Texas Pages

Like wars before and since, the War for American Independence was fought for economic reasons, as freedom cannot exist without economic independence. And, as most invaders who fight against guerrillas defending their homeland learn, the British found themselves in a "hornet's nest," which President Carter used for the title of his book on this subject. Early in the war, in October, 1776, British General William Glanville Evelyn tried to tell his superiors that the American rebels were “dangerous enemies” and unbeatable without massive troop increases. But they disregarded his warning, as they had always viewed colonist soldiers as “slovenly,” “peasants,” “lowest dregs of humanity,” “dirtiest, most contemptible cowardly dogs.” Before the revolt, British officers had a tradition of beating them for the slightest infractions, often lashing them to death. The lowest British private outranked the highest colonist officer. Thomas Paine, in “Common Sense,” complained about this and how outrageous it was that colonists were dragged into one European war after another “against nations who would otherwise seek our friendship.”

Paine contributed several quotations to Bartlett's and they're authentic because he wrote them down. Arguably the most famous quotation to come out of that war was Commodore John Paul Jones's statement, “I have not not yet begun to fight.” Only thing is, writes John Ferling, the Commodore didn't say it. Nobody knows for sure what he really said but Ferling lists some possibilities. The one most likely: “I haven't as yet thought of surrendering.” It took a word-and-myth man to come up with the more mellifluous substitute.

Other ponderables:

The redcoats fired .75 caliber musket balls. At close enough range one could surely take a soldier's shoulder off.

Slaves (5,000 or so) who fought with the Continental Army and survived were freed at the end of the war. The 500,000 who chose the wrong side had to go to England for their freedom (and maybe that's why Lennox Lewis and Joe Louis didn't sound alike).

The bloodiest battle: the Waxhaw massacre, when British Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his larger force slaughtered 800 rebels at Waxhaw, NC, severing their hands, legs, feet, arms, and heads, and cutting their stomachs out.

Washington's worst winter by far was not at Valley Forge but at Morristown, NJ, 1779-1780.

While Washington's men bordered on starvation, British General Cornwallis's men consumed 17 tons of food daily.

To keep his Army together Washington asked the Continental Congress for extended enlistment periods and offered bigger cash and land bonuses. When his forces shrank in 1777 to 39,000, he got Congress to start drafting, browbeating, appealing to patriotism, soliciting mercenaries, and allowing the rich to avoid the draft by paying two substitutes to serve in their place.

It did not start out as a war for independence, writes Ferling, but as one to gain free trade. It wasn't until July 1, 1776, that the colonies voted for independence and on July 3, the representatives in Philadelphia approved it unanimously.

The anti-revolution colonists, or Tories, were at first hearty in their allegiance to the King. One group kidnapped a signer of the Declaration Independence, Richard Stockton, and tortured him until he recanted. As the war worsened for the British, the Tories dwindled in number and some switched sides. General Howe offered a pardon “to all who returned to a peaceable obedience to His Majesty.”

Again, it was like most other wars before and since. “Not everyone was affected equally,” the author says. A minimum of 30,000 died in battle, one in four of those who fought. In the Civil War, it was one in five, and one in 40 in WWII. Many civilians, “well into the thousands,” died and were displaced while others profited from “lucrative war contracts.” When Washington went to Philadelphia during the war he was appalled by the indifference he found there among the affluent classes and the luxuriance of their daily lives.

To maintain a continuous supply of colonist troops, men 16 to 60 were recruited (though sometimes not paid for a year) and offered larger and larger bonuses. Also, soldiers were exalted and revered as heroes in order to motivate them to fight.

But for whatever reason these men fought on. Was it patriotism? They were revolting against their own government. Was it to improve their social station? The war had nothing to do with social class. Was it for the military pay? They didn't get paid for up to a year at a time. Was it for the noble idea of self-governance? They were uneducated farmers, and ideas were hardly part of their lives.

In some part their willingness to fight could be attributed to their genuine enmity toward British officers and soldiers for past inhumane treatment. But mostly, I think, it was due to George Washington, whose hold on them was as strong as a father's on his children. They wanted to please him. During those unimaginably cold winters at Valley Forge, and at Morristown, they stayed with him despite their hunger, exhaustion, and severe lack of warm clothing and blankets. Mr. Ferling emphasizes the importance of luck in this war and Washington had his share of both kinds. But above all, he was inspiring and resilient. He lasted, and his army with him.

A final question: given George Washington's invaluable leadership throughout this eight-year war, in what ways might history have been altered if British Major Patrick Ferguson had killed Washington at Brandywine Creek early in the war instead of passing up the easy shot?

Take your best shot.