King George (6 page)
Authors: Steve Sheinkin
E
arly that morning Hannah Davis had watched the Acton minutemen gather outside her house. (Acton was a town near Concord.) Her husband, Isaac, was their captain. She later said:
arly that morning Hannah Davis had watched the Acton minutemen gather outside her house. (Acton was a town near Concord.) Her husband, Isaac, was their captain. She later said:
Hannah Davis
“My husband said but little that morning. As he led the company from the house, he turned himself round, and seemed to have something to communicate. He only said, âTake good care of the children,' and was soon out of sight.”
Now, up in the hills, Isaac Davis and the other minutemen saw smoke rising from the middle of Concord. They were too far away to see that the smoke was just from the burning cannon carriages.
“Will you let them burn the town down?” shouted one minuteman.
“No! No!” the other men roared. Captain Davis led the minutemen down toward the North Bridge. “We were all ordered to load,” said Amos Barrett, “and had strict orders not to fire till they fired first, then to fire as fast as we could.”
At the North Bridge, a British officer named Walter Laurie looked up and saw four hundred angry Americans marching toward him. Laurie didn't have much time to form a plan. A few British soldiers ran onto the bridge and started trying to rip up the wooden planks. The Americans called out for the British to stop messing with their bridge. Then the shooting started. As usual, no one knows who fired first.
“We soon drove them from the bridge,” reported Amos Barrett. Several minutemen and British soldiers were killed or wounded. Isaac Davis was one of the men who died at the North Bridge.
This bridge fight is remembered as a major moment in American history. That's because up to this point, neither the minutemen nor the British soldiers had really expected the day's tense events to explode into all-out battle. Now men on both sides had been killed. Now it was going to be a long, bloody day. A long, bloody day that would lead to seven years of war.
A
nd the British were not prepared for a long, bloody day. They hadn't even bothered to bring an army surgeon with them.
nd the British were not prepared for a long, bloody day. They hadn't even bothered to bring an army surgeon with them.
Colonel Smith stood in the middle of Concord, wondering what to do. Every time he lifted his telescope to the hills around town he saw more minutemen up there. He really had no choice. He had to make a run for Boston.
It was a little after noon when the British army marched out of Concord. No drums and fifes this timeâthe march was quick and quiet for about ten minutes. Were the minutemen hiding in the woods along the road? The British had no idea.
They found out when they hit a bend in the road called Meriam's Corner (home of Abigail and Nathan Meriam). Hundreds of minutemen opened fire from behind trees and stone walls. Bullets zoomed at the British from all sides.
The British soldiers started running, hoping to get past the minutemen. But the bullets kept coming. They kept coming for the next six hours. “We were totally surrounded with such an incessant fire as it's impossible to conceive,” said Lieutenant Barker.
The minutemen had no organized plan. But there were a lot of themâabout 3,600 men from more than forty different towns showed up before the day ended. They were able to line the road all the way
to Boston. Men would shoot, duck back into the woods, reload their muskets, run forward, and shoot again. Minuteman (and Reverend) Edmund Foster explained the strategy like this: “Each sought his own place and opportunity to attack and annoy the enemy from behind trees, rocks, fences, and buildings.”
to Boston. Men would shoot, duck back into the woods, reload their muskets, run forward, and shoot again. Minuteman (and Reverend) Edmund Foster explained the strategy like this: “Each sought his own place and opportunity to attack and annoy the enemy from behind trees, rocks, fences, and buildings.”
The British soldiers must have felt like they had wandered into a nightmare. “We at first kept our order and returned their fire as hot as we received it,” said a soldier named Henry de Berniere. But they were still fifteen miles from Boston! And soon they started running out of ammunition. The men panicked. “We began to run rather than retreat in order,” de Berniere said.
Wounded men who could still walk held on to horses for support and hobbled along as fast as they could. Badly wounded and dead soldiers were left lying in the road.
I
t was dark when the fighting finally ended. More than 250 British soldiers had been shot, and seventy-three of them died. About one hundred Americans had been hit, half of them killed. Seventy-nine-year-old Josiah Haynes was killed while reloading his musket.
t was dark when the fighting finally ended. More than 250 British soldiers had been shot, and seventy-three of them died. About one hundred Americans had been hit, half of them killed. Seventy-nine-year-old Josiah Haynes was killed while reloading his musket.
That evening John Adams stood on a hill in Boston, watching the surviving British soldiers stumble back into town. It's hard for us to imagine what a shocking scene this must have been. Keep in mind that even Patriots like Adams still considered themselves citizens of the British Empire. “When I reflect and consider,” wrote Adams, “that the fight was between those whose parents but a few generations ago were brothers, I shudder at the thought, and there's no knowing where our calamities will end.”
Y
ou won't be surprised to learn that British and American soldiers told very different versions of the amazing events of April 19, 1775.
ou won't be surprised to learn that British and American soldiers told very different versions of the amazing events of April 19, 1775.
According to General Thomas Gage, British soldiers had marched out to Concord on a simple, peaceful errand. Then, for no reason, they were viciously attacked by sneaky rebels! “A number of armed persons,” he reported, “to the amount of many thousands, assembled on the 19th of April last, and from behind walls and lurking holes, attacked a detachment of King's Troops.”
According to the Americans, a pack of bloodthirsty British soldiers had invaded the quiet towns of Lexington and Concord. Then, for no reason, the soldiers started shooting people. Express riders raced from town to town with letters saying: “The barbarous murders committed on our innocent brethren on Wednesday the 19th . . have made it absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an army to defend our wives and children from the butchering hands of an inhuman soldiery.”
Militiamen all over New England responded to the call by grabbing their guns and marching toward Boston. By the end of April, nearly 20,000 of them had gathered. They had the British army trapped in Boston. They had no idea what to do next.
King George knew what to do next. He was outraged that colonists had dared to fight with British soldiers. And he was more convinced than ever that the British military would soon bring the Americans to their knees. He said, “When once these rebels have felt a smart blow, they will submit.”
Okay, George. We'll test your theory next.
King George was hoping to smack the rebels with a “smart blow.” But he was about to be disappointed. Before sunrise on the morning of May 10, 1775, a Vermont Patriot named Ethan Allen stepped into a boat on Lake Champlain. Allen and his men pushed out into the cold, choppy water and began silently rowing across the lake. The second blow of the American Revolution was about to be delivered.
And not by the British.
T
his story begins in early May 1775, when a Connecticut lawyer named Noah Phelps stopped shaving. Once he had a nice little beard going, he disguised himself as a poor peddlerâa guy who sells pots and tools door-to-door. Then he walked right up to the gates of Fort Ticonderoga, a British fort in northern New York.
his story begins in early May 1775, when a Connecticut lawyer named Noah Phelps stopped shaving. Once he had a nice little beard going, he disguised himself as a poor peddlerâa guy who sells pots and tools door-to-door. Then he walked right up to the gates of Fort Ticonderoga, a British fort in northern New York.
The British soldiers asked the sloppy-looking peddler what he wanted. Phelps said he needed a shave. Could the fort's barber help him out? The soldiers let Phelps into the fort.
While Phelps sat still in the barber's chair, his eyes spied the condition of the fort. Crumbling walls, bored soldiers ⦠it was just as he had hoped. Fort Ti (as the locals called it) was not prepared for an attack.
Noah Phelps passed the information on to the Green Mountain Boys, a group of Patriot farmers from the Green Mountains of Vermont. The Boys were led by Ethan Allen. Standing six foot six, with a furious temper, Allen was not the kind of guy you would want to have as an enemy. He was known to beat up two men at once by lifting them off the ground and banging them together.
But on the morning of May 10, Ethan Allen was perfectly calm. He and about eighty of the Boys rowed across Lake Champlain, reaching the New York side of the lake just before sunrise. There, in front of them, was their target: Fort Ticonderoga. One British soldier sat guarding the fort's gates. Or, he was supposed to be guarding the gates. Technically, he was asleep.
W
hat woke the guard that morning? Probably it was the sound of eightyt-hree large Americans charging toward him, whooping
and screaming like wild animals. The sleepy soldier stood up, lifted his gun, fired once, threw the gun on the ground, and ran into the fort, leaving the gates open behind him.
hat woke the guard that morning? Probably it was the sound of eightyt-hree large Americans charging toward him, whooping
and screaming like wild animals. The sleepy soldier stood up, lifted his gun, fired once, threw the gun on the ground, and ran into the fort, leaving the gates open behind him.
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys were right on his heels. Inside the fort, a British officer named Jocelyn Feltham sat up suddenly in bed. “I was awakened by a number of shrieks,” he explained. “I jumped up ⦠I ran undressed to knock at Captain Delaplace's door.”
Captain Delaplace was the commander of the fort. But he was still asleep. So Lieutenant Feltham went back to his room, grabbed some clothes, and stepped out into the hall.
And next thing he knew he was standing face to face with a very excited giant named Ethan Allen. Allen was knocking on Delaplace's door and shouting things like “Come out of there, you old rat!”
Lieutenant Feltham tried to appear calm and in control (which is hard to do when you have your pants in your hand). He demanded to know by what authority Ethan Allen was attacking this British fort. Allen roared back:
“In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”
Ethan Allen
This was a cool-sounding answer, and it later became famous. But at the time Lieutenant Feltham just seemed confused. “He began to speak again,” Allen later wrote, “but I interrupted him and, with my drawn sword over his head, again demanded an immediate surrender.”
The sword over the head did the trickâFeltham surrendered Fort Ticonderoga to the Americans. Within minutes, the Green Mountain Boys found ninety gallons of rum in the fort's cellar. The party lasted three days.
More important, Ethan Allen and the Boys had captured more than one hundred British cannons. If the Americans were really going to fight a war with Britain, they would need those big guns.
B
ut were the Americans going to fight a war with Britain? That question was still being debated down in Philadelphia.
ut were the Americans going to fight a war with Britain? That question was still being debated down in Philadelphia.
One early morning in June, John and Samuel Adams met to talk over current events. “I walked with Mr. Samuel Adams in the State House yard,” remembered John, “for a little exercise and fresh air, before the hour of Congress.”
The Adams cousins knew that many members of the Continental Congress were not too thrilled about Ethan Allen's Fort Ti attack. These members were still hoping to find a peaceful solution to their conflict with the British government. In fact, Congress actually ordered Allen to make a careful list of all the items found at Fort Ticonderoga. That way they could give everything back to the British if war was avoided.
John and Samuel thought this was ridiculous. Wasn't it obvious by now that King George was never going to compromise? It was
time for the thirteen colonies to join together, form one big army, and fight for independence.
time for the thirteen colonies to join together, form one big army, and fight for independence.
In fact, John had decided that this was the day that he would try to convince Congress to pick a leader for the new American army. But who should that leader be? He wanted Samuel's advice. The cousins knew their friend John Hancock expected to be offered the job. And Hancock was definitely one of the most famous and popular Patriot leaders. The thing is, Hancock didn't know anything about leading an army. That could be a problem.
Besides, the cousins agreed, the American army should represent all regions of the colonies. The perfect thing would be to pick a leader from Virginia, the biggest of the southern colonies. That would help unite Americans in the long fight ahead. If only there was someone from Virginia, someone known and respected by everyone, someone with army experience, someone smart, tough, committed to the cause ⦠. .
“W
hen Congress assembled, I rose in my place,” said John Adams. It was time, Adams told Congress, to create a Continental army, with soldiers from all thirteen colonies. And it was time to elect a leader of the army. Members leaned forward in their seats. Who was Adams about to name?
hen Congress assembled, I rose in my place,” said John Adams. It was time, Adams told Congress, to create a Continental army, with soldiers from all thirteen colonies. And it was time to elect a leader of the army. Members leaned forward in their seats. Who was Adams about to name?
John Hancock listened with a proud grin on his face. He really thought he was about to hear his name.
And John Adams enjoyed toying with Hancock a little bit. He made sure to keep an eye on Hancock's face as he named the man he believed. should command the Continental army: “George Washington.”
Hancock's smile collapsed in an instant. “I never remarked a more sudden and striking change of countenance [facial expression],” Adams said. Then Samuel Adams announced that he too supported Washington, which upset Hancock even more. “Mr. Hancock never loved me so well after this event as he had done before,” John Adams remembered.
Meanwhile, George Washington jumped up and ran out of the room. He wanted to give everyone a chance to talk about him without worrying they might hurt his feelings.
So Washington waited outside while the other members of Congress decided whether or not he should lead the American Revolution.
W
as George Washington, age forty-three, about to be offered the opportunity of a lifetime? Or was he about to be handed an impossible job? Possibly both? He must have wondered about this as he waited in the library.
as George Washington, age forty-three, about to be offered the opportunity of a lifetime? Or was he about to be handed an impossible job? Possibly both? He must have wondered about this as he waited in the library.
As a boy in Virginia, George had dreamed of becoming a military hero. He even tried to run away from home and join the British navy when he was fourteen. But his mother discovered the plan and refused to let him go. She was a very protective momâand a bit stingy,too. Young George once asked her for money so he could take music lessons. She offered to
lend
him the cash.
lend
him the cash.
So George never learned to play the violin. But he did spend some time working on his love poetry. Here's part of a letter he sent to Francis Alexander, a young woman he admired (notice that the first letters of each line spell out her name):
“From your bright sparkling eyes, I was undone; Rays, you have more transparent than the sun, Amidst its glory in the rising day, None can you equal in your bright array ⦔
On June 16, 1775, George Washington sat down to write a very different letter. This time he was writing to his wife, Martha (or, as he called her in his letters, “my dear Patsy”). Congress had just made it official: George Washington was the commander of the new Continental army.
“I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with inexpressible concern,” wrote George to Martha. “It has been determined in Congress, that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my care.”
Why was Washington filled with concern? How would you feel if the future of an entire country were placed in your hands? Washington told Congress, “I this day declare, with utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command.”
Young George
But there was no time for doubts or worries. Washington packed up his things and headed north to join the army, which was camped outside of Boston. While he was on his way, a messenger brought Washington some urgent news: a major battle had just been fought in Boston. When he heard the report, Washington saidâWait a second, let's check on the battle first.
Then
we'll hear what Washington said about it.
Then
we'll hear what Washington said about it.
T
he last time we were in Boston was two months ago, just after the battles of Lexington and Concord. The British soldiers were trapped in town, surrounded by thousands of American militiamen.
he last time we were in Boston was two months ago, just after the battles of Lexington and Concord. The British soldiers were trapped in town, surrounded by thousands of American militiamen.
That was still the situation in June 1775, when a new team of British generals arrived from London. One of the generals, John Burgoyne, was shocked to see a bunch of angry farmers holding the mighty British army in a trap.
“What! Ten thousand King's troops shut up? Well, let us get in, and we'll soon find elbow room.”
John Burgoyne
So the British decided to get themselves a little elbow room. The first step was to seize control of Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill, two hills above Boston. From this high ground, they could start blasting away at the American camp.
But remember all those Patriot spies in and around Boston? They learned the British plans and got the news to the American soldiers. And the Americans beat the British to the hills.
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