Settings: Campaign Map - Medium (default, can't be changed in RTI, as far as I know); Battles - Hard
From the Journal of General George Washington (1732-1811)
Commander-in-Chief, United States Army, 1775-1795
President, National Capital Planning Commission, 1795-1798
President, Constitutional Convention, 1800
1st President of the United States, 1801-1809
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Prelude: A Stand for Liberty at Bunker Hill
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What follows is General Warren's despatch to me following the engagement at Bunker Hill.
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Sir,
The morning broke hazy, and it was difficult to see the buildings of Boston across the Charles. We had barely finished deploying our forces before the enemy infantry began marching uphill toward us. With limited forces, we did as best we could to encircle the hilltop and avoid a flank or rear attack.
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Using the hilltop buildings on our right to provide some cover, the steady fire of the minutemen and our artillery forced some early enemy routs.
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To our left, the minutemen kept up a barrage of steady fire that kept the enemy at bay from the front, but we soon spied a rear attack attempt up the slope behind us. We had one regiment each of infantry and cavalry ready to engage on the rear hillside.
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The fighting on the rear hillside was tough and close.
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Our boys on the right kept up the pressure and the enemy made no headway on that side.
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The enemy's last hope was on that rear hillside. The infantry kept up the fire to the front, preventing the enemy from pulling in reinforcements to the rear. And as the threat to the right faded, I ordered more regiments to the rear slope to overwhelm the enemy. Pretty soon our minutemen and cavalry had them enveloped, and it was over.
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With the enemy now having quit Boston entirely, we shall garrison the city and await your further instructions.
Y'r servant,
Gen'l Joseph Warren
August 5, 1775
Our victory at Bunker Hill has lifted our countrymen to an unabashed feeling of exuberance, particularly here in New England. Those who loved liberty but feared the British Army have found new hope. Those who sat on the fence have jumped down onto the side of independence as if they were there all along. And more than a few Tories have slipped away in the dark of night, headed north with their families and possessions toward Canada.
However pleased I am that Providence smiled upon our brave soldiers that day outside of Boston, I cannot indulge in the feelings of excitement sweeping through our country. We have but two Armies, mine in the field and Col. Bellingham’s Boston garrison. The enemy are numerous, skilled and motivated after their humiliation atop Bunker Hill. Their regiments span the length of all 13 colonies, and their ships stand ready to blockade our ports and strangle our finances.
Moreover, our victory at Bunker Hill was not enough to convince the King of France to lend us aid. We shall have to do more to prove the worth and viability of our Cause.
What's more, Bunker Hill represents an escalation of our conflict into full-fledged war. The British have not only responded militarily against our small forces in the North, but also have tightened their grip on the colonies that remain under occupation, including our home of Virginia. Fortunately I anticipated such developments, and sent for Martha and our family last spring. They arrived on the first ship to sail once good weather set in and will remain in Boston until we can safely return to Virginia.
In the meantime, there is much work to do here in New England. Mr. Adams has agreed to appropriate funds for the construction of a proper Barracks and stronger Fortifications in Boston. He has also wisely convinced the Congress to provide aid for the revenue growth of the fur traders, farmers and fisheries of New England, anticipating the costs of a likely British blockade.
Having inflict’d grievous casualties on the British at Bunker Hill, they are unlikely to attempt another engagement inside New England before the winter, according to intelligence. This would be fortunate, as it would behoove our Cause for us to focus first and foremost on expanding and improving our forces into a proper Army – a daunting task that will require months of hard work.
July 4, 1777
Fireworks and feasts celebrate a year of our declared Independence, yet the rest of the colonies beyond New England continue to suffer under the heavy boot of Britain. For certain, we will soon be ready to take the fight to the enemy, who have not engag’d our forces directly, only staging raids on our frontier settlements.
The Iroquois natives have agreed to ally with us (for a not insignificant price) despite their friendly relations with Britain. This positive development, along with Mr. Revere’s progress at Yale in researching ring bayonets and other important tactical advances, gives me some hope that our planned expedition northward next year might meet with some success.
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We move on Falmouth next summer, where General Howe and his army awaits.
August 8, 1778
A dear-bought victory at Falmouth, and with it Maine has her independence. After our forces had besieg'd Howe at Falmouth for six months, he attempted to break the siege by sallying forth. I was able to bring a slightly larger force northward than that fighting for Gen’l Howe, after convincing many of the minutemen who’d fought at Bunker Hill to re-enlist and training five regiments of foot at our new Barracks in Boston. Nonetheless, Howe’s troops were far more experienced.
The battle could have swung to either side’s favor throughout the clear, warm but windy day; victory hung in the balance as both lines clashed in melee. I had our regiments arrang'd in a line extending the length of a nearby hill, and the enemy started with an assault on our center and right. I ordered the right to wheel perpendicular, bracketed between our center and a small ridge, to envelop the enemy's left. Some of the British militia soon began to rout.
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Despite the British having mainly militia at their disposal, it was a bloody melee and an ordeal for our newly trained line infantry out of Boston.
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Spying General Howe’s command regiment moving forward, I ordered one of our cavalry regiments to join me in an assault, hoping to distract Howe’s infantry.
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Foolishly, Howe and his outnumber’d bodyguard force met us head-on.
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Horsemen on both sides fell, but Providence willed that my aide-de-camp’s sabre found General Howe’s neck within minutes. Though he served the King's cause, I regret the loss of a fellow gentleman senior officer, but truth be told it was foolhardy of him to engage rather than retreat with honour.
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Upon seeing their commander fall bleeding from his horse, most of the British infantry fled. Our victory was close, and many patriots paid the ultimate price. I grieve for the brave men on both sides and wish most fervently to improve my tactics to reduce our casualties in the future. Independence will be far too bittersweet for the widows and orphans left behind in battle’s wake.
February 3, 1779
Our victory in Maine has paid great dividends for the Cause of Independence. It convinced King Louis XVI that we can defeat the British, and he agreed to support us (at a price of one-fifth of our annual revenues for three years, and with military access to our territories). The King of Spain has also agreed to trade relations, opening up their lucrative markets in the Caribbean to our goods and bringing hope of needed profits. Between this expanded trade and the continued growth of the farms and fisheries of New England, we may soon have enough revenue to field a professional Army, capable of bringing freedom to still more occupied Colonies. Mr. Revere is preparing a professional Military Syllabus at Yale to enable the efficient training of just such a professional force.
December 20, 1779
I have received a despatch from my colleague from Virginia, Mr. Richard Henry Lee, who recently surreptitiously visited our home State. He reports that Mount Vernon remains in fair condition, to my great relief, but a British colonel has taken up residence there and given his men free rein to plunder our fields, stores and distillery. He also alerted me that this Colonel offered freedom to our slaves in exchange for service in the British army. About 20 of them accepted his offer; the rest refused and were sold off, although I am told that a few managed to escape.
And it appears the British will give us little respite here in the North, either. General Henry Clinton brought a force of about 550 infantry and two regiments of horse to try to avenge the defeat and death of Gen’l Howe. Our brave troops, matching their numbers, held off the assault but at a dear cost, as half of our force perished. General Clinton perished along with nearly all his men, meaning it will be quite a while before the British have a commander with sufficient skill and forces to invade Maine again.
What’s more, the British Navy have blockaded the Port of Providence with a fleet of five ships of the line, three frigates and two brigs. It is time for the French alliance to prove its worth and keep our coasts free of British naval harassm’nt.
November 25, 1780
We have managed to defend our New England and Maine settlements reasonably well but realized we must take the fight to the enemy soon to deprive them of the means to continue harassing us. The British send their troops from Albany, New York; the settlement of Cayuga in the old Iroquois lands west of Albany; and Canada. I despatched General Ronald Court from Boston to assault the force under the command of Gen’l Charles Cornwallis at Albany. It was another close-fought thing; Gen’l Court replicated our maneouver against Gen’l Howe at Falmouth, also killing Cornwallis but losing his life in the process. The day was ours, nonetheless, and New York is free. I grieve for Gen’l Court and the 321 Patriots who perished that day; Congress has declared a week of mourning in his memory, at my urging.
The French Navy has been engaging the British fleets vigorously but has not broken the blockade of Providence. The French also have not sent a single army to our shores to aid our fights on land. With no French military aid forthcoming, Mr. Revere has redoubled his efforts to research new tactics and doctrine, now with the help of Mr. Benjamin Thompson. We shall soon be able to train our men in using the square formation to repel cavalry charges and add canister shot to the capabilities of our artillery.
The British continue to raid our settlements in Maine; if French aid is limited only to naval support, the fight for Independence shall take a very long time. It will be a battle of wills on both sides of the Atlantic more than a battle of steel and gunpowder.
But I cannot help but wonder whether we can sustain either a battle of wills or a battle of steel. The British advantage in the latter is overwhelming, particularly the longer they blockade our ports and cut off our revenues. I cannot be certain we will sustain our advantage in will, however, as the war drags on longer and the fighting moves to colonies further away from these soldiers' homes in New England and New York.
June 23, 1784
Despite the relief of the Port of Providence, under the command of Admiral de Grasse’s French fleet with a few of New York’s frigates in support, the enhanced revenues since that victory nearly three years ago have allowed us only to hold our own, and not to expand Freedom’s blessings to more colonies.
Fortunately the long stalemate has not resulted in degradation of our men's morale or good behaviour. They spend little idle time in garrison at Boston, Falmouth or Albany - having to respond quite frequently to British raids on frontier settlements near our borders with British colonies in Canada. These raids offer constant reminders that we may have brought freedom to their homes in these Northern states, but we have not yet brought security.
I ordered General Abner Haven to lead a small force to expel the British from Cayuga in the Iroquois territory; after he did so, Mr. Adams and I agreed that the territory would be more to our advantage in the hands of our Indian allies – better for them to defend it than our overstretched forces. The important thing is that it not be in British hands. The Iroquois paid handsomely to return Cayuga to their control.
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I have moved back to Boston to reunite with Martha and our family and oversee the training of a new field army that I will take to Philadelphia next year. I have determined our training efforts should concentrate on the recruitment of grenadiers; all too often the British have sent numerous grenadier units into Maine, and we have known the bloody toll of these hard fighting men all too well.
I have left General Horatio Bellingham in command in Falmouth. Bellingham successfully repelled another British assault on Falmouth, killing about 1,000 British but losing half of the 1,000-strong garrison. We will not be able to do more than scrape by until we take the fight for Independence into enemy territory, into Acadia, into Canada, to secure our northern Colonies once and for all.
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August 7, 1785
Finally we have put the enemy on the defensive in the North. After sustaining hundreds of casualties in another costly defense of Falmouth and another to liberate our university at Brunswick, I ordered General Bellingham to go on the offensive and invade Acadia. Conquest of Acadia would not only remove another source of British troops but also greatly boost our revenues with lucrative silver mines, fisheries and farms.
God be praised that General Bellingham found victory at Fort Nashwaak. The regional capital’s garrison was surprisingly light. If we can hold Acadia, we can limit British incursions as they can now only send armies from Montreal and Quebec. The next task for Bellingham is to block that route into our territory.
July 31, 1786
Once again I have had to bid farewell to Martha and our family in Boston. It is the safest place for them, and I must continue to lead our fight southward. Over the past two years, we have raised up a force of 850 infantry – half line infantry and half grenadiers – four regiments of horse, and four artillery units in Boston and Albany. Each year, I thank God when the re-enlistment reports come in, and the overwhelming majority choose to stay with the Army and not abandon the Cause, even as the war enters its 12th year and most of the soldiers' homes in New England, Maine and New York grow more secure from British incursions. I believe they understand the importance of Philadelphia, and know their security further North will not last long should America's largest city remain in British hands.
I rendezvous'd with General Haven in Albany three weeks ago to plan our assault on Philadelphia, and just last week, our final regiments were ready for the campaign. General Haven and I moved with those troops down the Hudson River and across the border with New Jersey. Then yesterday, we crossed the Delaware to meet the enemy at Philadelphia.
We besieged General Oliver Fowler’s garrison of 1,114 men. Knowing he outnumbered us, General Fowler sallied yesterday morning. We took up a defensive position to the south of Philadelphia, on a steep hillside between the city and the star fort.
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The enemy proceeded in a long infantry line approaching the hill, and our cannons began their assault. General Fowler also sent two of his regiments of horse to our right flank in an apparent effort to get behind our lines and perhaps start an early rout. The strategem failed utterly, as our foot soldiers formed square to receive the cavalry charge and held back the horsemen long enough for General Haven’s cavalry to arrive in melee support.
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When the enemy infantry arrived at the foot of the hill, Fowler sent the citizen garrison to our left flank and his grenadiers and professional foot regiments to our right. Presumably he did this to avoid diluting his force and occupy our left flank with inferior militia temporarily whilst buying time for his better troops to push through our right flank.
I ordered our grenadiers and line infantry in the center to wheel right and envelope the core of the British force.
The militia and citizen garrison to our left began routing almost immediately upon arriving in range of our infantry’s musket fire. It wasn’t long before they all fled the hill, and our cavalry on the left ran them down. I order’d one of the infantry regiments from the left to move to the right to increase the fire on the British regulars on that side of the hill.
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The British grenadiers and veteran foot regiments came under withering musket fire from two sides on our right, as well as cannon fire. They wisely came up through the cover of a copse of trees, but inevitably had to emerge into the hellfire of our infantry and artillery.
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The pounding continued on the right side of the hill, and some British units – still trying to climb the hill - began wavering under the double-sided line of fire.
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Sensing an opportunity to push the British professional infantry to join the citizen garrison in an all-out rout, I sent a regiment of horse from behind our lines in the center to charge down the hill into the British flank. The British were caught totally unawares, and our well-lather’d steeds sent several British soldiers airborne.
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But with our infantry holding the perpendicular formation and continuing fire from above and to the side of the British, the wavering troops and routers had nowhere to go. Our grenadiers engaged to hurl their explosives at the remaining British holdouts, who soon joined the rest in full flight.
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Our cavalry ran down the fleeing British and overwhelmed the two regiments of foot the British had kept back to protect their artillery behind their main infantry lines, far south of the hillside. The infantry quickly routed after seeing how alone they were.
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Before long, the last British soldiers were swept from the field. The many routers had made it back to the star fort, so the city did not fall immediately; it held out for several more weeks. But with the casualties in the Battle of Philadelphia as lopsided as they were – 887 out of 1,114 British killed, compared to 279 out of 938 Americans – the outcome of the final British stand in Philadelphia was a foregone conclusion, and the largest city in America, with the largest British garrison, finally was liberated from British occupation, a decade after our Declaration of Independence.
August 23, 1787
To my surprise, the British did not try to re-take Philadelphia. True enough, I immediately summoned reinforcements from Albany and Boston, out of an abundence of caution to avoid losing the most important city in America so soon after winning it. But in the months since, there has been a growing sense that the British public finally is tiring of this war. Parliament repeatedly refuses to authorize funds for additional overseas reinforcements for this conflict, despite the fiercest protests of King George and Lord North. With the French pre-occupying their navy in theaters around the globe and British territories from India to Jamaica at risk, Parliament seems to want to cut Britain’s losses.
This is precisely what we have hoped for; our only real chance at victory is to outlast the British. We are insurgents; even as we make more advances toward a professional fighting force, we are still largely a band of farmers, taverners, and artisans defending our homeland from a foreign aggressor. Yes, foreign – we once thought of ourselves as Englishmen. We protested the Stamp Act and other outrages because they curtailed our God-given rights as Englishmen under English law. It became clear that the British had no intention of honoring our full rights as Englishmen, did not consider us Englishmen, would never give us our rightful representation in Parliament – and so what would become of us? We would either be slaves, or free and independent men, in a New Country, a Shining City on the Hill, as the Scriptures and our Forefathers prophesied. We are the last best hope of Liberty on the Earth.
It is my solemn responsibility to ensure our men remember that. If they remember what they are fighting for, they will do whatever it takes to repel the enemy down to the last British boots on our soil. And what does the British soldier fight for? For what does his family back in England, Scotland, Ireland – or Germany! – sacrifice? To save face for the King? Cold comfort, that will be, before much longer.
And so for as long as Parliament refuses to reinforce the British troops in America, all we need do is survive, wear them down, sap their will to fight, one battle at a time, one city at a time, one colony Liberated at a time.
Nonetheless, this month brings ill tidings from the North, one area where British will shows little sign of abating. The British sent a force of several hundred out of Quebec to ransack our iron mines in Houlton, Maine, prompting General Bellingham to pull his forces out of Acadia to repel this latest incursion.
Unfortunately Bellingham’s line infantry were no match for the British force, comprised mostly of grenadiers, and 450 out of his 570 men were killed. The British force moved from Houlton to Eastport, on the Atlantic coast. Gratefully, General William Fraith was able to move his much larger force out of Falmouth to expel the British from Eastport and kill all of their troops, but it will take time to recover from Bellingham’s defeat and re-garrison Acadia.
June 24, 1788
With stalemate ongoing in the North, I have decided to press our advantage in the South. Leaving General Haven in charge at Philadelphia, I have moved the bulk of our force, about 1,300 line infantry and grenadiers, 100 cavalry and five artillery regiments, into Maryland. We defeated the garrison of 620 British militia and Indians at Annapolis, bringing Independence south of the Mason-Dixon Line for the first time.
Happily, the proximity of Annapolis to Mount Vernon has allowed us to station a small garrison in Alexandria and liberate our home. With the nearest British troops at least three days march away in Williamsburg, I felt it safe to send for Martha and our family. After only sporadic periods together during the push to Philadelphia, we are reunited for the long haul now, and finally back home as well.
Mount Vernon still stands - Col. Edington must have fancied the riverfront view too much to burn down our house - but I cannot say the Colonel was a gracious guest during his time here. We can expect a fairly long standoff with the British force at Williamsburg; we are too far away and too strong (with our main army nearby in Maryland) for them to stage an effective assault, whilst we are not yet strong enough to attempt to confront them in Williamsburg, either. As our army rests, trains further and recruits more men, I will have more time to restore Mount Vernon and get our plantation running smoothly again. The slaves are gone, but with the Maryland and northern Virginia countryside ravaged, there are plenty of people desperate for work.
As our military fortunes have appeared to take a turn for the better, other powers have taken notice. The Dutch have now agreed to be a new trade partner, and a lucrative one at that.
But we must be vigilant against any sense of complacency. After his victory at Eastport, General Fraith has moved northward in an effort to secure our border with the Canadian colonies once and for all. Large British armies remain in Montreal and Quebec. And extending our gains southward will not be easy, either, with substantial forces continuing to occupy Williamsburg and Savannah.
July 5, 1789
Bad news from Maine cast a somber pall over the celebration of the 13th anniversary of our Independence. Colonel Tobin Robinson brought a British force of about 900 men, mostly grenadiers, southward out of Quebec, crossed the St. Lawrence River, and ambushed General Fraith and his 1,000 men near Drummondville, New France. General Fraith and 800 of his troops lost their lives, but not before inflicting grievous casualties on the enemy and leaving 556 British killed on the field.
I deeply mourn the loss of Fraith and his army; he was a talented general with hundreds of brave troops under his command, and this marks our worst loss of the war. It will take time to rebuild a force capable of securing the Northern border, and the British may well send more armies into Maine and Acadia before we have that opportunity.
August 10, 1790
In the past year, our attentions to matters of economy have truly begun to pay off. The expanding ports at Lewes and Providence and mining and agricultural improvements in all colonies have greatly boosted our revenues, which allow us to continue increasing our recruitment for our Armies with higher bonuses and salaries. Mr. Revere and his academic colleagues have been tireless in their efforts to research not only the latest military innovations but also concepts of political economy and agriculture to the great benefit of our Nation.
Consequently, we were able to build up our forces at Annapolis to 2,200 men, including more grenadiers and artillery to go with our core of regular infantry, and finally bring that army southward to liberate the rest of my home country of Virginia.
Despite this success, I have continued to be haunted by the fear that I am on borrowed time with my men's morale. They have not let me down so far. They have not become sloth or dissolute in the long periods of idle garrison in the cities we have liberated thus far. And they have mostly continued to re-enlist faithfully. Have they continued to re-enlist because of their fervent belief in Independence, and hatred of the British? Have our economic fortunes and ability to avoid large-scale bloodbaths in recent years given them a sense of security in their lives as soldiers? I posed these questions to my closest confidant, the Marquis de Lafayette.
"No, mon General," Lafayette laughed. "They do not stay for the money. Do not flatter yourself that a few years of open ports has made these men rich! And yes, they do want Independence and do despise the British, but that alone would not be enough to keep them away from their families and crops for so long. It is you, mon General. You inspire them and motivate them every day. In the harshest heat of summer, you drill right alongside them with no rest. In the darkest cold of winter, you forgo the comfort of the Officers' Headquarters to make the rounds of the campfires, showing the lowliest private that you care deeply about his well-being and morale. It is you, General Washington, and please do not forget that, or the Cause of Liberty shall be lost."
I kept Lafayette's inspiring and humbling words in mind as I positioned our forces outside Virginia's capital. We were about evenly matched in our initial assault on Williamsburg, which the arrogant British had not bothered to fortify – about 1,300 men on both sides, with my other 900 held in reserve as reinforcements. The British had mostly regular infantry and some Hessian mercenaries – not as many grenadiers as our Armies have seen in the North - but also some skirmishers known as Ferguson's riflemen, who were able to thin our ranks some, well before we were in range to return fire.
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They concentrated their Hessians on their right flank, so I sent two grenadier regiments in to rout the elites with explosives. But the Hessians charged in before our grenadiers had a chance to hurl their grenades, resulting in a quick musket volley and then a close-in battle of fists and cold steel.
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Though they had the advantage in numbers, the Hessians and other British regiments of foot ultimately were no match in melee with our well-trained grenadiers - corn-fed farmer's sons out of Pennsylvania's frontier who never knew a day of leisure and had the brawn and spirit to whip any Redcoat within arm's reach.
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With that deed done and most of the British on our right dead or fleeing the field, our right wheeled around to enclose the British center in a kill zone. Our left still had to exchange several volleys with the enemy on the other side of the field before the British right began to break. Mr. Revere deserves a good bit of the credit for this victory, by the way, as it was one of our first opportunities to test his fire-by-rank tactical innovation. It was enormously important in being able to keep up a steady barrage of shot.
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Once our left was clear, they did the same as the right and wheeled in perpendicular to the center, creating a trap for the British with our infantry enclosing them on three sides and also impeded by their own barricades once they started to flee.
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Our casualties, sadly, were high; the British had erected some small battlefield earthworks that created tight spaces and vulnerabilities for our advancing infantry, and 500 out of our 1,300 fell that day. But one of the largest British armies remaining in America was annihilated, and Virginia was free.
To celebrate the liberation of my home country, I held a grand banquet for my army one week later in the Governor's residence in Williamsburg (after expelling the British governor and handing the keys over to the new Governor elected by the House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry). We had spent much of the week hunting game in the surrounding woods, and the banquet featured our finest quarry - venison, pheasant, turkey - as well as Virginia ham, bread, corn, peas, string beans, apples and squash that Martha brought down from our stores in Mount Vernon.
Of course, Mount Vernon's wine cellars and distillery took more casualties than our food stocks! Hundreds of bottles of wine and casks of ale, as well as all the 40 barrels of whiskey we had produced at our distillery in the two years since returning to Mount Vernon were utterly vanquished by our troops. I would gladly hold such feasts every year if it meant victories such as these.
June 10, 1792
Meanwhile, the stalemate continues in the North, along our border with Canada. Rather than press their advantage after the Battle of Drummondville with further incursions into Maine, the British have decided to hunker down and garrison large armies in Montreal and Quebec instead. This decision gave us the opportunity to rebuild an expeditionary force in Maine of 1,200 regular infantry and grenadiers along with 360 cavalry and four artillery regiments, all under the command of General Deacon Vere, General Fraith’s former second-in-command.
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General Vere has moved his force to the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, from where he recently sent word of the construction of Ft. Sheffield on the south side of the bridge that crosses the river and meets the Montreal-Quebec road. His forces at that fort should provide a back-stop against any future incursions and form the basis for a larger Army later that will cross the St. Lawrence and remove the British threat to our Northern border for good.
And more good news from the South; the Cherokee have accepted an Alliance with us, thus removing a major concern (at least for now) for the security of our middle and Southern states as we continue to push South against the British.
