David McCullough Library E-book Box Set

by David McCullough

  134 “wooden horse”: North Callahan, Henry Knox: George Washington’s General (South Brunswick, Maine: A. S. Barnes, 1958), 37.

  135 “the most wretchedly clothed”: Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris, eds., The Spirit of ’Seventy-Six, I (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958), 153–154.

  136 “fitted out”: New England Chronicle and Essex Gazette, September 14, 1775.

  137 Washington himself chose to wear: “Uniforms of the Revolutionary Army,” Proceedings of the MHS, IV (1858–1860), 152–163.

  138 “a great deal of grandeur”: Joseph Hodgkins to Sarah Hodgkins, September 3, 1775, in Herbert T. Wade and Robert A. Lively, eds., This Glorious Cause (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1958), 171.

  139 “His Excellency was on horseback”: James Thacher, M.D., Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War, July 1775 to February 17, 1777 (Boston: Richardson & Lord, 1823), 37.

  140 “worthy people”: Sir George Otto Trevelyan, The American Revolution, II (New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899), 187.

  141 Old Put: Allen French, The First Year of the American Revolution (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934), 83.

  142 “the troubles”: Isaac J. Greenwood, ed., Revolutionary Services of John Greenwood of Boston and New York, 1775–1783 (New York: De Vinne Press, 1922), 3.

  143 “an old split fife”: Ibid., 4.

  144 “They used to ask”: Ibid., 6.

  145 “Everywhere the greatest”: Ibid., 12.

  146 “a Negro man”: Ibid., 12–13.

  147 “There are in the Massachusetts regiments”: William Heath to John Adams, October 23, 1775, in Papers of John Adams, III, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press, 1979), 230.

  148 “The regiments at Roxbury”: John Thomas to John Adams, October 24, 1775, in Papers of John Adams, III, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1979), 329.

  149 “Negroes, boys unable to bear arms”: George Washington, General Orders, November 12, 1775, in PGW, II, 354.

  150 notices posted of deserters: New England Chronicle and Essex Gazette, July–September 1775.

  151 “Deserted from Col. Brewer’s regiment”: Ibid., November 2, 1775.

  152 “hardy men”: James Thacher, M.D., Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War, July 1775 to February 17, 1777 (Boston: Richardson & Lord, 1823), 37–38.

  153 “bee-line”: Joseph Whitehorne, “Shepardstown and the Morgan-Stevenson Companies,” Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, LVIII (December 1992), 16–19.

  154 Washington began to wish: George F. Scheer and Hugh F. Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats (New York: Da Capo Press, 1957), 86.

  155 “in many places”: Thomas G. Frothingham, History of the Siege of Boston, and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill (New York: Da Capo Press, 1970), 274.

  156 “His comrades”: “Diary of Samuel Bixby,” August 2, 1775, Proceedings of the MHS, Vol. XIV (1875–1876), 291.

  157 “frolicking”: John Greenwood, The Revolutionary Services of John Greenwood of Boston, Isaac J. Greenwood, ed. (New York: De Vinne Press, 1922), 21.

  158 “Nothing of note”: “Diary of Samuel Bixby,” August 3–12, 1775, Proceedings of the MHS, Vol. XIV (1875–1876), 293.

  159 “Nothing extraordinary”: Stephen Kemble, Journals of Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Kemble, 1773–1789, and British Army Orders: General Sir William Howe, 1775–1778; General Sir Henry Clinton, 1778; and General Daniel Jones, 1778 (Boston: Gregg Press, 1972), 55–60.

  160 “exceeding dirty and nasty”: Lund Washington to George Washington, August 20, 1775, in PGW, I, 336.

  161 “these people”: George Washington to Richard H. Lee, August 29, 1775, in PGW, I, 372.

  162 “the goodness of our cause”: George Washington to Philip Schuyler, August 20, 1775, in PGW, I, 331.

  163 Georgian mansion: Research and discussions with curators and Park Service staff at Longfellow House National Historic Site, Cambridge, Mass.

  164 household accounts: See “George Washington’s Revolutionary War Expenses and Accounts, 1775–1776, kept by Ebenezer Austin,” LOC.

  165 William (Billy) Lee: James Thomas Flexner, George Washington in the American Revolution, 1775–1783, II (Boston: Little Brown, 1967), 60.

  166 “Be easy”: George Washington to William Woodford, November 10, 1775, in PGW, II, 347.

  167 “Sir, I am a corporal”: John C. Dann, ed., The Revolution Remembered (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980), 392.

  168 “has so much martial”: Benjamin Rush to Thomas Rushton, October 29, 1777, in L. H. Butterfield, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush, I (Princeton N.J.: American Philosophical Society, 1951), 92.

  169 “harum scarum”: Paul H. Smith, ed., Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789, I (Washington D.C.: Library of Congress, 1976), 499–500.

  170 “This appointment”: John Adams to Abigail Adams, June 11, 1775, in Adams Family Correspondence, I (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1963), 215.

  171 “one of the most important”: Ibid., June 17, 1775, 216.

  172 hardly said enough: Abigail Adams to John Adams, July 16, 1775, in Adams Family Correspondence, I (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1963), 246.

  173 “Joy was visible”: Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, July 14, 1775, in PNG, I, 99.

  174 “expressed himself to me”: John F. Roche, Joseph Reed: A Moderate in the American Revolution (New York: Columbia University Press, 1957), 66.

  175 “noble appearance”: Frank Grizzard, Jr., George Washington: Biographical Companion (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Cl10, 2002), 326.

  176 “Every action done”: Richard Brookhiser, ed., George Washington’s Rules of Civility (New York: Free Press, 1997), 27.

  177 “liked his glass”: Bellamy Partridge, Sir Billy Howe (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1932), 34.

  178 “I heard the bullets”: George Washington to John Washington, May 31, 1754, in Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, I, W. W. Abbot, ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 118.

  179 glass in the windows: Author’s conversation with Carol Borchert Cadou, curator, Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Mount Vernon, Va.

  180 “I wish you would quicken”: George Washington to Lund Washington, August 20, 1775, in PGW, I, 337.

  181 “strongly attacked”: Paul Leicester Ford, Washington and the Theater (New York: Dunlap Society, 1899), 7.

  182 Cato: Ibid., 2–21; James Thomas Flexner, George Washington in the American Revolution, 1775–1783 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1968), 30.

  183 His wealth was in land: Information on George Washington’s landholdings from Frank Grizzard, associate editor, Papers of George Washington.

  184 “obliged to keep horses”: Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker (Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1966), 321.

  185 “the best horseman”: Thomas Jefferson to Dr. Walter Jones, January 21, 1814, LOC.

  186 “Found a fox”: Donald Jackson, ed., Diaries of George Washington, III (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978), 160–191.

  187 “the image of war”: R. S. Surtees, Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour (London, The Folio Society, 1950), 10.

  188 “far, very far”: Charles Coleman Sellers, Charles Willson Peale: Early Life, I (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1947), 109.

  189 “I am truly sensible”: George Washington to Continental Congress, June 16, 1775, in PGW, I, 1.

  190 “far from seeking”: George Washington to Martha Washington, June 18, 1775, in PGW, I, 3–4.

  191 “secret expedition”: Instructions to Nathaniel Tracy, September 2, 1775, in PGW, I, 405.

  192 “The inactive state”: George Washington to John Washington, September 10, 1775, in PGW, I, 447.

  193 “speedy finish”: George Washington to General Officers, September 8, 1775, in PGW, I, 432.

  194 “No danger”: George Washington to Nicholas Cooke, August 4, 1775, in PGW, I, 221.r />
  195 “to know”: George Washington to General Officers, September 8, 1775, in PGW, I, 432.

  196 Seneca chief: John Richard Alden, General Charles Lee: Traitor or Patriot? (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1951), 9.

  197 “an odd genius”: Ibid., 83.

  198 Boiling Water: John Shy, A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1990), 137.

  199 “the first officer”: George Washington to John Washington, March 31, 1776, in PGW, III, 570.

  200 “a good man”: William Cooper to John Adams, April 22, 1776, in Naval Documents of the American Revolution, IV, William Bell Clark, ed. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Navy, 1969), 1192.

  201 “fat, old, church warden”: Christopher Hibbert, Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes (New York: Avon, 1990), 70.

  202 “of middling stature”: William Heath, Heath’s Memoirs of the American War (New York: A. Wessels Co., 1904), 15.

  203 “surely every post”: George Washington to John Thomas, July 23, 1775, in PGW, I, 160.

  204 “severity of a northern winter”: George Washington, Council of War, September 11, 1775, in PGW, I, 450.

  205 “the hazard”: Ibid., 451.

  206 “decisive stroke”: George Washington to John Hancock, September 21, 1775, in PGW, II, 28–29.

  207 “I send you eleven dollars”: Joseph Hodgkins to Sarah Hodgkins, October 6, 1775, Herbert T. Wade and Robert A. Lively, eds., This Glorious Cause (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1958), 178.

  208 “defend our common rights”: Nathanael Greene to Catharine Greene, June 2, 1775, in PNG, I, 83.

  209 “We are soldiers”: Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, July 4, 1776, in PNG, I, 98.

  210 “neither glory”: George Washington to John Thomas, July 23, 1775, in PGW, I, 160.

  211 “every exertion”: George Washington to New York Provincial Congress, June 26, 1775, in PGW, I, 41.

  212 “become a favorite point”: Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, October 23, 1775, in PNG, I, 140.

  213 Dr. Benjamin Church: Clifford K. Shipton, ed., Sibley’s Harvard Graduates, XIII (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1965), 380–398.

  214 “Things hereabouts remain”: James Warren to Samuel Adams, October 23, 1775, in Warren-Adams Letters, II, Massachusetts Historical Society Collections (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1925), 422.

  215 “proof of the diabolical designs”: George Washington to William Ramsay, November 10–16, 1775, in PGW, II, 345.

  216 “You cannot but be sensible”: George Washington to Joseph Reed, November 20, 1775, in PGW, II, 407.

  217 “I miss you exceedingly”: Ibid., November 28, 1775, 448.

  218 “very sensible”: L. H. Butterfield, ed., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, II (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1961), 131.

  219 “cold and blustering”: “Diary of Jabez Fitch, Jr.,” November 12, 1775, Proceedings of the MHS, 2nd series, IX (1894–1895), 79.

  220 “He is certainly the best”: James Warren to John Adams, November 14, 1775, in Papers of John Adams, III, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1983), 306.

  221 “Gentlemen in other colonies”: John Adams to Joseph Hawley, November 25, 1775, in Papers of John Adams, III, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1979), 316.

  222 “acquainted with the genius”: Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, December 18, 1775, in PNG, I, 163.

  223 Henry Knox: George F. Scheer and Hugh R. Rankin, eds., Rebels and Redcoats (New York: Da Capo Press, 1957), 79–104.

  224 “very fat, but very active”: Marquis de Chastellux, Travels in North America in the Years 1780, 1781, and 1782, I, Howard C. Rice, ed. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1963), 112.

  225 seventh of the ten sons: North Callahan, Henry Knox: George Washington’s General (South Brunswick, Maine: A. S. Barnes, 1958), 16.

  226 “large and very elegant: Ibid., 21.

  227 “of pleasing manners”: L. H., Butterfield, ed., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, III (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1961), 446.

  228 Another patron was Nathanael Greene: North Callahan, Henry Knox: George Washington’s General (South Brunswick, Maine: A. S. Barnes, 1958), 29–30.

  229 “military art”: Ibid., 35.

  230 bird-hunting: Ibid., 26.

  231 Lucy Flucker: Ibid.

  232 “My charmer”: Henry Knox to Lucy Knox, December 17, 1775, NYHS.

  233 “Long to see you”: Ibid., July 7, 1775.

  234 “George Washington fills”: Ibid., July 9, 1775.

  235 “Don’t be afraid”: Ibid., November 18, 1775.

  236 “Every officer that stands”: Nathanael Greene’s Orders, November 7, 1775, in PNG, I, 149.

  237 “Every colonel”: Nathanael Greene’s Orders, November 15, 1775, in PNG, I, 151.

  238 smallpox raged: Allen Bowman, The Morale of the American Revolutionary Army (Washington, D.C: American Council of Public Affairs, 1943), 21.

  239 “I only saw him”: John C. Dann, ed., The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980), 409.

  240 “the whole in the most miserable”: George Washington to Joseph Reed, November 27, 1775, PGW, II, 442.

  241 “with [the] design”: George Washington to John Hancock, December 4, 1775, in PGW, II, 486.

  242 “weapon of defense”: Ibid., December 14, 1775, 548.

  243 “Your exertions”: Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution, I (New York: Scribner, 1860), 171–173.

  244 “Our situation”: George Washington to John Hancock, November 28, 1775, in PGW, II, 446.

  245 “such a dearth”: George Washington to Joseph Reed, November 28, 1775, in PGW, II, 449–450.

  246 “glad tidings”: Ibid., November 30, 1775, 463.

  247 “instance of divine favor”: Ibid.

  248 “Our people are almost bewitched”: Joseph Hodgkins to Sarah Hodgkins, October 6, 1775, in Herbert T. Wade and Robert A. Lively, eds., This Glorious Cause (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1958), 178.

  249 “I hope I and all my townsmen”: Ibid., November 25, 1775, 185.

  250 “I want you to come home”: Sarah Hodgkins to Joseph Hodgkins, December 10, 1775, in Herbert T. Wade and Robert A. Lively, eds., This Glorious Cause (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1958), 187.

  251 “I want to see you very much”: Ibid., May 23, 1775, 203, and June 2, 1775, 204.

  252 “alter”: Ibid., November 19, 1775, 184.

  253 “We was ordered”: George F. Scheer and Hugh F. Rankin, eds., Rebels and Redcoats (New York: Da Capo Press, 1957), 102.

  254 “In the morning”: Journal of Simeon Lyman of Sharon, August 10 to December 28, 1775, Collections of Connecticut Historical Society, VII, 131.

  255 “Some of the Connecticutians”: George G. Scheer and Hugh F. Rankin, eds., Rebels and Redcoats (New York: Da Capo Press, 1957), 103.

  256 “Let me ask you”: George Washington to Philip Schuyler, December 24, 1775, in PGW, II, 599–600.

  257 “not a bad supply”: George F. Scheer and Hugh F. Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats (New York: Da Capo Press, 1957), 103.

  258 “I confess I shudder”: Martha Washington to Elizabeth Ramsay, December 30, 1775, in Joseph E. Fields, ed., Worthy Partner: The Papers of Martha Washington (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994), 164.

  259 “even if the town must be burnt”: Diary of Richard Smith, December 22, 1775, in Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789, Paul Smith, ed., II (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1977), 513.

  260 “the most perfect piece”: Providence Gazette, December 23, 1775.

  261 “This is the last day”: Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, December 31, 1775, in PNG, I, 173–174.

  262 sent across the lines from
Boston: Allen French, The First Year of the American Revolution (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934), 630.

  263 “We have consulted”: Nathanael Greene to Samuel Ward, January 4, 1776, in PNG, I, 176–177.

  264 “satisfy a tyrant”: George Washington to Joseph Reed, February 10, 1776, in PGW, III, 288.

  265 “by hundreds”: William Heath, Heath’s Memoirs of the American War (New York: A. Wessels Co., 1904), 43–44.

  266 “new army”: George Washington’s General Orders, January 1, 1776, in PGW, III, 1.

  267 new flag: Allen French, The First Year of the American Revolution (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934), 630.

  3. Dorchester Heights

  268 “absolutely necessary”: Sir Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775–1782. William B. Willcox, ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press 1954), 20.

  269 “It had often been wished”: John Rhodehamel, ed., The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence (New York: Library of America, 2001), 120.

  270 “We cannot remain”: James Grant to Edward Harvey, August 11, 1775, James Grant Papers, LOC.

  271 “Lenity is out of the question”: Ibid.

  272 “abandon Boston before winter”: K. G. Davies, ed., Documents of the American Revolution, 1770–1783, Colonial Office Series, XI (Dublin: Irish University Press, 1976), 99.

  273 “We are not under”: Ibid., 191.

  274 “We must go at it”: Sir Henry Clinton memorandum, December 3, 1775, in The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of His Campaigns, William B. Willcox, ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1954), 23n.

  275 “Gentleman Johnny”: David Hackett Fisher, Washington’s Crossing (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 36.

  276 “so shattered”: Francis, Lord Rawdon, to Francis, 10th Earl of Huntingdon, December 13, 1775, in Report on the Manuscripts of the late Reginald Rawdon Hastings, III (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1930–1947), 161.

  277 “and we hear”: Ibid., October 5, 1775, 160.

  278 “The rebels have the impudence”: Margaret Wheeler Willard, ed., Letters on the American Revolution: 1774–1776 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1925), 259.