1776: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

In October 1775, an American general from Rhode Island named Nathanael Greene writes that he wishes the American troops had more gunpowder. Greene is an officer in the American army, though he’s only been a soldier for six months. Although he is a Quaker, and inexperienced with fighting, he is clever and hardworking. Like many important Americans in the Revolutionary War, Greene is very young.

Greene grew up in Rhode Island. His parents didn’t give him much in the way of an education, but they raised him to be deeply religious. On his own, he read the works of the English political philosopher John Locke. In 1770, Greene began running a foundry in the nearby village, and he married his wife, Katherine Littlefield, in 1774. In his free time, he studied military strategy, and took part in organizing the local militia. By 1775, he had been placed in charge of the entire Rhode Island regiment, and left for Boston to help with the war effort.

Greene knows that the American troops are untrained. British soldiers consider them “a rabble in arms,” and even George Washington privately says that they’re “raw materials” for an army. Yet the American troops outnumber the British troops two to one.

In 1775, the American forces are mostly based outside of Boston, on Prospect Hill. The British army has taken Bunker Hill and Charlestown, not far away, and George III has sent new troops to Boston. Both sides recognize that they needed to get “the lay of the land,” and hire cartographers to map the area. George Washington has spent little time in Massachusetts, but he knows the British are planning another attack. He also knows that the American army needs more gunpowder. Meanwhile, the troops spend much of their time drinking and “carousing.” They don’t have many supplies, but there’s plenty of food and drink in the camp. There’s also a deadly “camp fever” going around—probably dysentery, typhus, or typhoid.

Within his first month of command, George Washington realizes that he needs to introduce more discipline. Soldiers are whipped for laziness. But even with Washington’s new disciplinary measures, the American troops come across as disorderly, untrained, and filthy. They spend their days digging trenches and piling up mounds of earth to defend against the impending British attack.

The American soldiers must provide their own guns and “uniforms” (although some uniforms are just ordinary clothes). Many of the guns are old and heavy, but the best “musket men” can fire a gun three or four times a minute, and many have had guns since they were children. Most of the soldiers are farmers, artisans, or fishermen, so they’re used to hard manual labor. Some soldiers are only teenagers, others are drifters without any profession. Some soldiers are in their fifties, while others aren’t yet teenagers. John Greenwood is a sixteen-year-old soldier. He grew up in Boston, where he learned how to play the fife (a small flute)—a skill that allows him to stay with the army for free, earning eight dollars a month to play for the soldiers.

A sizeable portion of the American army is black. George Washington, a Southern slave owner, didn’t want blacks serving in the army, but out of necessity he’s forced to accept black soldiers. Other commanders write that black soldiers are “equally serviceable with other men,” and often very brave. Some other soldiers desert the army out of cowardice or racism, or because they’re needed back at home.

By midsummer, American troops from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania have joined Washington’s army. Many of these men are “backwoodsmen of Scotch-Irish descent.” They’re skilled gunmen, but largely indifferent to training or discipline. Washington orders all troops to build defenses against the British. By early August, the English and American troops are organizing night-raids on each other’s camps. The British use their greater supply of gunpowder to bombard the Americans. But there are also many British deserters, many of whom are “half-starved.”

By the end of the summer, Washington’s troops are in a state of decline. Their morale is low, and they continue to behave lazily. There’s also a dearth of blankets and warm clothes, and the coming winter promises to be brutal. Washington, a Virginian, is personally biased against soldiers from New England, but he recognizes how dire the situation is and knows that he, and the army in general, needs to put aside regional differences.

George Washington resides in a mansion near Harvard University. There, he speaks with his officers and corresponds with the other colonies. He also takes meetings with visiting politicians and dignitaries, hoping to curry favor and win additional funds for his army. Washington is widely regarded as modest and “amiable,” yet also as an impressive gentleman. He’s famous for inspiring his troops and employees to greatness. His secretary, Joseph Reed, often says that he feels “bound by every tie of duty and honor” to obey Washington’s command.

George Washington was born in Virginia in 1732, the great-grandson of John Washington, an English emigrant, and the son of Augustine Washington, a tobacco planter who died when Washington was a boy. Washington taught himself to read and write, and at a young age he began a career as a surveyor’s apprentice. In 1753, he traveled to Pennsylvania to protect the colony’s claim to the Allegheny River valley from French troops. After a series of fights with the French, he won a reputation as a talented, resourceful commander.

In 1759, Washington “retired” from military life and took over his father’s plantation in Virginia. He married Martha Dandridge Custis, and thereafter lived like an English aristocrat. He loved art and music, and arranged for plays to be performed on his property. He was one of the richest men in America, though not the richest, as he was sometimes said to be. Like most English lords of the era, he enjoyed hunting, and perfected his riding skills while hunting foxes. He was rumored to be very strong.

Washington was a charismatic leader, but he also knew his limitations. At the time when he began commanding the American troops, he hadn’t been involved in military life for fifteen years—and even when he’d been a commander, he’d only been involved in backwoods warfare. Yet when he appeared before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, he was able to convince his peers that he was the ideal candidate to command the army.

In September 1775, Washington begins making plans for a surprise attack on British forces in Quebec. He also wants to strike the British in Boston. However, by the middle of September, a mutiny breaks out among Washington’s men. The mutiny is easily suppressed, but Washington is “shaken” by the uprising.

The next morning, George Washington meets with his head generals, including General Charles Lee, who fought alongside Washington in the backwoods. In addition to Washington’s head generals, Nathanael Greene is present. Washington argues that the Americans should attack Boston by water. However, the generals argue that it’s too risky to attack the British, pointing out that the troops don’t have enough gunpowder, and if the tide is even slightly too high, the troops won’t be able to enter Boston. Washington accepts his men’s recommendation. However, he pens a long letter to his friend John Hancock, requesting that the Continental Congress send him more money. At the end of September, it does.

If asked why they’d chosen to fight, most of Washington’s men would probably say that they wanted to defend their country. They saw the British as invaders, challenging their liberty and autonomy. Few of Washington’s men would have given national independence as a reason. But as the year goes on, there’s more and more talk of independence from Britain. In a letter, Nathanael Greene says that many men want “a declaration of independence.”

At the end of September, it’s discovered that Dr. Benjamin Church, head surgeon for the American army, is a British spy. This is shocking news—he’d been an outspoken proponent of American values, and he was widely respected for his integrity. Church’s treachery is discovered when soldiers apprehend a woman carrying a letter Church has written to the British. He’s tried, found guilty, and exiled to the West Indies.

On October 18, delegates from the Continental Congress, including Benjamin Franklin, confer with Washington and decide not to approve an attack on British troops in Boston, since this would risk the destruction of Boston itself. A week later, British forces attack and burn the city of Falmouth. Washington receives another blow when his secretary, Joseph Reed, announces that he needs to leave Washington and tend to his family.

The weather is getting colder, and rations are getting scarcer for Washington’s men. Washington finds it difficult to get over his bias against New Englanders—every day, they disrespect his authority in some way. However, he begins working closely with two talented New Englanders: Nathanael Greene and Henry Knox, a colonel from Boston who is well-versed in military tactics.

Washington first meets Henry Knox in July 1775, and he’s impressed with Knox’s intelligence. In the fall, Knox suggests that the American forces try to recover the British cannons in Fort Ticonderoga. American forces had captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British earlier in the year, but the British cannons in the fort are still there. Washington sends Knox on a mission to claim the cannons.

As Knox is leading his men out to Fort Ticonderoga, the weather gets colder. Washington realizes that his men need to conserve their gunpowder. Snow falls in November, suggesting that the winter will be long and miserable. Scurvy and smallpox are rampant in the camp, and many American soldiers desert their stations. At the end of November, the British send a boatload of homeless Bostonians to Washington’s encampment. These people are sick and starving, and Washington orders for them to be cared for even though he recognizes that the British are trying to spread disease to his troops.

As the year comes to an end, many American soldiers have the opportunity to leave the army. Washington, knowing that many will choose to leave rather than reenlist, sends a letter asking the Continental Congress to give him more money to pay the men to stay. The situation is dire: Washington’s army is on the verge of collapse. Then, unexpectedly, Washington gets good news. An American privateer has captured a British vessel stocked with guns, cannons, and mortars. It’s a huge victory for the American side.

In the weeks leading up to reenlistment, Washington and his generals try to incentivize his troops to reenlist, but they continue to show little motivation. Meanwhile, there’s no news from the expedition to Quebec, nor from Knox’s expedition. In December, the Continental Congress changes its mind and gives the go-ahead for Washington to attack British troops in Boston, even if it means destroying the city itself.

On December 24, a snowstorm blows through Massachusetts, causing some soldiers to freeze to death. On the final day of the year, soldiers leave by the thousands rather than reenlist. However, “substantial numbers” of soldiers stay behind—possibly as many as 9,000—and new soldiers arrive, many of them from distant colonies. Washington declares that his army is now a “Continental Army,” uniting people of many colonies under one cause. He displays a new flag to honor the army, with thirteen red and white stripes. When the British see it, they think it’s a flag of surrender.