Background
Veteran’s recollection
The Battle of Princeton: remembered appeal at Trenton
Sergeant R— (unidentified veteran), recalling George Washington · 1832 · recalling December 1776
Recollection · restaged. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
While we were at Trenton, on the last of December, 1776, the time for which I and most of my regiment had enlisted expired. At this trying time General Washington, having now but a little handful of men and many of them new recruits in which he could place but little confidence, ordered our regiment to be paraded, and personally addressed us, urging that we should stay a month longer. He alluded to our recent victory at Trenton; told us that our services were greatly needed, and that we could now do more for our country than we ever could at any future period; and in the most affectionate manner entreated us to stay. The drums beat for volunteers, but not a man turned out. The soldiers worn down with fatigue and privations, had their hearts fixed on home and the comforts of the domestic circle, and it was hard to forego the anticipated pleasures of the society of our dearest friends. “The General wheeled his horse about, rode in front of the regiment, and addressing us again said, ‘My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than could be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses, and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay only one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably never can do under any other circumstances. The present is emphatically the crisis, which is to decide our destiny.’ The drums beat the second time. The soldiers felt the force of the appeal. One said to another, ‘I will remain if you will.’ Others remarked ‘We cannot go home under such circumstances.’ A few stepped forth, and their example was immediately followed by nearly all who were fit for duty in the regiment, amounting to about two hundred volunteers. An officer enquired of the General if these men should be enrolled. He replied,—‘No! Men who will volunteer in such a case as this, need no enrolment to keep them to their duty’
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- An account published roughly fifty-five years after expiring enlistments threatened Washington’s army in December 1776. Contemporary letters independently document the bounty and extensions.
- Intended audience
- Readers of a Pennsylvania newspaper, then a historical society’s magazine.
- Purpose
- To commemorate a decisive moment of perseverance through a veteran’s remembered experience.
- Point of view
- An unnamed veteran presenting Washington’s leadership as emotionally persuasive. The words are verifiable as the later printed recollection, not as a contemporary transcript of Washington.
Sergeant R—, “The Battle of Princeton,” The Phenix (Wellsborough), March 24, 1832, as identified in the reprint, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 20 (1896), pp. 515–519, especially 515–516. Text collated with the transcription of the public-domain recollection in Founders Online, Washington to Commanding Officer at Morristown, December 30, 1776, note 2. The 1832 original was not inspected. […] omits “You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you.” Both quoted excerpts belong to the remembered second appeal and follow the unanswered drum call on screen and in the role-play; intervening omitted words are disclosed above. Player, messmates, their lines, timing and choices are dramatized. No named identity is assigned to Sergeant R—. Retrospective [R]; staging [D]. “Fatigues” and “circumstances” follow the reprint’s page images rather than Founders transcription slips.
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Dictated pension appeal · retrospective
Appeal to the Commissioner of Pensions
Jehu Grant, dictated to a writer · 1836 · recalling 1777–1778
Recollection · 1836. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
Hon. J. L. Edward Commiss. of Pensions Your servant begs leave to state that he forwarded to the War Department a declaration founded on the pension Act of June 1832 praying to be allowed a pension (If his memory serves him) for ten Months service in the American Army of the revolutionary war -- that he enlisted as a soldier but was put to the service of a teamster in the summer & a waiter in the winter. In April 1834 I received a writing from your Hon[or], informing me that my "Services while a fugative from my Master's Service Was not imbraced in said Act." And that my "papers were placed on file." In my said declaration I just mentioned the Cause of leaving my Master as may be seen by a referance thereunto, And I now pray that I may be permitted to express my feelings more fully on that part of my said declaration. I was then grown to Manhood in the full Vigour and Strength of life and heard much about the Cruel and arbitary things done by the British, Their ships lay within a few miles of my Master's house which stood near the shore and I was confident that my Master traded with them, and I suffered much from fear that I should be sent aboard a ship of war, this I disliked But when I saw liberty poles & the people all engaged for the support of freedom, I could not but like & be pleased with such thing. (God forgive me if I sinned in so feeling) And living on the borders of Rhode Is. where whole companies of coloured people enlisted, it added to my fears and dread of being sold to the British These considerations induced me to enlist into the American Army where I served faithfull about 10 months. When my Master found and took me home, had I been taught to read or understand the precepts of the Gospel, "Servants obey your Masters" I might have done otherwise notwithstanding the songs of liberty that saluted my ear, thrilled through my heart. But feeling conscious that I have since compensated my Master for the Injury he sustained by my enlisting and that God has forgiven me for so doing and that I served my country faithfully and that they having enjoyed the benefits of my Service to an equal degree for the length time I served with those generally who are receiving the liberalities of the Government I cannot but feel it becoming me to pray Your Hon[or], to review my declaration on file and the papers herewith annexed. A few years after the war Joshua Swan Esqr of Stoningtown purchased me of my Master and agreed that after I had served him a length of time named faithfully I should be free, I served to his satisfaction & so obtained my freedom. He moved into the Town of Milton where I now reside about 48 years ago. After my time expired with Esqr Swan I Married a wife We have raised six children 5 are still living I must be upwards of 80 years of age and have been blind for many years and Notwithstanding the aid I receive from the honest Industry of my children We are still very needy and in part are supported from the benevolence of our friends, With these statements and the Testimony of my character herewith presented I humbly rest my claim upon the Well known liberality of Government.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A blind elderly man sought reconsideration after his Revolutionary service failed to obtain a pension. He recalled fleeing enslavement in 1777, serving about ten months, and being reclaimed by his enslaver.
- Intended audience
- J. L. Edwards, federal Commissioner of Pensions, and the officials assessing Grant’s claim.
- Purpose
- To establish the circumstances and value of his service, explain why he escaped, and obtain material support in old age.
- Point of view
- A formerly enslaved veteran seeking relief from a government whose liberty language had inspired him. His account is retrospective, dictated, and framed for an unequal pension process. Military service did not automatically grant him legal freedom.
Jehu Grant to Commissioner J. L. Edwards, December 1, 1836, Revolutionary War pension papers; transcription and manuscript-page links, Saratoga County NYGenWeb, JGrant3T.htm. Public-domain letter body reproduced; appended agent note and signatures omitted. Original spelling retained. The quoted liberty-pole passage belongs to 1836, not the 1832 declaration. Grant reports rejection because service while a fugitive was outside the pension act; Retrospective [R].
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Historical study · editorial summary
Forgotten Patriots: deaths in British captivity
Edwin G. Burrows · 2008
Modern historical estimate. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
Background: not shown on screen.
Burrows reconstructs the experiences of American prisoners in occupied New York. His estimate covers ships and buildings together; it is not a verified count for the Jersey or for prison ships alone. Surviving records are incomplete. We attribute the comparison to this historian rather than presenting it as a contemporary census.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A modern historian studies Revolutionary captivity using scattered prisoner records and accounts.
- Intended audience
- Readers of American history.
- Purpose
- To restore prisoners and deaths in captivity to accounts centered on battlefield victories.
- Point of view
- A historian making a documented estimate from incomplete evidence. His scope and uncertainty must remain attached to the comparison.
Edwin G. Burrows, Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners During the Revolutionary War (Basic Books, 2008). The excerpt is an editorial summary, not a quotation from the copyrighted book.
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Participant account · translated
Letters and Journals: shelter during the Saratoga retreat
Frederika Charlotte Louise von Riedesel; English translation by William L. Stone · October 1777 · English translation 1867
Translated participant account. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
English translation by William L. Stone, 1867
Immediately after our arrival a frightful cannonade began, principally directed against the house in which we had sought shelter, probably because the enemy believed, from seeing so many people flocking around it, that all the generals made it their head-quarters. Alas! it harbored none but wounded soldiers, or women! We were finally obliged to take refuge in a cellar, in which I laid myself down in a corner not far from the door. My children laid down on the earth with their heads upon my lap, and in this manner we passed the entire night. A horrible stench, the cries of the children, and yet more than all this, my own anguish, prevented me from closing my eyes.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Following the October 1777 fighting, Burgoyne’s retreat brought soldiers, wounded people and accompanying families under American fire near Saratoga.
- Intended audience
- Her family and, in the later printed edition, a reading public interested in the war.
- Purpose
- To recount the campaign’s dangers and her efforts to protect her children and others caught in the retreat.
- Point of view
- The wife of the commander of Brunswick troops serving with Britain, writing as a mother and participant observer. She gives a civilian experience within the defeated army; her account is mediated by later publication and English translation.
Riedesel, Letters and Journals Relating to the War of the American Revolution, and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga, English translation by William L. Stone (Albany: Joel Munsell, 1867), p.128. The passage follows the retreat narrative headed “On the 10th”; First German publication 1800; precise composition date of this passage not asserted. Translated [T], later-published participant account [R].
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Letter · printed transcription
Letter to Frederick Haldimand on Molly Brant’s influence
Daniel Claus · August 30, 1779
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
[Letter excerpt, spelling of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography transcription]
one word from her goes farther with them than a thousand from any white Man without Exception who in general must purchase their Interest at a high rate.
[Parallel 1896 printing of the same sentence, not silently substituted into the voiced version]
one word from her goes further with them than a thousand from any white man, without exception, also in general, who must purchase their interest and influence at a high rate.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A British Indian Department officer assessed Molly Brant’s diplomatic influence during the Revolutionary War, two years after Oriskany.
- Intended audience
- Frederick Haldimand, governor and commander in British Canada.
- Purpose
- To explain Brant’s authority with Haudenosaunee leaders and the value of supporting her as a British ally.
- Point of view
- A colonial official who valued Indigenous authority for British wartime goals. These are his words about Brant, not Brant’s own words or a transcript of a council.
Daniel Claus to Frederick Haldimand, Montreal, August 30, 1779; Claus papers, Library and Archives Canada, MG 19, F1. The wording follows the quoted letter passage in “Koñwatsiˀtsiaiéñni,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Compared with the primary letter as printed in William Kirby, Annals of Niagara (1896), which reads “further” and has a different final clause. Manuscript not freshly collated. No eyewitness speech in 1777 is claimed.
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Campaign history · editorial summary
The Saratoga campaign: routes, isolation and surrender
National Park Service · 1777 events
Historical interpretation. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
Background: not shown on screen.
The map compares actual campaign movements, not three identical orders faithfully carried out. St. Leger withdrew from the siege of Fort Stanwix; Howe’s separate Philadelphia campaign did not join Burgoyne. Continental troops and militia helped confine Burgoyne. We round the surrendered British and German troops to about six thousand. NPS’s approximately 6,300 officers and soldiers and approximately 600 accompanying women and children are different categories; neither should be equated with a rank-and-file return.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Modern interpretation of the 1777 northern campaign at the sites where it took place.
- Intended audience
- Park visitors, teachers and students.
- Purpose
- To explain how the campaign developed and why Burgoyne became isolated.
- Point of view
- A public-history synthesis using campaign records. Map arrows and rounded totals simplify events and are not a single contemporary military return.
National Park Service, Saratoga campaign timeline; Fort Stanwix, “The Northern Campaign of 1777”; Saratoga, “After Saratoga.” Editorial synthesis, not a historical quotation. Counts retain officers/soldiers versus civilians; differing dated returns must not be blended.
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Contemporary diary
Diary: Thanksgiving at the Gulph
Albigence Waldo · December 18, 1777
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
December 18. — Universal Thanksgiving — a Roasted pig at Night. God be thanked for my health which I have pretty well recovered. How much better should I feel, were I assured my family were in health.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The Connecticut surgeon recorded the army’s December 1777 march and supply difficulties just before the Valley Forge encampment.
- Intended audience
- His own record, with a later historical readership.
- Purpose
- To record daily conditions, work, illness and concern for family.
- Point of view
- A surgeon with an officer’s position describes his own meal. That one meal does not establish what every soldier ate; it complicates Martin’s later recollection.
“Valley Forge, 1777–1778: Diary of Surgeon Albigence Waldo, of the Connecticut Line,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 21 (1897), pp.299–323, entry December 18. Public-domain diary, archive.org/jstor-20085750. Line wrapping normalized, the line-end hyphen in “assured” rejoined. This selection stops after a complete sentence. The comparison with Martin is editorial; their different meals are not proof that one witness lied. Printed p.308.
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Report
Report of the failed crossing at Dunk’s Ferry
John Cadwalader · Early December 26, 1776
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
The River was so full of Ice that it was impossible to pass above Bristol, where I intend[ed]—and therefore concluded to make an attempt at Dunks’s Ferry—as soon as it was dark I sent down all the Boats I could muster, & mar[c]hed down about 8 O’Clock—I embarked a few men to line the River & prevent any person escaping to give Intelligence to the Enemy; and these were followed by a part of the first Battalion of Militia, then two Field Pieces, with which I went over to see if it was practicable to land them, & upon examination found it was impossible—the Ice being very thick—Upon reporting this to the Field officers they were all of opinion that it would not be proper to proceed without Cannon—During this time the third Batt. was landed—We concluded to with draw the Troops that had passed but could not effect it till near 4 O’Clock this Morng—The whole then were ordered to march for Bristol—I imagine the badness of the night must have prevented you from passing as you intended
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A supporting force attempted to cross downriver while Washington crossed farther north. Infantry landed, but the guns could not be landed through the ice.
- Intended audience
- George Washington, Continental commander.
- Purpose
- To explain the failed supporting operation and suggest further movements.
- Point of view
- A subordinate reporting conditions at his own crossing without knowing Washington had succeeded. The assumption shows the uncertainty of coordinated operations, not incompetence or cowardice.
John Cadwalader to George Washington, December 26, 1776, Founders Online, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series 7:441–443. Public-domain continuous selection. The manuscript’s December 25 date is editorially corrected from internal evidence to early December 26. Bracketed letter restorations follow the edition. Excerpt ends before an em dash. No retrospective dialogue or invented reply.
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Letter
Letter to Juliana Ritchie: a rule about spies
Benjamin Franklin · January 19, 1777
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
I am much oblig’d to you for your kind Attention to my Welfare, in the Information you give me. I have no doubt of its being well founded. But as it is impossible to discover in every case the Falsity of pretended Friends who would know our Affairs; and more so to prevent being watch’d by Spies, when interested People may think proper to place them for that purpose; I have long observ’d one Rule which prevents any Inconvenience from such Practices. It is simply this, to be concern’d in no Affairs that I should blush to have made publick; and to do nothing but what Spies may see and welcome. When a Man’s Actions are just and honourable, the more they are known, the more his Reputation is increas’d and establish’d. If I was sure therefore that my Valet de Place was a Spy, as probably he is, I think I should not discharge him for that, if in other Respects I lik’d him.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Franklin had recently arrived in France to seek support for independence and received warnings that he was watched by spies.
- Intended audience
- Juliana Ritchie, a correspondent concerned for his safety and reputation.
- Purpose
- To answer her warning and explain his professed rule of honorable conduct under surveillance.
- Point of view
- A diplomat reassuring a friend. His statement is not evidence that he knew Edward Bancroft was a British agent or that all diplomatic secrecy was pointless.
Benjamin Franklin to [Juliana Ritchie], January 19, 1777, Founders Online, Papers of Benjamin Franklin 23:211–212. Public-domain draft text. Original spelling retained.
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Written diplomatic question and answer
The American Commissioners’ interview with Gérard, document II
American commissioners; recorded in Benjamin Franklin’s hand · January 8, 1778
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
Question. What is necessary to be done to give such Satisfaction to the American Commissioners, as to engage them not to listen to any Propositions from England for a new Connection with that Country? Answer. The Commissioners have long since propos’d a Treaty of Amity and Commerce, which is not yet concluded: the immediate Conclusion of that Treaty will remove the Uncertainty they are under with regard to it, and give them such a Reliance on the Friendship of France, as to reject firmly all Propositions made to them of Peace from England, which have not for their Basis the entire Freedom and Independence of America, both in Matters of Government and Commerce.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- French and American negotiations were approaching a treaty while British peace approaches raised concern over a separate settlement.
- Intended audience
- French foreign-ministry representative Conrad-Alexandre Gérard and the American commissioners.
- Purpose
- To establish what assurance of French support would keep the Americans from accepting a renewed British connection.
- Point of view
- A written negotiation record representing the commissioners’ position. Their shared answer asserts independence as the minimum basis for peace; it is not a stenographic courtyard conversation.
The American Commissioners’ Interview on January 8 with Gérard, January 8, 1778, document II (Franklin’s hand), Founders Online. Public-domain English question and answer; original spelling retained. No internal omitted words. The contemporary written answer is distinct from the later Austin anecdote.
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Memoir · retrospective
Thomas Young remembers Morgan before Cowpens
Thomas Young; memoir printed in The Orion · 1843 · recalling 1781
Recollection · 1843. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
It was upon this occasion I was more perfectly convinced of Gen. Morgan’s qualifications to command militia, than I had ever before been. He went among the volunteers, helped them fix their swords, joked with them about their sweet-hearts, told them to keep in good spirits, and the day would be ours. And long after I laid down, he was going about among the soldiers encouraging them, and telling them that the old wagoner would crack his whip over Ben. (Tarlton) in the morning, as sure as they lived. “Just hold up your heads, boys, three fires,” he would say, “and you are free, and then when you return to your homes, how the old folks will bless you, and the girls kiss you, for your gallant conduct!” I don’t believe he slept a wink that night!
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Published sixty-two years after Cowpens, recalling Morgan encouraging volunteers before the battle.
- Intended audience
- Readers of a southern literary magazine interested in Revolutionary veterans.
- Purpose
- To preserve a veteran’s recollection of the campaign and Morgan’s rapport with militia.
- Point of view
- A participant remembering admired leadership decades later. The reported three fires in an evening pep talk must not be substituted for the battle’s reconstructed two-volley militia plan.
Thomas Young memoir, The Orion, vol.3 no.2, October 1843, p.88 (scan n43). The November continuation is not the location of this quotation. Public-domain paragraph, curly quote typography normalized, line breaks removed. Retrospective [R], not a 1781 transcript.
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Written questions and answers
Questions to Admiral de Grasse and his answers
George Washington and François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse · September 17, 1781
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
1st Is your Excellency restricted to any certain time for the continuance of the Fleet upon this Coast? If any time is fixed, beyond which your Orders will not warrant your stay in this Bay, or if the pursuit of any other object should more attract your attention, be pleased to name the day to which your departure is determined? 1st The instructions of Count De Grasse fix his departure to the 15th of October, and some engagements which he has made for other operations, will oblige him to be punctual; But having already taken much upon himself, he will also engage to stay the end of October. 2d If your Excellency should find yourself under a necessity to return the Troops under the Command of the Marquis de St Simon, to the West Indies, (however to be lamented such circumstance must be) may I not be assured, that a detachment of the Fleet may be employed as a Convoy to those Troops, and that the Main Fleet may remain in the Bay to form a sufficient cover to our operations against the Enemy, to prevent their receiving supplies by water, and to protect us from any attempt from the British to give relief to Lord Cornwallis and raise our Seige, and this Fleet to remain untill the close of our operations? 2d The Troops, under the orders of the Marquis de St Simon, have a particular destination, and I am not altogether at Liberty to dispose of them; But as my Vessels will not depart before the 1st of November, you may count upon those Troops to that period, for the Reduction of York.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The allies needed the French fleet to block British relief while they conducted the Yorktown siege.
- Intended audience
- The allied commanders coordinating army and naval operations.
- Purpose
- To establish how long ships and troops would be available before French commitments elsewhere required departure.
- Point of view
- A commander seeking assurances from an allied admiral with separate orders and obligations. The answers extend the initial October 15 limit; we must not imply the fleet was certain to leave on that date.
George Washington to François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse, September 17, 1781, with answers, Papers of George Washington, Rotunda/Founders. Public-domain first two numbered questions and answers, continuous; original spelling retained. This is a written exchange; its oral staging is reconstructed.
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Soldier’s narrative · translated
A Bayreuth soldier remembers the surrender
Johann Conrad Döhla; translated by Bruce E. Burgoyne · 1781 event · English translation 1990
Translated recollection. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
English translation by Bruce E. Burgoyne, 1990
Brigadier General O'Hara led us out and surrendered us.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A German auxiliary serving Britain described the defeated garrison’s surrender at Yorktown.
- Intended audience
- His own record and later readers of his service narrative.
- Purpose
- To record a soldier’s experience of the campaign and captivity.
- Point of view
- A Bayreuth enlisted man on the defeated side. His account derives from service notes but was expanded later; it is not evidence of Cornwallis personally leading the surrender.
Johann Conrad Döhla, A Hessian Diary of the American Revolution, trans. Bruce E. Burgoyne (University of Oklahoma Press, 1990), October 19 entry, PDF p.110. Only this short sentence is reproduced; no claim that the modern translation is public domain. German text published in 1913; surviving narrative includes later expansion. “Hessian” in the book title does not make Döhla a Hesse-Cassel soldier. Translated [T], later recollection [R].
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Historical reference
Burgoyne’s Campaign: June–October 1777
National Park Service · 1777
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
Background: not shown on screen.
[Editorial summary] Burgoyne advanced from Canada while St. Leger approached through the Mohawk Valley. Howe pursued Philadelphia. American resistance, supply problems and failed coordination isolated Burgoyne. The three arrows illustrate routes and intentions; they are not proof that three equally committed armies marched on one synchronized plan.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Britain sought to split the rebellion along the Hudson in 1777.
- Intended audience
- Visitors and students of Saratoga National Historical Park.
- Purpose
- To explain the campaign’s geography and the factors behind Burgoyne’s defeat.
- Point of view
- Modern public history. The three-arrows map is a modern schematic; Howe’s Philadelphia campaign and confused coordination complicate any single master-plan story.
National Park Service, Burgoyne’s Campaign: June–October 1777. https://www.nps.gov/articles/burgoyne-s-campaign-june-october-1777.htm
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Historical reference
The Northern Campaign of 1777
National Park Service, Fort Stanwix · 1777
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
Background: not shown on screen.
[Editorial summary] St. Leger’s siege failed and his force withdrew. This removed a possible supporting force from Burgoyne’s campaign. Oriskany occurred during the siege; it did not immediately end it. The fort’s defense contributed to Saratoga alongside other resistance and British coordination failures.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The 1777 campaign depended partly on an advance through the Mohawk Valley.
- Intended audience
- Fort Stanwix visitors and students.
- Purpose
- To connect the fort’s defense to the wider northern campaign.
- Point of view
- Read with NPS campaign timeline: https://www.nps.gov/sara/learn/historyculture/campaign-timeline.htm.
National Park Service, Fort Stanwix, The Northern Campaign of 1777. https://www.nps.gov/fost/blogs/the-northern-campaign-of-1777.htm
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Historical reference
Diplomacy of the American Revolution, 1776–1783
U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · 1776–1783
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Editorial summary] France supplied aid before the formal 1778 alliance. Spain entered war with Britain in 1779 without joining the Franco-American promise to secure U.S. independence. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780. These were distinct relationships and objectives; opposition to Britain did not make every power a formal U.S. ally.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The American war became entangled with European imperial rivalry.
- Intended audience
- Readers of the State Department’s diplomatic history.
- Purpose
- To explain how aid, recognition and wars among European states changed the struggle.
- Point of view
- Diplomatic synthesis, not evidence that all opponents of Britain were formal U.S. allies. The timeline is qualitative and supplies no invented money or ship allocations.
U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Diplomacy of the American Revolution, 1776–1783. https://1997-2001.state.gov/about_state/history/time1.html
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Historical reference
The New York Campaign, 1776
U.S. Army Center of Military History · 1776
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
Background: not shown on screen.
[Editorial summary] Britain combined experienced regulars, German auxiliaries and naval support in the New York campaign. Washington faced a major material disadvantage and the danger of losing his field army. This comparison is qualitative: enlistment rolls, effectives and ships assigned to a theater are not interchangeable measures.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Britain launched a major land-and-sea offensive against New York in 1776.
- Intended audience
- Readers of the U.S. Army’s campaign history.
- Purpose
- To explain the operational advantages and limits of Britain’s campaign.
- Point of view
- Qualitative comparison. Rolls, effectives, theater fleets and global fleets are different denominators. No numerical comparison is drawn in THE ODDS.
U.S. Army Center of Military History, The New York Campaign, 1776. https://history.army.mil/Portals/143/Images/Publications/catalog/71-44.pdf
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Historical reference
Articles of Confederation, Article VIII
Continental Congress · Adopted November 15, 1777
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Article VIII — original text]
All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the united states in congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states, in proportion to the value of all land within each state, granted to or surveyed for any Person, as such land and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode as the united states, in congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct and appoint. The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several states within the time agreed upon by the united states in congress assembled.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Congress sought a union capable of conducting war while states guarded their sovereignty.
- Intended audience
- The states and their legislatures, delegates and inhabitants.
- Purpose
- To establish a common treasury and assign responsibility for raising its funds.
- Point of view
- An interstate compact dependent on state legislatures to tax. Adopted in 1777, fully ratified in 1781; it is not the legal text governing 1776.
Articles of Confederation, Article VIII, National Archives transcript. Full public-domain article reproduced; card excerpt is an editorial paraphrase. Original capitalization retained. Adoption and effective dates distinguished.
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Proclamation
Dunmore’s proclamation
John Murray, Earl of Dunmore · November 7, 1775
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
As I have ever entertained Hopes that an Accommodation might have taken Place between Great-Britain and this Colony, without being compelled by my Duty to this most disagreeable but now absolutely necessary Step, rendered so by a Body of armed Men unlawfully assembled, firing on His Majesty’s Tenders, and the Formation of an Army, and that Army now on their March to attack his Majesty’s Troops and destroy the well disposed Subjects of this Colony. To defeat such treasonable Purposes, and that all such Traitors, and their Abettors, may be brought to Justice, and that the Peace, and good Order of this Colony may be again restored, which the ordinary Course of the Civil Law is unable to effect; I have thought fit to issue this my Proclamation, hereby declaring, that until the aforesaid good Purposes can be obtained, I do, in Virtue of the Power and Authority to ME given, by his Majesty, determine to execute Martial Law, and cause the same to be executed throughout this Colony: and to the end that Peace and good Order may the sooner be restored, I do require every Person capable of bearing Arms to resort to his Majesty’s STANDARD, or be looked upon as Traitors to his Majesty’s Crown and Government, and thereby become liable to the Penalty the Law inflicts upon such Offences; such as forfeiture of Life, confiscation of Lands, &c. &c. And I do hereby farther declare all indentured Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining his Majesty’s Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to his Majesty’s Crown and Dignity. I do further order, and require, all his Majesty’s Liege Subjects, to retain their Quitrents, or any other Taxes due or that may become due, in their own Custody, till such Time as Peace may be again restored to this at present most unhappy Country, or demanded of them for their former salutary Purposes, by Officers properly authorised to receive the same. GIVEN under my Hand on Board the Ship WILLIAM, off Norfolk, the 7th Day of November, in the sixteenth Year of his Majesty’s Reign. DUNMORE. (GOD save the KING.)
DUNMORE.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Virginia’s royal governor faced armed resistance and used martial law and recruitment to restore royal control.
- Intended audience
- Virginia inhabitants, including people enslaved by rebels and indentured servants able and willing to join British troops.
- Purpose
- To recruit manpower, weaken rebel enslavers and assert royal authority.
- Point of view
- A royal governor making a conditional wartime offer. “Appertaining to Rebels” and “able and willing to bear Arms” limit its reach; this is not universal emancipation.
Dunmore’s proclamation, November 7, 1775, Library of Virginia broadside, transcription at Encyclopedia Virginia. Public-domain proclamation body reproduced, including the restrictive parenthesis. Original “farther” retained; long-s typography represented as ordinary s. The excerpt omits no words within its quoted sentence. Contemporary [V].
View original
Proclamation · contemporary newspaper printing
Philipsburg Proclamation
Sir Henry Clinton · June 30, 1779
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
Whereas the Enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling NEGROES among their Troops; I do hereby give Notice, That all NEGROES taken in Arms, or upon any military Duty, shall be purchased for a stated Price; the Money to be paid to the Captors. But I do most strictly forbid any Person to sell or claim Right over any NEGROE, the Property of a Rebel, who may take Refuge with any Part of this Army: And I do promise to every NEGROE Who shall desert the Rebel Standard, full Security to follow within these Lines, any Occupation which he shall think proper.
H. CLINTON.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- British forces sought to draw labor and support away from the rebels during the war.
- Intended audience
- People enslaved by rebels, British troops and others entering or operating within British lines.
- Purpose
- To encourage flight from rebel control, protect some refugees from claims of ownership, and set a different rule for Black people captured on military duty.
- Point of view
- A British commander making a strategic offer within British lines. The protection and employment promise differs from general emancipation; the opening rule permits purchase of people taken on enemy military duty.
Sir Henry Clinton, Philipsburg Proclamation, June 30, 1779, printed in the Royal Gazette, July 4, 1779; American Antiquarian Society image reproduced by Philipse Manor Hall. Public-domain substantive body; long s rendered as s, spaced capitals closed and line-end hyphens rejoined. Image has a colon before “And,” capital “Who,” and comma after “Lines”; website and Wikisource transcriptions vary here. No internal omission in excerpt. No word “free” appears. Period racial terminology is documentary evidence.
View original
State enlistment law
Rhode Island act authorizing enlistment and freedom
Rhode Island General Assembly · February 1778 session
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
It is further voted and resolved, that every slave, so enlisting, shall, upon his passing muster before Col. Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free, as though he had never been encumbered with any kind of servitude or slavery. And in case such slave shall, by sickness or otherwise, be rendered unable to maintain himself, he shall not be chargeable to his master or mistress; but shall be supported at the expense of the state.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Rhode Island sought to fill its Continental battalions during a manpower shortage.
- Intended audience
- Eligible enslaved recruits, their enslavers, recruiting officers and state officials.
- Purpose
- To obtain soldiers by granting freedom after muster and compensating owners through a state process.
- Point of view
- A state legislature linking emancipation to war service while recognizing owners’ property claims. This was a limited state measure, not a congressional abolition policy.
Rhode Island General Assembly, February 1778 session; Records of the Colony of Rhode Island, ed. John Russell Bartlett, vol.8 (1863), pp.358–360, freedom clause p.359. Public-domain printed transcription. Original lower-case free retained. Muster condition and support clause included. Compensation is in the following clause. This is not national emancipation.
View original
Historical reference
The Six Nations Confederacy During the American Revolution
National Park Service · 1775–1783
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Editorial summary] The Confederacy did not choose one unanimous position. Many Oneidas and Tuscaroras supported the Americans, while many Mohawks and members of other nations supported Britain. Individuals within nations also differed. These choices involved diplomacy and protection of land; the war brought destructive raids and did not secure Indigenous sovereignty through the Treaty of Paris.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- War between Britain and the colonies divided Haudenosaunee communities.
- Intended audience
- Visitors learning Native history at Fort Stanwix.
- Purpose
- To explain decisions about alliance, neutrality and protection of homelands.
- Point of view
- Modern synthesis; no nation is shown as unanimous. Homeland, diplomacy and sovereignty cannot be reduced to receiving an emancipation offer.
National Park Service, The Six Nations Confederacy During the American Revolution. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-six-nations-confederacy-during-the-american-revolution.htm
View original
Historical reference
Koñwatsiˀtsiaiéñni (Molly Brant)
Dictionary of Canadian Biography · 1779 letter
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Editorial summary] Daniel Claus’s August 30, 1779 report praised Molly Brant’s influence among Haudenosaunee people. This is an official’s assessment of a Mohawk leader; it cannot supply words spoken by Brant herself. The underlying letter passage is separately available as claus-haldimand-1779-08-30.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- British officials depended on Indigenous diplomacy during the war.
- Intended audience
- Readers of a scholarly Canadian biographical reference.
- Purpose
- To explain Koñwatsiˀtsiaiéñni’s political influence and relationships.
- Point of view
- A British official’s view of a Mohawk leader. The hotspot paraphrases his report and does not impersonate Brant or pretend that the report is her own voice.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Koñwatsiˀtsiaiéñni (Molly Brant). https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/konwatsitsiaienni_4E.html
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Veteran’s memoir · retrospective
Martin remembers the Thanksgiving ration at the Gulph
Joseph Plumb Martin · 1830 · recalling 1776–1783
Recollection · 1830. The original words, unchanged.
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While we lay here there was a Continental thanksgiving ordered by Congress; and as the army had all the cause in the world to be particularly thankful, if not for being well off, at least, that it was no worse, we were ordered to participate in it. We had nothing to eat for two or three days previous, except what the trees of the fields and forests afforded us. But we must now have what Congress said—a sumptuous thanksgiving to close the year of high living, we had now nearly seen brought to a close. Well—to add something extraordinary to our present stock of provisions, our country, ever mindful of its suffering army, opened her sympathizing heart so wide, upon this occasion, as to give us something to make the world stare. And what do you think it was, reader?—Guess.—You cannot guess, be you as much of a Yankee as you will. I will tell you: it gave each and every man half a gill of rice, and a table spoon full of vinegar!! After we had made sure of this extraordinary superabundant donation, we were ordered out to attend a meeting, and hear a sermon delivered upon the happy occasion. We accordingly went, for we could not help it.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Published anonymously at Hallowell, Maine, in 1830, decades after Martin served in the Continental Army. The recruiting scene is June 1776; he recalls discharge on December 25 and arrival home about December 27, after the crossing and Trenton.
- Intended audience
- Readers of Revolutionary history and a public debating what the country owed surviving veterans.
- Purpose
- To make the labor, hunger, humor, service and neglect of ordinary soldiers part of the national account of independence.
- Point of view
- An enlisted Connecticut veteran defending the value of privates. He admits writing from memory. His vivid recalled dialogue is evidence of his 1830 account, not a stenographic record of 1776 speech; his own racial prejudice also requires scrutiny.
Martin, Narrative (1830), chapter III, pp.73–74. Public-domain continuous passage from the 1830 text; original punctuation and spelling retained. A bitterly ironic recollection, not a contemporary ration return. Retrospective [R].
View original
Retrospective autobiography
The Battle of Cowpens: journal of James Collins
James Collins; excerpt presented by NPS · 1859
Recollection · editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Collins’s original account; card above is an editorial summary]
We gave the enemy one fire, when they charged us with their bayonets; we gave way and retreated for our horses, Tarleton’s cavalry pursued us; (“now,” thought I, “my hide is in the loft;”) just as we got to our horses, they overtook us and began to make a few hacks at some, however, without doing much injury. They, in their haste, had pretty much scattered, perhaps, thinking they would have another Fishing creek frolic, but in a few moments, Col. Washington’s cavalry was among them, like a whirlwind, and the poor fellows began to keel from their horses, without being able to remount. The shock was so sudden and violent, they could not stand it, and immediately betook themselves to flight; there was not time to rally, and they appeared to be as hard to stop as a drove of wild Choctaw steers, going to a Pennsylvania market. In a few moments the clashing of swords was out of hearing and quickly out of sight; by this time, both lines of the infantry were warmly engaged and we being relieved from the pursuit of the enemy began to rally and prepare to redeem our credit, when Morgan rode up in front, and waving his sword, cried out, “Form, form, my brave fellows! Give them one more fire and the day is ours.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Collins recalled militia service at Cowpens, January 17, 1781, in a work published in 1859.
- Intended audience
- Readers interested in a southern veteran’s personal experiences.
- Purpose
- To recount combat, hardship and the militia’s contribution.
- Point of view
- A participant’s late autobiography. The NPS page calls it a journal, but the publication history requires retrospective framing.
James Collins, Autobiography of a Revolutionary Soldier (1859), Cowpens passage reproduced by NPS. Public-domain original selection; the card paraphrases it. NPS transcription’s fused “andprepare” corrected to “and prepare”; selection ends before further dialogue. Retrospective [R].
View original
Historical reference
Bernardo de Gálvez
National Park Service, Fort Matanzas · 1781
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Editorial summary] Spanish forces under Bernardo de Gálvez secured the British surrender at Pensacola in May 1781. The Gulf campaign demonstrates the wider war Britain faced. It does not establish an exact number of British ships or soldiers thereby prevented from reaching Yorktown.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Spain fought Britain for strategic and imperial objectives in the Gulf region.
- Intended audience
- Fort Matanzas visitors and students.
- Purpose
- To connect Spanish campaigns with the wider Revolutionary War.
- Point of view
- Public-history account; the timeline supplies month-level chronology, without a fabricated ship or money comparison.
National Park Service, Fort Matanzas, Bernardo de Gálvez. https://www.nps.gov/foma/learn/historyculture/galvez.htm
View original
Historical reference
The Continental Army: the Pennsylvania Line crisis
Robert K. Wright Jr.; U.S. Army Center of Military History · 1983
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Editorial summary] Pennsylvania soldiers mutinied over shortages and disputed enlistments, then negotiated at Princeton with representatives of Pennsylvania and Congress. They handed British agents to the negotiators while seeking redress. Their rejection of British recruitment complicates an equation of protest with abandonment of independence. This was distinct from the later New Jersey mutiny.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Long service, unpaid wages and disputed enlistment terms produced a crisis in January 1781.
- Intended audience
- Readers of an official organizational history of the Continental Army.
- Purpose
- To explain the conflict between military obligations, soldiers’ claims and army reorganization.
- Point of view
- Modern Army history; rejecting British recruitment does not erase conflict with Congress. The evidence-sort paraphrase is an argument about continuing commitment, not a quotation.
Robert K. Wright Jr.; U.S. Army Center of Military History, The Continental Army: the Pennsylvania Line crisis. https://history.army.mil/portals/143/Images/Publications/catalog/60-4-1.pdf Relevant passage: printed p.163.
View original
Letter
Letter to John Hancock: a war of posts
George Washington · September 8, 1776
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Original document; card excerpt above is an editorial summary]
In deliberating on this great Question, it was impossible to forget that History—our own experience—the advice of our ablest Friends in Europe—The fears of the Enemy, and even the Declarations of Congress demonstrate that on our side the War should be defensive, It has been even called a War of posts, that we should on all occasions avoid a general Action or put anything to the risque unless compelled by a necessity into which we ought never to be drawn.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The British campaign against New York threatened the Continental Army in 1776. This letter predates the winter counteroffensive.
- Intended audience
- John Hancock and the Continental Congress.
- Purpose
- To explain the decision to preserve the army and avoid a potentially fatal general engagement.
- Point of view
- A commander weighing military survival against pressure to defend cities. The strategy is selective risk, not a refusal ever to fight.
George Washington to John Hancock, September 8, 1776, Founders Online, National Archives. Public-domain letter. Original spelling and capitalization preserved, whitespace normalized. No words modernized. Full text below it is the identified original selection.
View original
Alliance treaty
Treaty of Alliance: independence and no separate peace
Representatives of France and the United States · February 6, 1778
Editorial summary. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
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[Original document; card excerpt above is an editorial summary]
ART. 2. The essential and direct End of the present defensive alliance is to maintain effectually the liberty, Sovereignty, and independance absolute and unlimited of the said united States, as well in Matters of Gouvernement as of commerce.
[…]
ART. 8. Neither of the two Parties shall conclude either Truce or Peace with Great Britain, without the formal consent of the other first obtain'd; and they mutually engage not to lay down their arms, until the Independence of the united states shall have been formally or tacitly assured by the Treaty or Treaties that shall terminate the War.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- After Saratoga strengthened the Americans’ diplomatic position, France formally allied with the United States.
- Intended audience
- The two governments, their armed forces and other powers judging their commitments.
- Purpose
- To secure American independence and bind the allies against separate peace during a common war.
- Point of view
- A negotiated interstate compact. French support also served French strategic interests against Britain; the commitment was neither merely charity nor proof that Americans could win without outside help.
Treaty of Alliance with France, February 6, 1778, English version, Avalon Project, Yale Law School. Articles II and VIII reproduced in full with […] marking intervening articles. Original “independance,” “Gouvernement” and capitalization retained. No invented speech. Full text below it is the identified original selection.
View original
Original dramatization
Pennsylvania sergeant: dramatized dialogue
Script writers; invented anonymous speaker · set in January 1781
Dramatized · not a historical quotation. A description we wrote; it does not quote the source.
Background: not shown on screen.
[DRAMATIZATION — not words recorded from an identifiable historical soldier]
Three years. That was the bargain.
The officers say the war decides when we go home. Where is the pay they promised?
We have a quarrel with Congress. We are not joining the king.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The Pennsylvania Line mutiny concerned shortages and disputed enlistment terms. We supply an anonymous voice to stage those documented issues.
- Intended audience
- Viewers.
- Purpose
- To make the conflict legible in a short scene.
- Point of view
- Modern scripted dialogue, not a primary source, reconstructed testimony or a quotation by a real named sergeant. It may illustrate the dispute but cannot establish what any individual said.
No historical quotation provenance claimed. This source record is supplied for editorial audit; current script marks the scenes [D] and does not link these lines as historical quotes.
View original
Agent’s report of a conversation
Wentworth reports Franklin’s insistence on independence
Paul Wentworth, reporting a conversation with Benjamin Franklin · January 7, 1778
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
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He answered He believed He might do a great deal, but that the Spirit of America was so High nothing but 107 [Independency] would be at all listned to: and they should not be let alone long, for they would not be able even to accept this from 64 [England], but as they would from the Emperor of Morrocco. That other nations were wiser than 64 [England], and the 45 [Congress] would soon find them more Candid and fair also.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A British intermediary sounded out the American commissioners while France and the United States moved toward alliance.
- Intended audience
- William Eden, a British government official directing the approach.
- Purpose
- To report the prospects for reconciliation and the American position.
- Point of view
- A British agent’s near-contemporary account of his interlocutor. It is evidence of the negotiation, not a verbatim transcript or words written by Franklin himself.
Paul Wentworth to [William Eden]: Extract, January 7, 1778, Founders Online, Papers of Benjamin Franklin 25:435–440. Correct permalink ends 0351, not fc2’s 0344. Public-domain continuous paragraph selection ending before the next sentence. Cipher numbers and Eden’s bracketed decodings retained. No dialogue has been manufactured from this report.
View original
Letter
Morris gathers hard money for Washington
Robert Morris · December 30, 1776
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
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I have just recd your favour of this day & sent to Genl Putnam to detain the Express untill I collect the hard Money You want which you may depend shall be sent in one specie or other with this letter & a list thereof shall be enclosed herein. I had long since parted with very Considerable Sums of hard money to Congress, therefore must Collect from others & as matters now Stand it is no easy matter, I mean to borrow Silver & promise payment in Gold & will then Collect the Gold in the best manner I can. whilst on this Subject let me inform You that there is upwards of 20,000 Dollars in Silver at Tyconderoga they have no particular use for it & I think You might as well send a party to bring it away & lodge it in a Safe place Convenient for any purposes for which it may hereafter be wanted.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Washington needed money as soldiers’ enlistments approached expiration after Trenton.
- Intended audience
- George Washington.
- Purpose
- To explain the collection and movement of urgently needed coin.
- Point of view
- A financier organizing support through borrowing and personal networks. His letter distinguishes a promise to collect money from a complete account of what each soldier received.
Robert Morris to George Washington, December 30, 1776, Founders Online, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series 7:489–490. Public-domain continuous opening passage, original spelling and ampersands retained. The letterbook coin list is not a complete bounty ledger.
View original
Letter
Washington acknowledges hard money and explains the bounty
George Washington · January 1, 1777
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
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I have the honor and pleasure of acknowledging your favors of the 28th and 31st Decr and Mr Morris’s of the 30th and 31st. The Messenger delivered me the two parcels of hard Money, which I suppose will turn out right, not having had time to count it. The Sum that is lodged at Ticonderoga shall be ordered down, provided the Commander in the Northern Department, finds no better use for it there, than I can make of it here. The Accounts you give me, in yours of the 28th Ulto of the good Effects that are likely to flow from our Success at Trenton, add not a little to the Satisfaction I have felt on that occasion. You are pleased to pay me many personal compliments, as if the merit of that Affair was due solely to me; but I assure you, the other General Officers, who assisted me in the plan and execution, have full as good right to your Encomiums as myself. We are devising such Measures, as I hope, if they succeed, will add as much or more to the distress of the Enemy, than their defeat at Trenton, and I promise myself the greatest Advantages, from having engaged, a number of the Eastern Troops, to stay six Weeks beyond their Term of Inlistment, upon giving a Bounty of Ten Dollars. This I know is a most extravagant price, when compared to the time of Service, but the Example was set by the State of pennsylvania with respect to their Militia, and I thought it no time to stand upon Trifles when a Body of firm Troops, inured to danger, were absolutely necessary to lead on the more raw and undisciplined.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- After Trenton, Washington sought to retain experienced troops while preparing another operation.
- Intended audience
- The Executive Committee of the Continental Congress.
- Purpose
- To acknowledge assistance and explain an expensive emergency retention measure.
- Point of view
- The commander reporting to civilian authorities. He thanks other officers, acknowledges money not yet counted, and describes retaining a number of eastern troops, rather than claiming universal paid-in-full reenlistment.
George Washington to the Executive Committee of the Continental Congress, January 1, 1777, Founders Online, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series 7:499–501. Public-domain opening three paragraphs, continuous, original spelling/capitalization. The edition regularizes a manuscript slip “yours favors” to “your favors.” No internal omission in excerpt.
View original
Letter
Washington reports the maneuver and victory at Princeton
George Washington · January 5, 1777
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
On the 2d according to my expectation the Enemy began to advance upon us, and after some skirmishing the Head of their Column reached Trenton about 4 OClock, whilst their rear was as far back as Maidenhead. They attempted to pass Sanpink Creek, which runs through Trenton at different places, but finding the Fords guarded, halted & kindled their Fires—We were drawn up on the other side of the Creek. In this situation we remained till dark, cannonading the Enemy & receiving the fire of their Field peices which did us but little damage. Having by this time discovered that the Enemy were greatly superior in number and that their design was to surround us, I ordered all our Baggage to be removed silently to Burlington soon after dark, and at twelve OClock after renewing our fires & leaving Guards at the Bridge in Trenton and other passes on the same stream above, marched by a roundabout Road to Princeton, where I knew they could not have much force left and might have Stores. One thing I was certain of, that it would avoid the appearance of a retreat, (which was of course or to run the hazard of the whole Army being cut off) whilst we might by a fortunate stroke withdraw Genl Howe from Trenton and give some reputation to our Arms. happily we succeeded. We found Princeton about Sunrise with only three Regiments and three Troops of light Horse in it, two of which were on their march to Trenton—These three Regiments, especially the Two first, made a gallant resistance and in killed wounded and Prisoners must have lost 500 Men, upwards of One hundred of them were left dead in the Feild, and with what I have with me & what were taken in the pursuit & carried across the Delaware, there are near 300 prisoners 14 of which are Officers—all British.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Washington moved around the British army after the January 2 fighting at Trenton and struck Princeton the following morning.
- Intended audience
- John Hancock and the Continental Congress.
- Purpose
- To explain the maneuver, report the result and sustain support for the army.
- Point of view
- A commander reporting success and uncertain battlefield estimates soon after the action. His casualty figures should not be treated as a modern exact count.
George Washington to John Hancock, January 5, 1777, Founders Online, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series 7:519–523. Public-domain continuous selection from the January 2 account through the Princeton result; excerpt ends before the continuation following the dash. Original spelling retained. January 3 is four days after the December 30 appeal; no “three days later” claim.
View original
Campaign journal · English translation
Deux-Ponts records the agreed assault signal
Guillaume (William) de Deux-Ponts; translated by Samuel Abbott Green · October 14, 1781 · translated 1868
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
English translation by Samuel Abbott Green
He informed me of the signal of six consecutive shells, fired from one of our batteries, at which I was to advance; and in this position I awaited the signal agreed upon.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Before the French assault on Redoubt9 at Yorktown, October 14, 1781, Deux-Ponts awaited the signal agreed with Baron de Viomesnil.
- Intended audience
- His journal’s readers; this English text reached nineteenth-century readers through Samuel Abbott Green’s translation.
- Purpose
- To record the preparations and conduct of the assault he led.
- Point of view
- A French assault commander describes the signal given to him. Martin’s 1830 American enlisted recollection says three shells. The comparison preserves the different accounts rather than silently harmonizing them.
Guillaume de Deux-Ponts, My Campaigns in America: A Journal Kept by Count William de Deux-Ponts, 1780–81, translated and edited by Samuel Abbott Green (Boston: J. K. Wiggin and Wm. Parsons Lunt, 1868), p. 144. Line-end hyphen rejoined and whitespace normalized. This is his account of an instruction, not a separately collated original order manuscript. The paired overlay’s three-shell quotation belongs to Martin, separately linked.
View original
Participant account · translated
The dinner table becomes General Fraser’s deathbed
Frederika Charlotte Louise von Riedesel; English translation by William L. Stone · October 7, 1777 · English translation 1867
Translated participant account. The original words, unchanged.
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English translation by William L. Stone, 1867
About three o’clock in the afternoon, in place of the guests who were to have dined with me, they brought in to me, upon a litter, poor General Frazer (one of my expected guests), mortally wounded. Our dining table, which was already spread, was taken away, and in its place they fixed up a bed for the general. I sat in a corner of the room trembling and quaking.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- During the October 7 battle near Saratoga, Riedesel expected officers for dinner. General Fraser was instead brought to her quarters mortally wounded; the later cellar refuge occurred during the retreat.
- Intended audience
- Her family and, in the later printed edition, a reading public interested in the war.
- Purpose
- To recount the campaign’s dangers and her efforts to protect her children and others caught in the retreat.
- Point of view
- The wife of the commander of Brunswick troops serving with Britain, writing as a mother and participant observer. She gives a civilian experience within the defeated army; her account is mediated by later publication and English translation.
Riedesel, Letters and Journals, translated by William L. Stone (Albany: Joel Munsell, 1867), p. 119, scan n121. The narrative begins on October 7 on the preceding page. Public-domain translation. Frazer is the edition’s spelling of General Simon Fraser. No modernized wording or invented speech. The room is the Smith House, distinct from Burgoyne’s breakfast headquarters; see translator’s footnote on p. 119.
View original
Manuscript
Daniel McCurtin sees the British fleet
Daniel McCurtin · 1776
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
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I spied, as I peeped out the Bay, something resembling a Wood of pine trees trimed. I declare at my noticing this that I could not believe my eyes, but keeping my eyes fixed at the very spot, judge you of my surprise, when in about 10 minutes, the whole Bay was as full of shipping as ever it could be. I do declare that I thought all London was in afloat.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- A Maryland rifleman records the arrival of a large fleet in New York harbor in 1776. The image and later narration separately introduce the August landing.
- Intended audience
- The journal’s readers; printed later in a collection of Maryland military papers.
- Purpose
- To record the scale of the approaching British force and his astonishment.
- Point of view
- An American soldier’s visual impression, not a counted fleet return.
Daniel McCurtin, journal, entry headed 29, in Thomas Balch, ed., Papers Relating Chiefly to the Maryland Line (1857), p. 40. The preceding monthly heading is May 1, 1776; p. 40 also marks a manuscript gap. This printing does not establish June 29 on its own, so we label the recollection 1776 and don't assert a day or month. Wood, trimed, 10 and in afloat retain the edition. Separate August narration concerns the Long Island landing.
View original
Letter
Henry Knox tells Lucy about the crossing and Trenton
Henry Knox · December 28, 1776
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
Background: not shown on screen.
The floating ice in the river made the labor almost incredible. However, perseverance accomplished what at first seemed impossible.
[…]
They endeavored to form in streets, the heads of which we had previously the possession of with cannon and howitzers; these, in the twinkling of an eye, cleared the streets.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- The artillery commander writes just after the Delaware crossing and the American victory at Trenton.
- Intended audience
- His wife, Lucy Knox.
- Purpose
- To describe the difficulties, action and success to a trusted family reader.
- Point of view
- A participant proud of the artillery’s achievement; a private letter is not a neutral casualty return.
Henry Knox to Lucy Knox, Delaware River, near Trenton, December 28, 1776, printed in Francis S. Drake, Life and Correspondence of Henry Knox (1873), pp. 36–37. Two separate contiguous excerpts, separated here by […]. Follows Drake’s punctuation before “these”; does not import Brooks’s later “however” variant. Knox’s prisoner estimate is not adopted.
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Letter
Steuben explains why American soldiers need reasons
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben; translated in Friedrich Kapp · c. 1787–1788
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
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English translation (1859 edition)
the genius of this nation is not in the least to be compared with that of the Prussians, Austrians, or French. You say to your soldier, 'Do this, and he doeth it;' but I am obliged to say, 'This is the reason why you ought to do that,' and then he does it.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- After the Revolution, Steuben contrasts American service with European military obedience.
- Intended audience
- His Prussian correspondent Baron de Gaudi.
- Purpose
- To explain the different methods required to command American soldiers.
- Point of view
- A professional officer recalling the difficulties with humor; mediated by a nineteenth-century English translation.
Steuben to Baron de Gaudi, New York, c. 1787 or 1788. English translation in Friedrich Kapp, Life of Frederick William von Steuben (1859), appendix, pp. 698–699 (date heading p. 698, quoted passage p. 699). Retrospective translated comparison, not a transcript of Valley Forge drill. Caption quotation punctuation follows the cited English wording; lowerthird uses 1787–1788, matching the printed year range rather than asserting an exact day.
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Letter
Franklin introduces Steuben with an inflated rank
Benjamin Franklin · September 4, 1777
Verbatim. The original words, unchanged.
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the Baron de Steuben, lately a Lieutenant-General in the king of Prussia's Service, whom he attended in all his Campaigns, being his Aide-de-Camp, Quartermaster General, etc.
Sourcing
- Historical situation
- Franklin seeks to introduce a European military specialist to Washington during the war.
- Intended audience
- George Washington.
- Purpose
- To secure a favorable reception for Steuben.
- Point of view
- A diplomatic recommendation with an inflated credential; evidence of the introduction, not proof Steuben held that Prussian rank.
Franklin to Washington, Passy, September 4, 1777, in Albert H. Smyth, ed., The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 7 (1905), p. 63. Quoted wording is the named print edition. Kapp (1859), pp. 74–75, discusses the fictitious rank. Steuben had left Prussian service as a captain in 1763.
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