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00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
00:30The Continental Congress rushes back to Philadelphia to take up the growing conflict
00:34as militia units from all over New England pour into Massachusetts to back up their neighbors.
00:43And the militias are certain that they can defeat the British Army
00:47because they have this revolutionary fire and spirit.
00:50And they argue that one man with that sort of spirit is worth 100 British regulars.
00:55One such man who comes to Massachusetts is a fearless officer from Connecticut.
01:01His name? Benedict Arnold.
01:04A man intent on doing great things in the coming war.
01:09Arnold has a bold military plan for the Patriot cause.
01:12When Benedict Arnold marched into the New England camp outside Boston right after Lexington and Concord,
01:19he was spit and polish.
01:21And he made such a physical impression, when he sat on a fine horse,
01:25he was literally a commanding figure.
01:28Men looked up to him.
01:30Arnold has come by his regal bearing the hard way.
01:33Born into a life of privilege, his alcoholic father squandered the family's fortune,
01:39a traumatic turnabout that forced Benedict, at 13, to apprentice with an apothecary.
01:46At 15, he ran away to fight with the Connecticut militia in the French and Indian War.
01:53After the war, he overcame his lowly circumstances to achieve wealth and success in business.
01:59But the angry, resentful youth has grown into a bitter and arrogant man,
02:04whose contempt for British rule has made him a militant patriot.
02:09Arnold convinces the Massachusetts Provincial Congress to send him on a mission
02:14that will grab personal glory for himself and desperately needed ammunition for the rebels
02:19to capture the guns at Fort Ticonderoga,
02:22the massive but loosely guarded British garrison in the upper reaches of New York.
02:30Fort Ticonderoga, people referred to it as the Gibraltar of North America.
02:34It was, by all standards, the most spectacular fortress in North America.
02:45As Arnold sets out on his quest to capture the fort,
02:49he hears that another soon-to-be-famous name is driven by the same idea.
02:58Ethan Allen, a hard-drinking, hard-living frontiersman from Connecticut,
03:02couldn't be more different from Benedict Arnold.
03:07Allen has been engaged by Connecticut's Congress to rally his personal militia
03:11for its own mission to Fort Ticonderoga.
03:14These are the notorious Green Mountain Boys
03:17who have been fighting their own war of independence against New York settlers.
03:23Ethan Allen, their colonel commandant,
03:27organized about 2,000 armed frontiersmen in what is now Vermont,
03:33who for five years had been fighting New Yorkers
03:38to keep them out of their farms, out of their new territory.
03:43And they were willing to fight for their land.
03:46And they could move very quickly.
03:49The Green Mountain Boys jump at the opportunity to take on the British.
03:53Taking separate paths, Allen and Arnold, each with his own orders,
03:58head towards Fort Ticonderoga.
04:00Arnold is alone, expecting to recruit men along the way.
04:06Allen and his men are already preparing the attack.
04:09Their paths cross 30 miles from their target.
04:20Arnold presents Allen with his Massachusetts orders
04:23and assumes he will command the operation.
04:27Allen, full of swagger as always,
04:29all but laughs in Arnold's face.
04:33These really are very vain, egotistical men,
04:38two strong personalities,
04:39very much interested in the accumulation of individual glory.
04:44The Green Mountain Boys were personally loyal to Allen,
04:47which Benedict Arnold found out to his chagrin
04:50when he arrived and tried to take over the attack on Ticonderoga.
04:54And they put down their guns,
04:56and they said they were going to march home,
04:57that they would only fight for Ethan Allen.
05:00We don't need the boat!
05:02We don't need the boat!
05:03Arnold grudgingly agrees to conduct the raid with these men,
05:07but finds himself relegated to second-in-command.
05:10It is a humiliating confrontation.
05:15In the pre-dawn hours of May 10th,
05:1883 Green Mountain Boys and 50 Massachusetts militiamen
05:22sneak up on the British stronghold.
05:26The 50 sleeping redcoats inside
05:28have gone undisturbed in the wilderness
05:31for so long
05:32they are totally unprepared
05:34for what's about to hit them.
05:42It's over in minutes.
05:44The British soldiers surrender without a fight.
05:46The fort's valuable artillery stores
05:48now belong to the rebels.
05:52They essentially stole the fort from the British.
05:55They were able to essentially walk in.
05:58In a manner of speaking,
05:59the British really left the keys in the door
06:02to Fort Ticonderoga.
06:05What happens next turns Arnold's stomach.
06:09Allen's men find 90 gallons of rum,
06:12go on a three-day binge,
06:13and tear the place apart,
06:15leaving Arnold to mop up after them.
06:18But the worst insult comes
06:20when Allen writes to Arnold's superiors
06:22in the Massachusetts Congress.
06:24Allen brazenly takes complete credit
06:26for the operation.
06:28He keeps all the glory for himself
06:30and purposely makes no mention
06:32of his rival,
06:33Benedict Arnold.
06:35For Arnold,
06:36it's a wound more devastating
06:38than being shot.
06:40For an officer's honor,
06:43public recognition was key.
06:45If you'd played an important role
06:47and you weren't mentioned,
06:49that was very disrespectful.
06:52So Arnold was justifiably offended.
06:56The affront to his honor
06:57is the first of many slights
06:59that will dog Benedict Arnold
07:00throughout the war
07:01and ultimately
07:03drive him to infamy.
07:07In Philadelphia,
07:09the men of Continental Congress
07:10reconvene in the Pennsylvania State House,
07:13which will later be named
07:14Independence Hall.
07:16They greet the capture of Fort Ticonderoga
07:19with decidedly mixed feelings.
07:22Still hoping for peace,
07:24they have refrained up till now
07:26from authorizing offensive actions
07:27against the British.
07:30The capture of Fort Ticonderoga
07:32catches the Continental Congress
07:34largely off guard.
07:35They had not anticipated this,
07:37they did not desire this,
07:38and it now has forced their hand.
07:40They know that a military response
07:42is inevitable,
07:43and they now must scramble
07:44to take action.
07:47The time has come
07:48for the 13 colonies
07:49to become a united military
07:51as well as political force.
07:54It issues currency
07:55against future tax collections
07:57from the colonies,
07:58to raise and supply an army.
08:01Their mission now
08:02is to conduct a war,
08:04even while searching
08:05for a way to avoid it.
08:07We ought immediately
08:08to adopt the army
08:09as a Continental army.
08:11Take upon ourselves
08:12the pay, subsistence,
08:14clothing, armor,
08:16and munitions of the troops.
08:18John Adams.
08:20Adams urges
08:21the immediate appointment
08:22of a commander
08:22to head up this new army.
08:24His Massachusetts colleague
08:26John Hancock,
08:27a vain, ambitious man
08:29who has just been elected
08:30president of Congress,
08:31assumes he will be offered
08:33this even more important role.
08:35His friend Adams
08:36is about to nominate him,
08:37or so he thinks.
08:39and that is a gentleman
08:41among us
08:41and very well known
08:43to all of us.
08:44A gentleman
08:45whose skill
08:46and experience
08:46as an officer,
08:48whose independent fortune,
08:50great talents,
08:51and excellent universal character
08:53would command
08:54the approbation
08:54of all the colonies
08:56better than any other person
08:58in the Union.
08:58and that is the gentleman
09:00from Virginia.
09:03Hancock is stunned.
09:06Adams passes him over
09:07for a gentleman planter
09:08from Virginia,
09:10George Washington.
09:12The Continental Congress
09:14wanted a national army,
09:15not just a Massachusetts army
09:17or a New England army.
09:19They thought that
09:20by getting a commander-in-chief
09:21from a different colony
09:23would balance that.
09:25So they cast a welcome eye
09:27on Washington from Virginia.
09:30At 6 feet 2 inches
09:32and 215 pounds,
09:34George Washington
09:35cuts an imposing figure.
09:37Prior to his nomination,
09:39he spoke very little
09:40in session,
09:41yet spoke volumes
09:42about his intentions
09:43by showing up every day
09:45dressed in a military uniform.
09:49Here's a very impressive guy.
09:51He wears this military uniform
09:53with great dignity,
09:54and of course,
09:55he shows up
09:56making the point.
09:57I have military experience.
10:00I am a person
10:02who you can count on
10:03as your military commander.
10:07So he has the image
10:08to do it,
10:09he's got the experience,
10:10he's from Virginia.
10:11They make him
10:12the commander-in-chief
10:13and he modestly says,
10:14I'm really not equal to the task
10:16and I'll just do my best.
10:18But lest some unlucky event
10:20should happen
10:20unfavorable to my reputation,
10:23I beg it may be remembered
10:24by every gentleman
10:26in the room
10:26that I this day
10:28declare with the utmost sincerity,
10:30I do not think myself
10:32equal to the command
10:34I am honored with.
10:35George Washington.
10:36His behavior
10:38seemed somewhat disingenuous.
10:41Clearly,
10:42he wanted it.
10:43He was very ambitious,
10:46he was particularly ambitious
10:47in military matters.
10:49Early on,
10:50he realizes that
10:51the best way
10:52to be ambitious
10:53is to convince
10:54everyone else
10:55that you're not ambitious
10:56and he follows this
10:58through his entire life.
11:02Ambitious,
11:03disingenuous,
11:04modest.
11:06Who is this man,
11:08George Washington,
11:09the man appointed
11:10to construct
11:10a new continental army?
11:12In 1775,
11:14he is hardly
11:14a household name.
11:17He's one of the wealthiest
11:18men in the country.
11:19He's in his mid-40s
11:20and really should be
11:21in retirement
11:21at that time.
11:22Washington is someone
11:23who has nothing to gain
11:25from participation
11:26in the revolution
11:27and everything to lose.
11:30He wasn't born to wealth.
11:33Washington's father
11:34was a Virginia farmer
11:35who died in 1743
11:36when George was only 11.
11:39Young George's circumstances
11:40were modest,
11:41but his dreams were big.
11:48But he envisioned himself
11:49dancing at the grand balls
11:51in the huge homes
11:52of the rich.
11:53He envisioned himself
11:54being a great landowner.
11:57And these are dreams
11:57that he pursued constantly
11:59all of his young adult life.
12:02As a teenager,
12:03he immerses himself
12:04in the teachings
12:05of a book called
12:06The Rules of Civility
12:07and Decent Behavior,
12:09which instructs readers
12:10on proper manners,
12:11social behavior,
12:12and temperament.
12:13He commits them
12:14into memory.
12:17In the presence of others,
12:19sing not to yourself
12:20with a humming noise,
12:22nor drum with your fingers
12:23of feet.
12:24Lift not one eyebrow
12:25higher than the other,
12:27and bedew no man's face
12:28with your spittle
12:29by approaching too near him
12:30when you speak.
12:32George Washington himself
12:33was very anxious
12:35to have all the right moves.
12:38He's as anxious as anyone
12:39as a teenager
12:40to get them right.
12:43At 16,
12:44with only an elementary
12:45school education,
12:46he becomes a surveyor
12:48where he learns
12:48how to navigate
12:49the wilderness,
12:50something that serves him
12:51well when he is appointed
12:52to the rank of major
12:53in the Virginia militia.
12:57In 1754,
12:58he leads a company
12:59of men
12:59into a territorial skirmish
13:01with French soldiers
13:02where someone
13:03in his regiment,
13:04perhaps Washington himself,
13:06kills a French diplomat.
13:09many believe
13:10his poor judgment
13:11starts a chain of events
13:12that leads
13:13to the French
13:14and Indian War.
13:18Despite his
13:19inauspicious start,
13:20Washington persists
13:21and eventually proves himself
13:23to be an exemplary officer.
13:28After the war,
13:29good fortune
13:30boosts Washington's ambitions.
13:34He marries a wealthy widow
13:36named Martha Custis
13:37and inherits
13:38his half-brother's estate,
13:40Mount Vernon,
13:41which he goes on
13:42to build into a plantation
13:43with more than
13:44a hundred slaves.
13:46As part of the land of gentry,
13:48he goes into
13:49Virginia politics.
13:50Though he may feign
13:52unworthiness,
13:53there is no one
13:54in 1775
13:55better equipped
13:56to take on the job
13:57of commander-in-chief.
14:00Very importantly,
14:01he had been a political figure
14:03for 16 years.
14:04He'd been a state legislator.
14:05So he was somebody
14:06who knew how to work
14:07with politicians,
14:08could work with Congress,
14:10and would not be
14:11a threat to Congress.
14:14My dearest,
14:16it has been determined
14:17in Congress
14:18that the whole army
14:19raised for the defense
14:20of the American cause
14:21shall be put under my care.
14:25Curiously,
14:25even when writing
14:26to Martha of his appointment,
14:27Washington is still pretending
14:29he doesn't want the job.
14:31You may believe me
14:32when I assure you
14:33in the most solemn manner
14:35that so far
14:36from seeking this appointment,
14:38I have used every endeavor
14:39in my power
14:40to avoid it.
14:45What he can't avoid
14:46is destiny.
14:49He takes the job
14:50for no pay
14:51and prepares to leave
14:52for Boston
14:53to take on
14:54the strongest army
14:55in the world,
14:56not yet knowing
14:57that all hell
14:58has already broken loose
14:59up there
15:01in a place called
15:02Bunker Hill.
15:18May, 1775.
15:20The rebels' capture
15:21of Fort Ticonderoga
15:22turns up the pressure
15:23on the already beleaguered
15:25British commander
15:26Thomas Gage.
15:29Back in the French
15:30and Indian War,
15:312,000 British soldiers
15:32lost their lives
15:34seizing Fort Ticonderoga.
15:36And now,
15:37Gage has lost it
15:38to the Americans.
15:40In London,
15:41King George
15:42is furious
15:43that Gage's superior forces
15:45have failed
15:45to control the colonists.
15:47I am of the opinion
15:48that when once
15:49these rebels
15:50have felt a smart blow,
15:51they will submit.
15:53And no situation
15:54can change
15:55my fixed resolution,
15:56either to bring
15:57the colonies
15:57to a due obedience
15:58or to cast them off.
16:01King George III.
16:03No more reasoning.
16:05No more legislating.
16:06The colonies
16:07will come to their senses
16:08or face a show of force
16:10unlike any
16:11they have ever seen.
16:12Gage is dismissed.
16:14He is too weak,
16:15too tolerant.
16:20To replace him,
16:21the British command
16:22sends its three
16:23best generals
16:24to bring the colonies
16:25to heel.
16:27These are England's
16:28best and brightest
16:29military men
16:29who become known
16:31as the Triumvirate
16:32of Reputation.
16:36General Henry Clinton,
16:38American-born,
16:40a competent soldier,
16:41but socially inept,
16:43a man referred to
16:44even by himself
16:45as a shy bitch.
16:49General John Burgoyne,
16:51vain and ambitious.
16:53One popular English writer
16:55gives him the nickname
16:56Julius Caesar Burgonius.
17:00And General William Howe,
17:03an experienced military man
17:05who came to appreciate
17:06America's British colonials
17:08while fighting alongside them
17:10in the French and Indian War.
17:12These three supporting generals
17:14were brought in
17:15essentially to supplant Gage
17:18and it became
17:18a kind of personal contest
17:20between these three men
17:22as to who would take
17:23Gage's position
17:24as commander-in-chief
17:25in America.
17:27Howe is the odds-on favorite
17:29but an odd choice
17:31to take over the command
17:32in America?
17:33A political liberal,
17:34he opposes the king's policies
17:36in the colonies
17:36and had once vowed
17:38not to fight against
17:39his English countrymen there.
17:44General William Howe
17:45was opposed to the war.
17:48All they wanted
17:48was the Americans
17:49to submit to British laws
17:50and British taxes.
17:51They didn't want
17:52to go fight them.
17:59Boston, June 16th.
18:02In the months
18:03since Lexington and Concord,
18:04rebel militia
18:05in the hills around Boston
18:06have laid siege
18:07to the city,
18:09trapping the British
18:10and their loyalists inside.
18:13Now, the British command
18:14is planning to break
18:15the rebel stranglehold
18:16with an overwhelming offensive
18:18up Bunker Hill
18:19to take the high ground
18:21around Boston.
18:24But the colonials
18:25are a step ahead
18:26of the British.
18:27Spies have slipped
18:28the British plans
18:29to the rebels.
18:30Up in the hills,
18:32regimental commanders
18:33from Connecticut
18:33and Massachusetts
18:34lead their men
18:35to fortify Bunker Hill,
18:37then decide to move
18:39one hill closer
18:40to Boston
18:40on Breed's Hill.
18:42There,
18:43they dig in
18:43for a British attack.
18:57Midnight,
18:58June 17th.
18:591,200 militiamen
19:01race the clock
19:01to beat the sunrise
19:03before it reveals
19:04their position
19:05to the British below.
19:06They must control
19:08the high ground
19:09before the enemy
19:09makes its own move.
19:14At daybreak,
19:16the sleeping British ships
19:17in Boston Harbor
19:18spot the militia positions
19:19and sound the alarm.
19:23All of Boston
19:24awakens with a start.
19:26The Patriots
19:27have beaten the British
19:28to the punch.
19:29The first full battle
19:31of the Revolution
19:31is joined.
19:36As the Redcoats
19:37assemble for battle,
19:38ships in the harbor
19:39try to pin down
19:40on the militia
19:41with cannon fire.
19:54Under the command
19:55of General William Howe,
19:56lines of British soldiers,
19:58their bayonets
19:58at the ready,
19:59climb the hill
20:00without any cover.
20:03Easy targets
20:04for a man
20:04and musket
20:05that can shoot straight.
20:08The British
20:09are convinced
20:09that they can form up
20:11in line
20:11and despite
20:12taking casualties
20:13instill in the Patriots
20:15fear
20:16of a professional
20:18disciplined force
20:19of regulars
20:20and demonstrate
20:21to the Americans
20:21that this is madness
20:23trying to oppose
20:24this army.
20:26Fire!
20:28Twice,
20:29Howe's men
20:30charge up Breed's Hill.
20:31Twice,
20:32they are repelled
20:33by the militia.
20:40From roofs
20:41and hilltops
20:41civilians come out
20:43to witness
20:43the bloodshed.
20:44It is war
20:45as spectators form
20:46but many fear
20:48for their loved ones
20:49in the fight.
20:52The rebel barrage
20:53goes on for three hours
20:55until they run
20:56out of ammunition.
20:58Despite their advantage,
20:59the rebels have no choice
21:01but to retreat.
21:02The British
21:03finally capture
21:04the hill
21:05on their third charge.
21:14But the ground
21:15is strewn
21:16with red-coated bodies.
21:20The new commander
21:21now realizes
21:22what no one
21:23in faraway England
21:24could possibly understand.
21:26This is not a rebellion.
21:28This is war.
21:31When I look
21:32to the consequences
21:33of it
21:33in the loss
21:34of so many brave officers,
21:36I do it with horror.
21:38The success
21:39is too dearly bought.
21:41British General
21:42William Howe.
21:44The British
21:45pay a horrendous price
21:46for their victory
21:47at Breed's Hill
21:48which erroneously
21:49but permanently
21:50becomes known
21:51as the Battle
21:51of Bunker Hill
21:52after the original target.
21:551,000 of the 2,300
21:57British soldiers,
21:59nearly half,
22:00are dead or wounded.
22:01The Americans
22:02lose 271 men
22:04out of 1,600.
22:05In defeat,
22:07the colonists
22:07have won.
22:08A paradox
22:09that over the next
22:10six years
22:11will come to characterize
22:12the Americans'
22:13bloody war
22:14for independence.
22:17Bunker Hill
22:18was a defeat,
22:19of course,
22:19for these colonists.
22:21but they inflicted
22:23such heavy losses
22:25on the British
22:25that it makes them
22:26a little cocky.
22:27That was the best-trained,
22:29most professional army
22:30on earth
22:31and look at the damage
22:32we did to them.
22:33It really gives them
22:34way too much confidence.
22:37In the days
22:38following the Battle
22:39of Bunker Hill,
22:40even as Congress
22:41begins to provide
22:42for a Continental Army,
22:43the delegates
22:44make one last attempt
22:45at reconciliation
22:46with Britain.
22:49They send the king
22:50what they call
22:51the Olive Branch Petition,
22:52respectfully requesting
22:54that he grant
22:54the North American colonies
22:56autonomy
22:57within the British Empire.
23:01Like all communication
23:02that crosses the Atlantic,
23:04it will take months
23:05for an answer,
23:06and General George Washington
23:08can't afford to wait
23:09to build his army.
23:10He alone
23:11holds the keys
23:13to liberty
23:14or to death.
23:24June, 1775.
23:26As word of the valiant defense
23:28of Boston's Bunker Hill
23:29reaches Philadelphia,
23:31General George Washington
23:32writes a new will
23:33and heads off
23:34to meet his destiny.
23:37Whatever mortal fears
23:38Washington harbors,
23:39the people he meets
23:41on his way to Boston
23:42have no such misgivings
23:43about the man
23:44charged to defend them.
23:46The appointment
23:48gives universal satisfaction.
23:50I was struck
23:51with General Washington.
23:53Dignity,
23:54with ease
23:54and complacency,
23:55the gentleman
23:56and soldier
23:57look agreeably blended
23:58in him.
23:59Abigail Adams.
24:05Cambridge, Massachusetts.
24:07Washington is in
24:08for a terrible surprise.
24:10Despite their brave defense
24:11of Breed's Hill,
24:12the men he is coming
24:14to command fail
24:15even his worst expectations.
24:18He really has a task
24:20that is absolutely mind-boggling.
24:23We say that there was
24:24an army around Boston.
24:25There wasn't an army
24:26around Boston.
24:27There was a gaggle.
24:28These men are ragged,
24:30disheveled,
24:31getting drunk on duty,
24:33no knowledge of how to handle
24:35a musket efficiently.
24:37There was no discipline.
24:38There was certainly
24:39no hygiene.
24:40Very little structure.
24:42It was a mess.
24:49These are Washington's
24:51revolutionaries.
24:52This is the army he has
24:55to defend against
24:56the British Empire.
24:57Order!
24:59Order!
25:00Whatever Washington may think
25:02of his soldiers as men
25:04and as citizens,
25:06as soldiers,
25:07they're not much use to him.
25:10A dirty,
25:11mercenary spirit
25:12pervades the whole.
25:14Could I have foreseen
25:15what I have?
25:16No consideration upon Earth
25:18should have induced me
25:20to accept this command.
25:22George Washington.
25:26The general must start
25:27from scratch
25:28and personally attend
25:29to even the lowliest,
25:31most rudimentary functions.
25:37His first tasks
25:38are fundamentally
25:39administrative tasks.
25:41His junior officers
25:42have to be taught
25:42how to fill out a report,
25:44how to count men,
25:47how to purchase supplies,
25:49how to buy tools,
25:51where to dig latrine,
25:54where to butcher meat,
25:55where to bury offal.
25:56These are all things
25:57that amazingly enough,
25:59Washington has to concern
26:00himself with.
26:01So the task before him
26:03is immense
26:04and it's going to require
26:05a tremendous amount of energy
26:08to literally whip this army
26:10into shape.
26:14And the whip
26:15will come down hard.
26:16Every man will learn discipline
26:18by Washington's very strict code.
26:21for disobedience of orders
26:23for disobedience of orders
26:23and damning his officer,
26:25to receive 30 lashes
26:26on his bare back,
26:28for expressing himself
26:29disrespectfully,
26:30to be stripped of his arms,
26:33put in a horse cart
26:33with rope around his neck
26:35and drummed out of the army.
26:38General George Washington.
26:41The new army is stitched together
26:44with widely different militias
26:45from very different colonies.
26:47Each is accustomed
26:48to its own command
26:49and its own way
26:50of doing things.
26:52Establishing a common culture
26:53is yet another
26:54overwhelming challenge.
26:56There were so many
26:57different brands
26:59of fighting traditions,
27:02cultures, and people.
27:04Washington was very concerned
27:06that there were so many rivalries,
27:08so much friction
27:09between members of his army.
27:13One of the army's
27:14most serious problems
27:15is the utter lack
27:16of ammunition and gunpowder.
27:19When Washington is told
27:20that they have only nine rounds
27:22of gunpowder per man,
27:23he is inconsolable.
27:28Advertisements in colonial newspapers
27:29plead for local gunmakers
27:31to step up their production,
27:33but to little avail.
27:35Perhaps no commander in history
27:37has ever faced
27:38so many obstacles
27:39to putting together
27:40a fighting force.
27:42And even if Washington succeeds,
27:44the effort may still be doomed.
27:47Most men have signed up
27:48for just one-year enlistments.
27:51These men are serving
27:52for very short terms.
27:54Most of them,
27:54their contracts expire
27:56either in November or December.
27:57They're only going to be around
27:59for a few months.
28:00So as soon as they become
28:01even remotely competent,
28:03they're going to go home
28:03and he's going to have
28:04a new group
28:05to train again.
28:09Against these odds,
28:10Washington has precious
28:11little time
28:12to turn this woefully
28:13undisciplined,
28:15underprepared,
28:15and undersupplied army
28:17into a force that will have
28:18to stand up
28:19against the strongest army
28:22in the world.
28:22and the other one.
28:35Fire!
28:37Fire!
28:40Fire!
28:41Fire!
28:41Lexington,
28:42Concord,
28:44Bunker Hill.
28:46All the skill and experience in the world can't help British forces tame the chaos in the colonies.
28:54Thomas Gage now has only 7,000 soldiers, surrounded by Washington's 16,000.
29:01The loss we have sustained is greater than we can bear.
29:04Small armies can't afford such losses.
29:08The rebels' number is great, so many hands have been employed.
29:11I wish this cursed place was burned.
29:17Thomas Gage.
29:19October 11th, 1775.
29:22Without fanfare and without honors, General Thomas Gage is relieved of his command.
29:29Once Britain's most powerful man in America, he returns home alone and disgraced.
29:39General William Howe steps into Gage's boots and is already knee-deep in the American quagmire.
29:52In London, King George roundly rejects the Olive Branch petition, Continental Congress's last grasp for peace.
30:00On October 26th, in his annual speech to Parliament, the King throws down the gauntlet.
30:07It has now become the part of wisdom to put a speedy end to these disorders by the most decisive
30:14exertions.
30:15King George III.
30:17What the King wants is a military solution to a political problem.
30:22But his call for war is anything but unanimous among Britain's people and politicians.
30:30But when Parliament votes, war carries the day.
30:34The military is ordered to send thousands more troops and a full armada to quell America's escalating revolution.
30:47Reinforcements can't come too soon for General William Howe.
30:51Hemmed in by the rebel siege, he and his army are virtual prisoners on the Boston Peninsula.
30:56Along with a thousand loyalists they're protecting.
31:02With no access to the countryside, they are unable to forage for food or wood.
31:07Supply ships from England have yet to arrive.
31:10The people in Boston are running out of provisions and fuel.
31:18Across the river in Cambridge, Washington is battling his own war of attrition.
31:22With the year about to come to an end, so will many enlistments.
31:26And short timers will soon be leaving in droves.
31:30And now, Congress is pushing him to let go of some of his most loyal soldiers.
31:36African Americans.
31:40From the very beginning, free northern blacks have been serving well the patriot cause, with the same concerns as their
31:47white compatriots.
31:48There was no militia unit that didn't have black men. They were at Bunker Hill. They were at Concord and
31:53Lexington and everywhere else.
31:55But recruiting black soldiers, that he had trouble with because the Continental Congress had trouble with it.
32:04Now that the army is a continental army, not just a local northern one, armed blacks have created a loaded
32:11issue in Congress.
32:13Southern states are adamantly opposed to making soldiers out of them.
32:18Washington is no different from any other southern planter regarding blacks.
32:22He sounds like the southern slaveholder he is when he issues his order banning black recruits.
32:30The rights of mankind and the freedom of America will have numbers sufficient to support them, without resorting to such
32:36wretched assistance.
32:39George Washington.
32:48The great irony is that the one man closest to the general is a black man.
32:53His slave, Billy Lee.
32:57For the seven years since Washington acquired him, Lee has been his master's valet and constant companion.
33:04Washington calls him, my family.
33:07Billy Lee was more than just a slave to George Washington. He was his personal slave.
33:14Billy Lee went with him every place.
33:16George Washington was the best horseman in Virginia. Billy Lee was the second best.
33:21And he and Washington would horseback ride just about every day.
33:24And so the two of them presented quite a picture, a picture that was noticed over and over by people
33:30at the time who wrote about Washington and his male servant, Billy Lee.
33:35You could say that Billy Lee, in fact, was a close friend of George Washington, even though he was a
33:40slave.
33:44Washington and Congress's decision to reject black soldiers plays perfectly into the enemy's hands.
33:52The royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issues a proclamation that welcomes blacks to the British side.
33:59I do hereby declare all indentured servants, Negroes or others that are able and willing to bear arms free.
34:07They joining his majesty's troops as soon as may be.
34:11Lord Dunmore.
34:14The Dunmore proclamation wreaks havoc throughout Virginia.
34:18Thousands of slaves flee their masters for this chance at freedom.
34:24If you have the opportunity to throw in your lot with people who are promising you a much better situation
34:31than you have had, you'd be silly not to take that promise seriously.
34:37It was the best opportunity for freedom they had ever seen and they never knew whether such an opportunity would
34:44ever present itself again.
34:46You know, Thomas Jefferson estimates that in Virginia alone, 30,000 African Americans walked off the plantation and many of
34:55them became British soldiers.
34:57So for the British, this is wonderful.
35:00They're not only sapping the colonial economy by depriving it of slave labor, but they've added to their fighting force.
35:12Free blacks travel secretly from plantation to plantation to embolden slaves to escape.
35:18If they are caught, they risk death or torture.
35:25While the fight for liberty in the south threatens to blow the slave culture apart,
35:29the approaching new year threatens to dissolve Washington's northern army.
35:41We are now without any money in our treasury, powder in our magazines, arms in our stores, without a brigadier,
35:49engineers, expresses.
35:51By and by, when we shall be called upon to take the field, we shall not have a tent to
35:55lie in.
35:57I have often thought how much happier I should have been if, instead of accepting a command under such circumstances,
36:04I had taken my musket upon my shoulders and entered the ranks,
36:08or had retired to the back country and lived in a wigwam.
36:12George Washington.
36:24All seems lost, even before it's begun.
36:29Until a former bookseller has an idea that will change everything.
36:42January 1st, 1776.
36:46It's a new year for a new army, and General Washington raises a new flag to commemorate it.
36:52The Grand Union.
36:54With 13 stripes representing both the differences and common cause of the 13 colonies.
36:59and with the British Union Jack in the upper left to acknowledge those colonial leaders hoping to salvage a relationship
37:07with England.
37:11That same day, the colonies get the news of the King's October proclamation to crush the rebellion by any means
37:18necessary.
37:20It's a stunning declaration by the King that rouses rebel ire more than ever.
37:27But an army needs more than anger to fight a war.
37:32With the onset of winter, neither side has the supplies necessary to brave the cold and snow.
37:39The British hole up in Boston waiting for reinforcements and supplies from England.
37:45While Washington uses the time to piece together an army short on everything from manpower to gunpowder.
37:53But help is on the way.
37:58Henry Knox, a 25-year-old colonel and former Boston bookseller, is leading a trek from Cambridge to Fort Ticonderoga
38:06on a quest for arms.
38:09Knox has taken it upon himself to recover the artillery captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga.
38:15For two months in the cold and wet, he, his men and teams of oxen haul 120,000 pounds of
38:22artillery across 300 miles of muddy woods, frozen rivers and steep icy slopes back to headquarters in Cambridge.
38:39On January 25th, Colonel Knox delivers all of the weaponry to his commander in chief, miraculously intact.
38:50It is the best gift Washington could ever receive.
38:54Finally, he has the firepower he so badly needs.
38:59Washington also has in Knox a valued new commander in charge of artillery.
39:04Knox becomes part of Washington's inner circle of junior officers, whose counsel he values enormously.
39:15George Washington always had the ability to listen to many people, particularly younger men.
39:23He thinks everybody's view is important, that it's a part of the puzzle, that people know things that he doesn't
39:30know.
39:30And if he can listen to enough opinions, he'll know as much as they do.
39:35A hallmark of good leadership.
39:39Right away, Washington's brain trust keeps him from making a fatal mistake.
39:44As the spring thaw approaches, Washington wants to send waves of foot soldiers down into Boston in a full frontal
39:50attack.
39:54But his officers overrule him.
39:56The British are too well fortified, and the Continentals are still short of gunpowder.
40:02They do, however, have Knox's artillery.
40:04They decide to take the highest ground, Dorchester Heights, and bombard the city.
40:13March 2nd.
40:14After months of waiting, Washington and his men are more than eager to move.
40:24The general is about to launch the first offensive of his command.
40:28He sends a stern warning to his troops.
40:33Our posterity depends upon the vigor of our exertions.
40:37If any man in action shall presume to skulk, hide himself, or retreat from the enemy without the orders of
40:43his commanding officer,
40:44he will be instantly shot down as an example of cowardice.
40:48General Washington.
40:53The night of March 4th.
40:55Surprise will be the key.
40:58From three points outside the city, Cabo Hill, Lechmere, and Roxbury, the army rains light cannon fire down on Boston.
41:07A decoy to misdirect the British, while the rest of the army hauls Knox's artillery over to Dorchester Heights.
41:15Through the night, Washington's men build fortifications and drag cannon up the steep, frozen slope.
41:22By morning, everything is in place.
41:27Daybreak, March 5th.
41:29On the sixth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, the British awake to the sight of 20 cannon pointed down on
41:36their ships in the harbor.
41:38My God, a shocked Howe exclaims, these fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my
41:44army do in three months.
41:47It's not until after they see Ticonderoga's guns on Dorchester Heights that they realize they've got to get the heck
41:53out of there.
41:53The Continentals don't even need to fire a shot.
41:57Howe issues a futile order for his ship's cannon to fire on the Continental position.
42:03But Washington's guns sit just out of range.
42:07Luckily for Howe, his ships are also out of Washington's range.
42:12Howe and his army prepare to abandon the city and take thousands of Loyalist citizens with them.
42:18One Loyalist would later write,
42:20The necessary care of the women sick and wounded required every assistance that could be given.
42:25It was not like the breaking up of a camp where every man knows his duty.
42:30It was like departing your country with your wives, your servants, your household furniture, and all your encumbrances.
42:39Over the next two weeks, the Continentals watch from above as all of Boston scrambles to evacuate, taking everything with
42:46them that isn't nailed down.
42:48It is a bitter exile for the Loyalists, many of whose families had lived in Boston for generations.
42:56By March 17th, they are all gone.
43:02120 ships carry 9,000 Redcoats, 2,000 Loyalists, and as many of the city's usable goods as possible, out
43:12to an unknown fate.
43:15The Patriots return to the city, the beloved birthplace of the rebellion, and Washington enjoys the first victory of his
43:23command.
43:24But it will be his last for the rest of a grueling and humiliating year.
43:311776 will see 33,000 British troops, the largest contingent ever sent overseas, head for America, to grind the revolution
43:42into dust.
44:0718Y should have been introduced to a number of pants, especially by the time with safety.
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