REER - George Washington and the Continental Army (Lesson)
George Washington and the Continental Army
When the American Revolution began, George Washington was named Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He displayed extraordinary leadership abilities in the role. Washington reorganized the army, secured additional equipment and supplies, and started a training program to turn inexperienced recruits into a professional military.
For the common soldier in the Continental Army, life was hard.
At the beginning of the war, enlistments lasted up to a year and then troops could go home or re-enlist. As the war wore on, recruiting and retaining soldiers became increasingly difficult because of lack of pay, undesirable living conditions, and farms, families, and businesses suffered when the soldiers were away fighting the war.
Later on, General Washington extended enlistments to last from one to three years or even until the war was over. The states differed in how well and how often they paid their soldiers, housed them when they were not on the march and supplied them with food, clothing, and equipment. These issues undermined morale, as did the army's stern discipline, the chances of being wounded or killed, and British victories.
On Christmas Night 1776, Washington led his troops to a victory that was a turning point for America’s eventual victory in the Revolutionary War. As a snowstorm pounded Washington and his soldiers, they crossed the Delaware River to stage a surprise attack on a fort occupied by Hessian mercenaries fighting for the British. This victory proved Washington's army could fight as well as an experienced European army and served to boost the Continental Army’s reputation in the eyes of American citizens.
Washington and his troops spent the winter of 1777-1778 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. They spent six months there. The army's problems with wages, housing, food, clothing, and equipment were at their worst. Disease spread throughout the camp, increasing the suffering of the 12,000 men. As conditions worsened, almost 4,000 soldiers were too weak or ill to fight. Yet that winter Washington ordered an intense training program - like a modern boot camp - that turned the Continental Army into a capable and self-assured infantry.
Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (pronounced “von-schtoi-bin”) was a Prussian captain who met Benjamin Franklin in Paris. Franklin believed that von Steuben was an experienced soldier who could help the Continental Army. General Washington recommended to the Continental Congress that they appoint von Steuben as a Major General and Inspector General of the Continental Army. von Steuben trained a model company of soldiers to march, use a bayonet, to execute orders quickly on the battlefield and then that company set about to train all the other able-bodied troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania that cold, miserable winter.
Later Baron von Steuben worked with Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette to create a training manual for the Continental Army. It was called the “Blue Book” and it guided the American army all the way through the War of 1812. (von Steuben died in 1794 at his farm near Rome, New York, having been made an American citizen after the American Revolution.)
Who are the Hessians?
Pronounced heh-shens, the Hessians are mercenaries or hired soldiers.
But it is important to note that Germany in the 1790s did not exist as Germany does today. Instead, Germany was actually the Holy Roman Empire - a collection of several states each ruled individually by their respective kings as well as a unified emperor who was elected by the various kings and controlled the entire empire.
Hessians primarily came from the German state of Hesse-Kassel. Hesse-Kassel was allied with the German State of Hanover - which was controlled by the British King (George III, as did his father and grandfather before him, ruled over both Great Britain and the state of Hanover). Because of the ties, George III was able to "borrow" soldiers from various German states to use in his wars. While the Hessians were mercenaries - at this time it simply meant they were soldiers who earned pay rather than being conscripted. They were employed by their various rulers and loaned to the British rather than being "guns for hire" as we typically think of when talking about mercenaries.
French Alliance
Another turning point in the war was the decision by France to support the American cause after the patriots’ victory at the Battle of Saratoga in upstate New York in October 1777.
Benjamin Franklin, serving as the American ambassador to France, convinced the French to form a military alliance with the Americans, and France agreed to wage war against Britain until America gained independence. Facing both an American and a European war, Britain would need to pull troops out of America to fight closer to home.
French support for America was personified in Marquis de Lafayette (full name Gilbert du Motier.) He commanded American troops and fought battles in many states. Lafayette was only 19 years old and had no combat experience when he arrived in Philadelphia. Initially, Lafayette was not well-received in the United States; but when the Americans realized how well-connected and wealthy he was, he was recommended for the rank of major-general and was sent to meet General Washington at Brandywine Creek in September 1777. He fought with the Continental Army to stop British General William Howe’s march toward the capital (Philadelphia at that time.) Lafayette was wounded in battle and Brandywine Creek; he recovered and became a member of George Washington’s inner circle.
He also returned to France for a time to work with Franklin and the French king on how best to win American independence in the summer of 1778 as a national hero.
Lafayette returned to the United States and served in the army and finally returned to France later.
He toured the United States in 1824 as the nation moved toward the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and was hailed as an American hero. The Marquis de Lafayette died in 1834.
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BARON VON STEUBEN PORTRAIT USED WITH PERMISSION FROM NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
PORTRAIT OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE USED WITH PERMISSION FROM NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION; GIFT OF MILTON AND INGRID ROSE