Happy Semiquincentennial

Posted on January 1, 2026 by Firelands

Today marks the beginning of the 250th anniversary year of the founding of the United States of America, formally known as the Semiquincentennial. In honor of this celebration, let’s look at what was happening in North America and Britain on New Year’s Day, 1776.

Colonel Benedict Arnold lay in the Catholic General Hospital in St. Roch, outside the Palace Gate of Quebec City, wounded in the leg by a ricocheting musket ball during a failed assault on the city the previous day. Although most surgeons at that time would have amputated a leg with this serious a wound, Doctor Isaac Senter, a Rhode Island surgeon, had saved it, although he told Arnold that it would take four to six weeks for him to recover. Arnold refused to be carried into the countryside, where he would be safe from a British force sallying out of the city, as Doctor Senter advised, and armed himself with his pistols and sword, vowing to fight if British soldiers attacked, and ordering all other soldiers in the hospital to be armed as well.

Portrait of Colonel Benedict Arnold by Thomas Hart, 1776 [1]

After the death of General Richard Montgomery leading the assault on the city, Arnold now commanded the shattered remaining American force of only 600 men. Most of the troops he had led up the Kennebec River were dead or prisoners inside Quebec, and the enlistments of the soldiers that General Montgomery had brought to Quebec after seizing Montreal had expired; they were heading home. But Arnold was determined to maintain a winter siege of the city, a seemingly impossible task. He spent the day writing letters to Congress and to Brigadier General David Wooster, now the commanding officer of American forces in Canada, informing them of the situation and begging for reinforcements and supplies. He would never give up the fight.

Far to the south of Quebec in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Continental Army officially came into being, and soldiers raised the Continental Colors with thirteen stripes symbolizing colonial unity on Prospect Hill. But all was not well with the new Continental Army. Its commander, General George Washington, faced the same challenge of expiring enlistments as Benedict Arnold. His army was melting away, morale was low, as were supplies, making the task of driving the British from Boston nearly impossible.

Henry Knox bringing artillery to end the Siege of Boston [2]

But help was on the way. Henry Knox, a former bookseller in Boston, was in the Kinderhook – Claverack area of eastern New York, struggling to move heavy cannon from Fort Ticonderoga eastward toward Cambridge. A recent thaw had made the task more difficult, but he was only days from reaching Springfield, Massachusetts, and on January 24, he would arrive in Cambridge, bringing Washinton the artillery he needed to force the British from Boston.

Inside Boston, General William Howe, commanding the besieged British army, had no idea that danger was so close, but he had problems enough as it was. He held a defensive posture, struggling with shortages of fuel and supplies, and awaiting reinforcements from Britain. Breaking the siege was impossible, and Howe, scarred by the slaughter of the soldiers he’d led up Breed’s Hill the previous year had lost his appetite for assaulting entrenched positions. Already he was considering leaving Boston and attacking New York, once he had enough troops. He felt he would be secure for now, but in a few months, Washington would force his hand.

General Sir William Howe. [3]

Across the Atlantic, the Secretary of the Colonies, Lord George Germain, was planning a major escalation of the conflict, including reinforcing the Howes and organizing a large campaign aimed at suppressing the rebellion in the coming year. He agreed with Howe that the target for his army should be New York City, but that was only half of his strategy for winning the war. After Howe took New York and destroyed Washington’s army, Germain envisioned him driving north up the Hudson River to link up with another British army coming down from Canada, effectively splitting the colonies in two. It was a grand plan. Unfortunately, in the end, it would all come to naught, falling prey to miscommunication and poor execution between him and his generals.

George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville. [4]

In just six months, on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence would be signed. By then, Howe would have been long gone from Boston, leaving the new nation free of occupying British troops. But that happy situation would not last long. On July 5th, the day after the signing, Howe’s army would land on Staten Island, beginning a campaign that would capture New York City. Also, that summer, General Guy Carleton would begin an invasion down Lake Champlain from Canada to link up with Howe’s army, all in line with Germain’s grand strategy. Desperate times were ahead, and George Washinton and Benedict Arnold would be in the thick of it.

* * *

Later this year, I will begin posting a series of posts on the four British raids on Connecticut, beginning with the story of a raid on Danbury, Connecticut in 1777. If you want to be notified when I begin posting, please enter your email and click the Follow button on the right column of this page. I’d like to hear from you, too. Let me know what you think in the comments, and what you think I get right and wrong – especially what I get wrong.

Images

[1] “Portrait of Colonel Benedict Arnold by Thomas Hart, 1776.”  This is a color mezzotint of American Revolutionary War General Benedict Arnold, captioned as follows: Colonel Arnold who commanded the Provincial Troops sent against Quebec, through the wilderness of Canada and was wounded in that city, under General Montgomery. London. Published as the Act directs 26 March 1776 by Thos. Hart. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

[2] “Henry Knox bringing artillery to end the Siege of Boston.” Unknown author. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.

[3] “General Sir William Howe.” 1872 Engraving by Henry Bryan Hall. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.

[4] “George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville.” Portrait of Lord George Germain, Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1775 to 1782, by George Romney, 1778. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.

Sources

Arnold, Issac M.; The Life of Benedict Arnold: His Patriotism and His Treason. Chicago: Jason, McClurg, and Company, 1888.

Brumwell, Stephen. Turncoat: Benedict Arnold and the Crisis of American Liberty. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018.

Gruber, Ira, The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution. New York: W.W. Norton, 1972.

Hill, George Canning. Benedict Arnold, A Biography. Boston: E.O Libby & Company, 1858.

Howe, William. The Narrative of Lieut. Gen. Sir William Howe in a Committee of the House of Commons Related to His Conduct During His Late Command of the King’s Troops in North America. London: H Baldwin, 1780.

Kemble, Stephen. “The Kemble Papers, Vol. I (Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Year 1883), New York: NYHS, 1884.

Martin, James Kirby. Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

Philbrick, Nathaniel. Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution. New York, NY: Viking, 2016

Puls, Mark. Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008.

Randall, Willard Sterne. Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1999.

Smith, David. William Howe and the American War of Independence. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015.

Sparks, Jared. The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1835.

Thayer, Simon. The Invasion of Canada in 1775. Providence, RI: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1867.

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Assault on Quebec New Year’s Eve 1775

Posted on December 31, 2025 by Firelands

Two-hundred fifty years ago today, in the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1775, American forces under Major General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold moved forward through a raging blizzard to attack the British fortress of Quebec City, the final act in a long campaign to seize the province of Quebec for the United American Colonies. It was their last chance to bring that campaign to a successful conclusion; the next day the enlistments of most of Arnold’s and Montgomery’s soldiers would expire, effectively dissolving their army.

The attack failed. By the end of the day, Montgomery would lie dead, his soldiers preparing to go home, and Benedict Arnold would lie in a hospital outside the city, grievously wounded, most of his men dead or in chains within the walls of Quebec City.

Today, General Richard Montgomery is largely unknown, and Benedict Arnold is remembered only for the infamy of his treason, but in 1775, both men were patriots and in Arnold’s case, a hero. In this post, we’ll explore what brought these two men to the cusp of victory, and how they failed in the streets of Quebec City.

Born on January 14, 1740, into a distinguished family in Norwich, Connecticut, Benedict Arnold suffered the embarrassment as a youth of having an alcoholic father, which some historians credit with his later obsession with honor, prestige, and wealth. As a young man, he moved to New Haven and became a wealthy merchant, owning several shipping vessels. He also gained the reputation of a violent man, inclined to take affront at any perceived slight. Because of his shipping trade, he occasionally visited Quebec, making contacts in the town that would prove valuable when he attacked the city during the Revolution.

Portrait of Colonel Benedict Arnold by Thomas Hart, 1776. [1]

As tensions against the British grew in the 1770s, Arnold became a leader of the Son’s of Liberty, and at after the beginning of hostilities at Lexington and Concord, he led a company of Connecticut militiamen to join the growing army of militia besieging the British in Boston. Turned down for his bid to lead an attack on Ticonderoga, he nevertheless attached himself to Ethan Allen’s force that took the fort in May of 1775. Arnold followed this up with a raid on Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River north of Lake Champlain, about twenty-five miles from Montreal.

As happened repeatedly in his career, Arnold had disputes with other officers at Ticonderoga and was about to resign, when he learned that his wife had died. Crushed, he rushed back to New Haven to mourn her and help his sister Hannah raise his three sons. But soon the call for action forced him to return to the army at Cambridge.

At this time, General Phillip Schuyler was moving up Lake Champlain to invade Canada. On his trips to Quebec, Arnold had found a map by British engineer Lieutenant John Montresor showing the route he took down the Kennebec River from Quebec to the Maine coast in 1760. Arnold convinced General George Washington that it would be feasible to do this in reverse by sending him with an expeditionary force up the Kennebec to attack Quebec. In September of 1777, Arnold departed Cambridge with 1,100 handpicked soldiers from New England, Pennsylvania and Virginia, most of them experienced backwoodsmen. The march took longer than Arnold expected, and the conditions were horrific. He arrived on the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec in November after losing all his supplies and half of his army: over two hundred who had died and another 300 that had turned back. The starving remnants belonged to a company of expert Virginia riflemen under Captain Daniel Morgan, two rifle companies from Pennsylvania, and two provisional infantry battalions of the remaining New England troops.

General Montogomery’s and Colonel Arnold’s routes to Quebec [2]

After crossing the St. Lawrence, Arnold attempted to lay siege to the city, but having too few men, no cannon, and little ammunition, he withdrew twenty miles upriver to Pointe-aux-Trembles and waited for reinforcements. General Richard Montgomery, who had replaced General Schuyler when he fell ill, had just taken Montreal and intended to join Arnold at Quebec.

Richard Montgomery was born on December 2, 1738, in Ireland to an Ulster-Scots family. He studied at Trinity College Dublin starting in 1754, and joined the British army two years later, rising steadily through the ranks while serving in North America and in the West Indies during the French and Indian War. He stayed in North America after the war and was stationed at Fort Detroit during Pontiac’s War. By the end of that conflict, being in poor health, he returned to Britain.

Engraving of Richard Montgomery, 1775 [3]

Back home, Montgomery recovered his health and continued service in the army while also becoming involved in politics. Disillusioned after being passed over for promotion, Montgomery resigned from the army and sailed to New York in 1772 to become a gentleman farmer. The next year, he married Janet Livingston, a woman from a wealthy landowning family in upstate New York, whom he had met ten years earlier while serving in America.

In May 1775, Montgomery was elected to the New York Provincial Congress. He was active in the patriot cause and in June was appointed as a brigadier general in the Continental Army and was assigned as second-in-command to Major General Philip Schuyler, whose newly formed Northern Army was at Fort Ticonderoga. Their mission was to move up Lake Champlain and take Canada from the British. After General Schuyler became too ill to lead the invasion, Montgomery was promoted to Major General, took command and moved north. He captured Fort St. Jean and Montreal in November just as Benedict Arnold arrived at Quebec City. Leaving command of Montreal to his second-in-command, Brigadier General David Wooster, Montgomery sailed down the St. Lawrence to join Arnold with a force of 700 men, consisting of three New York Militia Regiments, a provisional battalion of soldiers from disbanded regiments, a regiment of Canadian volunteers, and a company of Continental Artillery under Captain John Lamb. He arrived at Pointe-aux-Trembles on December 2nd and took command.

With over 1,000 men, Montgomery was able to lay siege to the Quebec. He sent a woman as a messenger under a white flag with a letter demanding that, General Guy Carleton, commander of the city surrender, but Carleton burned the letter unread. Montgomery was left with no option but to force Carleton to surrender. He had brought four cannons and six mortars he had captured in Montreal, and he now began to bombard Quebec. Arnold also sent expert riflemen from Captain Daniel Morgan’s company of Virginians to shoot at British sentries on the walls of the city.

Montgomery and Arnold faced a dilemma. While they may have preferred to continue to besiege the city through the winter, starving out the defenders, the enlistments of most of their troops would expire on December 31, 1775, and almost all of them made it clear, that no matter how hard Arnold and Montgomery pleaded with them to stay, they had had enough of soldiering and intended to go home,. This forced the commanders to attack before the end of the year. With only a few days left, they decided to assault the western walls during the next snowstorm, which would mask their approach and allow them to scale them undetected. Montgomery informed his soldiers of the plan.

A snowstorm arrived on December 27, and Montgomery prepared the combined force for an assault. But the snow soon petered out, causing him to cancel the attack. That night, a Rhode Island soldier deserted with details of the plan to scale the western walls of the city, and alerted Carleton. Montgomery had to abandon his plan and decided instead that two companies would conduct diversionary feints against the western walls of the city while he and Arnold would attack the lower town from opposite sides simultaneously, meeting in the middle and scaling the walls from there. The Americans reasoned that even if they failed to get over the walls and into the main part of the city, by occupying the docks and warehouses in lower town and threatening to burn them, they might cause the merchants of the town to force Carleton to surrender. This time, Montgomery and Arnold kept the plans to themselves and a few other senior officers.

Map from Thayer’s The Invasion of Canada in 1775. The red letters corresponding to the legends were inserted for clarity. The red line shows Montgomery’s route into the city and the blue line shows Arnold’s route. [4]

The afternoon of December 30, another snowstorm arrived and the troops readied for the assault. The two companies who would make the feints against the western walls moved toward their assigned targets, one near the Cape Diamond Redoubt and other outside St. John’s Gate. They arrived in position between four and five a.m. on the thirty-first, fired flares and began shooting at their targets. Seeing the flares, Montgomery and Arnold began their assaults on the lower town.

General Montgomery led the New York Militia Regiments along the Saint Lawrence River from Wolfe’s Cove toward the southern part of the lower city, carrying lanterns to light their way. Bells began to ring inside the city ahead of them – they had been spotted. Arriving at the wooden palisade of the outer defenses for lower town, carpenters began to cut through the logs. Passing this barrier, they encountered another palisade, and this time Montgomery joined the carpenters in breeching it. On the other side of this palisade, he led an advance party of fifty men, including his senior lieutenants, down a narrow street. At the end of the street stood a two-story building.

As they approached the building, musket and cannon fire erupted from inside; it was a blockhouse manned by Canadian militiamen. Montgomery was killed instantly, his head shot through by grapeshot. Many of the men with him were killed, including most of his officers. The survivors, including Aaron Burr, future Vice President of the United States, fled back to the rest of the force waiting at the second palisade. The senior surviving officer, Captain Donald Campbell, the deputy quartermaster, decided that it was too risky to continue the assault and retreated, leaving Arnold and his men to their fate.

Arnold had attacked the Sault au Matelot at the north end of lower town. Breaching that gate, he advanced into lower town, where he promptly became lost. His column approached a barricade manned by thirty Canadian militiamen with three cannons. Arnold decided to attack. As he organized his men for the assault, a ricocheting musket ball struck his leg, wounding him severely. After relinquishing command to Captain Daniel Morgan of Virginia, he was carried to the rear.

American Assault at Sault au Matelot. [5]

The next morning, lying crippled in a hospital bed outside the city, he learned that the attack had failed. His troops had penetrated Quebec’s defenses but then were surrounded. They surrendered and were now confined in chains. All his plans were ruined, but Arnold was not to be daunted. Already, he was furiously giving orders to continue the siege of the city with the few forces remaining and writing letters reporting on his defeat and requesting immediate aid. Benedict Arnold was not about to give up the fight. He would find a way.

 * * *

I first learned about Benedict Arnold and his exploits leading a small army up the Kennebec when I was in my mid-teens – not in school, but from reading Arundel, a novel written in the 1930s by Kenneth Roberts. My father had read all of Roberts’ novels as a boy. One day, while shopping with him in a Ben Franklin store (remember those?), he pointed out another of Roberts’ novels, The Lively Lady. “That’s a really good book; you’ll enjoy it.” The racy cover of a dashing sea captain on the deck of a sailing vessel and a young woman wearing a dress with a daring decollete, almost made me put the novel back on the shelf, but I hopefully trudged to the cashier. I’ll never forget the disapproving expression on that woman’s face and her raised eyebrows as she took in the cover art and my blushing face.

But I bought it anyway and loved it. Like my dad, I read every other book that Roberts had written. My favorite was Arundel, which tells the story of Steven Nason, native Arundel, Maine, the modern-day Kennebunkport, who Roberts portrayed as a guide of Benedict Arnold on his march up the Kennebec River to assault Quebec. That book and the rest of “The Arundel Chronicles” series, sparked in me an interest in history that continues to this day.

I’ll be posting more about Benedict Arnold in 2026 and beyond, covering his involvement in two British raids on his home state of Connecticut, once as an American hero at Danbury and Ridgefield in 1777, and again as a traitor, leading a British force at New London and Groton in 1781. I hope you’ll join me.

If you want to be notified when I post to this site, please enter your email and click the Follow button on the right column of this page. I’d like to hear from you, too. Let me know what you think in the comments, and what you think I get right and wrong – especially what I get wrong.

Images

[1] “Portrait of Colonel Benedict Arnold by Thomas Hart, 1776.”  This is a color mezzotint of American Revolutionary War General Benedict Arnold, captioned as follows: Colonel Arnold who commanded the Provincial Troops sent against Quebec, through the wilderness of Canada and was wounded in that city, under General Montgomery. London. Published as the Act directs 26 March 1776 by Thos. Hart. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

[2] “General Montogomery’s and Colonel Arnold’s routes to Quebec.” Map showing the routes taken by the Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery expeditions into Quebec as part of the American Invasion of Canada (1775). This image is derived from a work of the U.S. government and, as such, is in the public domain.

[3] “Engraving of Richard Montgomery, 1775.”  Source: Lossing, Benson John. Field Book of the Revolution (2 Volumes). New York: Harper Brothers. Vol. I, p. 200 The Cooper Collections of U.S. History. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

[4] “Map from Thayer’s The Invasion of Canada in 1775.” Source: Thayer, Simon. The Invasion of Canada in 1775. Providence, RI: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1867, p. vi. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930. I inserted the red letters corresponding to the legends for clarity and the red and blue lines showing Montgomery’s and Arnold’s routes into the city.

[5] “American Assault at Sault au Matelot.” Amid a blinding snowstorm, American forces clash with the British in the 1775 Battle of Quebec—dramatized in C.W. Jefferys’ painting of Arnold’s shattered column. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

Sources

Wikipedia articles: accessed on December 28, 2025.

Other Secondary Sources

Arnold, Issac M.; The Life of Benedict Arnold: His Patriotism and His Treason. Chicago: Jason, McClurg, and Company, 1888.

Hill, George Canning. Benedict Arnold, A Biography. Boston: E.O Libby & Company, 1858.

Kelly, Jack. God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man. New York; St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2023.

Martin, James Kirby. Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

Randall, Willard Sterne. Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1999.

Sparks, Jared. The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1835.

Thayer, Simon. The Invasion of Canada in 1775. Providence, RI: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1867.

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Review: The American Revolution, Episode 6, The Most Sacred Thing

Posted on November 23, 2025 by Firelands

The final episode of the Ken Burn’s documentary, The American Revolution begins in May 1780 but does not end with the conclusion of the war; it declares that the struggle for liberty unleashed in 1776 has continued through the centuries since, and that is ongoing still.

I divide this episode into three parts: the British Southern strategy, the Battle of Yorktown, and the aftermath of the war. Because most viewers of the documentary may not be familiar with the southern campaigns, I’ll explain it in more detail than I will Yorktown.

The British strategy adopted for the summer campaign of 1780, changed the focus of the war from the New England and mid-Atlantic states to the south. General Henry Clinton, now safely back in New York City after abandoning Philadelphia, and his superior in London, Lord Germain, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, believed that Loyalist support for the crown was greater in the south than in the north. They were about to find out if that was true.

Clinton would in the southernmost colony, Georgia, and then work his way north, not only taking port cities, but subduing the countryside and recruiting Loyalists as soldiers to provide additional manpower for the next state in line. The large number of Loyalists who swarmed into Charles Town after Clinton and Cornwallis captured the city in May 1780, as described in the last episode, seemed to prove that the Southern Strategy was sound. When Clinton returned to New York City, he warned General Cornwallis, whom he left in command, not to move to North Carolina until he had complete control of South Carolina.

Everything seemed to go well at first; British and Loyalist forces moved through South Carolina and established strongpoints throughout the state. But their harsh treatment of the populace – Loyalist’s seeking revenge and they and British troops retaliations for guerrilla attacks – drove Americans who had been on the fence to join the Patriot cause. Especially egregious was the conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a British officer commanding the all-Loyalist British Legion.

Meanwhile, Congress, without consulting General Washington, appointed General Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga, to command the Southern Department. Gates moved his army south into South Carolina and met General Cornwallis moving north at Camden, South Carolina. Not only did Gates lose the ensuing battle, but he also left his army leaderless as soon as the shooting began, riding 180 miles north into North Carolina. Embarrassed, Congress cashiered him and never made another command appointment without consulting Washington.

Frustrated by a growing, brutal civil war in South Carolina, Cornwallis ignored his orders from Clinton and moved into North Carolina. He split his army into three columns. The most western group, 1,000 Loyalists under a British officer, Colonel Fergeson, were assigned to pacify the western mountains, home of a group of Scots Irish called the Overmountain Men. Fergeson promised amnesty to all who pledged allegiance to the crown, but the Overmountain men did not trust him. They met Fergeson’s force at King’s Mountain, and totally defeated them, killing Fergeson, and then executing most of the Loyalists who surrendered, a vicious example of how bitter the civil war now raging across the south had become. Cornwallis withdrew into South Carolina.

To replace the disgraced Horatio Gates, Washington sent two of his best officers Nathaniel Greene and Daniel Morgan to North Carolina to try and repair mess Gates had made. Morgan took a small force of Continentals, reinforced by local militia, into South Carolina, and met Talenton’s British Legion at a place called Cowpens. To overcome the unreliability of the militia, he placed them in two lines in front of his Continentals and told them to fire only two volleys and then fall back, luring Tarleton forward. The plan worked and when the British Legion rushed forward in pursuit of the retreating militia, they ran headlong into withering fire from the Continentals and were defeated.

His frustration growing at the growing civil war in the Carolinas that he had created, Cornwallis decided to move into Virginia to join Benedict Arnold, who had by now betrayed his country, and joined the British (the story of Benedict’s treason is well-known to most, and is well explained in the documentary, so I won’t discuss it in this review). On the way, he met Nathaniel Greene at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina and won a Pyrrhic victory, further weakening his forces. His fate: the defeat at Yorktown that ended the war.

Before going on, let’s consider how well the southern campaign is depicted in the documentary. Overall, I think that it was at least as well done as the Battles around New York in 1776. The narration was clear – and at times harrowing – and the use of maps to show the movement of armies and of battles was excellent, especially for the Battle of Cowpens. For the first time, I thought the blended scenes of reenactors, modern watercolors, and period paintings were, if not excellent, adequate.

Most people who watch this documentary know about the Battle of Yorktown in the autumn of 1781. Clinton ordered Cornwallis to march to Yorktown and entrench. By this time, Benedict Arnold had been recalled. Washington and the French commander Rochembeau, who were planning to attack New York City, learned that a French fleet was heading for the Chesapeake, and matched their armies south. They laid siege to Cornwallis’ army, like the investment Cornwallis and Clinton conducted against Charles Town the previous year. After a vicious cannonade, Cornwallis surrendered, essentially ending the war.

The depiction of the movement of the armies and this battle was exceptional, better than the depiction of the Battle of Long Island in episode two. Google map-like graphics returned, and the narration and mix of reenactors and paintings viscerally depicted the action. Well done to the producers.

The subsequent treaty, negotiated by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, secured exceptionally good terms for United States, to include the Americans securing the territory from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River. It also directed that all slaves who ran away to the British be returned to their owners.

The British evacuation from New York City and other ports took longer than expected. Loyalists who wanted to leave for Canada and other locations were given free passage, doubling the amount of shipping required. Despite the treaty requirement to return slaves to their owners, General Carleton, who replaced General Clinton in New York City, refused to turn his back on them, and most were also evacuated. According to the documentary, this concern did not extend to Indians, whom the British abandoned. But, the books I’ve read say this abandonment did not happen until the end of the War of 1812. Until then, the British supported the Indians from Fort Detroit, which they were supposed to have turned over to the Americans.

The final minutes of the documentary are devoted to the long-term impact of the American Revolution. Starting with the French Revolution, the concept of the liberty of all human beings spread around the globe. For the next two centuries colonies and citizens of autocratic countries rose in revolt and established democracies, and the long scourge of human slavery came to an end. The struggle for freedom, unleashed by the American Revolution, continues to this day. The documentary ends with a quote from Benjamin Rush: “The revolution is not over.”

Did you watch The American Revolution documentary? What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below. And if you’d like to read my reviews of previous episodes, click on the links below. Thank you for reading.

The American Revolution, Episode 1, In Order to Be Free

The American Revolution, Episode 2, An Asylum for Mankind

The American Revolution, Episode 3, The Times That Try Men’s Souls

The American Revolution, Episode 4, Conquer by a Drawn Game

The American Revolution, Episode 5, The Soul of All America

*  *  *  *

As I described in my last post, beginning early in 2026, I will tell the story on this site of the four British raids on Connecticut during the war: Danbury and Ridgefield, April 1777; Greenwich, February 1779; New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, July 1779; and New London and Groton, September 1781. I hope you’ll join me.

If you want to be notified when we begin this journey, please enter your email and click the Follow button on the right column of this page. You’ll be informed every time I post.

Filed under: The American Revolution Documentary | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Review: The American Revolution, Episode 5, The Soul of All America

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Firelands

Episode 5 begins in December 1777 with General George Washington leading his army into winter quarters at Valley Forge and ends with the British capture of Charles Town, South Carolina in May of 1780. The episode covers a lot of territory, and in my opinion does a better job than the previous episode.

Major themes of the episode: the suffering at Valley Forge forges a professional Continental army capable of standing its own against the British; the British adapt a new strategy focused on the southern tier of states; the United States wages war against Indians to the west and north, setting the stage for future settlement but also driving them into the British camp; and finally, the war goes global. This episode relates events chronologically, but in this review, I’ll attempt to stitch those events together by theme.

The first thirty minutes of the episode are spent telling of the travails of General George Washington’s army at Valley Forge. Suffering tests the soldiers’ patriotism, many perish from disease and hunger, and others lose heart and go home. Also tested is the mettle of their commander. But Washington, even in the darkest hours, never loses his resolve. Through his efforts, conditions and morale improved, Washington’s stature rose, sowing the seeds for the almost worshipful devotion he attains after the war. The Prussian marionette Baron von Steuben put the troops through their paces, resulting in a professional army, that Washington hopes will stand up to the British when they emerge from winter quarters in the spring.

By spring, the British have undergone changes of their own. General Richard Howe has been cashiered by Lord Germaine, replaced by General Henry Clinton. British strategy also changes and becomes less ambitious, shifting focus from New England and the mid-Atlantic states to the south, the most prosperous section of the country, and where Germaine and Clinton believe Loyalist sentiment is stronger. But first, Clinton must abandon Philadelphia, which Howe had taken just nine months before. He marches to New York City across New Jersey, with Washington following close behind, hoping for a chance to test his new Continental army in combat. He gets his chance at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, which ends in a draw. But for the first time, the British withdraw first, and he is left holding the field. This will be the last major engagement in the north during the war. Now, the action moves south and west.

The Indian Wars were brutal and cruel, and this documentary does not sugarcoat that. In the west, American commander George Rogers Clark attacks and takes British outposts south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi. But his real objective is the Indian tribes, targeting friend as well as foe, and driving them deeper into the arms of the British. In the north, a similar scenario unfolds, this time prompted by raids by Loyalists and Indians of the six nations, raiding settlements in northern New York and Pennsylvania. George Washington sent troops under Major General John Sullivan to halt the attacks, with orders to not only drive off the invaders, but to eliminate their threat at its source, by mercilessly destroying the Indians’ settlements and crops. As occurred in the west, the survivors of this onslaught retreated into the arms of the British. The atrocities committed in both struggles are graphically depicted with maps and watercolors, but not so much with reenactors, which I appreciated.

The previous episode ended with a teaser: the American Revolution, so far, a local affair, was about to explode onto the global stage with the entry of the French into the conflict. This is first addressed in this episode with the arrival of the French fleet and four-thousand Marines in July of 1778 under the command of Vice Admiral Count Charles d’Estaing. Washington formulated great plans to assault New York City in coordination with the French, but d’Estaing chose instead to assault first Newport, Rhode Island and then Savannah, Georgia after the British took that city. Then he sailed back to France, leaving the Americans frustrated and angry. Washington, knowing that he would need French help to finally defeat the British, fumed, but kept quiet.

Spain entered the war against Britain a year later, expanding the conflict even further. They, like the French, were fighting not to help the Americans win independence, but to settle scores with the British empire. And that support did not come without risks to their own empires. In the assault on Savannah, the French employed slaves from their colony in Haiti, exposing those men to concepts of liberty that probably helped inspire the later rebellion in that colony. The ideals of the American Revolution also threatened to spread to the Spanish empire in the Americas. The ideals of liberty that inspired Americans had unleashed a contagion that would change the world.

America had a navy in name only. Although Congress had authorized the construction of thirteen frigates, they were not ready in time to make an impact on the war. That shortcoming was compensated for by the commissioning of 1,700 privateers, that preyed on British merchant ships, taking an estimated 2,000 vessels as prizes during the war, and occasionally engaging with British warships. Most notable, and extensively covered in the documentary, was the exploits of John Paul Jones. From a base in France, he raided English port towns and preyed on British shipping. In his most famous exploit, he sailed his flagship, the Bonhomme Richard and a small fleet of other ships completely around the British Isles, taking two dozen or so prizes, and then engaged and forced the surrender of the British warship Serapis, in a vicious engagement now enshrined in legend. The documentary does an excellent job depicting the horrors of that fight and Jones’ courage. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The British southern campaign was central to the strategy developed by Secretary of State for the Colonies Lord George Germain. His orders to General Clinton were clear: start with Savannah, Georgia, and then capture Charles Town, South Carolina. From that base, march north through North Carolina to Virginia, recruiting Loyalists and enticing slaves to desert their plantations as he went. The whole plan depended on the latter.

Savannah fell first as planned, just after Christmas, 1778, then Augusta. The city repelled an attack by a joint force of French and Americans in the autumn of 1779, as I mentioned above. In December of that year, General Clinton, accompanied by General Charles Cornwallis, sailed to Charles Town, the most prosperous city in America, with a population of 12,000.

Although it was almost indefensible, Congress sent some of the best troops in the Continental Army to Charles Town to reinforce the defenders, who were under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln. Clinton landed on James Island and marched his army of 10,000 men far up the west side of the Ashley River, and then down the east bank, where he invested the city. The siege was brutal, with a several-month-long cannonade. British lines inched forward inexorably, and on May 12, 1780, General Lincoln surrendered the city and his army of 5,600 men, some of the best troops in the Continental army.

Loyalists surged into the city, bolstering British forces, and validating British expectations of winning over the population of the south, which they had been unable to do in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. Here was a formula that, if it could not win back all the colonies, could at least secure the most prosperous part for the crown. Clinton sailed back to New York City with 4,000 of his troops, leaving Cornwallis to secure South Carolina, and prepare to move north.

Finally, my critique of how this episode told the story of these events. Many viewers of this episode may not be familiar with some parts of the narrative, so clarity is important. Although the graphics used lacked the wow factor of the graphics in episode two, they did their job. Reenactors were employed sparingly, except for the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse. For that engagement, a bird’s eye view of battlelines was filmed from drones, which I did not like. Reenactors are distracting enough, filming them with drones takes away all vestiges of authenticity. As has been the case in previous episodes, maps used for depicting the movement of troops, especially for Clinton’s circuitous march to Charles Town and Sullivan’s advance against the six nations settlements were well done. The graphical depiction of the siege itself, and the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, however, were not.

Next up: the final episode of the series, “The Most Sacred Thing.” I’m looking forward to it.

Have you been watching The American Revolution? What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below. And if you have enjoyed reading this and want to see more, subscribe by entering your email and clicking the Follow button. You’ll be informed every time I post.

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As I described in my last post, beginning early in 2026, I will tell the story on this site of the four British raids on Connecticut during the war: Danbury and Ridgefield, April 1777; Greenwich, February 1779; New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, July 1779; and New London and Groton, September 1781. I hope you’ll join me.

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Review: The American Revolution, Episode 4, Conquer by a Drawn Game

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Firelands

Reenactors clad in gaiters over white trousers trod through a muddy forest in the opening scene of “Conquer by a Drawn Game,” the fourth episode of the Ken Burns’ documentary The American Revolution,” an apt start to a “muddled” episode that occasionally found itself “stuck in the mud.”

The episode begins with General Washington’s victories at the Second Battle of Trenton and Battle of Princeton in January 1777 – which I think should have been at the end of the previous episode – includes the fall of Philadelphia to General Howe, and concludes in February of 1777 with the entry of France into the war on the side of the Americans, prompted by the surrender of General John Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga, All this is fodder for a great story. But the narration often drags, and is confusing, and the visual depictions lack the impact of the previous three episodes.

I did like the analysis of General George Washington’s strengths and weaknesses. Although a poor tactician, illustrated by his blunders in the Battle of the Brandywine, he grasped intuitively the strategy that would win the war: keeping his army together. No matter how many battles he lost through his own incompetence, he always managed to extricate himself and his army from disaster. And just as important, he was able to keep the army from dissolving when all seemed hopeless. That was his genius, and this episode does a fine job of portraying it.

Unfortunately, the explanation of the British strategy, such as it was, and why it failed is not well explained. This episode finally addresses Lord George Germaine’s strategy of splitting New England from the rest of the colonies securing the Hudson River valley. But this did not become the British strategy in 1777, as is implied. That was the aim of the war from the beginning. The purpose of the attack on New York City, at least as conceived by the government in London, was first to destroy the American army, and second to use the city as a base to advance up the Hudson and link up with an army descending the river from Lake Champlain. The problem from the beginning of the war, exacerbated by delay in communication across the Atlantic, was that General Howe had his own strategy, of seizing and holding territory and winning over the population – winning their hearts and minds – that was diametrically opposed to Germain’s strategy of destroying armies and breaking the rebels’ will. The result: General Howe wandered off to attack Philadelphia, leaving General Burgoyne without support and leading to his surrender at Saratoga, depicted at the end of this episode. In my opinion, all this was poorly explained in the documentary.

In my reviews of previous episodes, I commented favorably on the use of technology to depict the movement of armies and the conduct of battles. This episode had little of that. The graphics for most battles, combined with a fragmented story line, were confusing. The depiction of battles around Philadelphia were adequate, but even that did not come close to the 3D images of battlefields and the Google Earth-style graphics that were used for the Battles of Long Island, the taking of New York, the Battle of Trenton, and the assault on Quebec used in the previous episodes. I hope the final two episodes return to using those graphics.

Coverage of the Battle of Saratoga was particularly confusing. The graphics of the movements of the armies were okay, but not the depiction of the battles. The narration only added to the confusion. I have read several books about this battle, but I still found the story hard to follow at times. A few of the tales of individuals involved in the battle were well done, especially the harrowing and poignant saga of Baroness von Riedesel and her children, who came under fire several times. Fortunately, none of them were killed or wounded. Speaking of poignancy, the telling of the tragic fate of General John Burgoyne’s army was excellent. The army trekked first to Boston to board ships to England, but the surrender agreement between Gates and Burgoyne was rejected by Congress, and the wretched survivors of the battle wandered the country until the end of the war, ending up in Virginia. I’d heard the story before, but the documentary really brought it to life for me.

Finally, the role of Benedict Arnold at Saratoga was glossed over. Never mentioned was the animosity that developed between the commander of the Northern Army, General Horatio Gates and Arnold. The bitterness between these two men resulted in Arnold being relieved and confined to his tent. Roused by the sounds of battle, he disobeyed Gates’ orders, and “appeared suddenly” at Freeman’s Farm to save the day. This part of the story explains not only Gates’ pettiness but also sets the stage for Arnold’s bitterness that ultimately led to his treason. I think at least one mention of this in the documentary would have been appropriate.

There is more to the episode that I could comment on: the introduction of the Marquis de LaFayette, Benjamin Franklin’s diplomacy in France, mandatory smallpox inoculation in the Continental Army, for instance. But I’ll leave it here for now.

The episode ends with Washington’s army going into winter quarters at Valley Forge, and the British settling down in Philadelphia, and the entry of France into the war. In the next episode, the war becomes global, which has the potential to be a great story. I hope that’s what we’ll see in episode 5.

Have you been watching The American Revolution? What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below. And if you have enjoyed reading this and want to see more, subscribe by entering your email and clicking the Follow button. You’ll be informed every time I post.

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As I described in my last post, beginning early in 2026, I will tell the story on this site of the four British raids on Connecticut during the war: Danbury and Ridgefield, April 1777; Greenwich, February 1779; New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, July 1779; and New London and Groton, September 1781. I hope you’ll join me.

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Review: The American Revolution, Episode 3, The Times That Try Men’s Souls

Posted on November 19, 2025 by Firelands

Episode three of PBS’s “The American Revolution” opens with the Patriots riding high after declaring independence and driving the British out of their fledgling nation. Yet, the optimism quickly fades as a massive British fleet—400 ships and 24,000 troops, including 8,600 Hessians—descends on New York City. The documentary sets the stage for the pivotal Long Island campaign, where General George Washington’s army faces overwhelming odds.

The episode’s timeline is slightly muddled, suggesting the British fleet was enroute to New York during the signing of the Declaration of Independence, when in fact, the fleet arrived shortly before, On June 28. In August, British forces landed on Long Island, launching a campaign that would stretch through the end of the year. The documentary covers this period extensively, though it doesn’t break new ground for those familiar with Revolutionary War history.

As the battles unfold, the British army consistently defeats the Americans, a result attributed to British tactical superiority and Washington’s inexperience. However, General Richard Howe, the British commander, repeatedly fails to capitalize on his victories, allowing Washington to escape. The documentary suggests Howe’s reluctance also may have stemmed from his sympathy for the Americans and a hope for a negotiated peace, though it omits the possibility that his trauma from the earlier assault on Breed’s Hill may have influenced his caution.

The episode culminates with the “miracle at Trenton,” where Washington’s forces regroup in New Jersey and launch a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost. Curiously, the subsequent American victory at Princeton is not mentioned. The narrative then shifts to Washington’s struggle to keep his army together as enlistments expired at the start of 1777, setting the stage for the next episode

As I did with yesterday’s review, I’ll present below several highlights of this episode. Some of my comments are critical of the producers for leaving out what I believe are important events or issues. I understand the time constraints they were under but still feel these are important to understand the conflict. I also understand, though, that I’m not the one responsible for fitting this complex story into twelve hours.

The attack on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, is briefly mentioned but lacks context—specifically, that it was led by General Henry Clinton and heightened tensions between him and Howe. Similarly, the documentary covers a failed Native American uprising in the Carolinas but neglects a parallel, unsuccessful Loyalist revolt. Both uprisings were brutally suppressed, leaving both the Native Americans and the Loyalists weakened and feeling betrayed.

Benedict Arnold emerges in an unexpected role as the architect and naval commander of a hastily assembled American fleet on Lake Champlain. The Naval Battle of Valcour Bay is depicted as a tactical defeat but a strategic victory. Arnold’s fleet, though destroyed, inflicted enough damage on the British to force them to abandon their planned attack on Fort Ticonderoga and retreat to Canada for the winter. The documentary’s portrayal of this battle is effective but underplays its strategic significance. Had the British taken Ticonderoga, General Burgoyne’s campaign down the Hudson the following year might have succeeded, potentially altering the course of the war. Benedict Arnold’s heroism and tactical acumen made him a hero, and despite his continuing tragic attempts to sabotage his own career, he was available to strike the decisive blow at Saratoga. That the strategic importance of this battle and Arnold’s role in it is often overlooked in history books is itself a tragedy.

The episode also explores General Howe’s efforts to win over the New Jersey population by offering pardon to those who swore allegiance to the Crown. Over 3,000 accepted, with many joining Loyalist regiments. However, goodwill evaporated as British and Hessian soldiers committed widespread looting and abuse. Although American troops were also guilty of atrocities, the British bore the brunt of local resentment, prompting New Jersey residents to resist and attack British foraging parties. Howe and other British leaders believed that winning popular support was key to victory, but they ultimately failed to achieve it.

A notable theme in this episode is the role of women during the war, both on the home front and alongside the armies. Wives and children of the soldiers followed their husbands and fathers, and at times ended up right in the middle of combat. The same was true for British and Hessian soldiers, but this is never addressed in the documentary. It is amazing to realize that these families were transported across the ocean on British Navy ships and sustained once here in America at the expense of the British government. I think the producers missed an opportunity to tell a fascinating story.

The use of maps and graphics stands out as a strength of the documentary. Especially well done is the use of “Google Earth”-style visuals that track troop movements during the Long Island campaign. I hope this technology will continue to be used in future episodes.

Finally, a personal highlight: I finally recognized one of the actors reading quotes of soldiers and other participants of the war: Tom Hanks as the voice reading from Lieutenant Isaac Bangs’s diary. Bangs, I discovered was enlisted in the “Continental Army as a Lieutenant in Colonel Gary’s regiment on the 30th of January 1776.” His diary, Journal of Lieutenant Isaac Bangs, April 1 to July 29, 1776, was published in 1890.

I enjoyed this episode, despite its shortcomings. Now that we’re a third of the way through the documentary, I can say that it’s not anywhere near the quality of The Civil War, or Burns other war series. But it is entertaining.

Have you been watching The American Revolution? What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below. And if you have enjoyed reading this and want to see more, subscribe by entering your email and clicking the Follow button. You’ll be informed every time I post.

*  *  *  *

As I described in my last post, beginning early in 2026, I will tell the story on this site of the four British raids on Connecticut during the war: Danbury and Ridgefield, April 1777; Greenwich, February 1779; New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, July 1779; and New London and Groton, September 1781. I hope you’ll join me.

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