Almost A Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence

694 Pages·2009·6.99 MB·English

by  John Ferling

ALMOST A MIRACLE
General George Washington. Sculpture by Jean Antoine Houdon, c. 1786. Completed less than two
years after the war, Houdon’s sculpture captures Washington’s strong, hard, and tenacious qualities
better than any painting.
ALMOST A
M I R A C L E
T HE A MERICAN V ICTORY
IN THE
W AR OF I NDEPENDENCE
john ferling
1
2007
1
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Copyright © 2007 by John Ferling
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ferling, John E.
Almost a miracle : the American victory
in the War of Independence / John Ferling.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-518121-0
1. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Campaigns.
2. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Biography.
3. Generals—United States—Biography.
4. United States. Continental Army—Biography.
5. Soldiers—United States—History—18th century.
6. United States. Continental Army—Military life.
7. United States—Politics and government—1775–1783.
I. Title.
E230.F47 2007
973.3′3—dc22
2007009366
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
Illustrations and Maps vii
Preface xi
Introduction: “My Country, My Honor, My Life”: Bravery and Death in War 1
PART ONE: GOING TO WAR, 1775–1776 13
1. “Fear Is Not an American Art”: The Coming of the War 15
2. “A Loss That Is Greater Than We Can Bear”: Going to War 34
3. Choices, 1775 61
PART TWO: THE WAR IN THE NORTH, 1776–1779 73
4. “Hastening Fast to a Crisis”: June 1775–June 1776 75
5. Choices, 1776 112
6. “Knock Him Up for the Campaign”: The Battle for
New York, 1776 120
7. “This Hour of Adversity”: To the End of 1776 156
8. Choices, 1777 187
9. “The Caprice of War”: America’s Pivotal Victory at Saratoga 204
10. “We Rallied and Broke”: The Campaign for Philadelphia,
September–December 1777 242
11. Choices, 1778 259
vi Contents
12. “A Respectable Army”: The Grim Year, 1778 274
13. Choices, 1779 315
14. “A Band of Brotherhood”: The Soldiers, the Army, and the
Forgotten War in 1779 326
15. “We Have Occasioned a Good Deal of Terror”: The War at Sea 359
16. Choices, 1780 392
PART THREE: THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 1780–1781 407
17. “A Year Filled With Our Disgraces”: Defeat in the South, 1780 409
18. “Southern Means and Southern Exertions”: Hope and Despair,
June–December 1780 444
19. Choices, 1781 468
20. “Bloody and Severe”: The Pivotal Southern War, Early 1781 477
21. “We Are Suspended in the Balance”: Spring and Summer 1781 501
PART FOUR: AMERICAN VICTORY, 1781–1783 521
22. “America Is Ours”: Victory at Yorktown, 1781 523
23. Choices, 1782 540
24. “May We Have Peace in Our Time”: Peace and Demobilization,
1782–1783 546
25. “Little Short of a Miracle”: Accounting for America’s Victory 562
Abbreviations 576
Notes 578
Bibliography 653
Index 663
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
Frontispiece General George Washington. Sculpture by Jean Antoine
Houdon, c. 1786. (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.; gift of Joe L. & Barbara Albritton and Robert H. Clarice
Smith, and Gallery Purchase)
1 Captain William Glanville Evelyn. Self-portrait made in September 1776.
(Author’s Collection) Page 2
2 Colonel John Glover. Anonymous facsimile of a pencil drawing by John
Trumbull, date unknown. (Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach
Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library,
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations) Page 3
3 Frederick Lord North, Second Earl of Guilford. Painting by Nathaniel Dance,
before 1775. (National Portrait Gallery, London) Page 24
4 General Israel Putnam. Graphite on paper, by Colonel John Trumbull, date
unknown. (Wadsworth Atheneum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. Lent by
The Putnam Phalanx) Page 36
5 General Thomas Gage. Oil on canvas mounted on masonite, by John
Singleton Copley, c. 1768. (Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon
Collection, New Haven, Connecticut) Page 44
6 General Charles Lee. Engraving by A. H. Ritchie after a caricature by Barham
Rushbrooke. (The Emmet Collection, Miriam and Ira. D. Wallach Division
of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor,
Lenox and Tilden Foundations) Page 45
viii Illustrations and Maps
7 General Horatio Gates. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, from life, 1782.
(Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 46
8 The Honorable Sir William Howe. Engraving, London, 1780. From
Washington Irving’s Life of Washington, volume 3, part 1, between pages 82
and 83. (Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston) Page 52
9 The Battle of Bunker Hill. Oil on canvas by Howard Pyle, 1898. (Delaware Art
Museum, Wilmington, Museum Purchase, 1912) Page 59
10 Lord George Germain. Twentieth-century copy by Dorofield Hardy of the
eighteenth-century original painting by George Romney. (William L.
Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Page 67
11 General Philip Schuyler. Engraving by T. Kelly, from a painting by John
Trumbull, c. 1835. (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 81
12 General Benedict Arnold. Engraving by Benoit-Louis Prevost, copy after
Pierre-Eugène du Simitière, 1780. (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C.) Page 82
13 On the Last Portage of the Great Carrying Place. Drawn by Denman Fink, pub-
lished in 1903. (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 90
14 General Guy Carleton. By A. H. Ritchie, late in the nineteenth century.
(Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 99
15 General Henry Knox. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, from life, c. 1784.
(Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 102
16 General John Sullivan. Painting by Richard Morrell Staigg, after John Trumbull,
1876. (Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 109
17 Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes. Engraving published in Paris during the
era of the American Revolution. (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)
Page 115
18 Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant).Mezzotint by J. R. Smith, c. 1776. (Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 200
19 General John Burgoyne. Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1776. (The Frick
Collection, New York) Page 212
20 Friedrich William Augustus, Baron Von Steuben. Painting by Charles Willson
Peale, after Charles William Peale, 1781–1782. (Independence National
Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 286
21 Marquis de Lafayette. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, 1779.
(Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, Washington and Lee University,
Lexington, Virginia) Page 291
22 Sir Henry Clinton. (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor) Page 295
23 Comte d’Estaing. Engraving by an unknown artist, first published in 1782.
(Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 308
24 General Anthony Wayne. Lithograph made from the original painting, drawn
by Jas. Herring, engraved by E. Prudhomme, from a sketch by Colonel John
Trumbull. (Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WHi-42833) Page 333
Illustrations and Maps ix
25 Sketch of American Uniforms. By Baron Ludwig von Closen, 1781. (Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 341
26 Colonel John Laurens. Watercolor on ivory, by Charles Willson Peale in
1780. (The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina, on loan
from a private collection) Page 343
27 Raleigh. Model of Continental frigate, made by August L. Delin from
Admiralty Plans. (Photograph Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts) Page 363
28 John Paul Jones. Mezzotint portrait by J. M. Moreau, from a bust by Jean-
Antoine Houdon, c. 1781. (National Archives, Washington, D.C., Still
Picture Branch, Rev. War #89) Page 366
29 General Benjamin Lincoln. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, from life,
c. 1781–1783. (Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia)
Page 385
30 Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1782. (National
Gallery, London) Page 422
31 Interior of the Jersey Prison Ship. Wood engraving, first published by H.
Howe in 1855. (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 429
32 Charles Cornwallis, First Marquess Cornwallis. Painting by Thomas
Gainsborough. (National Portrait Gallery, London) Page 435
33 Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau. Painting by Charles
Willson Peale, from life, c. 1782. (Independence National Historical Park,
Philadelphia) Page 445
34 General Nathanael Greene. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, from life,
1783. (Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 464
35 General Daniel Morgan. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, from life,
c. 1794. (Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 465
36 Lieutenant Colonel John Eager Howard. Painting by Charles Willson
Peale, from life, c. 1781–1784. (Independence National Historical Park,
Philadelphia) Page 482
37 Cavalry Clash in the Battle of Cowpens. Halftone reproduction of drawing
from Henry Cabot Lodge, The Story of the Revolution (1898). (Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 485
38 Colonel Otho Holland Williams. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, after
Charles William Peale, 1782–1784. (Independence National Historical
Park, Philadelphia) Page 492
39 Colonel Henry Lee. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, from life, c. 1782.
(Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia) Page 495
40 Surrender at Yorktown. Painting by John Trumbull, c. 1787–1828. (Library
of Congress, Washington, D.C.) Page 537