Page 156 - American Stories, A History of the United States

agents could plausibly solicit foreign aid. This thinking shaped Washington’s wartime
strategy; he studiously avoided “general actions” in which the Continental Army might 5.1
be destroyed. Critics complained about Washington’s caution, but as they soon discov-
ered, he understood better than they what independence required.
If the commander-in-chief was correct about the army, however, he failed to 5.2
comprehend the political importance of the militia. These scattered, almost amateur,
military units seldom altered the outcome of battle, but they did maintain control
over large areas not directly occupied by the British army. Throughout the war, they 5.3
compelled men and women who would rather have remained neutral to support the
American effort.
For the half million African American colonists, most of them slaves, the fight 5.4
for independence was poignant. After all, they wanted to achieve personal and politi-
cal freedom. Many African Americans supported whichever side seemed most likely
to deliver them from bondage. An estimated 5000 African Americans took up arms
to fight the British. The Continental Army included two all-black units, one from
Massachusetts, the other from Rhode Island. In 1778, the Rhode Island legislature
voted to free any slave who volunteered to serve. According to the lawmakers, history
taught that “the wisest, the freest, and bravest nations . . . liberated their slaves, and
enlisted them as soldiers to fight in defence of their country.” In the South, especially
in Georgia and South Carolina, more than 10,000 African Americans supported the Quick Check
British. After the patriots won the war, these men and women relocated to Nova Scotia, Why did George Washington insist
Florida, and Jamaica. Some eventually resettled in West Africa. on organizing a regular field army?

“times that try Men’s souls”
After the embarrassing defeats in Massachusetts, Sir William Howe replaced the ill-
fated Gage. British rulers now understood that a simple police action would not crush
the American rebellion. Parliament authorized sending more than 50,000 troops to the
mainland colonies. After evacuating Boston—an untenable position—British forces
stormed ashore at Staten Island in New York Harbor on July 3, 1776. From this more
central location, Howe believed he could cut the New Englanders off from the rest of
America. (See Map 5.2).
When Washington learned the British were planning to occupy New York City,
he transferred many of his inexperienced soldiers to Long Island, where they suffered
a major defeat (August 27, 1776). Howe then drove the Continental Army across the
Hudson River into New Jersey.
These swift victories persuaded Howe that few Americans enthusiastically
supported independence. He issued a general pardon to anyone who would swear
allegiance to George III. More than 3000 men and women who lived in areas occu-
pied by the British took the oath. This group included one frightened signer of
the Declaration of Independence. Howe perceived that a lasting peace in America
would require his troops to treat “our enemies as if they might one day become our
friends.” A member of Lord North’s cabinet grumbled that this was “a sentimental
manner of making war.” The pardon plan failed not because Howe lacked tough-
ness, but because his soldiers and officers treated loyal Americans as inferior, an
attitude that did little to promote good relations. In any case, as soon as the redcoats
left a pardoned region, the rebel militia retaliated against those who had deserted
the patriot cause.
In December 1776, Washington’s bedraggled army retreated across the Delaware
River into Pennsylvania. American prospects appeared bleaker than at any other time
during the war. The Continental Army lacked basic supplies, and many men who had
signed up for short-term enlistments prepared to go home. “These are the times that try
men’s souls,” Paine wrote in a pamphlet titled American Crisis. “The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country,
but he that stands it now deserves . . . love and thanks. . . .” Washington determined to
attempt a desperate stroke.
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