Speaker 1: Hello, and Welcome to Western civ Episode four hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty four The American Revolution, Part two. By early seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy seven, war planners in Great Britain believed they could
Speaker 1: win by isolating New England, the cradle of the rebellion,
Speaker 1: from the Middle and southern colonies. The idea was to
Speaker 1: seize control of the Hudson River corridor in New York,
Speaker 1: linking forces in Canada with those in New York City.
Speaker 1: Once the Hudson was in British hands, New England could
Speaker 1: be cut off, starved a supply, and forced into submission.
Speaker 1: The plan had three moving parts. General John Burgoyne would
Speaker 1: march south from Canada through Lake Champlain along the Hudson
Speaker 1: River route with about eight thousand men. Colonel Barry Saint
Speaker 1: Leisure would move east from Lake Ontario down the Mohawk
Speaker 1: River Valley, rallying loyalists and Native allies. Jenior William Howe,
Speaker 1: commanding New York City, was expected to move north of
Speaker 1: the Hudson, where he would rendezvous with Burgoyne. It was
Speaker 1: a bold plan, but its coordination, or lack thereof, would
Speaker 1: prove its undoing. Burgoyne began his advance in June seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy seven. Moving down Lake Champlain, he captured for Tykwonderoga
Speaker 1: on July the sixth without a major fight, when American
Speaker 1: forces under General Arthur Saint Clair abandoned it in the
Speaker 1: face of British artillery placed on nearby Mount Defiance in London.
Speaker 1: The victory was hailed as a sign that the campaign
Speaker 1: was on track, but Burgoyne soon encountered problems. His army's
Speaker 1: progress was slowed by wilderness terrain in the need to
Speaker 1: haul heavy baggage and artillery, much of it his own,
Speaker 1: the Americans felled trees, destroyed bridges, and harassed the enemy's
Speaker 1: supply lines the entire way. In August, seeking provisions, Burgoyne
Speaker 1: sent a detachment toward Bennington, Vermont. There, on August the sixteenth,
Speaker 1: New Hampshire militia under General John Stark, reinforced by SETH
Speaker 1: Warner's Green Mountain Boys, crushed the British force, capturing or
Speaker 1: killing nine hundred men. Stark famously told his men before
Speaker 1: the fight quote, there they are boys, we beat them today,
Speaker 1: or Molly Stark sleeps a widow tonight. Meanwhile, Saint Leger's forces,
Speaker 1: made up of British Regulars, Loyalists and Mohawk warriors led
Speaker 1: by Joseph Brandt, laid siege to Fort Stannix in present
Speaker 1: day Rome, New York, but the defenders, under Colonel Peter
Speaker 1: Grants vout held firm. A relief column of militia under
Speaker 1: General Nichos Harkener fought a bloody engagement at Arkenay on
Speaker 1: August six, one of the war's most brutal encounters. Though
Speaker 1: technically a British tactical success, heavy casualties weakened Saint Leger's position.
Speaker 1: Rumors of a large American force approaching, spread in part
Speaker 1: by the bold deception of one Benedict Arnold, caused Saint
Speaker 1: Leger's Native allies to abandon him. He retreated to Canada
Speaker 1: without linking up with Burgoyne. By September, Burgoyne had now
Speaker 1: reached the Hudson River near Saratoga, but was dangerously isolated.
Speaker 1: How instead of marching north to meet him, had sailed
Speaker 1: south to capture Philadelphia, leaving Burgoyne to face the main
Speaker 1: American army alone. General Horatio Gates, newly in command of
Speaker 1: the Colonial Northern Department, established a strong defensive position at
Speaker 1: Beamis Heights south of Saratoga, with fortifications designed by Polish
Speaker 1: engineer Thadeus Kutskoff. Gates's army was swelled by militia inspired
Speaker 1: by recent successes, including aggressive field actions under leaders like
Speaker 1: Benedict Arnold and under Daniel Morgan. On September the nineteenth
Speaker 1: Burgoyne tried to turn the American left flank at the
Speaker 1: First Battle of Saratoga, located on Freeman's Farm on September
Speaker 1: the nineteenth, seventeen seventy seven. His troops clashed with advanced
Speaker 1: American units in the farm fields of John Freeman's property.
Speaker 1: Daniel Morgan's riflemen poured accurate fire into British columns, while Arnold,
Speaker 1: although technically under Gates command, rode along the line's urging attacks.
Speaker 1: The fighting raged on for hours. The British held the
Speaker 1: field at day's end, but suffered nearly six hundred casualties,
Speaker 1: losses that Burgoyne could ill afford. The Americans lost around
Speaker 1: three hundred, but crucially they retained their defensive position, leading
Speaker 1: to the Second Battle of Saratoga on Beamus Heights on
Speaker 1: October seventh, seventeen seventy seven, with Burgoyne's supplies now nearly gone,
Speaker 1: and desertion growing among his native allies, Burgoyne needed to
Speaker 1: do something, and so on October the seventh, he launched
Speaker 1: a reconnaissance in forced to test the American lines. Gates
Speaker 1: ordered Morgan's riflemen and other units to counter the attack.
Speaker 1: In the fierce fighting, American troops broke through the British right.
Speaker 1: Benedict Arnold, still without a formal command, after clashing with Gates,
Speaker 1: rode into the battle anyway, rallying soldiers and leading a
Speaker 1: charge that overran key positions, including the fortified redoubt held
Speaker 1: by Hessian troops. Arnold was wounded in the leg, but
Speaker 1: his intervation was decisive. Burgoorne's army, now totally totally demoralized
Speaker 1: after this devastating defeat, retreated all the way back to Saratoga,
Speaker 1: surrounded with no prospect of relief. We're going open negotiations.
Speaker 1: On October the seventeenth, he surrendered his entire army of
Speaker 1: about five and eight hundred remaining men to Gates. The
Speaker 1: quote unquote Convention of Saratoga allowed the British troops to
Speaker 1: return to Europe, but unfortunately, the Continental Congress later voided
Speaker 1: that battlefield decision, and the British soldiers were held as
Speaker 1: prisoners of war. Saratoga would prove to be the turning
Speaker 1: point of the American Revolution. Militarily destroyed a major British army,
Speaker 1: and it secured the Hudson Valley for the Americans. Politically,
Speaker 1: as I'll get into next week, it convinced France that
Speaker 1: the United States could win this war. In early seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy eight, France entered the war as a formal ally,
Speaker 1: soon followed by Spain and the Dutch Republic. As the
Speaker 1: French Foreign Minister Regaines put its, burgoyne surrender was proof
Speaker 1: that quote England's cause is lost in America. From the
Speaker 1: smoke choked fields of Freemen's Farm and Beeman's Heights came
Speaker 1: not just an American victory, but the birth of an
Speaker 1: international war for independence, one that Britain could no longer
Speaker 1: fight on its terms alone. At the same time, however,
Speaker 1: George Washington and his army had been pushed to the limit.
Speaker 1: By mid seventeen seventy seven, Britain had two major campaigns
Speaker 1: in motion. In the North, General John Burgoyne was marching
Speaker 1: from Canada toward Albany, hoping to meet the forces from
Speaker 1: New York City he wouldn't and cut New England off
Speaker 1: from the rest of the colonies. He didn't, But in
Speaker 1: the south, General William Howe, commanding the main British army,
Speaker 1: had his own plans. Rather than march north to link
Speaker 1: up with Burgoyne, which he should have, how decided to
Speaker 1: capture Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress. How believed
Speaker 1: that taking the rebel cap capital would cripple the revolution's
Speaker 1: political leadership, undermining public morale, and perhaps bring the war
Speaker 1: to a quick and decisive end. In late July, How's
Speaker 1: army of about fifteen thousand men set sail from New
Speaker 1: York City. Washington, uncertain of his destination, kept his army
Speaker 1: ready to shadow the British. Once they landed. On August
Speaker 1: the twenty fifth, how Does embarked at head of Elk, Maryland,
Speaker 1: placing himself about fifteen miles southwest of Philadelphia. Washington moved
Speaker 1: quickly to block his advance, choosing to make a stand
Speaker 1: at Brandywine Creek near Chadsford, Pennsylvania, a series of fords
Speaker 1: that controlled the main roads to the capitol. On the
Speaker 1: morning of September eleventh, Washington deployed his fourteen thousand men
Speaker 1: to guard the Fords. How employing attack similar that he
Speaker 1: had us used in New York, launched a diversionary attack
Speaker 1: at Chad's Ford while sending the bulk of his army
Speaker 1: under Lord Cornwallis on a long flanking motion and marched
Speaker 1: to the north. By afternoon, Cornwallis's column struck Washington's right
Speaker 1: flank near Birmingham Meetinghouse. Despite really strong and spirited resistance
Speaker 1: from divisions under both John Sullivan and Nathaniel Green, the
Speaker 1: American lines ultimately broke under the pressure. Washington's army retreated
Speaker 1: in good order towards Chester, leaving the British with the
Speaker 1: clear path to Philadelphia. American casualties numbered about eleven hundred
Speaker 1: compared to about six hundred losses. The defeated Brandywine opened
Speaker 1: the road to the capitol. On September twenty sixth, seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy seven, British forces marched into Philadelphia unopposed. The Continental
Speaker 1: Congress had fled to York, Pennsylvania, and now the city's occupation,
Speaker 1: of course, how believed would be a huge political blow,
Speaker 1: but it didn't work. Out that way. Honestly, the center
Speaker 1: of resistance never really collapsed. The Continental Army remained in
Speaker 1: the field. And this continues to illustrate the British misunderstanding.
Speaker 1: Here in the beginning, it's all a Boston problem. Let's
Speaker 1: just take out Boston and New England. That didn't work,
Speaker 1: so okay, Well, let's go after Philadelphia and that'll take
Speaker 1: care of the situation. Well, that didn't work either, And
Speaker 1: so as a consequence, with Washington still in the field,
Speaker 1: How had accomplished very little, and unbeknownst to him, he
Speaker 1: had sacrificed Burgoyne and his army, which would prove to
Speaker 1: be the decisive turning point of the American Revolution. Washington
Speaker 1: was also unwilling to let How's army rest easy in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: Learning that the British had posted nine thousand troops at Germantown,
Speaker 1: a few miles north of the city, he devised an
Speaker 1: ambitious attack. The plan called for four separate American columns
Speaker 1: to converge on Germantown in a pre dawn assault. At first,
Speaker 1: the attack on October the fourth went well, driving back
Speaker 1: the initial British pickets, but morning fog, complex coordination, and
Speaker 1: a stubborn British defense inside the Chew House, a solid
Speaker 1: stone mansion, disrupted the advance. Confusion spread, friendly fire, incidents occurred,
Speaker 1: and the British counterattacked. American forces retreated after several hours
Speaker 1: of fighting, leaving about one thousand casualties on the field. Still,
Speaker 1: the boldness of the attack impressed foreign observers, especially those
Speaker 1: in France, showing that the Continental Army could take the
Speaker 1: offensive against seasoned British troops. Through October and November, Washington
Speaker 1: shadowed House forces, preventing them from breaking out of Philadelphia
Speaker 1: to raid the countryside. In early December, at the Battle
Speaker 1: of White Marsh, the British probed the American position, but
Speaker 1: decided against a full scale attack. With Drawing back to
Speaker 1: the city. With winter closing in and supply shortages worsening,
Speaker 1: Washington made the fateful decision to encamp his army at
Speaker 1: Valley Forge, about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia. It would
Speaker 1: be a defensible position from which to watch the British,
Speaker 1: while also allowing the army to recover and reorganize. It
Speaker 1: would also prove to be a decision that would remake
Speaker 1: the Continental Army in many ways, and build on the
Speaker 1: already growing reputation a myth of the greatness of George Washington.
Speaker 1: The Fall campaign of seventeen seventy seven had been tough sledding,
Speaker 1: to say the least. Washington had lost the Battle of
Speaker 1: Brandywine in September, allowing British General William Howe toure Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: An American counterattack at Germantown in October had failed, and
Speaker 1: now the British wintered comfortably in the occupied city. Washington
Speaker 1: needed a position close enough to monitor the enemy, but
Speaker 1: far enough to protect his army from a sudden attack.
Speaker 1: On December nineteenth, seventeen seventy seven, about twelve thousand Continental
Speaker 1: soldiers and camp followers tramped into the Valley Forge, twenty
Speaker 1: miles northwest of Philadelphia. The land offered defensible high ground
Speaker 1: and access to nearby farms, but there was no reality
Speaker 1: to the name. It wasn't a valley, just open fields
Speaker 1: an ice cold wind. The winter of seventeen seven to
Speaker 1: seventy eight at Valley Forge was not the coldest on record,
Speaker 1: but for an army lacking food, clothing, and shelter, it
Speaker 1: was beyond brtle. Soldiers built log huts and neat rows
Speaker 1: using whatever tools they had. Some slept under canvas or
Speaker 1: in makeshift lean tos until the huts were finished. By February,
Speaker 1: about four thousand men were listed as unfit for duty
Speaker 1: due to sickness, with diseases like smallpox, typhus, and dysentery
Speaker 1: spreading rapidly. Shortages in the continental supply system meant that
Speaker 1: men often meant days without meat, and even bread was scarce.
Speaker 1: On December the twenty third, Washington wrote to the Continental
Speaker 1: Congress in York in despair, quote, we have by a
Speaker 1: field return this day made no less than two thousand,
Speaker 1: eight hundred and ninety eight men now in camp unfit
Speaker 1: for duty because they are barefoot and otherwise naked. I
Speaker 1: am now convinced beyond doubt that some great and capital
Speaker 1: change suddenly takes place in the Quartermaster's department. This army
Speaker 1: must be reduced to one or other of these three things, starve, dissolve,
Speaker 1: or disperse. Now the army, of course did not dissolve,
Speaker 1: but only because the men captured, by loyalty to the
Speaker 1: cause and perhaps loyalty to George Washington, endured more than
Speaker 1: they could beyond reasonable limits. A soldier in the eighth Connecticut,
Speaker 1: later recalled quote, the army was poorly supplied with provisions, clothes, shoes,
Speaker 1: and tents. We were obliged to do our duty barefoot
Speaker 1: and almost naked in the cold and snow. Washington himself
Speaker 1: bore the political strain of the so called Conway Cabal
Speaker 1: of faction in Congress and the officer Corps, who whispered
Speaker 1: about replacing him with General Horatio Gates, the great Victor
Speaker 1: of Saratoga. But Washington handled the issue with calculated restraint,
Speaker 1: letting his quiet, persistence and concern for the army speak
Speaker 1: louder than any intrigue could. In fact, Washington never looked
Speaker 1: out for himself. He only looked out for his army.
Speaker 1: He spent that winter lobbying Congress and state governments for supplies,
Speaker 1: sometimes riding out personally in the bitter cold to inspect
Speaker 1: supply routes. His presence in camp, sharing the soldier's hardships
Speaker 1: helped to cement his reputation as a leader who endured
Speaker 1: alongside of his men. Then, in February seventeen seventy eight,
Speaker 1: a Prussian officer named Friedrich Wilhelm VN Steuben arrived at
Speaker 1: Valley Forge, recommended by Benjamin Franklin. No less, ben Steuben
Speaker 1: brought European millilitary expertise and a flare for the dramatic.
Speaker 1: He would swear at the troops in a mix of
Speaker 1: French and German, with aids hurriedly alongside of him, translating
Speaker 1: into English. He began drilling selected units, teaching them standardized maneuvers,
Speaker 1: bayonet techniques, and battlefield discipline. Rather than lecture, he demonstrated
Speaker 1: turning training into action. As one soldier would later write, quote,
Speaker 1: he taught us to use our arms properly and made
Speaker 1: us soldiers. Indeed, by spring, ben Steuben's methods had transformed
Speaker 1: the Continental Army from a collection of militia companies into
Speaker 1: a more cohesive, professional fighting force. Now. Valley Forge, to
Speaker 1: be fair, was not a frozen healscape of constant starvation,
Speaker 1: as myth would sometimes suggest. Supply issues did finally ease
Speaker 1: in late winter, but it was a place where endurance
Speaker 1: became the measure of your commitment to the cause. Washington
Speaker 1: framed the army suffering as part of the desire for
Speaker 1: independence itself in his General Orders of February sixteenth, seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy eight, he wrote, to see men without clothes to
Speaker 1: cover their nakedness, without blankets, to lay on, without shoes,
Speaker 1: and submitting without a murmur is a mark of patience,
Speaker 1: an obedience which, in my opinion, can scarce be paralleled.
Speaker 1: By June of seventeen seventy eight, as the British prepared
Speaker 1: to evacuate Philadelphia, the Continental Army broke camp at Valley Forge.
Speaker 1: The men who marched out were not the same as
Speaker 1: those who went in. They were more disciplined, and they
Speaker 1: were hardened by months of adversity, and they knew for
Speaker 1: the first time how to execute European battle maneuvers thanks
Speaker 1: to Van Stuiben. And as we'll see next time, they'll
Speaker 1: prove this almost immediately, meeting the British and open battle
Speaker 1: at Monmouth, New Jersey and holding the field against one
Speaker 1: of the world's best armies, a performance unthinkable without the
Speaker 1: prior winters crucible