On 20 January 1775 the former Prime Minister William Pitt introduced a bill
to recall the troops from Boston, but it was defeated 18 to 68. He said,
But now, my Lords, we find that
instead of suppressing the opposition in Boston,
these measures have spread it over the whole continent.
They have united that whole people
by the most indissoluble of all bands—intolerable wrongs….
Let the sacredness of their property remain inviolate;
let it be taxable only by their own consent,
given in their provincial assemblies,
else it will cease to be property….
Resistance to your acts was as necessary as it was just,
and your vain declarations of the omnipotence
of Parliament, and your imperious doctrines
of the necessity of submission, will be found
equally impotent to convince or enslave
your fellow subjects in America who feel that tyranny,
whether ambitioned by an individual part of the Legislature,
or by the bodies which compose it,
is equally intolerable to British principles….
Woe be to him who sheds the first—the inexpiable—
drop of blood in an impious war with a people
contending in the great cause of public liberty.
I will tell you plainly, my Lords:
No son of mine, nor any one over whom I have influence,
shall ever draw his sword upon his fellow subjects….
I wish, my lords, not to lose a day in this urgent,
pressing crisis; an hour lost in allaying ferments in America,
may produce years of calamity….
The glorious spirit of Whiggism animates
three millions in America; who prefer poverty with liberty,
to guilded chains and sordid affluence;
and who will die in defense
of their rights as men, as freemen….
I trust it is obvious to your lordships, that all attempts
to impose servitude upon such men, to establish
despotism over such a mighty continental nation,
must be vain, must be fatal.
We shall be forced ultimately to retract;
let us retract while we can, not when we must.
I say we must necessarily undo
these violent oppressive acts: they must be repealed!
You will repeal them;
I pledge myself that you will in the end repeal them.1
The former Continental Congress president Peyton Randolph
called for another Virginia Convention in the new town of Richmond,
and Fairfax electors picked Washington again on 20 February 1775.
In March he announced Virginia’s approval of the Continental Congress decisions
and resolves for defense preparations that Patrick Henry presented.
On March 25 Washington was reelected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress,
and on that day he wrote to his brother John,
I had like to have forgot to express my entire approbation
of the laudable pursuit you are engaged in
of Training an Independent Company.
I have promised to review the Independent Company
of Richmond sometime this Summer,
they having made me a tender of the Command of it.
At the same time I could review yours and shall
very cheerfully accept the honor of Commanding it,
if occasion requires it to be drawn out,
as it is my full intention to devote my Life and Fortune
in the cause we are engaged in.2
The Second Virginia Convention on March 20 approved
the resolutions of the First Continental Congress.
At that gathering Patrick Henry exclaimed,
I repeat it, sir, we must fight.
An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts
is all that is left to us.
They tell us, sir, that we are weak,
unable to cope with so formidable an adversary.
But when shall we be stronger?
Will it be next week or the next year?
There is no retreat but in submission and slavery.
Our chains are forged.
Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston.
The war is inevitable. And let it come!
I repeat it, sir, let it come!
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter.
Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace—but there is no peace.
The war is actually begun.
The next gale that surveys from the north
will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms.
Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand idle here?
Is life so dark or peace so sweet as to be purchased
at the price of chains—and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God!
I know not what course others may take,
but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!3
The Convention chose seven members to attend the Second Continental Congress
led by Peyton Randolph, Washington, and Patrick Henry.
County militias were organizing independent companies,
and five of them chose Washington to lead them by March.
On the night of 18 April 1775 about 800 British soldiers left Boston
to march to Lexington to take command of weapons.
Paul Revere saw the two lanterns signal in the tower of the North church that
they were going by boat, and he roused houses on the way to Lexington.
Later that night the British captured Revere and threatened him with death if he did not talk.
He truthfully told them the Americans would be ready for them, and they let him go.
Revere then warned Sam Adams and John Hancock, and they left for Philadelphia.
The British were delayed, and Col. Francis Smith,
hearing guns firing, sent back for reinforcements.
Lexington at town meetings had begun training and arming men by December 1774.
About 130 militia minutemen reported to the Lexington common at two in the morning.
Before dawn on April 19 the British arrived at Lexington,
and their troops destroyed military equipment and cannons.
Major Pitcairn ordered the Americans to drop their weapons and disperse.
When they kept their weapons while leaving, British soldiers began to fire.
Captain Jonas Parker had ordered the Americans not to shoot first,
and now they returned the fire.
Eight Lexington men were killed, and ten were wounded.
The British began shooting at militia in Lexington and Concord.
As the British marched to Boston, the militia and Continental Minutemen harassed them.
The British had 73 killed and 174 wounded while
the Americans lost 49 killed and had 39 wounded.
The Continentals began the siege of Boston on April 19
while the British Navy controlled the sea.
On April 26 the Provincial Congress at Watertown, Massachusetts
published this “American Account of the Battle of Lexington.”
In provincial congress of Massachusetts,
to the inhabitants of Great Britain.
Friends and fellow subjects—
Hostilities are at length commenced in this colony
by the troops under the command of general Gage,
and it being of the greatest importance,
that an early, true, and authentic account
of this inhuman proceeding should be known to you,
the congress of this colony have transmitted the same,
and from want of a session of the hon. continental congress,
think it proper to address you on the alarming occasion.
By the clearest depositions relative to this transaction,
it will appear that on the night preceding
the nineteenth of April instant, a body of the king’s troops,
under the command of Colonel Smith,
were secretly landed at Cambridge, with an apparent design
to take or destroy the military and other stores,
provided for the defense of this colony,
and deposited at Concord—that some inhabitants
of the colony, on the night aforesaid, whilst travelling
peaceably on the road, between Boston and Concord,
were seized and greatly abused by armed men,
who appeared to be officers of general Gage’s army;
that the town of Lexington, by these means, was alarmed,
and a company of the inhabitants mustered on the occasion—
that the regular troops on their way to Concord,
marched into the said town of Lexington, and the said company,
on their approach, began to disperse—
that, notwithstanding this, the regulars rushed on
with great violence and first began hostilities,
by firing on said Lexington company,
whereby they killed eight, and wounded several others—
that the regulars continued their fire, until those
of said company, who were neither killed nor wounded,
had made their escape—that Colonel Smith,
with the detachment then marched to Concord,
where a number of provincials were again fired on
by the troops, two of them killed and several wounded,
before the provincials fired on them,
and provincials were again fired on by the troops,
produced an engagement that lasted through the day,
in which many of the provincials
and more of the regular troops were killed and wounded.
To give a particular account of the ravages of the troops,
as they retreated from Concord to Charlestown,
would be very difficult, if not impracticable;
let it suffice to say, that a great number of the houses
on the road were plundered and rendered unfit for use,
several were burnt, women in child-bed were driven
by the soldiery naked into the streets,
old men peaceably in their houses were shot dead,
and such scenes exhibited
as would disgrace the annals of the most uncivilized nation.
These, brethren, are marks of ministerial vengeance
against this colony, for refusing, with her sister colonies,
a submission to slavery;
but they have not yet detached us from our royal sovereign.
We profess to be his loyal and dutiful subjects,
and so hardly dealt with as we have been,
are still ready, with our lives and fortunes,
to defend his person, family, crown and dignity.
Nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny
of his cruel ministry we will not tamely submit—
appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause
we determine to die or be free.
By order,
Joseph Warren, President.4
British soldiers searched for John Hancock and Sam Adams and then marched
from
Lexington to Concord where they outnumbered about 400 Americans at least four to one.
Most of the weapons and ammunition had been destroyed,
and the British plundered private houses and burned the courthouse.
After the British initiated the shooting,
the Americans fought back, killing two British right away.
Later as the British retreated, the Americans ambushed them along the road.
Hugh Percy arrived with three regiments of 1,200 men.
By the end of the day at Concord 49 Americans had been killed, and 34 were wounded;
the British suffered 65 dead and 207 wounded or missing.
Heralds carried news of war far and wide.
By morning on April 20 a circular had reached several towns in Massachusetts.
Their congress on April 23 unanimously decided to raise 13,600 men
for a New England army of 30,000 under General Artemas Ward.
By the next day New Hampshire had planned to raise 2,000 men.
Hundreds elected Israel Putnam their leader in Connecticut, and Benedict Arnold
led a volunteer company from New Haven.
Connecticut offered 6,000 men.
The assembly in Rhode Island authorized a force of 1,500 men,
and they elected Nathaniel Greene their general.
Boston was surrounded by Americans fighting for their liberty.
The British let inhabitants depart from Boston without any weapons or provisions.
The British collected 1,778 muskets, 634 pistols, 973 bayonets, and 38 blunderbusses
from a city of about 16,000 which by summer was reduced to 6,753 civilians.
The previous winter Massachusetts had received only £75,000 in revenues.
On the night of April 21-22 Virginia’s British Governor Dunmor
had a schooner captain remove the gunpowder from the Williamsburg magazine,
and marines loaded it on a British warship.
Some patriots wanted to attack the governor’s palace.
The provincial congress of South Carolina authorized Charles Pinckney
to organize defense, and they seized the powder and arms in Charleston on April 21.
In the city of New York military stores were secured,
and small cannons were taken to King’s Bridge.
Volunteers paraded in the streets.
Thousands of Philadelphians gathered on April 25 and
agreed to defend their lives, property, and liberty with arms.
Washington returned to Williamsburg on April 26 and received a message
from his friend Dr. Hugh Mercer that Dunmore had ordered 15 marines
to take the colony’s 20 barrels of gunpowder from the magazine.
Mercer asked Washington to authorize him to assemble the Fredericksburg
Independent Company and other companies to secure the military stores.
A crowd in Williamsburg marched to the governor’s palace.
The town council asked Dunmore to return the gunpowder.
He refused and issued weapons to his household and navy officers.
On April 27 Washington received a letter from his friend Hugh Mercer
and three others who wanted to organize troops to defend Virginia.
Mercer and his committee in Fredericksburg wrote,
The gentlemen of the Independent Company of this town
think this first public insult is not to be tamely submitted to
and determine with your approbation to join
any other bodies of armed men who are willing to appear
in support of the honor of Virginia as well as
to secure the military stores yet remaining in the magazine.
It is proposed to march on Saturday next for Williamsburg
properly accoutered as light horsemen.
Expresses are sent off to inform the commanding officers
of Companies in the adjacent Counties of this our resolution,
and we shall wait prepared
for your instructions and their assistance.4
Washington persuaded the five independent companies under his command not to do that.
Governor Dunmore had heard reports of insurrection,
and that is why he removed the gunpowder.
Treasurer Robert C. Nicholas and Virginia House Speaker Peyton Randolph
managed to get people to disperse.
On April 28 the Connecticut assembly sent two envoys
to ask Governor Thomas Gage for peace.
When the war began in April 1775, the British had only one regiment of 500 soldiers
garrisoning the posts at Niagara, Detroit, and Michilimackinac in the Great Lakes region.
The Mohawks and about 500 Senecas in western New York
threatened the Americans on the frontier.
John Heckewelder and other missionaries managed to prevent
the British from winning over Delawares on the Ohio.
On May 1 Governor Dunmore offered slaves their freedom
if they would fight against their masters.
Henry Laurens as president of the South Carolina provincial congress
proposed forming a military force to counter the threatened British attack
on Charleston to incite a slave insurrection.
The Pennsylvania Assembly met on May 1
and Benjamin Franklin arrived home from England on the 5th.
The next day he was unanimously chosen a deputy to the Congress.
Patrick Henry convened the Hanover County committee on May 2.
Thousands of soldiers elected him their leader, and they marched to Williamsburg.
Dunmore removed ammunition, claiming it was so that slaves would not seize it;
but when Henry and his men arrived, a messenger paid Henry for the gunpowder.
Dunmore denounced Henry and his “deluded followers,”
yet the counties of Louisa, Spotsylvania, and Orange supported the insurgents.
The Governor of North Carolina fled.
On May 9 Col. Washington and the Virginians were met
six miles from Philadelphia by about 500 horsemen.
They were officers from Military Companies.
News of Lexington fighting reached Savannah on May 10,
and Georgia joined the new union.
On the next night some men broke into the King’s magazine
and took 500 pounds of powder.
The Second Continental Congress met on May 10,
and the next day they re-elected Peyton Randolph their President.
Dr. Joseph Warren, who was acting as President of the
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, wrote,
We have passed an unanimous resolve
for thirteen thousand, six hundred men
to be forthwith raised by this Colony;
and proposals are made by us to the Congress
of New Hampshire, and governments of Rhode Island
and Connecticut Colonies for furnishing men
in the same proportion….
We beg leave to suggest that a powerful army,
on the side of America, hath been considered
by [Massachusetts] as the only mean left
to stem the rapid progress of a tyrannical ministry.
Without a force, superior to our enemies,
we must reasonably expect to become
the victims of their relentless fury:
With such a force we may still have hopes
of seeing an immediate end put to the inhuman ravages
of mercenary troops in America.5
A plan to take Fort Ticonderoga by Lake George
had begun at Hartford, Connecticut on April 27.
On May 10 militia volunteers from Massachusetts and Connecticut
with 83 Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and the New England militia
led by Benedict Arnold captured the 78 British at Fort Ticonderoga
along with 60 cannons and mortars without shedding blood.
The Congress adopted a resolution justifying that action.
Two days later Seth Warner led men who
took over the fort at Crown Point without resistance.
On May 18 they captured 13 men with their arms,
two brass field-pieces, and a British sloop in St. John’s harbor.
The Massachusetts Congress sent a message for their agent Arthur Lee to deliver
to the British government, stating they are loyal subjects ready to defend their lives
and fortunes rather than submit to persecution and tyranny.
They appealed to Heaven for the justice of their cause
and were determined to be free or die.
At the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on May 13 the Georgia delegate
Lyman Hall arrived and was given the right to vote but not as a colony.
On May 15 New York asked for advice, and they were told
not to oppose the landing of troops but not let them erect fortifications.
They were to protect inhabitants and their property and could use force when attacked.
Connecticut sent one thousand men to defend Ticonderoga
and Crown Point, and they arrived in June.
Washington worked on nine committees,
and his committee on organizing the army completed their report on May 19.
On May 24 Randolph left to attend the General Assembly
called by Governor Dunsmore in Virginia.
The Continental Congress elected John Hancock of Massachusetts as President.
Judge Richard Henderson of the Transylvania Company called a convention
of Kentucky settlers, and four delegates from each of the four settlements
met at Boonesborough to establish laws on May 23.
On the 25th the British generals William Howe, Henry Clinton,
and John Burgoyne arrived in Boston with reinforcements.
The peninsula of Boston was under siege, and on the 27th
British soldiers landed on Noodle Island to capture pigs and other livestock.
With John Hancock presiding the Continental Congress
voted unanimously to negotiate with the British.
They declined to authorize colonies to form their own governments.
On May 29 Congress sent a letter drafted by John Jay to Canada
urging people to unite with them in defending their common liberties.
In a letter to George William Fairfax on May 31 Washington wrote,
Before this Letter can reach you, you must, undoubtedly,
have received an Account of the engagement
in the Massachusetts Bay between the Ministerial Troops
(for we do not, nor cannot yet prevail upon ourselves
to call them the King’s Troops)
and the Provincials of that Government;
But as you may not have heard how that affair began,
I enclose you the several Affidavits
that were taken after the action.
General Gage acknowledges, that the detachment
under Lieutenant Colonel Smith
was sent out to destroy private property;
or, in other Words, to destroy a Magazine
which self preservation obliged the Inhabitants to establish.
And he also confesses, in effect at least,
that his Men made a very precipitate retreat from Concord,
notwithstanding the reinforcement under Lord Piercy;
the last of which may serve to convince Lord Sandwich
(and others of the same sentiment)
that the Americans will fight for their Liberties and property,
however pusillanimous, in his Lordship’s Eye,
they may appear in other respects.
From the best accounts I have been able to collect
of that affair; indeed from every one, I believe the fact,
stripped of all coloring, to be plainly this,
that if the retreat had not been as precipitate as it was
(and God knows it could not well have been more so)
the Ministerial Troops must have surrendered,
or been totally cut off:
For they had not arrived in Charlestown
(under cover of their Ships) half an hour,
before a powerful body of Men from Marblehead and Salem
were at their heels, and must, if they had happened
to have been up one hour sooner,
inevitably intercepted their retreat to Charlestown.
Unhappy it is though to reflect, that a Brother’s Sword
has been sheathed in a Brother’s breast, and that,
the once happy and peaceful plains of America are
either to be drenched with Blood, or Inhabited by Slaves.
Sad alternative!
But can a virtuous Man hesitate in his choice?6
On May 31 the people of Mecklenburg County meeting at Charlotte, North Carolina
declared their independence from Britain, and they formed nine military companies.
South Carolina held a provincial congress at Charleston on June 1
and chose a Council of Safety with thirteen members on June 14.
On June 6 the British garrison evacuated New York City, and the next day
some
American patriots captured the British weapons in the magazine at Turtle Bay, New York.
On that day Virginia’s Governor Dunmore fled to a ship.
Five days later the House of Burgesses still hoped for reconciliation
but rejected the latest resolution from the House of Commons.
The Congress of Massachusetts urged the Continental Congress
to assume direction of the army, and Joseph Warren recommended
they choose George Washington as commander.
On June 12 Governor Gage proscribed Samuel Adams and John Hancock
as rebels and traitors, and he declared martial law in Massachusetts.
Anyone taking up arms against the King could be hanged as a traitor.
On June 14 the Congress officially took over American troops
in Boston, and they approved raising six companies with rifles used
by those in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
On June 16 John Adams of Massachusetts recommended
George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, displeasing presiding Hancock.
They unanimously elected Washington commander
of the Continental Army of the United Colonies.
The President informed Col. Washington that the Congress had yesterday,
unanimously made choice of him to be General & Commander in Chief
of the American Forces, and requested he would accept of that Appointment;
whereupon Col. Washington, standing in his place, said,
“Mr. President, Though I am truly sensible of the high
Honor done me in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress,
from a consciousness that my abilities & Military experience
may not be equal to the extensive & important Trust:
However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon
the momentous duty & exert every power I Possess
in their service & for the Support of the glorious Cause:
I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks
for this distinguished testimony of their Approbation.
“But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable
to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered
by every Gentleman in the room, that I this day declare
with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal
to the Command I am honored with.
“As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to Assure the Congress that
as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me
to have accepted this Arduous employment
at the expense of my domestic ease & happiness
I do not wish to make any profit from it:
I will keep an exact Account of my expenses;
those I doubt not they will discharge,
& that is all I desire.”7
On the same day the Dr. Joseph Warren persuaded the militia leaders of Connecticut
and New Hampshire who unanimously voted to occupy Bunker Hill in Boston.
Learning that the British were planning to take the Charlestown peninsula,
Boston’s committee of safety proposed occupying Bunker Hill,
though General Ward ordered Col. William Prescott to march his men to Breed’s Hill.
On the night of June 16 he led 1,200 men who dug in with picks and spades.
That night about a thousand men marched to Breed’s Hill.
On June 17 about 2,300 British soldiers commanded by Major General William Howe
crossed the water, and over 3,000 British soldiers drove
about 2,400 Americans off Breed’s Hill and then off Bunker Hill.
The army of New England had only 63 half-barrels of powder,
and free Africans were fighting with them on Breed’s Hill.
Howe sent an order to Clinton and Burgoyne to burn Charlestown.
They tried to use the smoke as cover for an attack, but the wind shifted.
On June 17 in the battle of Bunker Hill the British advanced firing.
The Americans saved their powder until they were within fifty yards.
General Putnam ordered his men not to fire
until they could “see the whites of their eyes.”
Then the marksmen began shooting down British soldiers.
The British attacked three times, and the colonials fired their last volley from twenty yards.
Then the Americans fought with their muskets against bayonets.
Dr. Joseph Warren was one of the last to retreat, and he was killed.
The British suffered 226 killed and 828 wounded.
The Americans had 115 killed, 305 wounded, and 30 captured
of which 20 died as prisoners of war on filthy British ships.
Hearing the news, Washington was confirmed in his belief
that American liberties would be preserved.
The Continental Congress ordered troops to be enlisted
until the end of the year with six companies of expert riflemen
from Pennsylvania, two from Maryland, and two from Virginia.
Washington was a wealthy man who owned
58,000 acres of land and more than a hundred slaves.
He recommended the former British officers Charles Lee and Horatio Gates
as major generals, and they were appointed along with Artemas Ward of Massachusetts,
Israel Putnam of Connecticut, and Philip Schuyler of New York.
Washington prepared by buying five horses and a carriage.
He packed five books on military strategy and put on his new uniform.
On June 19 Washington in a letter to Burwell Bassett wrote,
I am now embarked on a tempestuous Ocean from whence,
perhaps, no friendly harbor is to be found.
I have been called upon by the unanimous Voice
of the Colonies to the Command of the Continental Army—
It is an honor I by no means aspired to—
It is an honor I wished to avoid,
as well from an unwillingness to quit
the peaceful enjoyment of my Family as from
a thorough conviction of my own Incapacity & want
of experience in the conduct of so momentous a concern—
but the partiality of the Congress
added to some political motives, left me without a choice—
May God grant therefore that my acceptance of it may be
attended with some good to the common cause & without
Injury (from want of knowledge) to my own reputation—
I can answer but for three things,
a firm belief of the justice of our Cause—
close attention in the prosecution of it—
and the strictest Integrity.
If these cannot supply the places of Ability & Experience,
the cause will suffer,
& more than probable my character along with it,
as reputation derives its principal support from success—
but it will be remembered I hope that no desire,
or insinuation of mine, placed me in this situation.
I shall not be deprived therefore of a comfort
in the worst event if I retain a consciousness
of having acted to the best of my judgment.8
From Philadelphia on June 20 he wrote to the five Virginia Companies,
I am at liberty to inform you,
that the Congress, in a Committee
(which will I dare say be agreed to when reported)
have converted to a Continental Currency—
have ordered two Millions of Dollars
to be struck for payment of the Troops &ca
and have voted 15,000 Men as a Continental Army—
which number will be augmented,
as the strength of the British Troops will be greater
than was expected at the time of passing that vote.9
On June 22 Congress resolved to put into circulation bills of credit
equal to two million Spanish-milled dollars to defend America with the
twelve confederated colonies pledged to redeem them.
On that day Georgia held a provincial congress and
conferred governmental powers on their Council of Safety.
On July 6 Georgia agreed to resist British oppression.
Washington took command of the continental army on July 3
and began to use court martial trials to instill discipline.
The British had about 6,500 troops in Boston,
and the American army reached 14,500 men there.
Schuyler commanded the northern army of 2,800 men at Fort Ticonderoga.
About 500 men escorted Washington to New York
where he conferred with General Schuyler.
He confirmed Schuyler as in command of the New York colony.
Washington designated General David Wooster to defend the city,
and on June 26 Washington responded to the concerns of the
New York Provincial Congress with this short speech:
At the same time that with you I deplore
the unhappy Necessity of such an Appointment,
as that with which I am now honored,
I cannot but feel sentiments of the highest Gratitude
for this affecting Instance of Distinction & Regard.
May your warmest wish be realized in the Success
of America at this important and interesting Period;
& be assured that, every Exertion of my worthy Colleagues
& myself, will be equally extended
to the re-establishment of Peace & Harmony
between the Mother Country and the Colonies.
As to the fatal, but necessary Operations of War.
When we assumed the Soldier,
we did not lay aside the Citizen,
& we shall most sincerely rejoice with you
in that happy Hour, when the Establishment
of American Liberty on the most firm, & solid Foundations,
shall enable us to return to our private Stations
in the bosom of a free, peaceful, & happy Country.10
He went to Boston and established his headquarters at
the home of Harvard College President Samuel Langdon.
After a week he found out that he had 16,000 soldiers with 14,000 of them fit for duty.
Washington called for militia from Massachusetts and New Hampshire,
and he asked for longer enlistments.
The Continental Congress had authorized enlistment on the frontier in June 1775.
On July 2 Washington set up his headquarters at Cambridge
on the edge of Boston, and the next day he took command of 16,000 militia.
He worked on improving the fortifications, discipline, sanitation, and morale.
The Continental Congress incorporated the state militias as the Continental Army on July 4.
That day Washington announced as “General Orders,”
The Hon: Artemas Ward, Charles Lee,
Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam Esquires,
are appointed Major Generals of the American Army,
and due Obedience is to be paid them as such.
The Continental Congress not having completed
the appointments of the other officers in said army,
nor had sufficient time
to prepare and forward their Commissions;
every Officer is to continue to do duty in the Rank
and Station he at present holds until further orders.
Thomas Mifflin Esqr. is appointed by the General
one of his Aid-de-Camps.
Joseph Reed Esqr. is in like manner appointed
Secretary to the General, and they are in future
to be considered and regarded as such.
The Continental Congress having now taken all the Troops
of the several Colonies, which have been raised,
or which may be hereafter raised,
for the support and defense of the Liberties of America;
into their Pay and Service: they are now
the Troops of the United Provinces of North America;
and it is hoped that all Distinctions of Colonies
will be laid aside; so that one and the same spirit
may animate the whole, and the only Contest be,
who shall render, on this great and trying occasion,
the most essential service to the great and common cause
in which we are all engaged.
It is required and expected that
exact discipline be observed,
and due Subordination prevail thro’ the whole Army,
as a Failure in these most essential points must necessarily
produce extreme Hazard, Disorder and Confusion;
and end in shameful disappointment and disgrace.
The General most earnestly requires, and expects,
a due observance of those articles of war,
established for the Government of the army,
which forbid profane cursing, swearing & drunkenness;
and in like manner requires & expects,
of all Officers, and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty,
a punctual attendance on divine service,
to implore the blessings of heaven
upon the means used for our safety and defense.
All Officers are required and expected
to pay diligent Attention, to keep their Men neat and clean—
to visit them often at their quarters,
and inculcate upon them the necessity of cleanliness,
as essential to their health and service.
They are particularly to see,
that they have Straw to lay on, if to be had,
and to make it known if they are destitute of this article.
They are also to take care that Necessaries
be provided in the Camps and frequently filled up
to prevent their being offensive and unhealthy.
Proper Notice will be taken of such Officers and Men,
as distinguish themselves
by their attention to these necessary duties.
The commanding Officer of each Regiment
is to take particular care that not more than two Men
of a Company be absent on furlough at the same time,
unless in very extraordinary cases.11
On July 5 Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition drafted by
John Dickinson asking King George III to bring about reconciliation.
A “Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Their Taking Up Arms” was written
by Thomas Jefferson and revised by the more conservative Dickinson before being
approved on July 6, and it concluded with the hope for reconciliation to avoid civil war.
They denied that they raised armies to separate from Britain and become independent.
They promised to lay down their arms once their liberties were restored.
This was read to the army, who believed they
would be fighting until their grievances were redressed.
In Massachusetts people held town meetings and elected a
house of representatives which elected a council of 28 for administration.
In the first part of the General Orders on July 7 Washington wrote,
It is with inexpressible Concern that
the General upon his first Arrival in the army, should find
an Officer sentenced by a General Court Martial
to be cashiered for Cowardice.
A Crime of all others, the most infamous in a Soldier,
the most injurious to an Army, and the last to be forgiven;
inasmuch as it may, and often does happen,
that the Cowardice of a single Officer
may prove the Destruction of the whole Army:
The General therefore (though with great Concern,
and more especially, as the Transaction happened
before he had the Command of the Troops)
thinks himself obliged for the good of the service,
to approve the Judgment of the Court Martial
with respect to Capt. John Callender,
who is hereby sentenced to be cashiered.
Capt. John Callender is accordingly cashiered
and dismissed from all farther service
in the Continental Army as an Officer.
The General having made all due inquiries,
and maturely considered this matter is led
to the above determination not only from the particular Guilt
of Capt. Callender, but the fatal Consequences
of such Conduct to the army and to the cause of America.
He now therefore most earnestly exhorts Officers
of all Ranks to show an Example of Bravery and Courage
to their men; assuring them that such as do their duty
in the day of Battle, as brave and good Officers,
shall be honored with every mark of distinction and regard;
their names and merits made known
to the General Congress and all America:
while on the other hand, he positively declares that
every Officer, be his rank what it may,
who shall betray his Country, dishonor the Army
and his General, by basely keeping back
and shrinking from his duty in any engagement;
shall be held up as an infamous Coward
and punished as such, with the utmost martial severity;
and no Connections, Interest or Intercessions in his behalf
will avail to prevent the strict execution of justice.12
Washington had been told that the army had 308 barrels of gunpowder,
and on August 1 he learned that there were only 90 barrels left
which would be nine rounds per man.
He issued orders not to waste ammunition by shooting from a long distance away.
He asked Congress to get more gunpowder, and on the 4th
he wrote a letter to Governor Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island.
The Continental Army had only 14,500 men,
and Washington asked the Congress to keep that secret.
Fortunately under General Gage the British were not on the offensive.
On July 10 Adjutant General Horatio Gates issued recruiting
instructions with orders not to enlist any deserter, Negro,
vagabond, enemy of liberty, or anyone under 18 years of age.
The Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
and Richard Henry Lee to a committee to report on desired accommodations with the British.
On July 12 Congress established three regional Indian departments,
and as commissioners of the Middle Department they appointed Patrick Henry,
Ben Franklin, and James Wilson, but Henry and Franklin declined and were replaced
by Dr. Thomas Walker of Virginia and Lewis Morris of New York in September.
That month the American commissioners made peace with the
Six Nations of the Iroquois (Hodenosaunee), Delawares, and Shawnee,
and they promised not to settle north of the Ohio.
On July 15 the Congress authorized ships bringing gunpowder
and other military supplies to trade them for produce from the colonies.
The army also needed artillery, fuel, shelter, clothing, provisions, and pay.
Ben Franklin drafted “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union”
which was approved by Jefferson and presented to Congress on July 21.
Five days later Franklin was unanimously elected Postmaster General.
The colonies were urged to include all able-bodied men
between the ages of 16 and 50 in their militias.
Dr. Benjamin Church of Boston was appointed chief physician
and director general of hospitalization.
Congress authorized another million dollars in bills of credit on July 25,
and by the end of 1775 the debt would be up to six million.
On July 31 Congress took the advice of the committee of Franklin, Jefferson,
R. H. Lee, and John Adams to reject Prime Minister North’s offer of reconciliation
because of the Restraining Acts requiring the Americans to trade only with Britain.
The second Continental Congress adjourned on August 2 until September 5.
The Continental Congress had authorized enlistment on the frontier in June,
and by August 7 about 1,400 riflemen from the west had joined the army.
During the summer ships were boarded by the Savannah River and St. Augustine,
and they obtained 20,000 pounds of gunpowder.
Rice was exported and traded for arms and ammunition in the West Indies.
On August 21 at Hillsborough, North Carolina 180 men met and elected
Samuel Johnston president, and they pledged to resist parliamentary taxation.
North Carolina’s Governor Josiah Martin tried to instigate
a slave rebellion by getting arms for them from General Gage,
but in the first week of July about 40 slaves were caught with arms and punished.
Martin fled to Fort Johnston by the mouth of Cape Fear River.
The free African Jeremiah tried to lead a slave revolt in South Carolina on
the side of the British, but he was captured and hanged on August 18
despite Governor William Campbell’s attempt to save him.
Campbell then returned to England on the HMS Tamar.
On August 17 the Virginia Convention elected a
Committee of Safety with eleven men on the executive junta.
They established a permanent provincial army,
authorized £350,000 in treasury notes, and passed various taxes.
British King George III and his cabinet refused to recognize the
colonial association and would only treat with individual colonies,
and on August 23 he ordered the rebellion suppressed.
Richard Penn was a trustee of the College and Academy of Philadelphia.
He and Arthur Lee presented a petition to Lord Dartmouth in London,
but it was not received by the throne.
While negotiating for mercenaries in Europe, the King confiscated
colonial property on the ocean and kept all their ports closed.
For several months the Pennsylvania Assembly blocked progress,
and Franklin urged Thomas Paine to write an appeal for American independence.
On August 29 Washington in a letter to Richard Henry Lee wrote,
I have made a pretty good Slam among such kind
of officers as the Massachusetts Government abound in,
since I came to this camp,
having broke one colonel and two captains
for cowardly behavior in the action on Bunker’s Hill,
two captains for drawing more provisions and pay
than they had men in their company;
and one for being absent from his post
when the enemy appeared there,
and burnt a house just by it.
Besides these, I have at this time one colonel, one major,
one captain, and two subalterns under arrest for trial.
In short, I spare none, yet fear it will not all do,
as these people seem to be
too inattentive to everything but their interest.13
After several men were put in the guardhouse for breeches of discipline,
the Pennsylvania riflemen mutinied on September 10; but they were overcome
by General Nathanael Greene’s Rhode Island troops.
The Continental Congress did not have a quorum until September 12.
Georgia became the thirteenth colony fully represented with five delegates.
The Congress voted to increase the force at Boston to 20,372 men,
and they passed regulations for the army.
On September 21 Washington wrote to the Congress President John Hancock
a fairly long letter which concluded with this:
I have filled up the Office of Quarter Master General,
which the Congress was pleased to leave to me,
by the Appointment of Major Mifflin,
which I hope and believe will be universally acceptable.
It gives me great Pain to be obliged to solicit the Attention
of the Hon. Congress, to the State of this Army, in Terms
which imply the Slightest Apprehension of being neglected:
but my Situation is inexpressibly distressing,
to see the Winter fast approaching upon a naked Army,
the Time of their Service within a few Weeks of expiring,
and no Provision yet made for such important Events.
Added to this the Military Chest is totally exhausted.
The Paymaster has not a single Dollar in Hand.
The Commissary General assures me, he has strained
his Credit to the utmost for the Subsistence of the Army.
The Quarter Master General is precisely
in the same Situation, and the greater part of the Army
in a State not far from mutiny,
upon the Deduction from their stated Allowance.
I know not to whom I am to impute this Failure,
but I am of opinion, if the Evil is not immediately remedied
and more Punctuality observed in future,
the Army must absolutely break up.
I hoped I had expressed myself so fully on this Subject
both by Letter and to those members of the Hon: Congress,
who Honored the Camp with a Visit,
that no Disappointment could possibly happen.
I therefore hourly expected Advices from the Pay Master,
that he had received a fresh Supply in Addition
to the 172,000 Dollars, delivered him in August,
and thought myself warranted to assure the Public Creditors,
that in a few Days they should be satisfied,
but the Delay has brought Matters to such a Crisis,
as admits of no farther uncertain Expectation.
I have therefore sent off this Express,
with orders to make all possible Dispatch.
It is my most earnest request that
he may be returned with all possible Expedition,
unless the Honr. Congress have already forwarded
what is so indispensably necessary.14
Ethan Allen gathered 80 Canadians and 30 Americans,
and on his own initiative they attacked Montreal on September 25.
About 500 British regulars defeated them and captured 38 men
and Allen who was taken to a prison in England.
Congress printed money as equivalents of Spanish dollars
and sent $500,000 that reached the army’s headquarters
at Cambridge on September 29 so that soldiers could be paid.
Dr. Benjamin Church, who ran the hospital at Cambridge,
was convicted of spying for having sent secrets to General Gage in July.
He was brought before a court martial on October 4,
expelled from the Massachusetts House on November 2 and imprisoned.
On October 10 Britain’s King George III proclaimed that these colonies
were in open rebellion, and he replaced the “blundering” General Thomas Gage
with the capable Major General William Howe as the commander.
Washington suspected that Howe was trying to infect the Americans with smallpox.
At an October council of war Washington and his generals decided
to reject all slaves and Negroes as well as boys and old men.
On October 16 the British Navy attacked Portland and burned three-fourths
of the buildings and all the ships except two which they took.
Benedict Arnold led a force of 1,050 men,
but on October 25 Lt. Col. Roger Enos had defected with a battalion of 450 men.
The former British general Richard Montgomery
was assigned to assist Schuyler in the north.
Montgomery organized the siege of St. John’s, and after 55 days
the garrison of 600 regulars and Canadians surrendered on November 2.
They were allowed to keep their winter clothing,
and the Americans wanting the clothing almost mutinied.
General Montgomery’s army marched to Montreal and took it easily on the 13th.
General Washington sent a message urging the Canadians to fight for their liberty too.
On November 7 Governor Dunmore of Virginia announced that slaves or indentured
servants who escaped from their masters could enlist in the Royal Ethiopian Regiment.
Soon 800 slaves had British uniforms that were inscribed with “Liberty to Slaves.”
Also on the 7th Dunmore on board the William
in Norfolk harbor proclaimed martial law in Virginia.
One week later British soldiers and escaped slaves defeated the Virginia militia
at Kemp’s Landing, killing several and capturing two colonels.
During the next few months nearly a thousand slaves joined the British.
Dunmore’s forces soon had more Africans than British soldiers.
On November 28 the Continental Congress adopted “Rules for the Regulation
of the
Navy of the United Colonies,” and in December they authorized the building of 13 warships
and assigned officers to the Alfred, the Columbus, the Andrew Doria, and the Cabot.
Washington called for 3,000 militia from Massachusetts and 2,000 from New Hampshire,
and he still needed money, powder, and arms.
On December 22 the British passed the American Prohibitory Act
which authorized the Royal Navy to take American ships and their cargoes.
Washington on November 16 had appointed
Henry Knox of Massachusetts the Chief of Artillery.
Many enlistments were to expire on December 1.
On November 28 Washington noted that only 3,500 men were enlisted.
A committee report persuaded the Congress to support an army of 20,372 in 1776.
Washington in December received a poem from
the black poet Phillis Wheatley that included these verses:
In bright array they seek the work of war,
Where high unfurl’d the ensign waves in air.
Shall I to Washington their praise recite?
Enough thou know’st them in the fields of fright….Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,
Thy ev’ry action let the goddess guide.
A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine.15
On December 31 in a letter to John Hancock he wrote,
It has been represented to me that the free negroes
who have Served in this Army, are very much dissatisfied
at being discarded—as it is to be apprehended,
that they may Seek employ in the ministerial Army—
I have presumed to depart from the Resolution
respecting them, & have given License
for their being enlisted, if this is disapproved of by Congress,
I will put a Stop to it.16
The armies of general Richard Montgomery with 1,200 men
and Benedict Arnold’s force attacked Quebec from opposite sides on December 31,
the day before many men’s enlistment expired.
The British force of 1,800 men had only 19 casualties.
Arnold was wounded, and Montgomery was killed.
The Americans suffered 48 killed and 34 wounded, and 426 men were captured.
Notes
1. All Cloudless Glory: The Life of George Washington,
Volume I: From Youth to Yorktown by Harrison Clark, p. 199.
2. Ibid., p. 206.
3. George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall, p. 273.
4. George Washington: A Biography Volume 3 Planter and Patriot
by Douglas Southall Freeman, p. 410-411.
5. Ibid., p. 420-421.
6. Washington Writings, p. 163-164.
7. Ibid., p. 167.
8. Ibid., p. 169-170.
9. Ibid., p. 171.
10. Ibid., p. 174.
11. Ibid., p. 174-176.
12. Basic Writings of George Washington ed. Saxe Commins, p. 124-125.
13. George Washington in the American Revolution (1775-1783)
by James Thomas Flexner, p. 34-35.
14. Basic Writings of George Washington ed. Saxe Commins, p. 178-179.
15. An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America
by Henry Wincek, p. 207.
16. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, p. 213
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