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.
Filed under: The American Revolution Documentary | Tagged: Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, Charles Cornwallis, Charles Town South Carolina, French, George Rogers Clark, George Washington, Henry Clinton, Indian Wars, John Paul Jones, Lord Germain, Savannah Georgia, Six Nations, The American Revolution, Valley Forge | Leave a comment »
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