armies
into cherokee country.

380
00:21:02,020 --> 00:21:04,906
Some of the American leaders
actually say in as many words,

381
00:21:04,930 --> 00:21:07,936
"this is just what we were waiting for.

382
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,676
"Now we have justification

383
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:14,576
"for launching a full-scale
assault on the cherokees

384
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:18,070
and to drive them out
and take their land."

385
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:20,786
Nothing will reduce

386
00:21:20,810 --> 00:21:23,286
those wretches so
soon as pushing the war

387
00:21:23,310 --> 00:21:25,986
into the heart of their country,

388
00:21:26,010 --> 00:21:27,826
but I would not stop there.

389
00:21:27,850 --> 00:21:29,926
I would never cease pursuing them

390
00:21:29,950 --> 00:21:34,296
while one of them remained
on this side of the Mississippi.

391
00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,090
Thomas Jefferson.

392
00:21:37,690 --> 00:21:41,536
There are thousands of
militiamen in south Carolina,

393
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,506
north Carolina, Virginia, Georgia

394
00:21:44,530 --> 00:21:47,576
ready to join the revolution,
ready to fight britain,

395
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:48,876
but the British aren't there.

396
00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:50,476
There are no British there to fight.

397
00:21:50,500 --> 00:21:53,540
Who's there to fight? The cherokees.

398
00:21:54,570 --> 00:21:56,616
Some 6,000 militiamen

399
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,126
stormed through cherokee country.

400
00:21:59,150 --> 00:22:01,596
They destroyed 36 towns,

401
00:22:01,620 --> 00:22:05,066
including dragging canoe's own village.

402
00:22:05,090 --> 00:22:08,996
This is meant to be
instructive to other tribes.

403
00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:10,696
"If you think you're gonna
keep a British alliance,

404
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,166
"guess what we're gonna do?

405
00:22:12,190 --> 00:22:13,666
"We're gonna come and burn everything.

406
00:22:13,690 --> 00:22:15,276
"We're gonna destroy your fields.

407
00:22:15,300 --> 00:22:16,676
"We're gonna destroy your corn.

408
00:22:16,700 --> 00:22:19,006
"We're gonna destroy
all your stored-up food.

409
00:22:19,030 --> 00:22:21,976
"We're gonna wage
total war on those people.

410
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,010
Let's teach all native people
a lesson about what's coming."

411
00:22:27,410 --> 00:22:30,456
In the end, older cherokee leaders

412
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,986
would sue for peace
and be forced to cede

413
00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:36,856
another 5 million acres.

414
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,696
The colonists wanted
to possess that land

415
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,366
exclusively, and it's a vision

416
00:22:43,390 --> 00:22:47,936
that is western, as
contrasted to native people,

417
00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:53,076
who had a more spiritual or
more engaged relationship to land.

418
00:22:53,100 --> 00:22:57,816
Unlike his elders, dragging
canoe would not surrender.

419
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,116
With hundreds of men and their families,

420
00:23:00,140 --> 00:23:02,356
he managed to escape westward

421
00:23:02,380 --> 00:23:04,656
to settle along the chickamauga creek

422
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,126
in what is now Tennessee,
where he remained defiant.

423
00:23:09,150 --> 00:23:13,666
"I could not hear their talks of
peace," dragging canoe said.

424
00:23:13,690 --> 00:23:18,890
"My thoughts and my heart are for war."

425
00:23:22,430 --> 00:23:24,676
Imperial powers were advancing

426
00:23:24,700 --> 00:23:28,746
all across North America in 1776...

427
00:23:28,770 --> 00:23:31,816
Russia along the Alaska coast,

428
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,156
Spain in what became
San Francisco bay,

429
00:23:35,180 --> 00:23:37,656
the lakota in the black hills,

430
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,526
and the comanches
on the southern plains.

431
00:23:41,550 --> 00:23:45,426
On August 12th off
staten island in New York,

432
00:23:45,450 --> 00:23:48,736
britain, the world's greatest naval power,

433
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,006
landed 107 more ships.

434
00:23:52,030 --> 00:23:57,906
Aboard them were 8,600
hired hessian troops.

435
00:23:57,930 --> 00:24:00,546
Everything about the German soldiers

436
00:24:00,570 --> 00:24:03,176
was intended to intimidate...

437
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,846
their tightly fitted uniforms

438
00:24:04,870 --> 00:24:08,086
that made the wearers
seem bigger than they were,

439
00:24:08,110 --> 00:24:12,056
the whiskers many grew when
most men were clean-shaven,

440
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,526
the helmets worn by their
grenadiers and fusiliers

441
00:24:15,550 --> 00:24:17,996
that added a foot to their height,

442
00:24:18,020 --> 00:24:21,766
and the reputation for
ferocity so widespread

443
00:24:21,790 --> 00:24:24,736
that some Americans
believed them cannibals

444
00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,606
with a special taste for babies.

445
00:24:28,630 --> 00:24:31,336
I think it is an effective propaganda tool.

446
00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:34,406
"They will plunder our homes.
They will burn our village.

447
00:24:34,430 --> 00:24:36,046
They will rape our women."

448
00:24:36,070 --> 00:24:39,746
These kind of portrayals
really show up frequently,

449
00:24:39,770 --> 00:24:42,886
especially in the spring of '76

450
00:24:42,910 --> 00:24:46,180
before the first Germans
even set foot on American soil.

451
00:24:47,810 --> 00:24:49,996
Peace will not be restored in america

452
00:24:50,020 --> 00:24:52,796
until the rebel army is defeated.

453
00:24:52,820 --> 00:24:55,666
Should the enemy offer
battle in the open field,

454
00:24:55,690 --> 00:24:58,166
we must not decline it.

455
00:24:58,190 --> 00:25:00,230
General William howe.

456
00:25:01,430 --> 00:25:03,876
General William howe
and his brother Richard

457
00:25:03,900 --> 00:25:06,046
were in joint command of the largest

458
00:25:06,070 --> 00:25:09,946
seaborne assault force
britain had ever assembled...

459
00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:14,686
24,000 soldiers, including
the 8,600 hessians,

460
00:25:14,710 --> 00:25:20,910
and 400 ships manned by
some 10,000 sailors and marines.

461
00:25:22,350 --> 00:25:27,696
At dawn on August 22nd,
4,000 British and hessian troops

462
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,396
crossed the narrows and
came ashore at Gravesend

463
00:25:31,420 --> 00:25:34,306
on the southeastern edge of long island,

464
00:25:34,330 --> 00:25:38,006
boatloads of assault troops.

465
00:25:38,030 --> 00:25:41,406
The enemy have now
landed on long island.

466
00:25:41,430 --> 00:25:44,776
The hour is fast approaching
on which the honor and success

467
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:50,486
of this army and the safety of
our bleeding country depend.

468
00:25:50,510 --> 00:25:52,280
George Washington.

469
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,126
More troops continued to land.

470
00:25:57,150 --> 00:26:01,866
Soon, more than 20,000 British,
hessian, and loyalist soldiers

471
00:26:01,890 --> 00:26:05,506
occupied a tent city
that sprawled for 8 miles

472
00:26:05,530 --> 00:26:08,406
just beyond the beach.

473
00:26:08,430 --> 00:26:11,906
General Washington reminded
his men of the dismissive things

474
00:26:11,930 --> 00:26:14,606
British officers had said of them.

475
00:26:14,630 --> 00:26:17,876
Now they would have a
chance to prove them wrong,

476
00:26:17,900 --> 00:26:21,956
provided they remained
cool but determined.

477
00:26:21,980 --> 00:26:24,856
Remember that you are free men

478
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,686
fighting for the blessings of Liberty,

479
00:26:27,710 --> 00:26:30,326
that slavery will be your portion

480
00:26:30,350 --> 00:26:32,326
and that of your posterity

481
00:26:32,350 --> 00:26:35,260
if you do not acquit yourselves like men.

482
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:40,266
Washington knew an attack
was coming somewhere,

483
00:26:40,290 --> 00:26:43,406
but he worried that the
British landing on long island

484
00:26:43,430 --> 00:26:49,016
was merely a diversion,
and so he divided his army.

485
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:53,116
Most would stay in Manhattan,
while some 8,000 men,

486
00:26:53,140 --> 00:26:55,856
many of them ill-trained militia,

487
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,916
were posted on long island,

488
00:26:57,940 --> 00:27:00,556
where Washington's
most trusted general,

489
00:27:00,580 --> 00:27:02,756
Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island,

490
00:27:02,780 --> 00:27:05,066
had strengthened the series of forts

491
00:27:05,090 --> 00:27:09,736
and earthworks that ran
from red hook to wall about bay.

492
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,136
Most of the defenses were concentrated

493
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,236
near the lofty cliffs closest to Manhattan

494
00:27:15,260 --> 00:27:18,176
called Brooklyn heights
after the tiny village

495
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,576
of Brooklyn that stood just behind them.

496
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:24,816
Washington and his generals believed

497
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,716
that if the British were
to seize that high ground,

498
00:27:27,740 --> 00:27:29,916
their guns would command the city,

499
00:27:29,940 --> 00:27:32,626
much as rebel guns
had commanded Boston

500
00:27:32,650 --> 00:27:36,026
and its harbor earlier that year,

501
00:27:36,050 --> 00:27:40,126
but Nathanael Greene had
fallen ill and was soon replaced

502
00:27:40,150 --> 00:27:43,666
by major general Israel
Putnam of Connecticut,

503
00:27:43,690 --> 00:27:46,266
whose fighting spirit was not matched

504
00:27:46,290 --> 00:27:50,776
by strategic sense or
knowledge of the terrain.

505
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,876
Between the Brooklyn
heights fortifications

506
00:27:53,900 --> 00:27:57,916
and the British encampment
ran a rugged, forested Ridge

507
00:27:57,940 --> 00:28:00,686
called the gowanus heights.

508
00:28:00,710 --> 00:28:03,716
4 passes cut in or around it...

509
00:28:03,740 --> 00:28:09,056
gowanus, flat bush,
bedford, and Jamaica.

510
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,396
With Washington's approval,
Putnam ordered 3,000 of his men

511
00:28:13,420 --> 00:28:18,706
to dig in and hold the
Ridge and 3 of the passes.

512
00:28:18,730 --> 00:28:25,376
Unaccountably, the Jamaica
pass remained virtually unguarded.

513
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,376
Washington makes a number
of serious tactical mistakes

514
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,986
when he's commander
of the American military

515
00:28:32,010 --> 00:28:35,016
and none more serious
than at long island.

516
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:36,656
He'd been a surveyor.

517
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:39,956
He should have known the value

518
00:28:39,980 --> 00:28:43,256
of completely understanding

519
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,226
the ground that you're trying to defend.

520
00:28:45,250 --> 00:28:48,066
He doesn't. He doesn't go and explore

521
00:28:48,090 --> 00:28:49,966
the ground toward Jamaica,

522
00:28:49,990 --> 00:28:53,036
which is the far end
of this glacial feature,

523
00:28:53,060 --> 00:28:54,906
and doesn't recognize

524
00:28:54,930 --> 00:28:58,976
that he can be outflanked by the British.

525
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,076
The battle of long island began

526
00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:06,216
in the early-morning
hours of August 27, 1776,

527
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,280
and it started with a
skirmish over watermelons.

528
00:29:12,110 --> 00:29:16,596
Around midnight, Pennsylvania
pickets at the red lion inn

529
00:29:16,620 --> 00:29:19,366
on the far right of the American lines

530
00:29:19,390 --> 00:29:24,496
had dimly glimpsed two
shadowy figures in a melon patch.

531
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:26,266
They were British foragers

532
00:29:26,290 --> 00:29:29,606
out in front of a large force of redcoats

533
00:29:29,630 --> 00:29:30,936
and hoping for a treat

534
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,170
before they were sent against the enemy.

535
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,376
The pennsylvanians opened fire.

536
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,886
A few minutes later, a British
musket volley from the woods

537
00:29:40,910 --> 00:29:44,716
sent the Americans
running back to camp.

538
00:29:44,740 --> 00:29:47,156
With the British attack underway,

539
00:29:47,180 --> 00:29:51,426
general William Alexander
was ordered to organize a force

540
00:29:51,450 --> 00:29:54,096
to try and stop it.

541
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,066
Alexander and 1,600 men

542
00:29:57,090 --> 00:29:59,906
took up positions south of a salt marsh

543
00:29:59,930 --> 00:30:03,006
and mill pond next to gowanus creek

544
00:30:03,030 --> 00:30:07,176
as 5,000 British troops
advanced toward them.

545
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,246
With no trees or stone walls for cover,

546
00:30:11,270 --> 00:30:16,086
American and British forces
stood in line, European style,

547
00:30:16,110 --> 00:30:20,186
and fired musket volleys
and artillery at one another.

548
00:30:20,210 --> 00:30:23,556
"Both the balls and shells flew very fast,"

549
00:30:23,580 --> 00:30:26,026
a Maryland soldier remembered,

550
00:30:26,050 --> 00:30:29,360
"now and then taking off a head."

551
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,736
Meanwhile, in the center
of the American lines,

552
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,406
British cannon fire
ripped through the trees

553
00:30:37,430 --> 00:30:40,376
above the ridge line, where
several hundred troops

554
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,346
under New Hampshire
general John Sullivan

555
00:30:43,370 --> 00:30:47,046
guarded the flat bush
and bedford passes.

556
00:30:47,070 --> 00:30:49,286
Hessian and highland regiments

557
00:30:49,310 --> 00:30:52,056
advanced toward them
with fixed bayonets,

558
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:56,826
retreating several times
under furious American fire.

559
00:30:56,850 --> 00:30:59,666
Watching from a fort on cobble hill,

560
00:30:59,690 --> 00:31:01,996
Washington was pleased with the way

561
00:31:02,020 --> 00:31:04,396
the fighting was going so far.

562
00:31:04,420 --> 00:31:07,066
Both fronts seemed to be holding,

563
00:31:07,090 --> 00:31:11,630
but he also sent for
reinforcements from Manhattan.

564
00:31:13,330 --> 00:31:15,076
Our sergeant major informed us

565
00:31:15,100 --> 00:31:17,876
that the regiment was
ordered to long island.

566
00:31:17,900 --> 00:31:20,116
It gave me a rather disagreeable feeling,

567
00:31:20,140 --> 00:31:21,516
as I was pretty well-assured

568
00:31:21,540 --> 00:31:23,610
I should have to sniff a little gunpowder.

569
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,786
The horrors of battle then
presented themselves to my mind

570
00:31:27,810 --> 00:31:29,926
in all their hideousness.

571
00:31:29,950 --> 00:31:33,126
"I must come to it now," thought I.

572
00:31:33,150 --> 00:31:35,266
Joseph plumb Martin.

573
00:31:35,290 --> 00:31:37,336
Private Joseph plumb Martin

574
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:41,876
of the Connecticut militia was
just 15 years old that summer,

575
00:31:41,900 --> 00:31:45,106
1 of 7 children of a small-town minister

576
00:31:45,130 --> 00:31:48,616
so quarrelsome, he could
not hold on to a congregation.

577
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,746
Martin had wanted to enlist
since Lexington and Concord.

578
00:31:53,770 --> 00:31:59,456
On July 6, 1776, he remembered,
he'd taken "up the pen",

579
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:04,556
"loaded it with the fatal
charge," wrote my name.

580
00:32:04,580 --> 00:32:10,666
I was a soldier in name
at least, if not in practice."

581
00:32:10,690 --> 00:32:14,466
Before the boats carrying
Martin and his fellow soldiers

582
00:32:14,490 --> 00:32:16,906
could cross the east river to Brooklyn,

583
00:32:16,930 --> 00:32:20,776
the tide of battle had begun to turn.

584
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,276
The British attacks on the
American right and center,

585
00:32:24,300 --> 00:32:27,046
which Washington's army
seemed to have thwarted,

586
00:32:27,070 --> 00:32:30,186
had turned out to be
mere demonstrations

587
00:32:30,210 --> 00:32:33,926
meant to occupy troops who
might otherwise have defended

588
00:32:33,950 --> 00:32:36,656
against the main British assault.

589
00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,596
That would soon begin
on the American left.

590
00:32:40,620 --> 00:32:45,660
The British had slipped through
the undefended Jamaica pass.

591
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,206
12 hours earlier, leaving
their campfires burning

592
00:32:50,230 --> 00:32:53,546
to confuse the patriots,
general Henry Clinton

593
00:32:53,570 --> 00:32:58,246
had led some 10,000 British
and German soldiers north

594
00:32:58,270 --> 00:33:03,286
along a dirt road grandly
called the king's highway.

595
00:33:03,310 --> 00:33:08,650
They moved in silence,
guided by 3 loyalist volunteers.

596
00:33:09,980 --> 00:33:11,596
This is Clinton's idea.

597
00:33:11,620 --> 00:33:14,766
He's persuaded howe that
this is the right way to do it.

598
00:33:14,790 --> 00:33:16,296
"Don't attack frontally.

599
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,736
"You don't want another bunker hill.

600
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:20,306
Go around them,"

601
00:33:20,330 --> 00:33:23,276
so he leads... it's a
better part of 10,000 men

602
00:33:23,300 --> 00:33:26,776
in the dark of night very quietly,

603
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,606
as quiet as 10,000 men

604
00:33:28,630 --> 00:33:33,016
pulling artillery guns with horses can be.

605
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,456
The plan worked perfectly.

606
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,056
The British column, nearly 2 miles long,

607
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:40,586
made it through the pass

608
00:33:40,610 --> 00:33:42,456
and reached the village of bedford,

609
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,396
well behind American
lines and just 2 miles

610
00:33:45,420 --> 00:33:50,060
from the main fortifications on
and around Brooklyn heights.

611
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,976
General Clinton ordered 2
guns fired in quick succession,

612
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,006
the signal for British troops

613
00:33:58,030 --> 00:34:00,746
besieging the American right and center

614
00:34:00,770 --> 00:34:03,216
to move forward simultaneously,

615
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:06,916
trapping John Sullivan's men in between.

616
00:34:06,940 --> 00:34:10,856
Sullivan ordered his gunners
to turn their field pieces around

617
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,926
to fire at the enemy, now
rushing at them from behind,

618
00:34:15,950 --> 00:34:18,496
but as they struggled to do so,

619
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,166
hessian grenadiers and highland Scots

620
00:34:21,190 --> 00:34:24,166
swarmed up and over
the gowanus heights,

621
00:34:24,190 --> 00:34:27,806
firing and bayoneting as they came.

622
00:34:27,830 --> 00:34:30,176
It was a rout.

623
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:33,346
Blood, carnage, fire.

624
00:34:33,370 --> 00:34:36,646
Many, many, we fear, are lost.

625
00:34:36,670 --> 00:34:40,586
Such a dreadful din my
ears never before heard.

626
00:34:40,610 --> 00:34:42,880
Philip fit hi an.

627
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,356
Muskets are mostly
inaccurate beyond 80 yards

628
00:34:47,380 --> 00:34:49,796
and hopeless beyond 120 yards,

629
00:34:49,820 --> 00:34:52,666
so a lot of the killing
is done with a bayonet,

630
00:34:52,690 --> 00:34:55,896
and the bayonet is a nasty way to kill.

631
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,036
It's a nasty way to die.

632
00:34:58,060 --> 00:35:02,006
This is really eyeball
to eyeball, nose to nose.

633
00:35:02,030 --> 00:35:04,376
It's very intimate,

634
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,606
and that kind of intimacy is horrifying.

635
00:35:08,630 --> 00:35:11,346
Hundreds of Americans surrendered,

636
00:35:11,370 --> 00:35:14,386
including general Sullivan.

637
00:35:14,410 --> 00:35:18,186
"Their fear of the hessian
troops was indescribable,"

638
00:35:18,210 --> 00:35:21,756
the German commander
general heister remembered.

639
00:35:21,780 --> 00:35:23,326
When they caught

640
00:35:23,350 --> 00:35:24,996
only a glimpse of us, they
surrendered immediately

641
00:35:25,020 --> 00:35:27,526
and begged on their knees for their lives.

642
00:35:27,550 --> 00:35:29,366
I am surprised that the British troops

643
00:35:29,390 --> 00:35:31,790
have achieved so little
against these people.

644
00:35:33,690 --> 00:35:36,136
We soon landed at Brooklyn.

645
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,636
We now began to
meet the wounded men,

646
00:35:38,660 --> 00:35:41,306
another sight I was unacquainted with,

647
00:35:41,330 --> 00:35:44,276
some with broken arms,
some with broken legs,

648
00:35:44,300 --> 00:35:47,816
and some with broken heads.

649
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,286
The fighting Joseph plumb Martin

650
00:35:50,310 --> 00:35:52,626
was about to witness would prove

651
00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:55,480
the last and bloodiest of the day.

652
00:36:00,390 --> 00:36:04,366
3 British columns were now
converging on general Alexander

653
00:36:04,390 --> 00:36:07,166
and his men on the American right.

654
00:36:07,190 --> 00:36:09,506
He did his best to rally them,

655
00:36:09,530 --> 00:36:13,146
but the number of
attackers steadily grew.

656
00:36:13,170 --> 00:36:15,516
Alexander fell back,

657
00:36:15,540 --> 00:36:18,776
and finally, rather than
see his command destroyed,

658
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:22,456
he urged his men to retreat
to the village of Brooklyn

659
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:27,426
across the tidal marshes
that flanked gowanus creek.

660
00:36:27,450 --> 00:36:30,426
Such as could swim got across.

661
00:36:30,450 --> 00:36:33,466
Those that could not swim sunk.

662
00:36:33,490 --> 00:36:36,166
The British were pouring
the canister and grapeshot

663
00:36:36,190 --> 00:36:39,336
upon the Americans like a shower of hail.

664
00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,906
Many of them were killed in the pond

665
00:36:41,930 --> 00:36:44,906
and more were drowned.

666
00:36:44,930 --> 00:36:47,646
To provide cover for his desperate men

667
00:36:47,670 --> 00:36:50,816
and to occupy the
British troops firing at them

668
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:54,346
from inside and around
an old stone house,

669
00:36:54,370 --> 00:36:58,356
Alexander led some 400
soldiers from Maryland

670
00:36:58,380 --> 00:37:02,626
into the enemy guns again and again.

671
00:37:02,650 --> 00:37:05,996
Fewer than a dozen of
them made it safely back

672
00:37:06,020 --> 00:37:08,466
to the American lines.

673
00:37:08,490 --> 00:37:12,436
Alexander himself
was forced to surrender.

674
00:37:12,460 --> 00:37:15,936
"The slaughter was horrible,"
a hessian chaplain wrote.

675
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,806
"I went over the
battlefield among the dead,

676
00:37:18,830 --> 00:37:23,476
who mostly had been
hacked and shot all to pieces."

677
00:37:23,500 --> 00:37:26,516
At least 200 Americans had been killed,

678
00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:29,780
and perhaps a thousand
more were captured.

679
00:37:31,110 --> 00:37:37,026
Washington watched this final
carnage through his spyglass.

680
00:37:37,050 --> 00:37:40,226
By noon, it was all over.

681
00:37:40,250 --> 00:37:42,436
The British believed they had won

682
00:37:42,460 --> 00:37:46,030
what one general called a
"cheap and complete victory."

683
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:49,636
Washington's heartbroken because

684
00:37:49,660 --> 00:37:53,976
he recognizes instantly what
a catastrophe this has been.

685
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:58,016
The only saving grace is
that enough of them pull back

686
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:02,016
to form sort of an inner
defense around Brooklyn

687
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,656
that gives the British pause.

688
00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:06,956
They pull back within those defenses.

689
00:38:06,980 --> 00:38:09,726
Now they've got their
backs to the east river.

690
00:38:09,750 --> 00:38:13,726
Things are about as dire
as they could possibly be.

691
00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:16,866
Washington and the
bulk of his battered army,

692
00:38:16,890 --> 00:38:20,666
crowded now inside the
defenses on Brooklyn heights,

693
00:38:20,690 --> 00:38:23,576
expected that at any moment,
the British would mount

694
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:28,106
an all-out assault
aimed at destroying them.

695
00:38:28,130 --> 00:38:30,416
General William howe's officers

696
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,086
urged him to finish what he had begun,

697
00:38:33,110 --> 00:38:37,486
but instead of ordering an
assault, howe stood down.

698
00:38:37,510 --> 00:38:40,556
He knew his brother Richard's
fleet was about to enter

699
00:38:40,580 --> 00:38:45,396
the east river and prevent the
rebels from escaping by water.

700
00:38:45,420 --> 00:38:48,066
The Americans were astonished.

701
00:38:48,090 --> 00:38:51,896
"General howe is either
our friend or no general,"

702
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,636
Israel Putnam said.

703
00:38:53,660 --> 00:38:57,160
"He had our whole army in his power."

704
00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,346
Meanwhile, a storm blew in

705
00:39:01,370 --> 00:39:05,076
and continued off and
on for the next 2 days.

706
00:39:05,100 --> 00:39:10,016
It kept admiral howe's fleet
from entering the east river.

707
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:13,456
By the middle of the second
day, Washington decided

708
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:18,026
to try to withdraw his army to Manhattan.

709
00:39:18,050 --> 00:39:21,266
Washington sends out
orders that every boat,

710
00:39:21,290 --> 00:39:23,496
every fishing smack, every canoe,

711
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:25,806
everything that floats that can be found

712
00:39:25,830 --> 00:39:30,036
be brought very secretly
and very quietly to the landing,

713
00:39:30,060 --> 00:39:32,576
very close to where
Brooklyn bridge now is

714
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,406
on the Brooklyn side.

715
00:39:35,430 --> 00:39:38,076
To man his mismatched flotilla,

716
00:39:38,100 --> 00:39:39,916
he would call on 2 regiments

717
00:39:39,940 --> 00:39:42,886
of seasoned mariners and fishermen,

718
00:39:42,910 --> 00:39:45,556
black and white and native American,

719
00:39:45,580 --> 00:39:48,656
from Massachusetts coastal towns.

720
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,156
Colonel John glover of marble head

721
00:39:51,180 --> 00:39:53,926
led one of the regiments.

722
00:39:53,950 --> 00:39:57,096
As darkness fell,
Washington ordered his men

723
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,336
to begin moving silently
down from the heights

724
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:04,236
to the ferry landing regiment by regiment.

725
00:40:04,260 --> 00:40:07,906
I seized my musket
and fell into the ranks.

726
00:40:07,930 --> 00:40:11,776
We were strictly enjoined
not to speak or even cough.

727
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,386
All orders were
communicated in whispers.

728
00:40:15,410 --> 00:40:17,610
Joseph plumb Martin.

729
00:40:19,150 --> 00:40:22,726
A providential breeze
comes up that allows them

730
00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:25,726
to raise sails and get
across the east river,

731
00:40:25,750 --> 00:40:29,266
and then an even more
providential fog rolls in,

732
00:40:29,290 --> 00:40:31,960
and it obscures what's happening.

733
00:40:33,530 --> 00:40:35,006
All through the night,

734
00:40:35,030 --> 00:40:37,876
John glover and his
men from marble head

735
00:40:37,900 --> 00:40:42,416
sailed or rowed or paddled
back and forth undetected,

736
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:47,786
ferrying more than 9,000
men as well as horses, artillery,

737
00:40:47,810 --> 00:40:52,080
and baggage wagons
to safety in Manhattan.

738
00:40:53,310 --> 00:40:59,466
When dawn breaks, the
British realize everyone's gone.

739
00:40:59,490 --> 00:41:01,626
They see the last of the boats

740
00:41:01,650 --> 00:41:04,620
disappearing across the
river in the traces of fog.

741
00:41:06,030 --> 00:41:08,136
And they fire a few shots pointlessly

742
00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:12,036
at this retreating gaggle,
including Washington

743
00:41:12,060 --> 00:41:14,546
in one of the last boats,

744
00:41:14,570 --> 00:41:17,876
and the Americans
escape to Manhattan island

745
00:41:17,900 --> 00:41:20,140
and get away to fight another day.

746
00:41:21,740 --> 00:41:23,286
The battle of long island

747
00:41:23,310 --> 00:41:26,986
was the largest battle of
the American revolution.

748
00:41:27,010 --> 00:41:30,526
It had been a devastating
defeat for George Washington

749
00:41:30,550 --> 00:41:36,760
and the patriot cause,
but his army was still alive.

750
00:41:41,330 --> 00:41:43,676
Braintree, Massachusetts...

751
00:41:43,700 --> 00:41:45,776
the best accounts we
can collect from New York

752
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:48,746
assure us that our men fought valiantly.

753
00:41:48,770 --> 00:41:51,646
We are no ways dispirited here.

754
00:41:51,670 --> 00:41:55,546
If our men are all drawn off
and we should be attacked,

755
00:41:55,570 --> 00:41:59,656
you would find a race
of Amazons in america.

756
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:02,050
Abigail Adams.

757
00:42:03,980 --> 00:42:07,766
Every army engaged on
either side in the revolution

758
00:42:07,790 --> 00:42:11,636
would be accompanied by
a moving village of civilians...

759
00:42:11,660 --> 00:42:14,706
men, women, and children.

760
00:42:14,730 --> 00:42:17,606
Most of the women were soldiers' wives

761
00:42:17,630 --> 00:42:20,746
who cared for the wounded
and washed and cooked

762
00:42:20,770 --> 00:42:23,376
and mended for the troops.

763
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:27,686
Some sold provisions, including rum.

764
00:42:27,710 --> 00:42:29,786
George Washington often resented

765
00:42:29,810 --> 00:42:32,016
feeding all the women and children,

766
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,456
but he also understood, he said,

767
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,956
that he had somehow to provide for them

768
00:42:36,980 --> 00:42:40,696
"or lose by desertion...
perhaps to the enemy...

769
00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:44,736
some of the oldest and
best soldiers in the service."

770
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,566
Women acted as spies,

771
00:42:47,590 --> 00:42:50,106
and a handful disguised themselves

772
00:42:50,130 --> 00:42:54,746
and fought as men
until they were found out,

773
00:42:54,770 --> 00:42:58,376
but most made their
contributions to the war effort

774
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,386
away from the battlefield.

775
00:43:01,410 --> 00:43:03,886
Preston, Connecticut...

776
00:43:03,910 --> 00:43:06,956
dear husband, I hope that
I shall have the pleasure

777
00:43:06,980 --> 00:43:09,326
of your company at home this winter.

778
00:43:09,350 --> 00:43:12,396
The anxieties of the mind
cannot be accounted for,

779
00:43:12,420 --> 00:43:15,866
especially when ties of
flesh and blood bind them.

780
00:43:15,890 --> 00:43:18,466
My only comfort now is at present

781
00:43:18,490 --> 00:43:22,706
in the dear, little pledges
of our love... our children.

782
00:43:22,730 --> 00:43:25,676
When I see them, I see my dear

783
00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:29,376
when so glorious a cause
calls him from my arms.

784
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:32,846
My country, o my country.

785
00:43:32,870 --> 00:43:37,140
Your affectionate wife till death, Lois.

786
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:42,086
With sons and husbands
and fathers away,

787
00:43:42,110 --> 00:43:45,126
some women turned their
homes into boarding houses

788
00:43:45,150 --> 00:43:47,226
to pay the bills.

789
00:43:47,250 --> 00:43:51,766
On farms, women already
caring for children and households

790
00:43:51,790 --> 00:43:55,506
now slaughtered hogs,
cut and stacked firewood,

791
00:43:55,530 --> 00:43:58,800
harvested wheat, and
brought it to market.

792
00:44:00,070 --> 00:44:01,906
The men say we have no business

793
00:44:01,930 --> 00:44:05,916
with political matters,
it is not in our sphere,

794
00:44:05,940 --> 00:44:08,016
but I won't have it
thought that we are capable

795
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,216
of nothing more than minding the dairy,

796
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:14,286
visiting the poultry house,
and all such domestic concerns.

797
00:44:14,310 --> 00:44:17,226
Our thoughts can soar aloft.

798
00:44:17,250 --> 00:44:22,396
We can form conceptions
of things of higher nature.

799
00:44:22,420 --> 00:44:25,060
Eliza wilkinson.

800
00:44:32,060 --> 00:44:34,546
Can you be surprised that the negroes

801
00:44:34,570 --> 00:44:36,876
should endeavor to recover their freedom

802
00:44:36,900 --> 00:44:39,916
when they daily hear at
the tables of their masters

803
00:44:39,940 --> 00:44:42,316
how much the Americans are applauded

804
00:44:42,340 --> 00:44:45,740
for the stand they are making for theirs?

805
00:44:50,850 --> 00:44:53,726
The Liberty talk that proliferates

806
00:44:53,750 --> 00:44:56,066
through British america

807
00:44:56,090 --> 00:45:00,566
originates in coffee houses
and across dining tables.

808
00:45:00,590 --> 00:45:05,006
It surfaces in letters and in pamphlets.

809
00:45:05,030 --> 00:45:08,206
Those pamphlets are
excerpted in newspapers

810
00:45:08,230 --> 00:45:11,116
and travel up and down the coast.

811
00:45:11,140 --> 00:45:14,946
Even letters, like
newspapers, are read aloud,

812
00:45:14,970 --> 00:45:17,986
so we know that the language of Liberty

813
00:45:18,010 --> 00:45:24,126
is contagious and is leaky, leaky in that

814
00:45:24,150 --> 00:45:27,626
there are planter-class
people in Jamaica saying,

815
00:45:27,650 --> 00:45:29,066
"you know, this stuff is kind of hot,

816
00:45:29,090 --> 00:45:31,796
"so watch it when you're talking

817
00:45:31,820 --> 00:45:34,506
"because you know all
those black and brown people

818
00:45:34,530 --> 00:45:37,676
"who are standing, serving
around the edges of your room,

819
00:45:37,700 --> 00:45:39,300
they have ears."

820
00:45:42,130 --> 00:45:44,016
The signal was to be given first

821
00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:47,886
by discharging a gun at
batchelors hall plantation.

822
00:45:47,910 --> 00:45:50,686
They were then to
rise in general rebellion

823
00:45:50,710 --> 00:45:52,786
and attack the several estates,

824
00:45:52,810 --> 00:45:55,726
and put to death all the
white people they could.

825
00:45:55,750 --> 00:45:57,680
Sam.

826
00:45:59,550 --> 00:46:04,836
That same summer of 1776
in Northwestern Jamaica,

827
00:46:04,860 --> 00:46:07,306
enslaved men, women, and children

828
00:46:07,330 --> 00:46:10,476
living on 47 different plantations

829
00:46:10,500 --> 00:46:14,476
secretly conspired to
overthrow their enslavers,

830
00:46:14,500 --> 00:46:18,046
hoping their rebellion would
spread across the whole island

831
00:46:18,070 --> 00:46:21,416
and unite the people of
African descent living there,

832
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:26,126
including igbos, creoles,
and coromantees.

833
00:46:26,150 --> 00:46:29,556
The planned revolt was
an unintended consequence

834
00:46:29,580 --> 00:46:32,056
of the American revolution.

835
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:34,566
The American ban
on trade with the British

836
00:46:34,590 --> 00:46:40,066
had denied enslaved Jamaicans
the food they needed to survive.

837
00:46:40,090 --> 00:46:43,676
Then London ordered
almost half the soldiers

838
00:46:43,700 --> 00:46:46,846
who policed the island to sail northward

839
00:46:46,870 --> 00:46:50,476
to strengthen general
howe's forces in New York.

840
00:46:50,500 --> 00:46:53,746
Their departure was
supposed to be the signal

841
00:46:53,770 --> 00:46:57,186
for enslaved people to rise up,

842
00:46:57,210 --> 00:47:00,456
but before the plot could get underway,

843
00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:04,696
a child was discovered
emptying his overseer's pistol

844
00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:09,196
and was made to reveal
what he knew of the conspiracy.

845
00:47:09,220 --> 00:47:13,006
The royal governor declared martial law.

846
00:47:13,030 --> 00:47:15,706
The revolt was crushed.

847
00:47:15,730 --> 00:47:19,336
135 people were put on trial.

848
00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:21,606
17 were executed.

849
00:47:21,630 --> 00:47:26,186
11 were beaten, and 45
were torn from their families

850
00:47:26,210 --> 00:47:29,010
and deported to other islands...

851
00:47:32,180 --> 00:47:34,226
But that summer and fall,

852
00:47:34,250 --> 00:47:36,896
there were other sporadic uprisings

853
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:40,466
or rumors of uprisings
among enslaved workers

854
00:47:40,490 --> 00:47:42,396
on other British islands...

855
00:47:42,420 --> 00:47:47,136
Saint Kitts, Montserrat,
Antigua, Barbados...

856
00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:52,336
all of them striking fear
in American slaveholders.

857
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:55,276
Slave rebellions were
usually unsuccessful,

858
00:47:55,300 --> 00:47:58,846
so you wonder, why would you fight?

859
00:47:58,870 --> 00:48:02,916
Slavery was so incredibly horrifying.

860
00:48:02,940 --> 00:48:05,386
It was a regime of terror, right,

861
00:48:05,410 --> 00:48:09,026
that was very, very difficult to withstand.

862
00:48:09,050 --> 00:48:13,096
People can abuse, rape, torture,

863
00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:17,466
murder enslaved persons
without consequences,

864
00:48:17,490 --> 00:48:20,066
so if you just imagine that situation

865
00:48:20,090 --> 00:48:22,876
and that kind of desperation,
it becomes clearer

866
00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:27,430
why, when given an opportunity,
you would fight against that.

867
00:48:33,610 --> 00:48:37,016
On September 11, 1776,

868
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,886
3 delegates of the continental congress...

869
00:48:39,910 --> 00:48:42,126
John Adams of Massachusetts,

870
00:48:42,150 --> 00:48:44,556
Edward Rutledge of south Carolina,

871
00:48:44,580 --> 00:48:47,426
and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania...

872
00:48:47,450 --> 00:48:50,936
made their way to a loyalist's
house on staten island

873
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:53,436
for a meeting with admiral howe,

874
00:48:53,460 --> 00:48:55,966
who was hoping to
persuade the congress

875
00:48:55,990 --> 00:48:58,300
to negotiate a peace.

876
00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:02,506
Howe did what he could
to reassure the delegates

877
00:49:02,530 --> 00:49:06,176
that all could still be
forgiven if only the Americans

878
00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:09,216
would abandon independence.

879
00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:12,556
"If america should fall,"
he told the delegates,

880
00:49:12,580 --> 00:49:17,256
"should feel and lament it
like the loss of a brother."

881
00:49:17,280 --> 00:49:20,296
"E will do our utmost,"
Franklin answered,

882
00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:23,966
"to save your lordship that mortification."

883
00:49:23,990 --> 00:49:27,166
"They met. They talked. They parted,"

884
00:49:27,190 --> 00:49:29,466
admiral howe's secretary said,

885
00:49:29,490 --> 00:49:33,776
"and now nothing
remains but to fight it out."

886
00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:35,746
There was no going back.

887
00:49:35,770 --> 00:49:41,070
Howe apologized to his
visitors for wasting their time.

888
00:49:42,310 --> 00:49:43,886
The British government

889
00:49:43,910 --> 00:49:46,856
throughout the first few years of the war

890
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:49,386
really thought that a show of force

891
00:49:49,410 --> 00:49:53,566
would bring the majority of
Americans to their senses

892
00:49:53,590 --> 00:49:57,166
and that the instigators,
the provocateurs,

893
00:49:57,190 --> 00:50:00,666
the ones who were
responsible for the uprising

894
00:50:00,690 --> 00:50:04,106
would be captured, killed,

895
00:50:04,130 --> 00:50:06,776
or their neighbors
would just say, "enough.

896
00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:12,670
We don't actually want to
go to war with our own nation."

897
00:50:14,270 --> 00:50:17,816
On our side, the war
should be defensive.

898
00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:21,386
We should on all occasions
avoid a general action

899
00:50:21,410 --> 00:50:24,596
or put anything to the
risk unless compelled

900
00:50:24,620 --> 00:50:29,096
by a necessity into which
we ought never to be drawn.

901
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:32,036
George Washington.

902
00:50:32,060 --> 00:50:33,706
Back in New York City,

903
00:50:33,730 --> 00:50:37,376
Washington again expected
another British attack

904
00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:41,576
and again didn't know where
or when it was likely to come,

905
00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:46,076
so again he divided
what was left of his forces.

906
00:50:46,100 --> 00:50:49,856
Leaving behind general
Putnam and some 3,500 men

907
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:51,616
to hold the city itself,

908
00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:55,056
general Washington led
most of his troops north

909
00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:57,456
toward the tiny village of Harlem.

910
00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:00,366
Militiamen were posted
along the east river

911
00:51:00,390 --> 00:51:02,596
opposite long island.

912
00:51:02,620 --> 00:51:05,236
Joseph plumb Martin found himself

913
00:51:05,260 --> 00:51:09,266
with 500 Connecticut troops at kips bay.

914
00:51:09,290 --> 00:51:12,636
At the same time, 5 British frigates

915
00:51:12,660 --> 00:51:16,746
sailed up the river and
anchored on the opposite shore.

916
00:51:16,770 --> 00:51:20,986
At 11:00 in the morning
on September 15th,

917
00:51:21,010 --> 00:51:22,610
they opened fire.

918
00:51:25,440 --> 00:51:28,356
I thought my head
would go with the sound.

919
00:51:28,380 --> 00:51:30,496
I made a frog's leap for the ditch

920
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:32,796
and lay as still as I possibly could

921
00:51:32,820 --> 00:51:36,796
and began to consider which
part of my carcass was to go first.

922
00:51:36,820 --> 00:51:39,906
We kept the lines till they
were almost leveled upon us,

923
00:51:39,930 --> 00:51:43,306
when our officers
gave the order to leave.

924
00:51:43,330 --> 00:51:46,136
As Martin and his comrades ran,

925
00:51:46,160 --> 00:51:50,646
4,000 enemy troops began
coming ashore at kips bay,

926
00:51:50,670 --> 00:51:53,386
among them hessians who bayoneted

927
00:51:53,410 --> 00:51:57,656
several wounded Americans
and mutilated the dead.

928
00:51:57,680 --> 00:52:00,326
Our people were all militia,

929
00:52:00,350 --> 00:52:02,756
and the demons of fear
and disorder seemed to take

930
00:52:02,780 --> 00:52:05,650
full possession of all
and everything that day.

931
00:52:07,320 --> 00:52:09,126
Then general Washington

932
00:52:09,150 --> 00:52:11,566
seemed to appear out of nowhere,

933
00:52:11,590 --> 00:52:15,566
ordering his stampeding
men to form a defensive line.

934
00:52:15,590 --> 00:52:19,806
"Take the walls," he
bellowed. "Take the cornfield."

935
00:52:19,830 --> 00:52:21,376
They kept running.

936
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:25,576
"Are these the men with
which I am to defend america?"

937
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:30,316
Washington was known
for being aloof, terse, stoical,

938
00:52:30,340 --> 00:52:32,986
but, "those who have
seen him strongly moved,"

939
00:52:33,010 --> 00:52:34,556
a friend remembered,

940
00:52:34,580 --> 00:52:38,596
could "bear witness that
his wrath was terrible."

941
00:52:38,620 --> 00:52:42,226
He seemed stunned and
urged his horse forward

942
00:52:42,250 --> 00:52:44,466
toward the oncoming hessians.

943
00:52:44,490 --> 00:52:46,666
An aide snatched his horse's bridle

944
00:52:46,690 --> 00:52:50,706
and led his commander
out of harm's way.

945
00:52:50,730 --> 00:52:53,476
Colonel John glover and his regiment

946
00:52:53,500 --> 00:52:56,716
from marble head, Massachusetts,
which had just made.

947
00:52:56,740 --> 00:52:59,916
Washington's escape
from long island possible,

948
00:52:59,940 --> 00:53:03,980
rushed up and were able
to slow the British advance...

949
00:53:06,310 --> 00:53:08,986
But many patriots did not stop running

950
00:53:09,010 --> 00:53:10,626
until they reached the safety

951
00:53:10,650 --> 00:53:13,426
of strongly fortified American positions

952
00:53:13,450 --> 00:53:16,836
on the plateau known as Harlem heights.

953
00:53:16,860 --> 00:53:20,436
The British were slow to
follow the fleeing rebels.

954
00:53:20,460 --> 00:53:23,876
General howe wanted to wait
until thousands more troops

955
00:53:23,900 --> 00:53:26,846
were ashore on Manhattan island.

956
00:53:26,870 --> 00:53:30,746
The delay gave general
Putnam time to lead his men north

957
00:53:30,770 --> 00:53:35,286
out of New York City to
join Washington in Harlem.

958
00:53:35,310 --> 00:53:39,416
The British entered the
abandoned city in triumph.

959
00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:41,056
The king's forces

960
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:44,356
took possession of the place,
incredible as it may seem,

961
00:53:44,380 --> 00:53:46,666
without the loss of a man.

962
00:53:46,690 --> 00:53:49,596
A woman pulled down the
rebel standard upon the fort

963
00:53:49,620 --> 00:53:52,096
and, after trampling it underfoot

964
00:53:52,120 --> 00:53:54,266
with the most contemptuous indignation,

965
00:53:54,290 --> 00:53:57,836
hoisted up in its stead his majesty's flag.

966
00:53:57,860 --> 00:54:02,370
Ambrose searle,
secretary to admiral howe.

967
00:54:03,670 --> 00:54:06,346
New York City becomes
the great British stronghold

968
00:54:06,370 --> 00:54:08,386
of the American revolution.

969
00:54:08,410 --> 00:54:10,616
Once the continental army is driven out,

970
00:54:10,640 --> 00:54:12,556
the patriots don't want to stick around,

971
00:54:12,580 --> 00:54:13,926
and they tend to go, too.

972
00:54:13,950 --> 00:54:17,056
Meanwhile, the loyalists
come into the city.

973
00:54:17,080 --> 00:54:21,526
People stream in from the
countryside to take shelter,

974
00:54:21,550 --> 00:54:25,866
and the city becomes
this kind of Garrison town.

975
00:54:25,890 --> 00:54:29,066
Hundreds of loyalists
would formally reaffirm

976
00:54:29,090 --> 00:54:32,806
their allegiance to George
III by signing a document

977
00:54:32,830 --> 00:54:37,176
they called their
declaration of dependence.

978
00:54:37,200 --> 00:54:38,816
Over the coming weeks,

979
00:54:38,840 --> 00:54:41,586
more loyalists poured into the city,

980
00:54:41,610 --> 00:54:45,480
now eager to take up
arms in the king's cause.

981
00:54:47,050 --> 00:54:48,586
It is the cause of truth

982
00:54:48,610 --> 00:54:52,726
against falsehood, of
loyalty against rebellion,

983
00:54:52,750 --> 00:54:55,996
of legal government against usurpation.

984
00:54:56,020 --> 00:55:00,936
In short, it is the cause
of human happiness.

985
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:03,536
Charles inglis.

986
00:55:03,560 --> 00:55:05,976
Over the course of the war,

987
00:55:06,000 --> 00:55:09,706
as many as 50,000
Americans volunteered to serve

988
00:55:09,730 --> 00:55:12,076
in loyalist militia companies

989
00:55:12,100 --> 00:55:16,016
or in provincial units
attached to the British army...

990
00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:20,486
the king's American regiment,
the queen's American rangers,

991
00:55:20,510 --> 00:55:23,996
the prince of wales' American volunteers,

992
00:55:24,020 --> 00:55:28,096
the royal highland emigrants,
and the British legion.

993
00:55:28,120 --> 00:55:32,596
Everyone knew someone
who fought for the other side.

994
00:55:32,620 --> 00:55:35,606
Even Benjamin Franklin's son William,

995
00:55:35,630 --> 00:55:38,576
the deposed royal
governor of New Jersey,

996
00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:44,070
remained faithful to his king
and was imprisoned for it.

997
00:55:45,770 --> 00:55:49,486
Had I been left to the
dictates of my own judgment,

998
00:55:49,510 --> 00:55:52,416
New York should
have been lain in ashes.

999
00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:54,286
To this end, I applied to congress

1000
00:55:54,310 --> 00:55:57,596
but was absolutely forbid.

1001
00:55:57,620 --> 00:56:01,126
Providence... or some
good, honest fellow...

1002
00:56:01,150 --> 00:56:02,566
has done more for us

1003
00:56:02,590 --> 00:56:05,896
than we were disposed
to do for ourselves.

1004
00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:08,190
George Washington.

1005
00:56:10,460 --> 00:56:13,906
September 21, 1776.

1006
00:56:13,930 --> 00:56:16,376
We are a good deal alarmed at a fire

1007
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:18,516
that must have spread amazingly,

1008
00:56:18,540 --> 00:56:21,286
for though we are 6
1/2 miles from the town,

1009
00:56:21,310 --> 00:56:26,186
we could see a pin on the
ground by the light of the Blaze.

1010
00:56:26,210 --> 00:56:27,956
Loftus cliffe.

1011
00:56:27,980 --> 00:56:30,956
New York City was on fire.

1012
00:56:30,980 --> 00:56:34,766
The next morning, Irish-born
lieutenant loftus cliffe,

1013
00:56:34,790 --> 00:56:37,736
who had already survived 3 battles,

1014
00:56:37,760 --> 00:56:42,666
went for a walk through
the still-smoldering streets.

1015
00:56:42,690 --> 00:56:44,706
I cannot paint the misery

1016
00:56:44,730 --> 00:56:49,376
of a very pretty town near
as large as cork now reduced.

1017
00:56:49,400 --> 00:56:51,716
Two churches, the governor's house,

1018
00:56:51,740 --> 00:56:54,386
and several other fine
buildings are in ruins,

1019
00:56:54,410 --> 00:56:57,486
being set afire in different places at once

1020
00:56:57,510 --> 00:56:59,956
in the dead of last night.

1021
00:56:59,980 --> 00:57:03,256
Their design was to destroy the town.

1022
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:07,090
O Washington, what
have you to answer for?

1023
00:57:08,220 --> 00:57:11,196
The origins of the fire
remained a mystery,

1024
00:57:11,220 --> 00:57:15,236
but general howe was convinced
it had been set by rebels,

1025
00:57:15,260 --> 00:57:18,506
and the next day when
soldiers brought before him

1026
00:57:18,530 --> 00:57:22,276
an American spy captured
behind British lines,

1027
00:57:22,300 --> 00:57:24,646
he showed no mercy.

1028
00:57:24,670 --> 00:57:27,386
Howe ordered captain Nathan hale,

1029
00:57:27,410 --> 00:57:29,786
a member of an elite espionage unit

1030
00:57:29,810 --> 00:57:32,516
organized by George Washington,

1031
00:57:32,540 --> 00:57:35,826
to be hanged the following morning.

1032
00:57:35,850 --> 00:57:39,256
As he went to the gallows,
a British officer remembered,

1033
00:57:39,280 --> 00:57:43,966
hale "behaved with great
composure and resolution."

1034
00:57:43,990 --> 00:57:47,066
Above his body, British
soldiers hung a sign

1035
00:57:47,090 --> 00:57:50,936
labeled, "George Washington,"
the man they all blamed

1036
00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:54,270
for setting fire to New York City.

1037
00:57:56,870 --> 00:57:59,776
A lot is riding on George
Washington's performance

1038
00:57:59,800 --> 00:58:02,016
not only in the battlefield,

1039
00:58:02,040 --> 00:58:04,486
but in his relationship with congress

1040
00:58:04,510 --> 00:58:06,456
and his relationship with the states,

1041
00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:09,286
his relationship with his soldiers.

1042
00:58:09,310 --> 00:58:10,796
George Washington understands

1043
00:58:10,820 --> 00:58:12,456
that his role is not just military.

1044
00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:14,566
It's also political.

1045
00:58:14,590 --> 00:58:17,596
He has to project dignity.

1046
00:58:17,620 --> 00:58:21,536
He has to project authority.

1047
00:58:21,560 --> 00:58:23,506
He has to also do this

1048
00:58:23,530 --> 00:58:27,206
while projecting deference to congress.

1049
00:58:27,230 --> 00:58:29,300
He cannot become a dictator.

1050
00:58:31,740 --> 00:58:34,946
We have been sent into life at a time

1051
00:58:34,970 --> 00:58:37,316
when the greatest lawgivers of antiquity

1052
00:58:37,340 --> 00:58:40,256
would have wished to have lived,

1053
00:58:40,280 --> 00:58:42,686
when, before the present epoch a,

1054
00:58:42,710 --> 00:58:45,156
had 3 millions of people full power

1055
00:58:45,180 --> 00:58:48,666
and a fair opportunity
to form and establish

1056
00:58:48,690 --> 00:58:51,366
the wisest and happiest government

1057
00:58:51,390 --> 00:58:54,030
that human wisdom can contrive.

1058
00:58:55,690 --> 00:58:57,200
John Adams.

1059
00:58:58,900 --> 00:59:01,376
As Washington and howe faced off

1060
00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:03,576
against one another in New York,

1061
00:59:03,600 --> 00:59:06,176
in Philadelphia, the continental congress

1062
00:59:06,200 --> 00:59:10,116
had been laboring to adopt
articles of confederation,

1063
00:59:10,140 --> 00:59:13,856
meant to formally bind
all 13 states together

1064
00:59:13,880 --> 00:59:17,726
while also guaranteeing
the independence of each,

1065
00:59:17,750 --> 00:59:20,056
a first tentative step

1066
00:59:20,080 --> 00:59:23,960
toward a permanent government
for the new United States.

1067
00:59:25,390 --> 00:59:27,836
When we think about
our American revolution,

1068
00:59:27,860 --> 00:59:30,206
we, of course, think about
independence from britain,

1069
00:59:30,230 --> 00:59:33,706
and that's a big deal, but
we also need to think about

1070
00:59:33,730 --> 00:59:36,406
this is the formation of
republican government,

1071
00:59:36,430 --> 00:59:40,546
and it's also the formation
of our union of our states,

1072
00:59:40,570 --> 00:59:43,246
and all 3 of those were
enormous gambles.

1073
00:59:43,270 --> 00:59:44,756
They were unprecedented.

1074
00:59:44,780 --> 00:59:47,486
There had never been
the foundation of a republic

1075
00:59:47,510 --> 00:59:48,750
out of a revolution...

1076
00:59:50,250 --> 00:59:51,556
And these 13 colonies

1077
00:59:51,580 --> 00:59:53,966
had had bitter rivalries with one another,

1078
00:59:53,990 --> 00:59:56,566
and so forming a
union out of these states

1079
00:59:56,590 --> 00:59:57,996
was gonna be as difficult

1080
00:59:58,020 --> 00:59:59,790
as achieving independence from britain.

1081
01:00:01,330 --> 01:00:04,406
Congress debated
draft articles for weeks

1082
01:00:04,430 --> 01:00:07,406
on the first floor of the
Pennsylvania state house,

1083
01:00:07,430 --> 01:00:11,646
where they had just
declared independence in July.

1084
01:00:11,670 --> 01:00:14,716
They were held up over a host of issues,

1085
01:00:14,740 --> 01:00:18,216
including apportionment,
boundary disputes,

1086
01:00:18,240 --> 01:00:23,796
taxation, and autonomy
of the individual states.

1087
01:00:23,820 --> 01:00:26,596
Congress was a disputatious assembly

1088
01:00:26,620 --> 01:00:29,696
and not necessarily an efficient assembly

1089
01:00:29,720 --> 01:00:30,866
through these years.

1090
01:00:30,890 --> 01:00:32,096
Yes, they are running a war.

1091
01:00:32,120 --> 01:00:33,936
Yes, they are founding a nation,

1092
01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:36,266
but there's also a tremendous
amount of infighting.

1093
01:00:36,290 --> 01:00:38,376
There's a tremendous amount of inertia.

1094
01:00:38,400 --> 01:00:41,146
There are more committees
than anyone could count,

1095
01:00:41,170 --> 01:00:43,146
and there were secret committees.

1096
01:00:43,170 --> 01:00:45,446
For example, the first
person sent to France

1097
01:00:45,470 --> 01:00:47,946
to solicit aid from the
French for the revolution

1098
01:00:47,970 --> 01:00:50,816
is sent without the knowledge
of the rest of congress.

1099
01:00:50,840 --> 01:00:53,926
As John Jay will later
say to George Washington,

1100
01:00:53,950 --> 01:00:56,356
"there is as much intrigue in congress

1101
01:00:56,380 --> 01:00:58,126
"as there is at the Vatican,

1102
01:00:58,150 --> 01:01:01,190
and as little secrecy as
there is in a boarding school."

1103
01:01:03,150 --> 01:01:06,396
Meanwhile, upstairs
in the same building,

1104
01:01:06,420 --> 01:01:10,306
the commonwealth of Pennsylvania
held a convention of its own

1105
01:01:10,330 --> 01:01:13,376
to establish its government.

1106
01:01:13,400 --> 01:01:16,976
Similar meetings were
being held in other states.

1107
01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:20,076
All of the new constitutions
would guarantee

1108
01:01:20,100 --> 01:01:22,486
freedom of the press, fair trials,

1109
01:01:22,510 --> 01:01:26,956
and due process under law
and made sure power rested

1110
01:01:26,980 --> 01:01:30,756
not with autocratic
governors, but with legislators

1111
01:01:30,780 --> 01:01:33,926
elected by propertied men.

1112
01:01:33,950 --> 01:01:36,996
Pennsylvania took things a step further.

1113
01:01:37,020 --> 01:01:40,736
They created the most
egalitarian constitution

1114
01:01:40,760 --> 01:01:44,406
in the new United
States with a bill of rights

1115
01:01:44,430 --> 01:01:46,476
and a one-house legislature

1116
01:01:46,500 --> 01:01:51,246
elected by taxpaying workingmen
as well as property owners,

1117
01:01:51,270 --> 01:01:55,616
all of which worried many
of the delegates downstairs.

1118
01:01:55,640 --> 01:01:58,156
Pennsylvania had a radical constitution

1119
01:01:58,180 --> 01:02:02,186
where almost any white, free
man could vote and stand for office,

1120
01:02:02,210 --> 01:02:05,926
which had never happened
before pretty much anywhere.

1121
01:02:05,950 --> 01:02:08,396
People were committed to
using the revolution to make it

1122
01:02:08,420 --> 01:02:11,096
a real social revolution, a
real economic revolution,

1123
01:02:11,120 --> 01:02:17,036
and get free, working
people... men, white men...

1124
01:02:17,060 --> 01:02:20,976
a say in government, which
was a radical idea at the time.

1125
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:24,676
John Adams wasn't for that.
Samuel Adams wasn't for that.

1126
01:02:24,700 --> 01:02:27,316
Richard Henry Lee wasn't for that.

1127
01:02:27,340 --> 01:02:29,746
When John Adams
read that constitution,

1128
01:02:29,770 --> 01:02:33,680
his response was, quote, "good god!"

1129
01:02:35,580 --> 01:02:37,756
In the new code of laws,

1130
01:02:37,780 --> 01:02:40,396
I desire you would remember the ladies

1131
01:02:40,420 --> 01:02:42,866
and be more generous
and favorable to them

1132
01:02:42,890 --> 01:02:45,336
than your ancestors.

1133
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:49,936
Do not put such unlimited power
into the hands of the husbands.

1134
01:02:49,960 --> 01:02:53,946
Remember, all men would
be tyrants if they could.

1135
01:02:53,970 --> 01:02:58,776
If particular care and attention
is not paid to the ladies,

1136
01:02:58,800 --> 01:03:01,746
we are determined to foment a rebellion

1137
01:03:01,770 --> 01:03:04,456
and will not hold ourselves
bound by any laws

1138
01:03:04,480 --> 01:03:08,456
in which we have no
voice or representation.

1139
01:03:08,480 --> 01:03:11,326
Abigail Adams.

1140
01:03:11,350 --> 01:03:14,426
There will be no end of it.

1141
01:03:14,450 --> 01:03:16,426
New claims will arise.

1142
01:03:16,450 --> 01:03:18,336
Women will demand a vote.

1143
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:20,366
Lads from 12 to 21

1144
01:03:20,390 --> 01:03:23,306
will think their rights
not enough attended to,

1145
01:03:23,330 --> 01:03:25,576
and every man who has not a farthing

1146
01:03:25,600 --> 01:03:30,246
will demand an equal voice
with any other in all acts of state.

1147
01:03:30,270 --> 01:03:33,786
It tends to confound and
destroy all distinctions

1148
01:03:33,810 --> 01:03:38,816
and prostrate all ranks
to one common level.

1149
01:03:38,840 --> 01:03:41,586
John Adams.

1150
01:03:41,610 --> 01:03:43,726
It's a misconception
to think of the founders

1151
01:03:43,750 --> 01:03:45,396
as being pro-democracy,

1152
01:03:45,420 --> 01:03:47,126
but I think it's also a
misconception to think

1153
01:03:47,150 --> 01:03:49,826
that their failure to be Democratic

1154
01:03:49,850 --> 01:03:52,266
is some sort of flaw or error

1155
01:03:52,290 --> 01:03:55,006
or something they just kind of missed.

1156
01:03:55,030 --> 01:03:58,506
They were very adamantly
opposed to democracy.

1157
01:03:58,530 --> 01:04:00,946
Democracy came to america,

1158
01:04:00,970 --> 01:04:03,346
with all of the problems that came with it,

1159
01:04:03,370 --> 01:04:07,746
not as a direct purpose of
the American revolution, really,

1160
01:04:07,770 --> 01:04:10,470
but as an unintended consequence.

1161
01:04:11,740 --> 01:04:16,026
By the time Pennsylvania
had ratified its constitution,

1162
01:04:16,050 --> 01:04:18,956
the debates over the
articles of confederation

1163
01:04:18,980 --> 01:04:22,366
downstairs in congress
had become so heated,

1164
01:04:22,390 --> 01:04:25,336
the prospect of compromise
seemed so remote

1165
01:04:25,360 --> 01:04:29,536
that the delegates
agreed to table the subject.

1166
01:04:29,560 --> 01:04:32,836
Frustrated and worried
about his sick wife,

1167
01:04:32,860 --> 01:04:36,246
Thomas Jefferson
returned home to Virginia,

1168
01:04:36,270 --> 01:04:40,370
the place he still called "my country."

1169
01:04:45,310 --> 01:04:47,586
Camp near kings bridge...

1170
01:04:47,610 --> 01:04:51,596
amidst all the distress and
ruins of this dreadful war,

1171
01:04:51,620 --> 01:04:54,066
I am yet alive and yours.

1172
01:04:54,090 --> 01:04:57,996
Our enemies pursue us
close from place to place.

1173
01:04:58,020 --> 01:05:01,806
I pray god daily that you, my dear wife,

1174
01:05:01,830 --> 01:05:04,476
forever may you be happy.

1175
01:05:04,500 --> 01:05:06,776
Philip.

1176
01:05:06,800 --> 01:05:10,716
Days after writing to
his wife, chaplain fit hi an

1177
01:05:10,740 --> 01:05:14,486
fell victim to dysentery,
the disease that had killed

1178
01:05:14,510 --> 01:05:19,386
so many of the men whose last
moments he'd filled with prayer.

1179
01:05:19,410 --> 01:05:22,726
He was carried to a hospital tent.

1180
01:05:22,750 --> 01:05:25,320
There was nothing anyone could do.

1181
01:05:27,520 --> 01:05:30,596
October 8th... this morning about 10:00,

1182
01:05:30,620 --> 01:05:35,066
Mr. Fithian closed his
eyes upon the things of time

1183
01:05:35,090 --> 01:05:38,606
and is gone to a spiritual world.

1184
01:05:38,630 --> 01:05:40,870
Andrew hunter.

1185
01:05:45,770 --> 01:05:48,516
News of the American
defeat on long island

1186
01:05:48,540 --> 01:05:53,456
at the end of August did not
reach London till October 10th.

1187
01:05:53,480 --> 01:05:56,726
It was greeted with
what one courtier called

1188
01:05:56,750 --> 01:05:59,426
"an extravagance of joy."

1189
01:05:59,450 --> 01:06:03,226
The king promised
general howe a knighthood.

1190
01:06:03,250 --> 01:06:06,266
Now that the Americans
had seen how futile it was

1191
01:06:06,290 --> 01:06:08,436
to defy British regulars,

1192
01:06:08,460 --> 01:06:12,836
they would surely come to
their senses and sue for peace.

1193
01:06:12,860 --> 01:06:16,430
Not all englishmen shared that view.

1194
01:06:17,870 --> 01:06:19,346
London.

1195
01:06:19,370 --> 01:06:22,186
To the printer of the "public advertiser"...

1196
01:06:22,210 --> 01:06:25,416
sir, I find that the late
action at long island

1197
01:06:25,440 --> 01:06:28,626
has made a considerable
impression upon the public;

1198
01:06:28,650 --> 01:06:31,356
the friends of ministry
thinking everything gained,

1199
01:06:31,380 --> 01:06:35,096
the friends of america everything lost.

1200
01:06:35,120 --> 01:06:37,966
Because the last action was in our favor,

1201
01:06:37,990 --> 01:06:40,366
we think we are to succeed in the next,

1202
01:06:40,390 --> 01:06:43,606
but Liberty takes a great deal of killing,

1203
01:06:43,630 --> 01:06:46,276
and the courage of
freemen is the same thing

1204
01:06:46,300 --> 01:06:49,206
on both sides of the Atlantic.

1205
01:06:49,230 --> 01:06:53,916
The Americans are daily
improving in arms and in hatred.

1206
01:06:53,940 --> 01:06:57,856
We see only the beginning of sorrows;...

1207
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:03,010
benefit to neither... misery to both.

1208
01:07:08,850 --> 01:07:11,336
Ticonderoga appears to be

1209
01:07:11,360 --> 01:07:14,406
the last part of the world that god made,

1210
01:07:14,430 --> 01:07:15,936
and I have some ground to believe

1211
01:07:15,960 --> 01:07:19,306
it was finished in the dark,
that it was never intended

1212
01:07:19,330 --> 01:07:22,246
that man should live in it is clear,

1213
01:07:22,270 --> 01:07:25,146
for the people who have
attempted to make any stay

1214
01:07:25,170 --> 01:07:27,746
have, for the most part, perished

1215
01:07:27,770 --> 01:07:30,686
by pestilence or the sword.

1216
01:07:30,710 --> 01:07:32,710
General Anthony Wayne.

1217
01:07:33,940 --> 01:07:36,786
By the fall of 1776,

1218
01:07:36,810 --> 01:07:41,166
only half of the 11,000 Americans
who manned ticonderoga

1219
01:07:41,190 --> 01:07:45,936
and crown point on lake
champ la in were fit for duty.

1220
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:48,236
The smallpox threat was lifting,

1221
01:07:48,260 --> 01:07:51,736
but thousands still
suffered from other diseases.

1222
01:07:51,760 --> 01:07:55,106
Morale was further
weakened by antagonism

1223
01:07:55,130 --> 01:07:58,676
among men from the
supposedly United States.

1224
01:07:58,700 --> 01:08:02,546
New englanders brawled
with pennsylvanians so often

1225
01:08:02,570 --> 01:08:05,356
that they had been sent
to the opposite shore

1226
01:08:05,380 --> 01:08:08,086
to set up a separate fortification

1227
01:08:08,110 --> 01:08:11,680
on a hilltop called mount independence.

1228
01:08:12,950 --> 01:08:18,236
After the American retreat
from Quebec city in early 1776,

1229
01:08:18,260 --> 01:08:22,506
a British drive down the
Hudson seemed inevitable.

1230
01:08:22,530 --> 01:08:25,406
Before British general
guy carleton's army

1231
01:08:25,430 --> 01:08:28,976
could even reach the
Hudson, he had to sail south

1232
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:34,086
and seize the two American forts
at crown point and ticonderoga,

1233
01:08:34,110 --> 01:08:38,086
and before he could do that,
he had to put together a fleet

1234
01:08:38,110 --> 01:08:40,756
at the lake's northern end.

1235
01:08:40,780 --> 01:08:43,486
That had taken months.

1236
01:08:43,510 --> 01:08:47,496
This water route is a corridor.

1237
01:08:47,520 --> 01:08:50,296
It's been called the warpath of nations,

1238
01:08:50,320 --> 01:08:54,406
where Indian warriors
from Canada had raided

1239
01:08:54,430 --> 01:08:57,506
down the champ la in valley,
down the Hudson river,

1240
01:08:57,530 --> 01:09:02,570
and so this was... this
was like an open door.

1241
01:09:03,530 --> 01:09:06,516
The Americans had just 4 ships

1242
01:09:06,540 --> 01:09:09,446
with which to oppose the British fleet.

1243
01:09:09,470 --> 01:09:11,786
Many more were needed.

1244
01:09:11,810 --> 01:09:13,786
Ticonderoga's commander,

1245
01:09:13,810 --> 01:09:16,786
a former British major
named Horatio gates,

1246
01:09:16,810 --> 01:09:22,196
appointed his most enterprising
officer to get the job done.

1247
01:09:22,220 --> 01:09:24,796
Benedict Arnold was still limping

1248
01:09:24,820 --> 01:09:27,396
from the wound he'd received at Quebec

1249
01:09:27,420 --> 01:09:29,766
and was still angry at
having been accused

1250
01:09:29,790 --> 01:09:34,076
of stealing supplies during
the retreat from Montreal.

1251
01:09:34,100 --> 01:09:37,306
Gates had dismissed Arnold's detractors.

1252
01:09:37,330 --> 01:09:40,316
"Men of little merit are ever jealous

1253
01:09:40,340 --> 01:09:43,286
of those who have a great deal."

1254
01:09:43,310 --> 01:09:47,786
The enemy will soon have
a considerable naval force.

1255
01:09:47,810 --> 01:09:51,096
I make no doubt of their
soon paying us a visit.

1256
01:09:51,120 --> 01:09:54,366
I beg that at least 100 good seamen

1257
01:09:54,390 --> 01:09:56,866
may be sent to me as soon as possible.

1258
01:09:56,890 --> 01:09:58,890
Benedict Arnold.

1259
01:09:59,990 --> 01:10:02,366
Arnold transformed the tiny settlement

1260
01:10:02,390 --> 01:10:05,836
of skenesborough, 20
miles below ticonderoga,

1261
01:10:05,860 --> 01:10:08,776
into a bustling shipyard.

1262
01:10:08,800 --> 01:10:12,216
He had hoped for a
fleet of at least 30 vessels

1263
01:10:12,240 --> 01:10:15,340
but had to settle for just 15.

1264
01:10:17,110 --> 01:10:18,586
I intend to come up as high

1265
01:10:18,610 --> 01:10:21,586
as isle valcour, where is a good harbor

1266
01:10:21,610 --> 01:10:23,786
and where we shall have the advantage

1267
01:10:23,810 --> 01:10:27,020
of attacking the enemy in the open lake.

1268
01:10:28,220 --> 01:10:31,136
When the British flotilla
finally started south

1269
01:10:31,160 --> 01:10:33,766
on lake champ la in,
car let on commanded

1270
01:10:33,790 --> 01:10:37,336
nearly twice as many
vessels as Arnold did,

1271
01:10:37,360 --> 01:10:40,176
armed with more than
twice as many guns,

1272
01:10:40,200 --> 01:10:43,276
manned by 700 seasoned crewmen,

1273
01:10:43,300 --> 01:10:46,916
and carrying 10,000
British and German troops

1274
01:10:46,940 --> 01:10:50,386
and 400 native allies.

1275
01:10:50,410 --> 01:10:53,416
Arnold and his fleet
were waiting for them

1276
01:10:53,440 --> 01:10:56,750
in a cove hidden behind valcour island.

1277
01:10:58,280 --> 01:11:00,896
As carleton's fleet slid past,

1278
01:11:00,920 --> 01:11:06,136
4 American ships moved out
onto the lake to engage the British,

1279
01:11:06,160 --> 01:11:08,466
Arnold personally directing the guns

1280
01:11:08,490 --> 01:11:11,000
of his flagship... the "congress."

1281
01:11:13,360 --> 01:11:17,346
By evening, the fleets
had fought to a standoff.

1282
01:11:17,370 --> 01:11:19,846
The Americans had lost 2 vessels

1283
01:11:19,870 --> 01:11:23,946
but succeeded in blowing
up a British gunboat.

1284
01:11:23,970 --> 01:11:27,156
As darkness fell,
car let on ordered his fleet

1285
01:11:27,180 --> 01:11:29,086
to keep the Americans trapped

1286
01:11:29,110 --> 01:11:32,550
so that he could destroy
them the following day...

1287
01:11:33,950 --> 01:11:37,766
But at 7:00, while fog covered the lake

1288
01:11:37,790 --> 01:11:41,436
and car let on and his officers
were dining below deck,

1289
01:11:41,460 --> 01:11:45,576
Arnold formed his battered
ships into a single line

1290
01:11:45,600 --> 01:11:48,276
and then ordered them with muffled oars

1291
01:11:48,300 --> 01:11:50,276
and in complete silence

1292
01:11:50,300 --> 01:11:53,240
to glide slowly past the British squadron.

1293
01:11:55,670 --> 01:11:58,056
When car let on finally
caught up with them,

1294
01:11:58,080 --> 01:12:02,286
they began a running
battle that went on for 2 days.

1295
01:12:02,310 --> 01:12:05,496
British firepower took a steady toll.

1296
01:12:05,520 --> 01:12:08,566
Arnold eventually ordered his flagship

1297
01:12:08,590 --> 01:12:12,396
and 4 other vessels run
aground in button mould bay

1298
01:12:12,420 --> 01:12:14,906
and set on fire.

1299
01:12:14,930 --> 01:12:19,476
He and his men escaped into the forest.

1300
01:12:19,500 --> 01:12:21,606
When they reached crown point,

1301
01:12:21,630 --> 01:12:24,316
Arnold realized the fortifications there

1302
01:12:24,340 --> 01:12:27,616
could not withstand a
serious British attack

1303
01:12:27,640 --> 01:12:30,970
and ordered them burned to the ground.

1304
01:12:32,640 --> 01:12:35,426
"At 4:00 morning, I reached,"

1305
01:12:35,450 --> 01:12:39,556
Arnold recalled, "exceedingly
fatigued and unwell,

1306
01:12:39,580 --> 01:12:45,696
having been without sleep or
refreshment for near 3 days."

1307
01:12:45,720 --> 01:12:49,036
It has pleased Providence
to preserve general Arnold.

1308
01:12:49,060 --> 01:12:52,336
Few men ever met with so
many hairbreadth escapes

1309
01:12:52,360 --> 01:12:55,046
in so short a space of time.

1310
01:12:55,070 --> 01:12:57,400
Horatio gates.

1311
01:12:58,700 --> 01:13:02,046
The battle was not a
victory for the Americans,

1312
01:13:02,070 --> 01:13:06,956
but it is one of the great
slugfests of naval warfare,

1313
01:13:06,980 --> 01:13:09,486
and it happens on a lake.

1314
01:13:09,510 --> 01:13:12,256
It convinced the British
that it was gonna be

1315
01:13:12,280 --> 01:13:17,496
much more difficult to take
ticonderoga than they thought.

1316
01:13:17,520 --> 01:13:21,966
The American force at
ticonderoga had grown to 15,000,

1317
01:13:21,990 --> 01:13:25,476
and its fortifications
had been strengthened.

1318
01:13:25,500 --> 01:13:28,106
Carleton now believed a long siege

1319
01:13:28,130 --> 01:13:30,306
would be needed to take it.

1320
01:13:30,330 --> 01:13:32,976
Then it began to snow.

1321
01:13:33,000 --> 01:13:34,586
Once the lake froze,

1322
01:13:34,610 --> 01:13:37,286
provisioning his forces would be difficult,

1323
01:13:37,310 --> 01:13:40,386
and a retreat would be impossible.

1324
01:13:40,410 --> 01:13:43,556
Carleton turned around and withdrew,

1325
01:13:43,580 --> 01:13:46,156
eventually going into winter quarters

1326
01:13:46,180 --> 01:13:49,196
at Quebec city far to the north.

1327
01:13:49,220 --> 01:13:51,866
The British began to plan a second,

1328
01:13:51,890 --> 01:13:56,060
more significant invasion
for the next spring.

1329
01:14:01,730 --> 01:14:03,576
The rebels have taken positions

1330
01:14:03,600 --> 01:14:06,146
upon amazing, strong
hills and works they have

1331
01:14:06,170 --> 01:14:08,516
all the way to kings bridge.

1332
01:14:08,540 --> 01:14:11,586
Their soldiers would
rather work than fight.

1333
01:14:11,610 --> 01:14:14,386
Ours would rather fight than work,

1334
01:14:14,410 --> 01:14:16,356
but general howe was determined

1335
01:14:16,380 --> 01:14:19,456
to not run our heads against their works.

1336
01:14:19,480 --> 01:14:21,866
Loftus cliffe.

1337
01:14:21,890 --> 01:14:24,126
For the better part of a month,

1338
01:14:24,150 --> 01:14:26,036
Washington's and howe's armies

1339
01:14:26,060 --> 01:14:29,166
warily faced one
another at Harlem heights,

1340
01:14:29,190 --> 01:14:32,306
"as quiet," an American
lieutenant recalled,

1341
01:14:32,330 --> 01:14:36,446
"as if they were a thousand miles apart."

1342
01:14:36,470 --> 01:14:39,516
With little to do, soldiers on both sides

1343
01:14:39,540 --> 01:14:42,186
went into the surrounding countryside,

1344
01:14:42,210 --> 01:14:45,886
where they plundered
homes, terrified civilians,

1345
01:14:45,910 --> 01:14:51,726
and then burned their
houses to cover up their crimes.

1346
01:14:51,750 --> 01:14:54,466
Plunder is more or less
an accepted part of warfare

1347
01:14:54,490 --> 01:14:56,266
in the 18th century.

1348
01:14:56,290 --> 01:14:58,566
The British, the hessian,

1349
01:14:58,590 --> 01:15:00,696
and the American
generals all worry about that.

1350
01:15:00,720 --> 01:15:02,336
Washington worries about that.

1351
01:15:02,360 --> 01:15:03,666
His men plunder, and he's like,

1352
01:15:03,690 --> 01:15:05,376
"can you stop? Please don't do this.

1353
01:15:05,400 --> 01:15:07,976
You're alienating the people."

1354
01:15:08,000 --> 01:15:11,346
"Militiamen," Washington
complained to congress,

1355
01:15:11,370 --> 01:15:14,376
"were undisciplined, disobedient,

1356
01:15:14,400 --> 01:15:17,186
"liable to run instead of fight,

1357
01:15:17,210 --> 01:15:20,286
'hurtful' to the cause."

1358
01:15:20,310 --> 01:15:21,686
To make matters worse,

1359
01:15:21,710 --> 01:15:24,956
the 12-month enlistments
in the continental army,

1360
01:15:24,980 --> 01:15:27,726
begun in Boston the previous winter,

1361
01:15:27,750 --> 01:15:30,596
would soon be running out.

1362
01:15:30,620 --> 01:15:33,436
At the end of the year,
Washington would again

1363
01:15:33,460 --> 01:15:37,066
have to raise and
train a whole new army.

1364
01:15:37,090 --> 01:15:41,346
He understood that
appeals to patriotism alone

1365
01:15:41,370 --> 01:15:43,500
would no longer work.

1366
01:15:44,970 --> 01:15:48,186
When men are irritated
and the passions inflamed,

1367
01:15:48,210 --> 01:15:51,686
they fly hastily and cheerfully to arms,

1368
01:15:51,710 --> 01:15:54,556
but after the first emotions are over,

1369
01:15:54,580 --> 01:15:56,726
to expect that they are influenced

1370
01:15:56,750 --> 01:15:59,626
by any other principle
than those of interest

1371
01:15:59,650 --> 01:16:05,920
is to look for what never did
and, I fear, never will happen.

1372
01:16:07,160 --> 01:16:11,536
Congress agreed to
authorize 88 new battalions.

1373
01:16:11,560 --> 01:16:13,936
The number each state was to provide

1374
01:16:13,960 --> 01:16:17,176
depended on their free populations.

1375
01:16:17,200 --> 01:16:22,610
The states would never come
close to meeting those goals.

1376
01:16:23,710 --> 01:16:25,256
The policy of congress has been

1377
01:16:25,280 --> 01:16:28,186
the most absurd and
ridiculous imaginable,

1378
01:16:28,210 --> 01:16:31,696
pouring in militiamen who
come and go every month.

1379
01:16:31,720 --> 01:16:34,626
People coming from home
with all the tender feelings

1380
01:16:34,650 --> 01:16:37,796
of domestic life are
not sufficiently fortified

1381
01:16:37,820 --> 01:16:42,306
with natural courage to stand
the shocking scenes of war,

1382
01:16:42,330 --> 01:16:44,466
to march over dead men,

1383
01:16:44,490 --> 01:16:48,046
to hear without concern the
groanings of the wounded.

1384
01:16:48,070 --> 01:16:50,906
I say few men can stand such scenes

1385
01:16:50,930 --> 01:16:55,786
unless steeled by habit
or fortified by military pride.

1386
01:16:55,810 --> 01:16:58,280
Nathanael Greene.

1387
01:17:03,880 --> 01:17:08,096
On October 11th, 150
vessels threaded their way

1388
01:17:08,120 --> 01:17:11,736
up the east river and
into long island sound

1389
01:17:11,760 --> 01:17:15,206
with 4,000 British and hessian troops.

1390
01:17:15,230 --> 01:17:18,576
Their objective was to get
behind Washington's forces

1391
01:17:18,600 --> 01:17:20,736
in northern Manhattan.

1392
01:17:20,760 --> 01:17:24,276
To avoid that, Washington
began a full-scale retreat,

1393
01:17:24,300 --> 01:17:27,046
following the west bank of the Bronx river

1394
01:17:27,070 --> 01:17:29,916
for 18 miles north toward the seat

1395
01:17:29,940 --> 01:17:33,280
of Westchester county... white plains.

1396
01:17:35,180 --> 01:17:38,996
By the time the British forces
got there on October 28th,

1397
01:17:39,020 --> 01:17:43,196
the American line stretched
for 3 miles through the village,

1398
01:17:43,220 --> 01:17:44,796
anchored on the right

1399
01:17:44,820 --> 01:17:47,590
by the lightly defended chatter ton hill.

1400
01:17:48,990 --> 01:17:52,176
General howe sent 2
columns up the slope.

1401
01:17:52,200 --> 01:17:55,606
Patriot militiamen predictably scattered,

1402
01:17:55,630 --> 01:17:58,116
but the continentals held.

1403
01:17:58,140 --> 01:18:00,946
As the British approached,
a Connecticut colonel

1404
01:18:00,970 --> 01:18:03,916
told his men, "fire at their legs."

1405
01:18:03,940 --> 01:18:06,686
"One man wounded is
better than a dead one,

1406
01:18:06,710 --> 01:18:09,626
"for it takes two more to carry him off,

1407
01:18:09,650 --> 01:18:12,226
and there is 3 gone,"

1408
01:18:12,250 --> 01:18:16,396
but British artillery took a fearful toll.

1409
01:18:16,420 --> 01:18:18,136
A cannonball cut down

1410
01:18:18,160 --> 01:18:22,006
lieutenant young's platoon,
which was next to that of mine.

1411
01:18:22,030 --> 01:18:26,276
The ball first took the head of
Smith... a stout, heavy man...

1412
01:18:26,300 --> 01:18:28,046
and dashed it open.

1413
01:18:28,070 --> 01:18:30,606
Then it took off chilson's arm.

1414
01:18:30,630 --> 01:18:33,446
It then took Taylor across the bowels.

1415
01:18:33,470 --> 01:18:36,286
What a sight that was to see.

1416
01:18:36,310 --> 01:18:39,216
There was men with their legs and arms

1417
01:18:39,240 --> 01:18:42,786
and guns and packs all in a heap.

1418
01:18:42,810 --> 01:18:46,356
Private Elijah bostwick.

1419
01:18:46,380 --> 01:18:48,066
At day's end,

1420
01:18:48,090 --> 01:18:51,166
Washington retreated
east of white plains.

1421
01:18:51,190 --> 01:18:57,536
Again general howe made
only a halfhearted effort to follow.

1422
01:18:57,560 --> 01:19:00,336
The British essentially
let Washington escape

1423
01:19:00,360 --> 01:19:02,076
once again.

1424
01:19:02,100 --> 01:19:08,046
Opportunities to just end this
war right now are being wasted.

1425
01:19:08,070 --> 01:19:11,146
Is it through incapacity or by design

1426
01:19:11,170 --> 01:19:13,886
of our commander that
so many great opportunities

1427
01:19:13,910 --> 01:19:15,886
are let slip?

1428
01:19:15,910 --> 01:19:18,696
I am inclined to adopt the latter.

1429
01:19:18,720 --> 01:19:21,350
Captain William bamford.

1430
01:19:22,950 --> 01:19:26,166
There are moments when
general howe in particular

1431
01:19:26,190 --> 01:19:28,936
seems to hold back from delivering

1432
01:19:28,960 --> 01:19:31,436
the final knockout blow.

1433
01:19:31,460 --> 01:19:34,036
There's that feeling,

1434
01:19:34,060 --> 01:19:36,946
the very torn and conflicted feeling,

1435
01:19:36,970 --> 01:19:39,976
about whether the
Americans are truly enemies

1436
01:19:40,000 --> 01:19:44,016
or misguided subjects
who need to be encouraged

1437
01:19:44,040 --> 01:19:46,340
to come back into the fold.

1438
01:19:47,810 --> 01:19:50,186
As howe headed back
towards Manhattan,

1439
01:19:50,210 --> 01:19:54,156
Washington crossed the
Hudson and headed south.

1440
01:19:54,180 --> 01:19:56,866
He thought it most
likely that howe planned

1441
01:19:56,890 --> 01:19:59,996
to race across New Jersey
and capture Philadelphia

1442
01:20:00,020 --> 01:20:02,666
before winter set in.

1443
01:20:02,690 --> 01:20:06,176
He had again misjudged his adversary.

1444
01:20:06,200 --> 01:20:09,606
Howe actually wanted to take 2 forts

1445
01:20:09,630 --> 01:20:11,976
on opposite sides of the Hudson

1446
01:20:12,000 --> 01:20:14,986
that blocked British
ships from going upriver...

1447
01:20:15,010 --> 01:20:17,116
fort Lee in New Jersey

1448
01:20:17,140 --> 01:20:19,686
and fort Washington
on Manhattan island,

1449
01:20:19,710 --> 01:20:25,926
a crude, star-shaped earthwork
265 feet above the river.

1450
01:20:25,950 --> 01:20:28,490
Fort Washington would come first.

1451
01:20:29,920 --> 01:20:31,736
British guns pounded the fort

1452
01:20:31,760 --> 01:20:36,006
and the long line of trenches
and redoubts that surrounded it.

1453
01:20:36,030 --> 01:20:39,276
The British troops who
attacked from the south and east

1454
01:20:39,300 --> 01:20:42,846
had comparatively little
trouble driving the defenders

1455
01:20:42,870 --> 01:20:45,376
back behind the fort's walls,

1456
01:20:45,400 --> 01:20:48,046
but hessian troops under the command

1457
01:20:48,070 --> 01:20:50,686
of general Wilhelm Von knyphausen

1458
01:20:50,710 --> 01:20:54,756
coming at them from the
north had a much tougher task,

1459
01:20:54,780 --> 01:20:56,886
climbing a rocky hillside

1460
01:20:56,910 --> 01:21:00,296
covered by the tangled
branches of felled trees

1461
01:21:00,320 --> 01:21:03,496
and so steep that they
had to grab at bushes

1462
01:21:03,520 --> 01:21:05,396
to pull themselves up,

1463
01:21:05,420 --> 01:21:09,336
all under steady fire from above.

1464
01:21:09,360 --> 01:21:12,236
Before us, beside,
and upon one another,

1465
01:21:12,260 --> 01:21:15,306
we saw our unfortunate
comrades shattered,

1466
01:21:15,330 --> 01:21:18,076
dead on the earth in their own blood.

1467
01:21:18,100 --> 01:21:20,976
Even the air seemed filled with fear.

1468
01:21:21,000 --> 01:21:24,816
Lieutenant Johann
fried rich Von bardeleben.

1469
01:21:24,840 --> 01:21:28,586
Margaret Corbin, a
Pennsylvania artilleryman's wife,

1470
01:21:28,610 --> 01:21:32,256
was standing near her husband
when he was mortally wounded.

1471
01:21:32,280 --> 01:21:35,926
She stepped in and
kept up such deadly fire

1472
01:21:35,950 --> 01:21:40,036
that her position became
a target for hessian guns.

1473
01:21:40,060 --> 01:21:43,236
Grapeshot eventually
hit her jaw and breast

1474
01:21:43,260 --> 01:21:46,336
and rendered her left arm useless.

1475
01:21:46,360 --> 01:21:49,946
3 years later, she would
become the first woman

1476
01:21:49,970 --> 01:21:53,316
to receive a lifetime disability pension

1477
01:21:53,340 --> 01:21:58,386
but at half the rate
wounded men received.

1478
01:21:58,410 --> 01:22:02,456
American muskets eventually
clogged from overuse.

1479
01:22:02,480 --> 01:22:07,356
The defenders fell back
and were forced to surrender,

1480
01:22:07,380 --> 01:22:11,166
nearly 3,000 men.

1481
01:22:11,190 --> 01:22:14,036
The British renamed fort Washington

1482
01:22:14,060 --> 01:22:19,306
fort knyphausen after the
victorious German general.

1483
01:22:19,330 --> 01:22:22,676
As the battered captives
made their 12-mile march south

1484
01:22:22,700 --> 01:22:26,116
to New York City, British
soldiers and loyalists

1485
01:22:26,140 --> 01:22:30,316
lined the road, jeering and cursing.

1486
01:22:30,340 --> 01:22:33,316
Officers were often paroled

1487
01:22:33,340 --> 01:22:36,186
after pledging not to take up arms again,

1488
01:22:36,210 --> 01:22:39,656
but enlisted men were
given no such option.

1489
01:22:39,680 --> 01:22:43,296
Instead, they were prodded
into makeshift prisons

1490
01:22:43,320 --> 01:22:47,136
already overcrowded
with hundreds of prisoners

1491
01:22:47,160 --> 01:22:51,490
taken at Quebec, long
island, and kips bay.

1492
01:22:53,160 --> 01:22:54,536
There were no blankets,

1493
01:22:54,560 --> 01:22:58,316
little firewood, and sometimes no food.

1494
01:22:58,340 --> 01:23:03,846
Rats scuttled over the muddy
straw that covered the floors.

1495
01:23:03,870 --> 01:23:05,686
The men's appearance in general

1496
01:23:05,710 --> 01:23:10,056
resembled dead corpses
more than living men.

1497
01:23:10,080 --> 01:23:13,556
Indeed, great numbers
had already arrived

1498
01:23:13,580 --> 01:23:15,826
at their long home,

1499
01:23:15,850 --> 01:23:20,766
and the remainder appeared far
advanced on the same journey.

1500
01:23:20,790 --> 01:23:23,766
Captain jabez Fitch.

1501
01:23:23,790 --> 01:23:26,776
Thousands of American
prisoners would die

1502
01:23:26,800 --> 01:23:29,676
by the end of 1776.

1503
01:23:29,700 --> 01:23:33,746
By then, the British had
begun packing the prisoners

1504
01:23:33,770 --> 01:23:38,286
into disused transport ships
anchored in the east river.

1505
01:23:38,310 --> 01:23:43,526
Conditions there would prove
worse than those on land.

1506
01:23:43,550 --> 01:23:46,826
They die of exposure.
They die of malnutrition.

1507
01:23:46,850 --> 01:23:48,596
They die of disease...

1508
01:23:48,620 --> 01:23:53,266
smallpox, typhus, typhoid, dysentery.

1509
01:23:53,290 --> 01:23:57,066
We have our own
prison ships near Albany,

1510
01:23:57,090 --> 01:23:59,906
where British soldiers and loyalists

1511
01:23:59,930 --> 01:24:02,976
are kept in very awful conditions.

1512
01:24:03,000 --> 01:24:05,416
It's a deplorable part

1513
01:24:05,440 --> 01:24:08,570
of the story of the American revolution.

1514
01:24:16,510 --> 01:24:20,496
Early on November 20, 1776,

1515
01:24:20,520 --> 01:24:23,426
some 5,000 British and hessian troops

1516
01:24:23,450 --> 01:24:26,296
crossed the Hudson
and began struggling

1517
01:24:26,320 --> 01:24:29,836
up the slippery, 440-foot rock face

1518
01:24:29,860 --> 01:24:32,676
of the New Jersey palisades,

1519
01:24:32,700 --> 01:24:37,676
so steep the patriots had not
believed anyone could climb it.

1520
01:24:37,700 --> 01:24:42,086
The British commander was
general Charles cornwallis,

1521
01:24:42,110 --> 01:24:45,086
who then ordered his
men to start marching south

1522
01:24:45,110 --> 01:24:48,526
toward fort Lee, 6 miles away.

1523
01:24:48,550 --> 01:24:52,596
General Nathanael Greene
had already begun to evacuate it

1524
01:24:52,620 --> 01:24:55,726
when the enemy took fort Washington.

1525
01:24:55,750 --> 01:25:00,020
Now he ordered everyone
remaining to leave immediately.

1526
01:25:01,790 --> 01:25:04,506
The rebels fled like scared rabbits.

1527
01:25:04,530 --> 01:25:07,106
Not a rascal of them could be seen.

1528
01:25:07,130 --> 01:25:09,206
They have left some poor pork,

1529
01:25:09,230 --> 01:25:11,606
a few greasy proclamations,

1530
01:25:11,630 --> 01:25:15,286
and some of that scoundrel
"common sense" man's letters,

1531
01:25:15,310 --> 01:25:17,640
which we can read at our leisure.

1532
01:25:18,980 --> 01:25:22,586
By evening, Greene
and most of his 2,000 men

1533
01:25:22,610 --> 01:25:25,496
managed to link up
with Washington's force

1534
01:25:25,520 --> 01:25:29,196
at new bridge on the hackensack river.

1535
01:25:29,220 --> 01:25:31,296
They marched 2 abreast,

1536
01:25:31,320 --> 01:25:34,636
looked ragged, some
without a shoe to their feet

1537
01:25:34,660 --> 01:25:37,566
and most of them
wrapped in their blankets.

1538
01:25:37,590 --> 01:25:40,536
The next evening, the British encamped

1539
01:25:40,560 --> 01:25:43,306
on the other side of the hackensack.

1540
01:25:43,330 --> 01:25:46,676
We could see their fires
about 100 yards apart

1541
01:25:46,700 --> 01:25:49,646
gleaming brilliantly in
the gloom of the night,

1542
01:25:49,670 --> 01:25:53,786
extending for more than
a mile along the river.

1543
01:25:53,810 --> 01:25:55,850
Reverend Theodore roneyn.

1544
01:25:56,950 --> 01:25:59,656
As his army retreated across the state,

1545
01:25:59,680 --> 01:26:03,296
followed by cornwallis
with a far larger force,

1546
01:26:03,320 --> 01:26:07,536
Washington hoped somehow,
somewhere to offer battle,

1547
01:26:07,560 --> 01:26:11,206
but cornwallis had
orders from general howe

1548
01:26:11,230 --> 01:26:14,106
to avoid confrontation.

1549
01:26:14,130 --> 01:26:15,746
From howe's vantage point,

1550
01:26:15,770 --> 01:26:18,716
there was no need for
another major battle.

1551
01:26:18,740 --> 01:26:21,446
The rebel army was shrinking daily.

1552
01:26:21,470 --> 01:26:24,586
What one officer called
"the devil of desertion"

1553
01:26:24,610 --> 01:26:27,356
had infected Washington's ranks.

1554
01:26:27,380 --> 01:26:31,726
Men were simply drifting
away into the countryside.

1555
01:26:31,750 --> 01:26:34,356
When Washington
called upon the states

1556
01:26:34,380 --> 01:26:39,436
for 5,000 more troops, he
was met mostly by silence.

1557
01:26:39,460 --> 01:26:42,236
His aide-de-camp Joseph Reed

1558
01:26:42,260 --> 01:26:46,306
expressed the general's
continued frustrations.

1559
01:26:46,330 --> 01:26:48,746
When I look round and see how few

1560
01:26:48,770 --> 01:26:52,076
of the numbers who talked
so largely of death and honor

1561
01:26:52,100 --> 01:26:55,846
are around me, I am lost in wonder.

1562
01:26:55,870 --> 01:26:59,116
Your noisy sons of Liberty are, I find,

1563
01:26:59,140 --> 01:27:01,680
the quietest in the field.

1564
01:27:03,810 --> 01:27:07,626
To compound things,
Washington's second in command...

1565
01:27:07,650 --> 01:27:10,526
general Charles Lee,
who had been stationed

1566
01:27:10,550 --> 01:27:13,596
in Westchester county
with a sizable force...

1567
01:27:13,620 --> 01:27:16,036
responded to Washington's
repeated requests

1568
01:27:16,060 --> 01:27:20,336
to hurry to his aid with
one excuse after another.

1569
01:27:20,360 --> 01:27:22,906
Lee was scornful of Washington,

1570
01:27:22,930 --> 01:27:26,046
hoped someday to replace
him as commander in chief,

1571
01:27:26,070 --> 01:27:31,546
and saw himself as not
subject to Washington's orders.

1572
01:27:31,570 --> 01:27:35,756
On November 30th, the
British issued a proclamation

1573
01:27:35,780 --> 01:27:39,296
aimed at restoring
their rule in New Jersey.

1574
01:27:39,320 --> 01:27:40,826
Anyone willing to swear

1575
01:27:40,850 --> 01:27:43,626
"peaceable obedience to his majesty"

1576
01:27:43,650 --> 01:27:48,566
within 60 days would receive
"a free and general pardon."

1577
01:27:48,590 --> 01:27:51,466
More than 3,000 New Jersey residents

1578
01:27:51,490 --> 01:27:53,836
took them up on the offer,

1579
01:27:53,860 --> 01:27:56,906
and hundreds answered
the call for loyalists

1580
01:27:56,930 --> 01:28:00,076
to fight alongside the British regulars.

1581
01:28:00,100 --> 01:28:04,586
New Jersey's patriot government fled,

1582
01:28:04,610 --> 01:28:07,886
but while general howe
was offering pardons,

1583
01:28:07,910 --> 01:28:12,380
his soldiers were demanding
provisions from civilians.

1584
01:28:14,520 --> 01:28:17,296
The people who were
really at the sharp end

1585
01:28:17,320 --> 01:28:20,866
of the sword were the civilians,

1586
01:28:20,890 --> 01:28:23,906
and if you think from the
point of view of somebody,

1587
01:28:23,930 --> 01:28:28,136
say, a mother of a
family... who's on her farm,

1588
01:28:28,160 --> 01:28:32,016
you know that the very
little that you have to survive

1589
01:28:32,040 --> 01:28:34,540
can be destroyed in an instant.

1590
01:28:36,470 --> 01:28:38,046
Tories lead the relentless foreigners

1591
01:28:38,070 --> 01:28:41,916
to the houses of their
neighbors and strip poor women

1592
01:28:41,940 --> 01:28:45,696
and children of everything
they have to eat or wear,

1593
01:28:45,720 --> 01:28:48,496
and after plundering them in this sort,

1594
01:28:48,520 --> 01:28:51,296
the brutes often ravish
the mothers and daughters

1595
01:28:51,320 --> 01:28:56,066
and compel the fathers and
sons to behold their brutality.

1596
01:28:56,090 --> 01:28:58,430
Nathanael Greene.

1597
01:28:59,760 --> 01:29:03,376
As an army is advancing
and occupying new territories,

1598
01:29:03,400 --> 01:29:05,816
dreadful things happen.

1599
01:29:05,840 --> 01:29:11,346
We see lots of instances of
rape and sexual assault of women.

1600
01:29:11,370 --> 01:29:16,026
Sadly, this is not unusual in all wars.

1601
01:29:16,050 --> 01:29:19,396
Mary Campbell of hunterdon
county, New Jersey,

1602
01:29:19,420 --> 01:29:24,026
told a judge what British
troops had done to her.

1603
01:29:24,050 --> 01:29:27,096
Mary Campbell, wife of Daniel Campbell,

1604
01:29:27,120 --> 01:29:30,706
sayeth that sometime in
December, a number of soldiers

1605
01:29:30,730 --> 01:29:33,306
belonging to the king
of Great Britain's army

1606
01:29:33,330 --> 01:29:36,476
came to the house of her father.

1607
01:29:36,500 --> 01:29:38,676
Two of them seized hold of her arms

1608
01:29:38,700 --> 01:29:40,916
and dragged her out of
the house to an old shop

1609
01:29:40,940 --> 01:29:44,646
near the dwelling house,
broke open the door,

1610
01:29:44,670 --> 01:29:47,956
and pulled her in against
all her cries and entreaties

1611
01:29:47,980 --> 01:29:51,356
and swore if she did not hold her tongue,

1612
01:29:51,380 --> 01:29:54,596
they would run her
through with a bayonet.

1613
01:29:54,620 --> 01:29:57,326
3 of said soldiers
successively had knowledge

1614
01:29:57,350 --> 01:29:59,936
of the body of this deponent,

1615
01:29:59,960 --> 01:30:03,136
she being 5 months
and upwards advanced

1616
01:30:03,160 --> 01:30:06,236
in her pregnancy at that time.

1617
01:30:06,260 --> 01:30:09,730
Her Mark, Mary m. Campbell.

1618
01:30:11,900 --> 01:30:15,116
At pennington, 16
women fled into the woods

1619
01:30:15,140 --> 01:30:17,216
to escape British soldiers,

1620
01:30:17,240 --> 01:30:21,786
only to be dragged back
and repeatedly assaulted.

1621
01:30:21,810 --> 01:30:25,326
Such behavior, one
British officer admitted,

1622
01:30:25,350 --> 01:30:27,956
was "calculated to lose you friends

1623
01:30:27,980 --> 01:30:30,426
and gain you enemies."

1624
01:30:30,450 --> 01:30:35,466
It did, and people soon
began taking revenge.

1625
01:30:35,490 --> 01:30:38,566
New Jersey militiamen
took up arms again

1626
01:30:38,590 --> 01:30:42,076
less out of devotion to
the revolutionary cause

1627
01:30:42,100 --> 01:30:44,706
than out of anger at
what was being done

1628
01:30:44,730 --> 01:30:48,116
to them and their families.

1629
01:30:48,140 --> 01:30:52,816
It is now very unsafe for
us to travel in New Jersey.

1630
01:30:52,840 --> 01:30:57,126
The peasants meet our men
alone or in small unarmed groups.

1631
01:30:57,150 --> 01:31:00,626
They have their rifles
hidden in the bushes

1632
01:31:00,650 --> 01:31:02,666
or ditches and the like.

1633
01:31:02,690 --> 01:31:06,436
When they see one or several
men belonging to our army,

1634
01:31:06,460 --> 01:31:08,906
they shoot them in the head,

1635
01:31:08,930 --> 01:31:14,936
then quickly hide their rifles
and pretend they know nothing.

1636
01:31:14,960 --> 01:31:18,400
Captain fried rich Von munchhausen.

1637
01:31:24,140 --> 01:31:27,186
No lads ever show greater activity

1638
01:31:27,210 --> 01:31:30,056
in retreating than we have.

1639
01:31:30,080 --> 01:31:32,956
Our soldiers are the
best fellows in the world

1640
01:31:32,980 --> 01:31:34,826
at this business.

1641
01:31:34,850 --> 01:31:38,866
Lieutenant colonel Samuel webb.

1642
01:31:38,890 --> 01:31:44,766
Hackensack, acquackanonk,
Newark, spank town,

1643
01:31:44,790 --> 01:31:48,976
new brunswick, Princeton, Trenton.

1644
01:31:49,000 --> 01:31:55,316
In 12 days, the Americans
fell back some 70 miles.

1645
01:31:55,340 --> 01:31:59,486
On December 2nd, Washington
began to take his army

1646
01:31:59,510 --> 01:32:03,786
across the Delaware
river into Pennsylvania.

1647
01:32:03,810 --> 01:32:07,926
The news continued to
be bad for the patriot cause.

1648
01:32:07,950 --> 01:32:11,566
General Henry Clinton
landed 7,000 British

1649
01:32:11,590 --> 01:32:14,736
and hessian regulars at
Newport, Rhode Island,

1650
01:32:14,760 --> 01:32:17,066
without firing a shot.

1651
01:32:17,090 --> 01:32:20,276
Like New York City and New Jersey,

1652
01:32:20,300 --> 01:32:23,946
Rhode Island seemed likely lost.

1653
01:32:23,970 --> 01:32:28,076
British forces were now just
60 miles from Philadelphia,

1654
01:32:28,100 --> 01:32:30,786
and the roads leading out of the city

1655
01:32:30,810 --> 01:32:33,516
were choked with frightened refugees.

1656
01:32:33,540 --> 01:32:37,956
Congress denied what it called
the "false and malicious" rumors

1657
01:32:37,980 --> 01:32:40,856
that it was planning to leave town

1658
01:32:40,880 --> 01:32:44,726
and then fled to Baltimore.

1659
01:32:44,750 --> 01:32:47,436
General Charles Lee had finally given in

1660
01:32:47,460 --> 01:32:49,336
to Washington's entreaties

1661
01:32:49,360 --> 01:32:53,906
and had been slowly leading
his force across New Jersey.

1662
01:32:53,930 --> 01:32:56,606
On the evening of December 12th,

1663
01:32:56,630 --> 01:32:58,846
he slipped away from his encampment

1664
01:32:58,870 --> 01:33:02,446
to an isolated tavern in basking Ridge.

1665
01:33:02,470 --> 01:33:06,016
A loyalist tipped off the British.

1666
01:33:06,040 --> 01:33:08,886
Dragoons surrounded
the building and seized

1667
01:33:08,910 --> 01:33:12,126
the continental army's
second in command.

1668
01:33:12,150 --> 01:33:15,566
One hessian captain was exultant...

1669
01:33:15,590 --> 01:33:18,566
"we have captured...
The only rebel general

1670
01:33:18,590 --> 01:33:22,306
whom we had cause to fear"...

1671
01:33:22,330 --> 01:33:27,476
but then general howe
abruptly called off his campaign.

1672
01:33:27,500 --> 01:33:29,576
Winter was coming.

1673
01:33:29,600 --> 01:33:31,876
The continental
congress was on the run.

1674
01:33:31,900 --> 01:33:34,946
There would be plenty
of time the following year,

1675
01:33:34,970 --> 01:33:39,556
he was certain, to destroy what
was left of Washington's army

1676
01:33:39,580 --> 01:33:42,980
and permanently end the rebellion.

1677
01:33:45,250 --> 01:33:49,026
While howe and most of his
army withdrew to New York,

1678
01:33:49,050 --> 01:33:52,596
he left behind a chain of 17 garrisons

1679
01:33:52,620 --> 01:33:56,436
stretching from the
Hudson to the Delaware.

1680
01:33:56,460 --> 01:33:59,376
Things can hardly look
darker than they look

1681
01:33:59,400 --> 01:34:03,276
for Washington and his army
and the hopes of the cause

1682
01:34:03,300 --> 01:34:06,346
in December of 1776.

1683
01:34:06,370 --> 01:34:08,216
As he gets into Pennsylvania

1684
01:34:08,240 --> 01:34:11,616
and he's looking back
across the Delaware river,

1685
01:34:11,640 --> 01:34:14,786
his options are very, very limited.

1686
01:34:14,810 --> 01:34:17,056
He's been evicted from New York.

1687
01:34:17,080 --> 01:34:20,826
His army is down to maybe 3,000 men.

1688
01:34:20,850 --> 01:34:22,156
He writes his brother
at one point and says,

1689
01:34:22,180 --> 01:34:24,566
"I think the game is pretty near up."

1690
01:34:24,590 --> 01:34:27,396
He doesn't let his men know
that he's feeling that despondent,

1691
01:34:27,420 --> 01:34:30,590
but he's feeling pretty glum.

1692
01:34:32,400 --> 01:34:36,546
But now his army had
begun to grow again.

1693
01:34:36,570 --> 01:34:38,676
General William Alexander,

1694
01:34:38,700 --> 01:34:41,076
who had been freed
from British captivity,

1695
01:34:41,100 --> 01:34:44,786
arrived with a thousand
ragged reinforcements.

1696
01:34:44,810 --> 01:34:47,956
A thousand Philadelphia militia appeared.

1697
01:34:47,980 --> 01:34:51,326
General John Sullivan, also exchanged,

1698
01:34:51,350 --> 01:34:53,396
brought in 2,000 more men

1699
01:34:53,420 --> 01:34:57,796
who had served under
the captured general Lee.

1700
01:34:57,820 --> 01:35:02,196
On December 22nd, the
16-year-old fifer John greenwood

1701
01:35:02,220 --> 01:35:05,006
and some 600 other new englanders

1702
01:35:05,030 --> 01:35:08,576
also staggered into camp.

1703
01:35:08,600 --> 01:35:10,346
Washington's appeals for help

1704
01:35:10,370 --> 01:35:13,416
had reached all the way to ticonderoga,

1705
01:35:13,440 --> 01:35:17,416
and these men had been on
their way for nearly a month.

1706
01:35:17,440 --> 01:35:22,686
Washington now had
about 6,000 men fit for duty.

1707
01:35:22,710 --> 01:35:25,286
The question was what
he might do with them

1708
01:35:25,310 --> 01:35:29,426
in the 10 days remaining
before their enlistments ran out

1709
01:35:29,450 --> 01:35:34,866
and most of his best-trained
soldiers went home.

1710
01:35:34,890 --> 01:35:37,036
Our cause is desperate and hopeless

1711
01:35:37,060 --> 01:35:39,876
if we do not take the
opportunity of the collection

1712
01:35:39,900 --> 01:35:43,246
of troops at present
to strike some stroke.

1713
01:35:43,270 --> 01:35:48,116
Delay with us is now
equal to total defeat.

1714
01:35:48,140 --> 01:35:50,270
Joseph Reed.

1715
01:35:51,840 --> 01:35:54,556
Washington decided
to strike the Garrison

1716
01:35:54,580 --> 01:35:58,986
at Trenton, New Jersey,
manned by some 1,500 hessians

1717
01:35:59,010 --> 01:36:02,226
under the command
of colonel Johann rall.

1718
01:36:02,250 --> 01:36:05,466
Most of the little town's
inhabitants had fled,

1719
01:36:05,490 --> 01:36:08,496
and their homes had
been turned into barracks.

1720
01:36:08,520 --> 01:36:12,306
Washington outlined a bold
and ambitious plan of attack

1721
01:36:12,330 --> 01:36:15,476
that called for 3 simultaneous crossings

1722
01:36:15,500 --> 01:36:17,746
of the ice-choked Delaware,

1723
01:36:17,770 --> 01:36:21,640
all to be launched on Christmas night.

1724
01:36:23,040 --> 01:36:25,956
1,800 pennsylvanians
and Rhode islanders

1725
01:36:25,980 --> 01:36:28,656
were to cross downriver near Bristol

1726
01:36:28,680 --> 01:36:32,996
and march toward a second
hessian outpost at burlington.

1727
01:36:33,020 --> 01:36:37,166
800 Pennsylvania militia were
to cross and hold the bridge

1728
01:36:37,190 --> 01:36:40,996
over as sun pink creek and
keep the hessians from escaping

1729
01:36:41,020 --> 01:36:43,466
once the battle began.

1730
01:36:43,490 --> 01:36:47,206
In the main attack,
Washington himself would lead

1731
01:36:47,230 --> 01:36:52,006
2,400 continentals across
the river at mcconkey's ferry

1732
01:36:52,030 --> 01:36:57,070
and then begin the 9-mile
march south toward their target.

1733
01:36:58,140 --> 01:36:59,856
None knew but the first officers

1734
01:36:59,880 --> 01:37:01,686
where we were a-going.

1735
01:37:01,710 --> 01:37:03,956
I never heard a soldier say anything

1736
01:37:03,980 --> 01:37:06,056
nor ever saw him trouble himself

1737
01:37:06,080 --> 01:37:08,956
about where they led
him or where he was.

1738
01:37:08,980 --> 01:37:11,026
It was enough to know that he must go

1739
01:37:11,050 --> 01:37:13,866
wherever the officer commanded him.

1740
01:37:13,890 --> 01:37:17,266
Through fire and water,
it was all the same,

1741
01:37:17,290 --> 01:37:20,476
for it was impossible to
be in a worse condition

1742
01:37:20,500 --> 01:37:22,476
than what they were in.

1743
01:37:22,500 --> 01:37:24,300
John greenwood.

1744
01:37:26,300 --> 01:37:29,646
Thomas paine, who had
been with Washington's army

1745
01:37:29,670 --> 01:37:31,816
as it retreated across New Jersey,

1746
01:37:31,840 --> 01:37:36,586
had just published a new essay
meant to restore sagging morale

1747
01:37:36,610 --> 01:37:39,626
called "the American crisis."

1748
01:37:39,650 --> 01:37:43,526
By the time Washington's
army got underway on Christmas,

1749
01:37:43,550 --> 01:37:46,196
patriots up and down the river

1750
01:37:46,220 --> 01:37:49,566
had read and been inspired by it.

1751
01:37:49,590 --> 01:37:53,836
These are the times that try men's souls:

1752
01:37:53,860 --> 01:37:57,506
The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot

1753
01:37:57,530 --> 01:37:59,246
will, in this crisis,

1754
01:37:59,270 --> 01:38:02,146
shrink from the service of their country;

1755
01:38:02,170 --> 01:38:04,586
but he that stands by it now,

1756
01:38:04,610 --> 01:38:08,416
deserves the love and
thanks of man and woman.

1757
01:38:08,440 --> 01:38:13,126
Tyranny, like hell, is
not easily conquered;

1758
01:38:13,150 --> 01:38:16,396
yet we have this consolation with us,

1759
01:38:16,420 --> 01:38:22,320
that the harder the conflict,
the more glorious the triumph.

1760
01:38:24,930 --> 01:38:27,906
A freezing rain began to fall at dusk

1761
01:38:27,930 --> 01:38:30,706
as the Americans
clambered into the ferry boats

1762
01:38:30,730 --> 01:38:32,776
and cargo vessels that made up.

1763
01:38:32,800 --> 01:38:35,300
Washington's hastily assembled fleet.

1764
01:38:36,870 --> 01:38:38,586
The river was fast-running

1765
01:38:38,610 --> 01:38:43,156
and filled with swirling,
jagged pieces of floe ice.

1766
01:38:43,180 --> 01:38:45,426
Somehow, colonel John glover

1767
01:38:45,450 --> 01:38:48,496
and his Massachusetts
sailors from marble head,

1768
01:38:48,520 --> 01:38:51,296
the same men who had
rescued Washington's army

1769
01:38:51,320 --> 01:38:54,896
after the battle of long island
and stopped the British advance

1770
01:38:54,920 --> 01:38:58,336
following kips bay, now managed to get

1771
01:38:58,360 --> 01:39:02,476
all 2,400 men, some 50 horses,

1772
01:39:02,500 --> 01:39:06,676
and 18 field pieces across safely.

1773
01:39:06,700 --> 01:39:12,246
John greenwood was
among the first to step ashore.

1774
01:39:12,270 --> 01:39:14,886
We had to wait for the rest to cross,

1775
01:39:14,910 --> 01:39:16,786
so we began to pull down the fences

1776
01:39:16,810 --> 01:39:18,826
and make fires to warm ourselves,

1777
01:39:18,850 --> 01:39:22,356
for the storm came on so
fast that it rained, hailed,

1778
01:39:22,380 --> 01:39:26,166
and snowed and froze
and blew a hurricane,

1779
01:39:26,190 --> 01:39:29,806
so much so, when I turned
my face toward the fire,

1780
01:39:29,830 --> 01:39:32,036
my back was a-freezing.

1781
01:39:32,060 --> 01:39:36,646
By turning round and round,
I kept myself from perishing.

1782
01:39:36,670 --> 01:39:39,106
Washington hoped that the landing

1783
01:39:39,130 --> 01:39:41,176
would be completed by midnight

1784
01:39:41,200 --> 01:39:44,386
so that his men could
reach Trenton before dawn,

1785
01:39:44,410 --> 01:39:47,156
but the last boat did not scrape ashore

1786
01:39:47,180 --> 01:39:49,186
till 3:00 in the morning.

1787
01:39:49,210 --> 01:39:51,486
And though Washington
did not know it yet,

1788
01:39:51,510 --> 01:39:54,196
ice had prevented the two other forces

1789
01:39:54,220 --> 01:39:56,766
from getting across the river.

1790
01:39:56,790 --> 01:39:58,666
If Trenton were to be taken,

1791
01:39:58,690 --> 01:40:02,596
it would be up to
Washington's force alone.

1792
01:40:02,620 --> 01:40:05,866
As he and his men finally
started toward the town,

1793
01:40:05,890 --> 01:40:11,276
the driving snow, fierce cold,
and hardship of hauling 18 guns

1794
01:40:11,300 --> 01:40:16,546
along a frozen, rutted
road slowed the advance.

1795
01:40:16,570 --> 01:40:18,386
When we halted in the road,

1796
01:40:18,410 --> 01:40:21,116
I sat down on a stump of a tree

1797
01:40:21,140 --> 01:40:24,656
and was so benumbed with
cold, I wanted to go to sleep.

1798
01:40:24,680 --> 01:40:26,696
And if I had, unnoticed,

1799
01:40:26,720 --> 01:40:29,596
I should have been frozen
to death without knowing it,

1800
01:40:29,620 --> 01:40:32,836
but, as good luck always attended me,

1801
01:40:32,860 --> 01:40:34,766
sergeant Madden came to me

1802
01:40:34,790 --> 01:40:37,736
and aroused me up
and made me walk about.

1803
01:40:37,760 --> 01:40:43,876
Two other soldiers did fall
asleep and froze to death.

1804
01:40:43,900 --> 01:40:47,316
At a crossroads, the column split in two.

1805
01:40:47,340 --> 01:40:49,586
Washington went with Nathanael Greene

1806
01:40:49,610 --> 01:40:52,246
and turned left for the pennington road.

1807
01:40:52,270 --> 01:40:55,616
John Sullivan and his men,
including John greenwood,

1808
01:40:55,640 --> 01:40:59,256
continued to the right
along the river road.

1809
01:40:59,280 --> 01:41:02,256
Each column reached
its assigned position

1810
01:41:02,280 --> 01:41:06,490
outside the still-dozing
town just before 8:00.

1811
01:41:09,090 --> 01:41:11,906
Nathanael Greene's
men began the attack,

1812
01:41:11,930 --> 01:41:14,676
charging out of the snow-filled woods.

1813
01:41:14,700 --> 01:41:19,106
"The storm continued with great
violence," one officer recalled,

1814
01:41:19,130 --> 01:41:20,746
"but was in our backs

1815
01:41:20,770 --> 01:41:23,740
and consequently in
the faces of the enemy."

1816
01:41:25,510 --> 01:41:28,856
Hessian pickets spotted
them through the snow,

1817
01:41:28,880 --> 01:41:31,256
opened fire, then fell back

1818
01:41:31,280 --> 01:41:35,926
as remaining townspeople
watched in terror.

1819
01:41:35,950 --> 01:41:37,496
In the gray dawn came

1820
01:41:37,520 --> 01:41:40,666
the beating of drums
and the sound of firing.

1821
01:41:40,690 --> 01:41:44,506
The hessian soldiers quartered
in our house hastily decamped.

1822
01:41:44,530 --> 01:41:47,736
All was uproar and confusion.

1823
01:41:47,760 --> 01:41:49,770
Martha Reed.

1824
01:41:51,570 --> 01:41:54,916
The German soldiers
formed up as best they could,

1825
01:41:54,940 --> 01:41:56,586
prepared to fight,

1826
01:41:56,610 --> 01:42:00,116
but Henry Knox had
positioned Cannon and howitzers

1827
01:42:00,140 --> 01:42:03,156
at the upper end of
king and queen streets

1828
01:42:03,180 --> 01:42:05,826
that ran through the heart of the town,

1829
01:42:05,850 --> 01:42:09,726
and when the German commander
Johann rall mounted his horse

1830
01:42:09,750 --> 01:42:13,266
and ordered his men to charge
into them, Knox remembered,

1831
01:42:13,290 --> 01:42:16,306
"these, in the twinkling of an eye,

1832
01:42:16,330 --> 01:42:18,806
cleared the streets."

1833
01:42:18,830 --> 01:42:20,876
Some hessians scattered.

1834
01:42:20,900 --> 01:42:24,346
Brief, fierce firefights followed.

1835
01:42:24,370 --> 01:42:26,076
My mother and we children

1836
01:42:26,100 --> 01:42:29,946
hid in the cellar to escape the
shots that fell about the house.

1837
01:42:29,970 --> 01:42:32,686
Our next-door neighbor
was killed on his doorstep,

1838
01:42:32,710 --> 01:42:34,616
and a bullet struck the blacksmith

1839
01:42:34,640 --> 01:42:37,826
as he was in the act of
closing himself in his cellar,

1840
01:42:37,850 --> 01:42:41,820
and many other townspeople
were injured by chance shots.

1841
01:42:43,490 --> 01:42:45,426
As Nathanael Greene's column

1842
01:42:45,450 --> 01:42:47,666
drove through town from the north,

1843
01:42:47,690 --> 01:42:51,066
John Sullivan's column
moved in from the south.

1844
01:42:51,090 --> 01:42:53,676
They made a full fire right at us,

1845
01:42:53,700 --> 01:42:55,976
but I did not see that they killed anyone.

1846
01:42:56,000 --> 01:42:59,446
Orders were given to
charge bayonets and rush on.

1847
01:42:59,470 --> 01:43:01,676
As we came within pistol shot,

1848
01:43:01,700 --> 01:43:04,316
they fired again point blank at us.

1849
01:43:04,340 --> 01:43:07,056
We dodged, and they did not hit a man.

1850
01:43:07,080 --> 01:43:09,186
Before they had time to load again,

1851
01:43:09,210 --> 01:43:11,356
we were within 3 feet of them.

1852
01:43:11,380 --> 01:43:13,396
They broke in an instant

1853
01:43:13,420 --> 01:43:16,626
and ran like so many frightened devils.

1854
01:43:16,650 --> 01:43:19,966
Colonel rall was shot from his horse,

1855
01:43:19,990 --> 01:43:22,596
mortally wounded.

1856
01:43:22,620 --> 01:43:24,336
Finally, they were driven

1857
01:43:24,360 --> 01:43:26,936
through the town into an orchard beyond.

1858
01:43:26,960 --> 01:43:30,806
The poor fellows saw
themselves completely surrounded.

1859
01:43:30,830 --> 01:43:32,570
Henry Knox.

1860
01:43:34,300 --> 01:43:38,010
It was all over in less than 45 minutes.

1861
01:43:40,180 --> 01:43:43,886
22 hessians lay dead
or dying in the snow.

1862
01:43:43,910 --> 01:43:46,156
83 more were wounded.

1863
01:43:46,180 --> 01:43:48,596
900 were captured.

1864
01:43:48,620 --> 01:43:51,496
Just 2 Americans had died...

1865
01:43:51,520 --> 01:43:54,436
those frozen before the battle began,

1866
01:43:54,460 --> 01:43:56,706
and only 5 were wounded,

1867
01:43:56,730 --> 01:44:00,876
including an artilleryman from
Virginia named James Monroe,

1868
01:44:00,900 --> 01:44:04,046
whose life was saved
when a local doctor

1869
01:44:04,070 --> 01:44:06,170
managed to stop the bleeding.

1870
01:44:07,770 --> 01:44:11,216
As the hessian prisoners
were marched to Philadelphia,

1871
01:44:11,240 --> 01:44:13,786
Washington issued a broadside declaring

1872
01:44:13,810 --> 01:44:16,426
that since they were not volunteers,

1873
01:44:16,450 --> 01:44:18,626
but forced into this war,

1874
01:44:18,650 --> 01:44:21,426
they should be seen not as enemies,

1875
01:44:21,450 --> 01:44:24,050
but as innocent people.

1876
01:44:26,220 --> 01:44:29,336
The Americans decided very early on

1877
01:44:29,360 --> 01:44:31,666
to treat German prisoners well.

1878
01:44:31,690 --> 01:44:34,436
That is a strategic decision,

1879
01:44:34,460 --> 01:44:37,646
portraying these soldiers
as the innocent victims

1880
01:44:37,670 --> 01:44:41,416
of the contract of two despots.

1881
01:44:41,440 --> 01:44:45,816
They are being sent, sold
by their rulers for money

1882
01:44:45,840 --> 01:44:48,856
to fight in the war that
does not concern them.

1883
01:44:48,880 --> 01:44:51,926
In other words, they
are victims of tyranny,

1884
01:44:51,950 --> 01:44:54,426
kind of like we are.

1885
01:44:54,450 --> 01:44:58,166
Perhaps 1/4 of the
23,000 hessian soldiers

1886
01:44:58,190 --> 01:45:02,336
who survived the war would
choose to stay on afterwards

1887
01:45:02,360 --> 01:45:05,266
and become citizens of the new nation

1888
01:45:05,290 --> 01:45:07,676
they'd fought against creating,

1889
01:45:07,700 --> 01:45:09,946
and many of those who returned home

1890
01:45:09,970 --> 01:45:14,970
would come back again,
this time with their families.

1891
01:45:22,210 --> 01:45:25,756
The small scale of
our maps deceived us.

1892
01:45:25,780 --> 01:45:28,696
As the word "america"
takes up no more room

1893
01:45:28,720 --> 01:45:31,226
than the word "Yorkshire,"
we seem to think

1894
01:45:31,250 --> 01:45:34,866
the territories they represent
are much of the same bigness,

1895
01:45:34,890 --> 01:45:37,406
though Charleston is as far from Boston

1896
01:45:37,430 --> 01:45:39,636
as London from venice.

1897
01:45:39,660 --> 01:45:43,706
We have undertaken a war
against farmers and farmhouses

1898
01:45:43,730 --> 01:45:48,000
scattered through a
wild waste of continent.

1899
01:45:50,540 --> 01:45:52,046
Philadelphia...

1900
01:45:52,070 --> 01:45:55,616
this affair has given new
life and spirits to the cause

1901
01:45:55,640 --> 01:45:58,786
and has lowered the crests
of the tories in this place,

1902
01:45:58,810 --> 01:46:00,726
who looked upon the matter as settled

1903
01:46:00,750 --> 01:46:03,366
and were hourly
expecting the king's troops

1904
01:46:03,390 --> 01:46:06,166
to arrive without molestation.

1905
01:46:06,190 --> 01:46:09,536
Things begin to wear a better aspect.

1906
01:46:09,560 --> 01:46:14,006
General Washington's army
has now become respectable.

1907
01:46:14,030 --> 01:46:16,576
Reverend David Griffith.

1908
01:46:16,600 --> 01:46:20,816
Washington's army may
have become respectable,

1909
01:46:20,840 --> 01:46:23,916
but it was still about to disintegrate.

1910
01:46:23,940 --> 01:46:26,816
The continental regiments
from new England...

1911
01:46:26,840 --> 01:46:30,086
his most disciplined,
most seasoned soldiers...

1912
01:46:30,110 --> 01:46:33,556
were all planning to
go home in just 5 days,

1913
01:46:33,580 --> 01:46:37,666
leaving him with 1,400
men with which to face

1914
01:46:37,690 --> 01:46:41,936
what he feared would be a
swift reprisal from the enemy.

1915
01:46:41,960 --> 01:46:45,666
He now had to persuade
as many of them as he could

1916
01:46:45,690 --> 01:46:49,200
to remain with him at least a little longer.

1917
01:46:52,370 --> 01:46:54,716
On new year's Eve at Trenton,

1918
01:46:54,740 --> 01:46:58,786
Washington asked that all his
depleted regiments assemble

1919
01:46:58,810 --> 01:47:01,386
so that he could speak to them.

1920
01:47:01,410 --> 01:47:05,256
He praised his men for their
courage, one sergeant recalled,

1921
01:47:05,280 --> 01:47:10,596
and "in the most affectionate
manner entreated us to stay,"

1922
01:47:10,620 --> 01:47:11,966
but when he finished,

1923
01:47:11,990 --> 01:47:14,796
and the drums beat for volunteers,

1924
01:47:14,820 --> 01:47:18,206
not a single man stepped forward.

1925
01:47:18,230 --> 01:47:20,900
Washington spoke again.

1926
01:47:22,260 --> 01:47:26,676
My brave fellows, you have
done all I asked you to do

1927
01:47:26,700 --> 01:47:30,316
and more than can
reasonably be expected,

1928
01:47:30,340 --> 01:47:32,846
but your country is at stake,

1929
01:47:32,870 --> 01:47:38,026
your wives, your houses,
and all that you hold dear.

1930
01:47:38,050 --> 01:47:42,296
You have worn yourselves
out with fatigue and hardships,

1931
01:47:42,320 --> 01:47:46,196
but we know not how to spare you.

1932
01:47:46,220 --> 01:47:50,566
If you will consent to stay
only one month longer,

1933
01:47:50,590 --> 01:47:53,776
you will render that service
to the cause of Liberty

1934
01:47:53,800 --> 01:47:58,206
and to your country, which
you probably never can do

1935
01:47:58,230 --> 01:48:01,016
under any other circumstances.

1936
01:48:01,040 --> 01:48:03,916
The present is emphatically the crisis

1937
01:48:03,940 --> 01:48:06,410
which is to decide our destiny.

1938
01:48:08,140 --> 01:48:10,586
"This time," the sergeant remembered,

1939
01:48:10,610 --> 01:48:13,826
"the soldiers felt the force of the appeal.

1940
01:48:13,850 --> 01:48:17,796
"One said to another,
'i will remain if you will.'

1941
01:48:17,820 --> 01:48:20,396
"a few stepped forward,

1942
01:48:20,420 --> 01:48:22,766
"and their example was
immediately followed

1943
01:48:22,790 --> 01:48:25,936
by nearly all who were fit for duty."

1944
01:48:25,960 --> 01:48:29,306
In the end, more than
half the new England troops

1945
01:48:29,330 --> 01:48:32,806
agreed to fight on for 6 weeks.

1946
01:48:32,830 --> 01:48:36,816
On new year's day 1777,

1947
01:48:36,840 --> 01:48:39,646
supplemented by scattered militia

1948
01:48:39,670 --> 01:48:43,786
and 4 fresh regiments of
continentals from Pennsylvania,

1949
01:48:43,810 --> 01:48:49,796
George Washington again
commanded some 6,500 men.

1950
01:48:49,820 --> 01:48:52,790
John greenwood was not among them.

1951
01:48:54,020 --> 01:48:55,736
I had the itch then so bad

1952
01:48:55,760 --> 01:48:58,006
that my breeches stuck to my thighs,

1953
01:48:58,030 --> 01:49:00,436
and I had a hundred lice on me.

1954
01:49:00,460 --> 01:49:03,776
I told my lieutenant I was going home.

1955
01:49:03,800 --> 01:49:08,516
Says he, "my god, you are
not, I hope, going to leave us",

1956
01:49:08,540 --> 01:49:10,746
"as you are the life and soul of us.

1957
01:49:10,770 --> 01:49:13,046
You are to be promoted."

1958
01:49:13,070 --> 01:49:16,756
I told him I would not
stay to be a colonel.

1959
01:49:16,780 --> 01:49:21,096
20 months earlier,
14-year-old John greenwood

1960
01:49:21,120 --> 01:49:25,126
had walked all the way
from Maine to Massachusetts

1961
01:49:25,150 --> 01:49:29,196
and joined the American cause,
hoping it would somehow help him

1962
01:49:29,220 --> 01:49:33,606
get back to his parents
in British-occupied Boston.

1963
01:49:33,630 --> 01:49:37,776
Now he would tramp more
than 300 miles back home,

1964
01:49:37,800 --> 01:49:39,706
where his father saw to it

1965
01:49:39,730 --> 01:49:42,846
that the boy's clothes
were baked in the oven,

1966
01:49:42,870 --> 01:49:45,886
and he himself was fumigated with sulfur

1967
01:49:45,910 --> 01:49:48,256
before he could re-enter the home

1968
01:49:48,280 --> 01:49:51,286
he'd yearned for for so long.

1969
01:49:51,310 --> 01:49:55,756
For now, the revolution would
have to go on without him,

1970
01:49:55,780 --> 01:49:57,926
but it would go on,

1971
01:49:57,950 --> 01:50:02,296
thanks to the sacrifices he
and his fellow soldiers had made

1972
01:50:02,320 --> 01:50:04,706
and the victory they had won

1973
01:50:04,730 --> 01:50:08,260
when no victory had seemed possible.

1974
01:51:23,640 --> 01:51:25,686
Next time on "the American revolution."

1975
01:51:25,710 --> 01:51:28,586
Brandywine... Brandywine
was a hellscape

1976
01:51:28,610 --> 01:51:29,986
in so many ways.

1977
01:51:30,010 --> 01:51:33,996
Germantown... And the
pivotal battle of saratoga.

1978
01:51:34,020 --> 01:51:36,966
Native peoples are divided.

1979
01:51:36,990 --> 01:51:38,826
We're killing each other.

1980
01:51:38,850 --> 01:51:41,766
For what? So somebody
else can claim our land?

1981
01:51:41,790 --> 01:51:43,936
And the strategy of a general.

1982
01:51:43,960 --> 01:51:45,666
Washington reaches the insight...

1983
01:51:45,690 --> 01:51:47,236
he doesn't have to win.

1984
01:51:47,260 --> 01:51:48,576
He only has not to lose.

1985
01:51:48,600 --> 01:51:53,000
When "the American
revolution" continues next time.

1986
01:51:55,900 --> 01:51:58,416
Scan this qr code with your smart device

1987
01:51:58,440 --> 01:52:01,856
to dive deeper into the story
of "the American revolution"

1988
01:52:01,880 --> 01:52:05,680
with interactives, games,
classroom materials, and more.

1989
01:52:13,420 --> 01:52:15,996
"The American revolution"
DVD and blu-ray,

1990
01:52:16,020 --> 01:52:18,806
as well as the companion
book and soundtrack,

1991
01:52:18,830 --> 01:52:21,406
are available online and in stores.

1992
01:52:21,430 --> 01:52:24,676
The series is also
available with pbs passport

1993
01:52:24,700 --> 01:52:26,940
and on Amazon prime video.

1994
01:53:04,170 --> 01:53:06,516
The American revolution caused

1995
01:53:06,540 --> 01:53:08,756
an impact felt around the world.

1996
01:53:08,780 --> 01:53:13,896
The fight would take
ingenuity, determination,

1997
01:53:13,920 --> 01:53:18,166
and hope for a new tomorrow
to turn the tide of history

1998
01:53:18,190 --> 01:53:21,460
and set the American story in motion.

1999
01:53:26,030 --> 01:53:28,876
What would you like the power to do?

2000
01:53:28,900 --> 01:53:30,470
Bank of america.

2001
01:53:33,770 --> 01:53:36,176
Major funding for "the
American revolution"

2002
01:53:36,200 --> 01:53:37,586
was provided by the better angels society

2003
01:53:37,610 --> 01:53:40,086
and its members Jeannie
and Jonathan lavine

2004
01:53:40,110 --> 01:53:42,016
with the crimson lion foundation

2005
01:53:42,040 --> 01:53:44,126
and the blavatnik family foundation.

2006
01:53:44,150 --> 01:53:47,496
Major funding was also
provided by David m. Rubenstein,

2007
01:53:47,520 --> 01:53:50,596
the Robert d. And Patricia
e. Kern family foundation,

2008
01:53:50,620 --> 01:53:51,926
the Lilly endowment,

2009
01:53:51,950 --> 01:53:54,096
and by better angels society members:

2010
01:53:54,120 --> 01:53:56,466
Eric and Wendy schmidt,
Stephen a. Schwarzman,

2011
01:53:56,490 --> 01:53:59,166
and Kenneth c. Griffin
with Griffin catalyst.

2012
01:53:59,190 --> 01:54:00,936
Additional support was provided by

2013
01:54:00,960 --> 01:54:03,006
the Arthur vining Davis foundations,

2014
01:54:03,030 --> 01:54:04,806
the pew charitable trusts,

2015
01:54:04,830 --> 01:54:06,746
Gilbert s. Omenn and Martha a. Darling,

2016
01:54:06,770 --> 01:54:08,176
the park foundation,

2017
01:54:08,200 --> 01:54:10,146
and by better angels society members:

2018
01:54:10,170 --> 01:54:13,086
Gilchrist and Amy berg,
Perry and Donna golkin,

2019
01:54:13,110 --> 01:54:15,656
the michelson foundation,
Jacqueline b. Mars,

2020
01:54:15,680 --> 01:54:19,156
the kissick family foundation,
Diane and hal brierley,

2021
01:54:19,180 --> 01:54:21,896
John h.N. Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell,

2022
01:54:21,920 --> 01:54:23,356
John and Catherine debs,

2023
01:54:23,380 --> 01:54:25,196
the fuller ton family charitable fund,

2024
01:54:25,220 --> 01:54:27,036
and these additional members.

2025
01:54:27,060 --> 01:54:28,666
"The American revolution"

2026
01:54:28,690 --> 01:54:30,136
was made possible with support

2027
01:54:30,160 --> 01:54:32,366
from the corporation
for public broadcasting,

2028
01:54:32,390 --> 01:54:33,670
and viewers like you. Thank you.