Conclusion
Washington won the long war by remaining fixed upon his military objective – American independence. Because the rebellion initially erupted in New England, he organized the Continental Army near Boston in 1775. He experienced several tactical defeats at the hands of opposing officers, who outmaneuvered him in New York and in Pennsylvania. His overall strategy, however, kept the armed forces intact while wearing down the resolve of Great Britain. Conversely, British commanders captured cities along the coast but lost control of the countryside. Furthermore, the Franco-American alliance forced the empire to employ resources and manpower in other theaters. The British shift toward a southern strategy temporarily restored some Royal governments, although the tenacity of the Americans prevented the Crown from making sustainable gains. With the surrender of an army at Yorktown, London decided to negotiate a peaceful settlement. In the end, Washington shocked the world by deferring to Congress and by reinforcing the principle of civilian authority over the military.
Like a number of his fellow Americans, Washington saw more death and deprivation during the revolution than he ever imagined possible. Out of a total population of 3.5 million, more than 200,000 volunteered for active service. The participation ratio in wartime amounted to less than 6 percent, even if countless noncombatants sacrificed as well. Though estimates varied, fatalities among soldiers and sailors reached as high as 25,674. While 7,174 were killed in action, at least 10,000 perished from diseases in camp. Approximately 8,500 died as prisoners of war, while over 1,000 went missing. Another 8,241 received wounds in battle yet survived. Because the Continentals performed most of the combat missions, as many as one-third became casualties. Scores of veterans felt neglected and abandoned in peacetime but nonetheless saluted the republican model of the legendary Cincinnatus.
The republican model shaped the force structure of the American military, which Congress largely dismantled before 1787. Commemorating the service of an armed citizenry, patriotic leaders recalled that standing forces represented a grave danger to liberty. They reviled the Royal Army and Navy as instruments of tyranny, while American warriors defended their homes as both citizens and soldiers. Troops hailed from diverse communities across North America, where they eschewed the kind of social stratification that pervaded the Atlantic world at the time. Their ranks included affluent merchants and planters as well as bedraggled immigrants and slaves. Remarkably, the Continentals operated under a unified command that transformed an inter-colonial militia into an interstate army and navy. Even though European assistance proved indispensable, the United States won independence from Great Britain by managing volunteer forces for a long war.
The War for Independence inspired a Massachusetts militiaman and playwright named Royall Tyler to author The Contrast (1787), the first theatrical production of the United States. The comedy satirized the essential differences between the American and British “constitutions.” On stage, a veteran named Colonel Henry Manly wears his uniform but appears unfashionable to high society. He finds himself at odds with Billy Dimple, an Anglophile fop driven to acquire wealth through dishonesty. The two characters compete to win the affections of a beautiful coquette, Maria Van Rough, who seeks asylum in “the arms of a man of honor.” Once Maria's father intervenes in the quarrel, he discovers the virtues of the modest colonel. In the finale, he agrees to Manly's proposal for marriage to Maria. As the curtain fell, an American Cincinnatus in the audience undoubtedly applauded with glee.
Essential Questions
1 What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Continentals at the start of the war?
2 How did civil society exercise control over the armed forces during the revolution?
3 Why did the Royal Army and Navy fail to defeat the American military at Yorktown?
Suggested Readings
Calloway, Colin G. The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Carp, E. Wayne. To Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and American Political Culture, 1775–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.
Cox, Caroline. A Proper Sense of Honor: Service and Sacrifice in George Washington's Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Fleming, Thomas. Liberty! The American Revolution. New York: Viking Press, 1997.
Fowler, William M. Rebels under Sail: The American Navy during the Revolution. New York: Scribner, 1976.
Frey, Sylvia R. Water from the Rock: Black Resistance in a Revolutionary Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Hibbert, Christopher. Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution through British Eyes. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002.
Higginbotham, Donald. The War of Independence. New York: Macmillan, 1983.
Lengel, Edward G. General George Washington: A Military Life. New York: Random House, 2005.
Martin, James Kirby, ed. Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures of Joseph Plumb Martin. St. James, NY: Brandywine Press, 1993.
Martin, James Kirby, and Mark Edward Lender. A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763–1789. 2nd edition. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2006.
Mayer, Holly A. Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999.
Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789. Revised and expanded edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Morrison, Samuel Eliot. John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography. New York: Little, Brown, 1959.
Myers, Minor. Liberty without Anarchy: A History of the Society of the Cincinnati. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983.
Perret, Geoffrey. A Country Made by War: From the Revolution to Vietnam – the Story of America's Rise to Power. New York: Random House, 1989.
Royster, Charles. A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Shy, John. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Ward, Harry M. The American Revolution: Nationhood Achieved, 1763–1788. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
3
Establishing the Military (1787–1812)
Introduction
On February 9, 1799, Commodore Thomas Truxtun steered a naval squadron between Puerto Rico and St. Kitts. His flagship, the U.S.S. Constellation, was a 36-gun frigate built by a shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. The keel measured 161 feet long and the beam was 40 feet wide. With 340 crewmen and a strong wind, the sail achieved at least 10 knots. Designed to outpace any man-of-war, the American warship searched the Caribbean Sea for possible menaces.
The Constellation was cruising a few leagues east of Nevis at noon, when an unknown vessel appeared westward nearly 15 miles away. After moving closer, Truxtun attempted to make contact but received no response. He ordered all hands to quarters in anticipation of a chase. The prey was the L'Insurgente, a 40-gun French frigate captained by Michel Pierre Barreaut.
Around 2:00 p.m., a tropical storm caught L'Insurgente by surprise. In a violent gust, the topmast snapped and crashed to the deck. The French crew struggled to recover, while Barreaut ordered them to prepare for a fight.
Thanks to quick maneuvering, the Constellation managed to handle the tempest. The “Yankee Racehorse” ranged up on the lee quarter of the French frigate and delivered a full broadside from 100 yards away. Able to see the faces of their opponents through the gun-ports, the American crew aimed for the hull with the 24-pounders. L'Insurgente returned fire, aiming for the mast, rigging, and sails. Barreaut attempted to grapple and to board, but Truxtun avoided entanglement by
running circles around L'Insurgente. The cannons of the Constellation delivered more broadsides and raked the bow and the stern for over an hour.
The Constellation achieved a surprise victory while operating in the Caribbean. Truxtun counted only two deaths and four injuries among his crew, while the French reported 29 dead and 41 wounded. He sent Lieutenant John Rodgers and Midshipman David Porter with a boarding party to take possession of the prize. Upon their arrival in St. Kitts, American sailors received applause from British observers.
Figure 3.1 Action between U.S. frigate Constellation and French frigate L'Insurgente. John W. Schmidt. Photo KN-2882, U.S. Navy Historical Center, Department of the Navy
The exploits of the Constellation generated an outpouring of praise across the United States. In the taverns of seaports, citizens toasted Truxtun and his “brave Yankee boys.” While some bragged about their feats of strength, others celebrated their defense of freedom. Unbowed by overseas despots, they waved the banner of liberty along the shores of North America and beyond. A fledgling naval force prevailed against the odds, as a handful of frigates battled against empires and pirates. The hearty crews reveled in their unique contributions to national greatness. Their victories at sea helped Americans to appreciate the inconvenient truth that respect in international affairs depended upon the force of arms.
Throughout the age of sail, Americans appeared vulnerable to foreign threats and to domestic insurgencies. Burdened by massive war debt, the country struggled to address serious challenges to national security. The U.S. population approached 4 million in the wake of the American Revolution, while additional states formed nascent governments in the continental interior. With only a token regiment to garrison the forts, the dominion obtained under the Treaty of Paris remained unstable. Civil society needed to strengthen the armed forces without imperiling republican virtues. Nation-building held great promise as well as great risk, which the ongoing debates about establishing a military underscored.
After winning independence from the British Empire, the nation began a long war for control of the North American continent. Free at last, American leaders relied largely on the state militias to provide military personnel. However, they seemed incapable of addressing interstate quarrels, non-state actors, and trade disputes. Furthermore, the specter of a civil war troubled Congress for years. Native American populations dominated the contested ground from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, while European powers buffeted the young and fragile republic on the Atlantic seaboard. As the eighteenth century closed, Americans confronted a hostile world beset with lawlessness.
National Forces
Under the Articles of Confederation, Americans formed a weak national government. Congress could not levy taxes, wage war, or regulate commerce. States squabbled over sovereignty claims and refused to furnish military regiments. A number of citizens continued to express antipathy toward the prospect of national forces.
Without national forces, the Confederation lacked the power to administer the western territories. Veterans of the Continental Army received land grants, while speculators formed land companies claiming vast tracts of real estate. However, Indian people resisted new incursions altogether. Settlers demanded protection against Indian militancy, especially near the Ohio River. Congress concluded a series of treaties with several Indian nations, but negotiations by government agents failed to keep pace with the expanding settlements.
Indian nations south of the Ohio River expected the Spanish Empire to forestall American expansion. Given the conniving of Spanish officials in Louisiana, a number of settlers west of the Appalachians flirted with secession. Spain banned American traffic on the Mississippi River and asserted a territorial claim to the Yazoo strip. Their possession of Florida turned the Gulf of Mexico into a “Spanish lake.” Congress appointed John Jay as Secretary of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with Spanish minister Don Diego de Gardoqui. Unable to show force on land or at sea, Americans gained no diplomatic concessions from Spain.
The British recognized American independence but isolated their former colonies. While trading arms to Indian allies, Royal officials refused to relinquish military posts on American soil. The redcoats remained active across the Great Lakes region. The British mercantile system also prevented American merchantmen from carrying commodities to the West Indies, which devastated the agricultural sector in most states. Outside the British Empire, American ships needed safeguarding while exploring new outlets for commerce across the world.
On the edge of the Atlantic world, American separatists plotted to form breakaway republics. In Massachusetts, armed bands closed local courts to prevent farm foreclosures. Captain Daniel Shays, a destitute veteran of the Continental Army from Pelham, organized 1,200 rebels to seize the arsenal at Springfield. On January 25, 1787, they clashed with 4,400 militiamen in a snowy field. A cannon barrage killed four rebels, while dozens more suffered wounds. After more skirmishes the next month, the rebels scattered across the state's borders. A few fled to Quebec, where they sought arms and ammunition from America's enemies. Although the rebellion in Massachusetts faltered, more insurgent groups appeared ready to take action around the country.
Confederation officials worried that the insurgent groups foreshadowed a turn toward anarchy. Henry Knox, who served as the first Secretary of War, feared “a formidable rebellion against reason, the principle of all government.” He prodded Congress to issue a requisition of funds for national forces. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut eventually enlisted around 700 militiamen for deployment to western forts. However, every state except Virginia rejected his effort to strengthen the military in the midst of Shays' Rebellion. Congress mustered two artillery companies to guard West Point and the Springfield arsenal but did little to quell the domestic disturbances.
With the approval of Congress, a special convention gathered that May in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to initiate governmental reforms. George Washington presided over the state delegations, but James Madison of Virginia set the agenda for their proceedings. Nearly one-third of the delegates previously held commissions in the Continental Army. Because of their prior service to win American independence, many shared a broader vision of the republic as a whole. They pledged to make the government “adequate to the exigencies of the union.” Some opposed any language that established a permanent military, though. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts compared the armed forces to a “standing member,” which seemed “an excellent assurance of domestic tranquility but a dangerous temptation to foreign adventure.” Over the summer, they scrapped the Articles of Confederation and crafted seven articles for a federal system. On September 17, 1787, 39 delegates signed the Constitution of the United States.
The Constitution permitted a military establishment, although the exact phrase did not appear in the document. Whereas the preamble announced the formation of “a more perfect union,” the stated purpose was to “insure domestic tranquility” and to “provide for the common defense.” Assuming the necessity of military power, the articles divided civilian authority between a legislative branch, an executive branch, the judicial branch, and the various states.
Article I enumerated the powers of Congress with respect to military affairs. Authorized to combat piracies and to declare wars, the legislative branch raised and supported an army as well as provided and maintained a navy. However, the clause imposed a two-year limitation on federal appropriations for the army. Another provision enabled the calling forth of the militia to execute laws, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions. The organizing, arming, and disciplining of the militia represented a federal responsibility, while the states appointed the officers and trained the rank and file. Through the legislative process, the House of Representatives and the Senate enacted all measures deemed “necessary and proper” for the American military.
Regarding the executive branch, Article II vested the president with authority as the “commander in chief of the Army an
d the Navy.” His inherent powers included the command of the state militias when called into the “actual service” of the nation. Accordingly, he swore an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” While executing federal laws in war and peace, he commissioned officers for national service.
Other articles circumscribed federal law in war and peace. Article III defined the crime of treason as “levying war” against the U.S. or giving “aid and comfort” to America's enemies. According to Article IV, every state was guaranteed a republican form of government in addition to protection against foreign invasions and domestic violence. Once ratified, the Constitution represented the “supreme law of the land.”
While the states debated ratification, Alexander Hamilton of New York responded to critics of a federal system. Along with Madison and Jay, he composed essays that came to be known as the Federalist Papers. He made the largest contribution to their collective effort, writing 51 of the 85 essays. His essays often referenced issues of national security. “Though a wide ocean separates the United States from Europe,” he wrote in Federalist No. 24, the competition for North America meant that no citizen of the republic was “entirely out of the reach of danger.” In other words, the Constitution authorized the buildup of defenses to confront internal and external threats.
After the states ratified the Constitution, Congress offered amendments known as the Bill of Rights. For example, the Second Amendment guaranteed that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” While stipulating the necessity of “a well-regulated militia” for “the security of a free state,” the language extolled individual liberties in opposition to the power of governing authorities. Likewise, the Third Amendment prohibited the quartering of troops in private homes without the “consent of the owner” and only in a manner “prescribed by law.” To address American fears about the presence of a standing military, the amendments restrained the federal government while legitimizing an armed citizenry.
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