Military history and political history and so, here is the thing. There are certain challenges when we study military history these are things we will encounter what are some things you can see that historians have problems with . So, the winner goes with the history, because what they end up doing is they are the ones who will tell the story. But, this is the way it usually works, so you usually get their perspective and you will see this a lot in their war were you have a lot of the patriot and American Revolutions tough and one of the reasons you had to ring the spring chapter to get the british version because this version is a little different so what are the challenges . Theres a lot of uncertainty with you one what battle and all that stuff. Again, there are many different perspectives here, you may have some bias, generals like to make themselves look good and so, so youve got to be careful about your sources and as historians you know that and you know you dont take everything at face value. Be careful with the military guys, just because they are officers doesnt mean they are always right. Anything else . You have issues trying to reconstruct the battles because so much is going on and theres so much chaos and people are shooting and there is death. Yes, it is very chaotic. Yes you will walk in with the plan and, yes you will have certain objectives that you want to obtain that like we were talking about at bunker hill, who won . Well, first take the field if they take higher casualties so im not really sure. We will run into that a lot, battles are challenging and will not really sure how things change up and everyones perspective is different depending on where you are at. If youre a private in the front lines or version will be a lot different than a general sitting on the horse we back on the hill. Does this include how battles are fought over time . You have to remember the time period, folks. This is something we will mention several times today. You have to remember the time period, what year is it . 1772. All right, we are in 1776, i will back it up a year for us so, we need to create this to get us going but 1976 1776 or 1775 is where we are at. You need to remember what people wear, what people carry, how they use this, what the objectives are and what you can do because otherwise, it is not going to happen. Think backwards, this is early modern era. So, we have much more in common with the medieval folks, your early modern folks than anyone else who was coming out. There is a lot of technology but were not going there, we havent heard of it and we dont know what its about, so we will stick to that. Remember your time periods, these are very different, very close combat, not a whole lot of range and a lot of good stuff. So, that will be really important as well. The good thing about military history is it is becoming really popular nowadays that we are on the up and up and a, unfortunately, you have been in some sort of military conflict your entire lives and so, this is something that you are accustomed to and used to is everyday life on the news and whatnot. And, that is a good thing for military historians because it makes it much more popular. 30 or 40 years ago this was not a topic he could talk about but we can now and its getting really popular and we will push the envelope here and so, we are doing our thing and doing our part as far as military history is concerned. This is your thing in this is your moment, so enjoy it and get on board, as far as that is concerned. We do run into special challenges as far as the American Revolution is concerned. Right, the big thing is gonna be sources, going back to the fact that you have this chaotic bias and uncertainties and add to the fact that we dont have a whole lot of stuff written down. We will read martin at the end of the semester, great guy, one person and we have a couple of documents from washington and the couple of the other guys are saying this is a small snippet as far as what happened with all the other folks and what they experience, that will be a real problem. We will also have to work around a lot of mythology. Think about it, valley forge. All of the sudden you all start thinking, its snowy and cold, wrapping their feet up in bandages and that sort of thing and that happened, its legit i didnt make that up but you have this kind of aura like patriots, big guys, not so much. These guys have some atrocities on both side, we get to the war in the south and it gets really messy, it gets really ugly on both sides, so, you have to remember that there is a lot of , i dont hate on George Washington but he did make some mistake, you can make quite a few things to come, so we need to watch out for that but, its also very much an east coast thing. We are in texas and so when i say revolution you are publicly thinking alamo different revolution, folks. But this is the guys on the east coast and so were a little far and away for them to take us right out that way so there is that. But remember this, its very different here in 1775, battles are small close, there are difficult challenges and different from what you may be used to from more modern conflicts. So there is that. So, this is just military history in general, so lets think about that as we move forward. So lets set up the two sides. Lets talk the british first yes, i am intentionally using red. What advantage do british folks have . They have an established officer court. And they are actually pretty good. So these guys are professionals and these are guys who have been doing this for 30 or 40 years on many different continents, its not the first war and this is not their first rodeo and so, yes, they have the experience and the knowhow and they can change things up, we like to think the guys came in blind and didnt know what they were doing and went right into the book thats not the case, these guys are good and we need to realize that and appreciate it. What other advantages of a got . Yes. Lets talk about the navy. , 270 warships how many do the americans have . Yeah, this is one of the reasons why we will not engage in the high seas because we know we cant win there, but, the navy is hugely important for transport. They can get supplies, they can move men and get things in different places and whatnot. And so, this is definitely some thing on their side and there is no way we can catch up to them. Anything else . They sort of have the offensive can initiative. They are working on plane offense. And they are going there, they have to subdue a continent and we talked about that but nevertheless, they had some items on their side as far as that is concerned, but what else they have more training. Lots of training. It goes back to the officer corps. To go along with that, theyve also got the contingent with the royal navy. 55,000 soldiers strong. And again, very good at what they do. One of the great things about matthew springs article shows you how diverse the forces. We like to joke about the british army thats a well oiled machine that will come in like a bulldozer and take over the colonies but thats not necessarily the case, these are men who are fighting for a paycheck and doing their duty and all of that, and they have their issues and the reasons why they are doing this, because the rebels are rebels and they are uppity as far as being englishmen are concerned but nevertheless they are good with lots of training. So by a military mindset they were ready to deploy versus the americans. Yes. Go along with the training. We are starting from square one on every possible front, we have no government that we have 13 random colonies that are talking to each other and its a mess and nevertheless, these guys, yes, they are ready to go theyve been doing this for hundreds of years and theyve been deployed here in the colonies before and so yes, they are well trained and excellent at what they do. So, going back to my soldiers, 55,000 of those, who else is fighting in the army besides british soldiers . The gonna have about 3000 missions. Before we go complaining, where is this going from . George iii and all the georges are german and they have that in their background. These folks are mercenaries, guns for hire and everybody does this. This is classic standard european tactics to go higher these guys, so maybe it looked bad from the colonial side but this is the way they operate, look at the numbers, not all of these folks will be deployed in the colonies at the same place and time, but they have that in the background. Going off of that, they also have the population to draw from. About 9 Million People right now. You have a lot of folks and again, about 2 1 4 of those are eligible for service, but nevertheless they have people they can replace the colonies have about 2 million folks in all of the colonies and that is including men, women, children and slaves. So, they have the numbers to go along with this. So we have a lot of military but what else have they got that is working for them . Whether its uniforms, guns, artillery, its not piecemeal. Sure. And again, its a new war, new place, theyve done this before elsewhere. So, they are going with that. Going along with that, they have a well back to system of quartermasters. Sure. Now, supply will be a bit of a challenge for them and something you need to remember is that there is a big ocean in the way, all right . Yes, they are able to use canada and they are able to use their weapons and this is where the navy comes in but nevertheless, its a long way back to england for orders, think back before general gage in dawson was waiting to figure out what happened and, they got away from them in the same thing goes for supplies and we will see them several times with things they will have to pull back because they need to make sure they have an exit strategy. So, other things were not thinking about, this is on military stuff and i get that but we also need to remember that they have a government in an economy, both of which they can support as a longterm military operation. Again, one of the colonies got . A bunch of assemblies and they throughout the governors, good luck with that. The declaration of independence, we read it, voted on it but i dont remember reading about a government, king george was the bad guy, so, meanwhile again, these guys, hundreds of years theyve been doing this folks so they know what theyre doing they know what theyre doing as far as the group is concerned, so, and so before you have surrendered, heres some and we are working on for our advantage as well. , like what . What do we have . You have got to know your terrain. You will hear me say this it can over and over, youve got to know your terrain, all right . These guys know what theyre doing, maybe theyve been here before but we know all the rocks and creeks and indian paths and they are not so sure about that. Alright . So going along with that we also have lots of territory, because we are on defense. As long as washington has an army in the field of the United States is alright . If you look at the map there are a lot of places to hide and go to alright . If you look at the win loss column you will have a whole lot in the column alright . But nevertheless he is still there dragging out, alright . Take as long as you can but then, that way you wear them down to where he will eventually give up is the thing, alright . Its not the most fancy way to win the war but it gets the job done and that is all that matters. We have more like pride and principles. Sure. Alright . Definitely. This is cause. Alright . So the flag or whatever, you want to call it but yes, there is a reason, besides the home field advantage, its your home, its your family, its your arm, its why you came here and youre gonna fight tooth and nail to defend that. Alright . And again we get further into the south and a lot of times thats all it will come down to is which color is burning your cornfield. That is who your enemy is, alright . Its gonna get really personal and partisan by that point in time. But, nevertheless that really does motivate us. Sure, they got the numbers in the training but they have nothing at date, alright . Really. These guys do and that is where its at. This is home. , alright . They dont want to be conquering people. So anything else . They are close enough to get orders relatively quickly . Sure expect the fine lines are much shorter. And washington is gonna make sure you dont steal from neighbors, youve got to work for. One reason that valley forge is such a mess is because farmers want to make a lot of money so they sell to the british. It doesnt sound very patriotic but theyve got a make money and that is where they go with that. The communication lines are shorter, weve just got to run to philadelphia and check with congress to see whats up instead of waiting months and years to get something from overseas but thats also an important part of that. Anything else . The prospect of foreign alliances. Yes. Here in particular who are we gonna look for . Canada and quibec are the lost colony. But, nevertheless, they are looking for revenge and so this is a chance to get back at them france may try a little backstabbing later on but i believe we had that. England, yes, they are the biggest and baddest empire in the world but everybody hates them, alright . We can use that to our advantage and get help on our side because believe me we need help or anything else . In a lot of areas theres a friendly population. For civilians, alright . Again, this goes back to this is home, alright . Washington does insist that his men treat them well and nicely as part of that, so, the british tramp all over them and take advantage of the patriot and treated them with little respect, perhaps. So, yes. All right. I just want to say that i think the militia is really unique because they give the americans who actually have a lot of fighting experience, also giving them the ability to quick immobilize, whereas, the redcoats need to ship troops over or pulled from population pools but the militia can instantaneously organize and fade back in to the communities. Yes, this goes to the things that are different for us and that is we are what you call guerrilla tactics and whatnot. And it will eventually be an american way of war but, we hide behind these and you have your local militia beard events force and we will talk a little more in a moment about the differences between the militia and the Continental Army and we need to have those to Work Together, but, nevertheless you have a force you can call in at a minutes notice, whereas, the british not so much as the thing and so, going back to these guys know their terrain and they know where their friends are, they can get supplies, all of that helps work to our advantage and the british have to destroy all of this to be able to win is the trick. Does the fact that we have less soldiers make it better for us in regards to military leaders trying to conserve the death toll . Right, the fact that we have fewer do we use them more carefully . It does help as far as mobility but if you were a mass casualty event then no. The numbers will be small were talking couple hundred thousand guys in the field at a time. So its a little bit of a mix but it depends on the battle. Anything else as far as advantages . This isnt really a military advantage but it does help that we came in the wake of the enlightenment period and where we had human rights that we can see clearly as they are being trampled on by britain. So, it gives us more patriotic passion going into the war. And the fact that we have not just shorter supply lines but communication lines and we can play on that, we own the newspapers and weve got the press and the pressure is usually important and they will be the one that will swing Public Opinion one way or another, so yes, we will have patriot passes and play on the rights and that is what we are fighting for. We are fighting for specific objectives, alright . , for land, for rights, for Economic Opportunities in those sorts of things. These guys, not so much, this job is a deployment for them as far as that is concerned. So, now that we have the two sides together and yes we are doing this, all right, we are talking about the guy. The person going off to fight the war, all right . So do that, we need to talk about the material. There are two hugely important pieces to be able to make an army work you need the man and you need the weaponry. So, what we need to do is figure out how the weaponry works. What im passing out is the menu of arms how to operate the machines i will pass some extras back in case i missed some. Secondly, i would be a poor supply officer if i didnt provide cartridges for the weapons, alright . Everybody grab one of these and pass them around and whatnot. We will get to those in a second. All right, so, my uniform today as i am Continental Army, alright . How you can tell im just an ordinary soldier is its pretty much, because we create the army in june, 1775, is a motley crew and we where what weve got and its your britches and your linen shirts in your coat over the top of it and its your interface that will tell you what color and rank you are, red is more of the ordinary soldiers, gold and yellow will be officers and whatnot. So, one thing everyone will need is your musket, alright . Thats all right here. So my friends, this is it, this is a replica of a 1766 flintlock musket, alright . Its about 1 1 2 feet long, weighs about 8 to 10 pounds, alright . , its a standard issue and you will have this and own this and love it dont lose it and dont break it its in three parts, you lock because the metal mechanism right here you have the stock, the wooden part right here in the smooth bore barrel which is a long tube right here, hence the phrase, lock stock and barrel. And its important to note the barrel is smooth with a log tube of metal, alright . Its not glued, when something is rifled that means there are grooves in here and the grooves are slowed down with the spin and you cant do that with this weapon. That is not the point, alright . What were gonna go through his walkthrough to see how we operate this thing and why training is so important so we can Work Together in conjunction to win the battle, is the thing. All right, so. You we go. So the first thing you need to do is half cocked your weapon and what you do is you pull your flint back into the half cocked position. You cannot fire a weapon in this position, hence the phrase, do not go off hack half cocked. Its not possible, then when you want to do is handle your cartridge, reach back into the cartridge box and pull out one of the cartridges which is what one of you guys have, alright . The cartridge is paper, black powder and a musket ball, alright . Most of the balls look like this. A large lead ball like so, alright . Bullets of different sizes, 50 caliber, 80 caliber and anyone in between and its solid lead, alright . After youve handled your cartridge, what you do is prime the pan and its a metal piece right here. You put powder in here and you will bite the tail off and you get to opposing teeth, but you bite off the tail, alright . , and if you do bite off your tales you can do that to and then you pour powder into the pan right here. This is not real black powder, this is soldiers coffee. But you want to renovate tidwell and its probably not the way to go about doing that. So, weve got black powder and the next thing we need to do is shut the pan and take the steel pan and close it up right here, alright . And then what you need to do is charge your cartridge. Turn this around and we pour the ball into the powder down the barrel, alright . Then, draw your wham or into the metal piece and ram your cartridge down here and down the tube and make sure you get all the way down, return the rammer, dont lose this and dont leave it in there either. Hold the fire, the cartridge you poisoned, you turn it, then you full caulk and pull it all the way back and then you pointed in the general enemy direction [ laughter ] and then fire shut your eyes and pull the trigger okay. Why did i close my eyes . What is happening right in front of them is an explosion. So what happens here is, the flint hits the steel prism and has sparks and the sparks that then light the black powder which goes down the little touchhole like the powder we put down the barrel causing the explosion causing that direction from some way and do a good man on a good day can do this and 20 seconds how long is 20 seconds . Lets see about that. [ counting ] remember, you are on a battlefield where there are other things happening like people shooting at you and cannons going off and guns being drawn, people charging, horses, all sorts of other things are happening. Bang. 20 seconds, good man, good day, three shots per minute. I cant do math, history major. [ laughter ] so there you go, what is the problem with this weapon . 20 seconds is a long time, thats why he counted it out and if you do something wrong, somewhere along the way its not gonna work. That is why training is so important. Its a precise mechanism, trust me Double Charging the weapon, you dont want to do that. What else does it work in the rain . You may have heard the phrase, keep your battle dry. If you have a rain shower, yes, the paper gets wet and the power gets wet powder gets wet. Youve had to cover up to do the best you can but weather will be a huge factor in this. What else . Its bulky. It is, its very awkward, one good thing about a uniform like this is it gives everyone an idea of what youre working with. Not only are you going through all the different steps and whatnot but you doing it in these clothes, alright . So theres a lot of steps involved and it is, its awkward. Its heavier on one side so what else . If you use a little part of it or it gets messed up and anyway you are kind of screwed. Why do you think i keep saying dont lose this and dont break it, remember what time period it is, what year is it . 1775. This right here is a handcrafted work of art are created by a gunsmith you made lock stock and barrel every piece of this, by hand for each one individually different and thats why i say dont lose it, because if you know how this sort of thing operates and you break something or you lose apart, you cannot necessarily run to the nearest gunsmith and have them fix it or whatever, alright . So that will be a problem, also. Otherwise its just gonna be a very heavy club if you break something. Anything else or any other problems you could for see here x . A very low likelihood of hitting anyone at a great distance. So, out of the full minutes of three shots, maybe one might hit someone. Youre right its a very inexact science. Thats the reason why the barrel is so long and bulky, you need to gauge, the longer the barrel the longer you can get it, probably about 50 yards is how well you will hit something with this. When you leave here today and go out the front steps, stop and look across and it will be about that distance, that is how close your enemy will be. So you do two or three shots and then while you are advancing, then you charge with your bayonet and that is it like i said, remember the time period. This is close combat. That is the best you can do with this, because it all just goes bouncing out the other end and hopefully hit something over there, maybe. Is the thing. Your flint will run out. Sure, your flint, you have to replace this every 10 to 12 shots, this can break, split, i lost one before, there are certain things that can happen to that also. Any other problems you could see . Operator error. Always a problem. If you, again, it is very complicated, this is one of the reasons why you train and drill and do it again because there are all these different steps along the way. This is a shorter version of this, the longer version with the british, even is actually out here in the printed manual of arms, taking about 36 steps a lot longer than 20 seconds i can tell you that but he launched right in and thats the thing. But, there are lots of things that can go along with this is the problem, if you want everyone to use black powder, gummy, sticky, its going to come up with lots of problems and i have my whisk and pick to clear things out as best i can to get the powder out of my pan and things like that, any other problems you could foresee here . Did the continentals have been answered just the british . We all do, glad you mentioned that, but any questions about our muskets . Okay. So, the bayonet will actually go on the and you see the little knob right here, you cannot aim this weapon so you dont need one. You might want to close your eyes, your pointing it in the general direction of the enemy and you cant really take someone off with it but yes, what we have is a socket bayonet that is this item right here, alright . What you do is lock it into place and then once you advance on the enemy far enough, you use this much like a large web spear sort thing and will advance and go for the squishy parts. And, you want to thrust, turn it and then pull it back out again, alright . It has a nifty little triangle to it, because what you are doing is creating a puncture wound. Those of you who know firstaid , puncture wounds are very hard to close up, alright . That is why you are going for these organs right here. But, this is not swordplay are all that goofy stuff, but, nevertheless, its the other aspect of this. You usurer flintlock to soften up the lines before you charge with your bayonet is the part of it. This is definitely a big piece of this. You dont shoot with the bayonet on. You can actually but it does have a loss of balance and theres always the chance that the ball could bounce off of it. Other questions about the flintlock . Yes . How easy was it for the bayonet part, it seems like that it seems like the other one would be relatively easy. Get out of the way and whatnot. Remember the chaos and confusion we are talking about that works to your advantage, another thing is black powder is very smoky and why we where right colors and that sort of thing, that way you know the confusion and the chaos and it will work to your advantage or disadvantage, depending on which side you are on. So, its a good weapon, the best weve got and we have still got them, other questions . How cheap do they run . Probably a good years wages, another reason to maintain it, but, it is some thing that you would all be read wired to have as members of the militia. So, howd do the musket balls very from what they melted down from statues and stop . Were not too concerned about what the metal is we just want the project file to take them out, thats another thing, nothing standardized and how much powder you put in your cartridge, what size your balls are, just whatever you come up with his personal. Do we have rifles . We do but they are very few and far between, by 1778, only 3 of the weapons in the field are rifles, that is really small. There is a lot of problems with rifles, they are longer which is a challenge, the big thing is how long it takes them to load. We counted down the 22nd we are probably talking to minutes to load a rifle. It has a sleeve and cruise in their and you have to put extra padding and cloth in their it takes that much longer and there are more steps to it and so you if you have an occasional sniper or a scout that will have your rifles but its not what we are using mostly here in the field is the thing. So, any other questions about the market . I know one of the readings mentioned prescott having like a saber, was this just for commanders or could they use those . They didnt generally carry swords as a way to rally but to command or go that direction but , as i look backwards or not doing like the whole king author and jousting but that is usually what they are and its definitely an officers thing. An ordinary guy in the field wont be able to afford that. He may be carrying a tomahawk or a small knife but its easier for personal use than it would be for battle. Okay. Why am i talking about this and spending so much time on this, alright . Because, i keep saying it, this is the best that we have got, this is stateoftheart technology, alright . This is going to determine what we can do in the field, alright . Technology dyck takes tactics. Again, youve got a remember the time period and youve got to remember what youre working with because there are certain things that we can do in certain things we cannot do with this weapon, so things like the weather, alright . If it suddenly starts to rain the battle is over and done. Or all sorts of other politics. It also has soldiers lined up right and youre watching someone and says that looks ridiculous, who would do that thats just dumb but that is what youre doing, the essential job of the weapon is to fire a wall of mud into the enemy to soften them up to charge with the bayonet, alright . This is all very different so, when we finally do start fighting battles and whatnot, remember this because this is it and this is what weve got in this is what we are going with is the thing. So, alright . That takes care of our weapons. Now, lets set up our army. As far as the chain of command is concerned, these are important and they follow the chain of command, alright . At the top is the Continental Congress , they are supreme and they are the ones that we answer to. It would be nice if they would supply us but, we will work on that. So, going back to advantages and disadvantages, some dont really know what theyre doing and they find the declaration of independence, but, as far as the powers are concerned, extremely limited. We had a list of what the second Continental Congress could do, print money but not taxes, that could be a real problem here and so, this is where we started the whole military complex, the military answers to the government is the way it works here, in the way it starts. Just below him is going to be the commanding general. Then, george. Yep. Who deserves a holiday and george is going to get the job and we talked about this but, because he wears uniforms in the meeting of congress and looks the part, he doesnt have the most stellar career as far as the military is concerned but he does have experience, alright
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