1776

by David McCullough

  Thacher, James, M.D.Military Journal During the American Revolution, 17750–1783. Boston: Richardson & Lord, 1823.

  Trumbull, Benjamin. “Journal of the Campaign at New York, 1776–1777.”Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society. Vol. VII (1899).

  Tudor, John.Deacon Tudor’s Diary. Boston: Press of W. Spooner, 1896.

  Washington, George.The Diaries of George Washington, 1780–1781. Vol. III. Edited by Donald Jackson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978.

  Webb, Samuel Blachley.Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb: 1772–1777. Vol. I. Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford. Lancaster, Pa.: Wickersham Press, 1893.

  ———.Family Letters of Samuel Blachley Webb, 1764–1807. Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1912.

  Wilkinson, General James.Memoirs of My Own Times. Vol. I. Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 1816.

  Williams, Elisha. “Elisha Williams’ Diary of 1776.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. XLVIII (1924).

  Articles

  Anderson, Fred W. “The Hinge of the Revolution: George Washington Confronts a People’s Army, July 3, 1775.”Massachusetts Historical Review. Vol. I (1999).

  Baker, William S. “Itinerary of General Washington from June 15, 1775, to December 23, 1783.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. XIV, No. 2 (1890).

  “British Officer in Boston 1775.”Atlantic Monthly. April 1877.

  Brookhiser, Richard. “A Man on Horseback.”Atlantic Monthly. January 1996.

  Brown, Wallace. “An Englishman Views the American Revolution: The Letters of Henry Hulton, 1769–1776.”Huntington Library Quarterly. Vol. XXXVI (1972–1973).

  “The Capture of Fort Washington, New York. Described by Cpt. Andreas Wiederhold.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. XXIII (1899).

  “Contemporaneous Account of the Battle of Trenton,Pennsylvania Evening Post, December 28, 1776.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. IV (1880).

  Conway, Stephen. “From Fellow-Nationals to Foreigners: British Perceptions of the Americans, circa 1739–1783.”William and Mary Quarterly. 3rd series. Vol. LIX, No. 1 (January 2002).

  Davis, General W. W. H. “Washington on the West Bank of the Delaware 1776.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. IV, No. 2 (1980).

  Delancy, E. F. “Mount Washington and Its Capture on the 16th of November, 1776.”Magazine of American History. Vol. I (February 1877).

  Gelb, Norman. “Winter of Discontent.”Smithsonian Magazine. May 2003.

  Gordon, Reverend William. Letters,Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol. LX (October 1926–June 1927).

  Greene, George Washington. “Major-General Nathanael Greene.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. II (1878).

  Gruber, Ira. D. “Lord Howe and Lord George Germain: British Politics and the Winning of American Independence.”William and Mary Quarterly. 3rd series. Vol. XXII, No. 2 (April 1965).

  Heathcote, Charles William. “General Israel Putnam.”Picket Post (Valley Forge Historical Society). February 1963.

  “House of Lords and the House of Commons.”Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. No. 688 (November 1, 1834).

  Ketchum, Richard M. “Men of the Revolution: Israel Putnam.”American Heritage. Vol. XXIV (June 1973).

  Koke, Richard J. “Forcing the Hudson River Passing.”New-York Historical Society Quarterly. Vol. XXXVI (October 1952).

  Kranish, Michael. “Washington Reconstructed.”Boston Globe, February 17, 2002.

  Kurtz, Henry I. “Victory on Dorchester Heights.”American History Illustrated. Vol. IV (December 1969).

  “Late House of Commons and Antiquities of St. Stephen’s Chapel.”Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. No. 690 (November 8, 1834).

  “Letter of Reverend William Gordon to Samuel Wilcon, April 6, 1776.”Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol. LX (1926–1927).

  “Letters from a Hessian Mercenary.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. LXII, No. 4 (October 1938).

  “Letters Written During the Revolutionary War by Colonel William Douglas to His Wife Covering the Period July 19, 1775, to December 5, 1775.”New-York Historical Society Bulletin. Vols. XII–XIII (January 1929–January 1930).

  Luther, F. S. “General Israel Putnam.”Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity for the Year 1904. Vol. XX, No. 4 (1905).

  “Major General John Thomas.”Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 2nd series. Vol. XVIII (1903–1904).

  “Occupation of New York City by the British.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. IV (1980).

  Paltsits, Victor Hugo. “The Jeopardy of Washington, September 15, 1776.”New-York Historical Society Quarterly. Vol. XXXII (October 1948).

  Pogue, Dennis J. “General Washington: One of the Wealthiest Men in American History?” Mount Vernon Library (2002).

  Powell, William S. “A Connecticut Soldier Writing Home: Elisha Bostwick’s Memoirs of the First Years of the Revolution.”William and Mary Quarterly. 3rd series. Vol. VI (1949).

  R——, Sergeant. “Battle of Princeton.”Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. XX (1896).

  “Sermon of Rev. John Rodgers, Jan. 14, 1776.”New York Times, March 16, 2003.

  Shelton, William Henry. “Nathan Hale Execution.”New York Times, September 22, 1929.

  Vernon-Jackson, H. O. H. “A Loyalist’s Wife: Letters of Mrs. Philip Van Cortlandt, 1776–1777.”History Today. Vol. XIV (August 1964).

  Wakin, Daniel J. “Pastor’s Call to Arms in 1776 Has Echoes in 2003.” New York Report inNew York Times, March 16, 2003.

  Warren,———. “Uniform of the Revolutionary Army.”Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Vol. IV (1858–1860).

  “Washington’s Headquarters in New York.”National Historical Magazine. July 1944.

  Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson. “The Battle of Princeton.” InThe Princeton Battle Monument. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1922.

  Whitehorne, Joseph. “Shepardstown and the Morgan-Stevenson Companies.”Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society. Vol. LVIII (December 1992).

  Newspapers and Journals

  Boston Gazette

  Boston Newsletter

  Boston Transcript

  Connecticut Gazette and Universal Intelligencer(New London)

  Connecticut Journal(New Haven)

  Essex Gazette(Salem, Mass.)

  Essex Journal(Newburyport, Mass.)

  Freeman’s Journal(Philadelphia)

  Gentleman’s Magazine(London)

  Hartford(Connecticut)Courant and Weekly Intelligencer

  Lloyd’s Evening Post and British Chronicle(London)

  London Chronicle

  London Gazette

  London Gazette and New Daily Advertiser

  London General Evening Post

  London Public Advertiser

  Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly Newsletter

  Massachusetts Spy(Boston)

  Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction(London)

  Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser

  New England Chronicle and Essex Gazette(Cambridge, Mass.)

  New Haven Journal

  Newport(Rhode Island)Mercury

  New York Constitutional Gazette

  New York Gazette

  New-York Packet

  New York Sun

  Pennsylvania Evening Post(Philadelphia)

  Pennsylvania Gazette(Philadelphia)

  Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser(Philadelphia)

  Pennsylvania Packet(Philadelphia)

  Providence Gazette

  St. James’s Chronicle(London)

  Universal Magazine(London)

  Virginia Gazette(Williamsburg)

  Photographs & Maps

  Contents - Prev / Next


  King George III by Johann Zoffany. Crowned in 1760, at age twenty-two, George III had ruled for fifteen years by the time he went before Parliament in late 1775 to declare the American colonies in rebellion and affirm his resolve to bring them to heel. In this 1771 portrait he is portrayed as a robust, dutiful man of substance, which, in fact, he was, as well as considerably more acute and accomplished than history has often remembered him.

  Lord George Germain by George Romney. Appointed by the King as Secretary of the American colonies in the late autumn of 1775, Lord Germain stood in marked contrast to the very unwarlike Prime Minister, Lord North. A soldier and politician, Germain was proud, commanding, and keenly intelligent. The American rebellion could best be resolved, he believed, with one “decisive blow.”

  Edmund Burke, from a caricature by James Sayers. Of those sympathetic to the American cause, Edmund Burke was preeminent, his speeches among the most eloquent ever heard in the House of Commons. But Burke and others of like mind were a decided minority, and even he spoke of the American colonies as “our” colonies.

  Frederick, Lord North, by Nathaniel Dance. Instinctively obliging, liked by all in Parliament, the Prime Minister, Lord North, had little heart for the war in America, yet dutifully served his King, who called North his “sheet anchor.”

  George Washington by Charles Willson Peale. One of the strongest, most characteristic portraits ever done of Washington was this by Peale, painted in 1787, a dozen years after Washington first took command at Cambridge at age 43. With his height (six feet, two inches) and his beautifully tailored military attire, the commander-in-chief was easy to distinguish in an army where almost no one was as tall and few had even a semblance of a uniform. A leader, he believed, ought both to act and look the part.

  Joseph Reed by Charles Willson Peale. Of those on his immediate staff, his military “family” as he called it, Washington prized especially Joseph Reed, a talented young Philadelphia attorney who served as secretary and became his closest confidant. Reed’s admiration for his commander was boundless.

  In this excerpt from one of a series of private letters to Reed, Washington expressed his ardent wish for Reed to return to help him. “It is absolutely necessary…for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders,” Washington wrote on January 23, 1776.

  General Nathanael Greene by Charles Willson Peale. Greene of Rhode Island, a handsome, good-natured Quaker who walked with a limp, knew little of military life other than what he had read in books, when, at thirty-three, he became the youngest brigadier general in the American army. With experience, he would stand second only to Washington. The portrait is one of Peale’s “Gallery of Great Men.”

  General John Sullivan by Richard Morrell Staigg. An ambitious New Hampshire politician turned soldier, Sullivan had courage and tenacity, but nothing like Greene’s ability.

  General Israel Putnam by John Trumbull. Indomitable, popular “Old Put” of Connecticut was afraid of nothing but unsuited for the multiple responsibilities of a large command.

  William Alexander, Lord Stirling by Bass Otis. The only American general to claim a title, Stirling of New Jersey led his small force at Brooklyn with extraordinary valor.

  Captain C. W. Peale self-portrait. To please his wife, the artist painted himself in his new Pennsylvania militia uniform.

  Thomas and Sarah Mifflin in a portrait by John Singleton Copley. Especially during the escape from Brooklyn, Thomas Mifflin proved to be one of the best officers in Washington’s command.

  General Henry Knox by Charles Willson Peale. Big, gregarious, artilleryman Knox, the former Boston bookseller, was, like his friend Nathanael Greene, a man of marked ability, which Washington saw from the start. Under the most trying conditions, through the darkest hours, Knox proved an outstanding leader, capable of accomplishing almost anything, and, like Greene, he remained steadfastly loyal to Washington.

  Map 1. The “situation” at Boston as drawn by a British army engineer in October 1775.

  Map 2. A detail from a 1776 British map of the battles of Brooklyn and New York shows British movements in red, American in green.

  Map 3. A 1777 British map of the battles of Trenton and Princeton.

  John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, in a detail from theDeclaration of Independence 4 July 1776 by John Trumbull.

  The Washington Family by Edward Savage. A post-war print depicts the commander-in-chief at home at Mt. Vernon, surrounded by his wife, Martha, and her grandchildren, Eleanor Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, and the slave William Lee, who served at Washington’s side through the war. The elegance of the general’s world was in sharp contrast to the ragtag army he led in 1776. The cartoon, a British rendition of a representative Yankee patriot, is not widely different from Washington’s own privately expressed view.

  Washington’s headquarters through the Siege of Boston was a Cambridge mansion that still stands, now known as the Longfellow House.

  General William Howe, who belonged to one of England’s most influential families, was a courageous professional soldier but inclined to dawdle when there was no action. The daring mission by the young amateur artilleryman Henry Knox, to bring the guns of Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights, took Howe completely by surprise.

  A big man of big ideas, Knox liked to advertise the “very large” selections of his London Book-Store in Boston with advertisements displaying his own name written largest of all.

  A page from Knox’s diary kept through the epic winter expedition to Ticonderoga and back is shown in its actual size. Here he writes of climbing peaks in the Berkshires “from which we might almost have seen all the kingdoms of the earth.” The date was January 10, 1776.

  The British evacuation of Boston began before daylight, Sunday, March 17, 1776. Cannon were spiked or dumped in the harbor, as nearly 9,000 of the King’s troops, and 1,100 Loyalists went aboard British ships bound for Halifax. Americans on shore witnessing the spectacle were cheering and weeping. “Surely it is the Lord’s doing,” wrote Abigail Adams.

  Among the Loyalists who fled were many of Boston’s leading citizens, like Justice Peter Oliver. The majority, however, were from every walk of life, farmers and tradesmen, who, firm in their loyalty to the King, considered themselves true patriots.

  Washington generously conferred the honor of leading the American troops into Boston to the Massachusetts general, Artemus Ward, shown at left in a portrait by Charles Willson Peale.

  Before the British set sail for the open sea, two of their engineers, Captains John Montresor and Archibald Robertson, blew up Castle William in Boston Harbor. The scene below was drawn by Robertson, who had done numerous sketches in and around Boston and kept a diary all through the Siege.

  The British armada that sailed into New York Harbor in early summer, 1776, numbered more than 400 ships. It was the largest naval force ever seen in American waters, the largest sent out from the British Isles to defeat a distant foe. With no fighting ships of their own, the Americans faced an almost impossible task of defending against such might.

  General Henry Clinton was neither impressive in appearance nor easy for his fellow British commanders to work with, but his plan for a night flanking movement on Brooklyn succeeded brilliantly. Had Clinton’s overall strategy for defeating the Americans been adopted, the outcome of the year’s campaign might have been different.

  The fury of the first great battle of the war—and the first colossal defeat for the Continental Army—at Brooklyn on August 27, 1776, is dramatically portrayed in a painting by Alonzo Chappel. In the distance at left, Lord Stirling leads a few hundred Marylanders in a brave attack on the British lines, while in the right foreground other American troops in desperate retreat plunge into Gowanus Creek.

  The night escape of the American army from Brooklyn, across the East River, could never have succeeded without the intrepid Marblehead mariners who manned the boats. The pencil sketch of their comman
der, Colonel John Glover, is by John Trumbull.

  In a single night, 9,000 troops, plus equipment and horses, were transported across a mile of turbulent water to New York, without the British ever knowing and without the loss of a single life. In a print by M. A. Wageman, Washington is shown directing the exodus at the Brooklyn ferry landing.