Been brewing for 12, 13 years has started. So today were going to talk whats called [ speaking Foreign Language ] anybody take french . This is april 1775, right after lexington and concord, through the declaration of independence. This is sometimes called the Popular Uprising phase. And this is the year of the revolution that probably more people supported the war than any other one. Why do you suppose theres so much support for the war this year . Any ideas . They havent really started fighting yet. They havent started fighting yet. They dont know what war is going to mean. Anybody else, any ideas . Some of it, this is like fury. And i have some images to show you. Theres a historian named charles roister and he coined this phrase, rage militaire. And it says, the rage militaire has taken hold on the entire continent. The americans are fighting mad. Its a wild passion. What is rage . Go ahead. Anger. Intense anger. The americans are really furious. All this stuff has been building up and it comes boiling out. Whats sort of interesting during this rampage militaire phase is the americans are on the offensive. The americans are actively taking the war to the british and what were going to look at is rage militaire in the north, the south and specifically in boston. What were going to see is whats actually going on here is partly about the war, its partly about what is the american warrings. And different people have different ideas of what those war aims are. And the final thing i would say here is, okay, it starts april 17th, 1775. Whats july 76 . Whats in july 76 . The declaration of independence ends rampage militaire. Plrl popularity and support of the war begins to decline. Its hard to maintain a really high emotional peak for extended periods. Maybe a bad analogy. When you meet somebody and fall in love, youre in love and you cant stop thinking about them. And at the 20th wedding anniversary, i love you, me too, could you pass the salt. Its not the same thing. The intensity of this first year fades away. Also not all americans support independence. Were going to look at somebody today who kind of fits that model. Okay . So were going to start with the north. Fighting breaks out at lexington, concord in april. We talked about that. All right . What is significant is fighting spreads to upstate new york. If you look at this map, we can see this is lake chamlain. And a group of american militia led by ethan alan sees fort tikonderoga. Its authorized by the Massachusetts Committee of safety and a bunch of angry guys in vermont. Theyre taking the war to the english. Theres no reason this should happen, but it does. Over the next couple of days and well see a map in a minute that extends on this, the american sees a second fort called crown point which we dont need to worry about. And Benedict Arnold raids canada, okay . The americans are taking the war to the champlain valley. Whats going on in boston . These 20,000 americans descend on the city of boston and the city is under siege. This is the governor of massachusetts. Hes also british commander in north america. His name is thomas gage. Hes married to an american. His wife is a maybe a spy. Gage has been in america since the french and indian war. He believes in liberty but not in the american sense of what liberty is. And throughout the fall of 74 and the spring of 1775, gage keeps asking for reinforcements. The situation is pretty bad. We should send more reinforcements. Instead of sending gage reinforcements, the british send three more generals. William howe, were going to talk about howe later today. A guy by the name of Henry Clinton and a guy by the name of john burgoyne. What do you suppose the significance is that gage asks for reinforcements and the british sends three generals. Whats the ramifications on that . A lot of conflicting views a lot of conflicting views. Anybody else . Emily . The british dont think the manpower is necessary at this point . They might not think manpower is necessary. They might think gage is incompetent. When you ask for reinforcements and they send three generals, thats not a huge vote of support. The british ship that brings the generals, its the threeheaded dog that guards hell. This is boston. You can see boston is on this peninsula sticking out here. You can see this very narrow its called the boston neck and the americans are here at roxbury and cambridge and they have the british bottled up in boston. Here you can see Boston Harbor. Here you can see castle william. Remember we read that document about the boston riots and the governor was rioting from castle william. Thats where Castle Williams is. Whats interesting here and this shows the american anger after luxi lexington and concord. The americans dont try to storm the city. But what the americans do is they fortify this peninsula here, this is called the charlestown peninsula. And the theory here is if the americans control this high ground, they could put artillery up here and potentially shell the city and make Boston Harbor intenable. And the americans occupy this land on the night of june 16th. Theyre supposed to go to this hill called bunker hill. Bunker hill is the back hill. Theres two hills. Bunker hill is about 40 feet taller than breeds hill. But in the darkness, the men get confused. They actually go to this forward hill called breeds hill. Its closer to boston. In some ways its good and some ways its bad. Over the course of the night, they dig a fortification. And when the british wake up on the morning of june 17th, they could hear some shoveling. They dont know whats going on. When they hear the shoveling, they find somewhere in the neighborhood of two to 3,000 americans have dug fortifications on breeds hill and are overlooking the city of boston. And thomas gage decides that this is a threat. You cant let those troops stay over looking the city and you have to drive them back. And the man who gage puts in Tactical Command is sir william howe. Gage is in overall command, william howe is Tactical Command. Hes the commander on the ground. If youre the british and you see these americans are up here on this hill, what would you guys do . How would you attack them . Would you leave them there . What would you do . Any ideas. Go ahead. I would swing around to the left and go to bunker hill because its 40 feet higher and look down upon them. Okay. You control the water, thats very doable. You could also cut off their retreat route. Okay. Anybody else . Use the british navy to encircle that peninsula. Shell the heck out of those guys. That would be a pretty good strategy. Anybody else . Those are all pretty good. Thats not what britain decides to do. Thats not what sir william howe decides to do. Instead he lines up 2,200 british shoulders and he sends them straight up the hill. Its kind of interesting. British soldiers you can see this here. This is a relatively accurate painting. This is probably the second assault. We can see dead guys here and ill explain why we know its not the third. They wear lots of belts and the belts crisscross. Natural target points. British officers wear a shiny metal disk around their throats. Its a symbol of authority. They run it so it would shine in the sun. Any bad things about having a shiny metal thing around your throat. People with guns know where to shoot. Same with the crisscrossing belts. And the famous quote from bunker hill is dont fire until you see the whites of their eyes. It was probably actually said. The british march up bunker hill and the americans fire their first volley at under 150 feet. And the british go down in waves. Theyre literally blasted down the hill. And then they reform. William howe sends them back up a hill a second time. Does this have a hacksaw ridgesque effect. Every time they crawl up the ridge they get wiped out . Yeah, and theyre crawling over their own guys who went down in the first wave. Why do you suppose he adopted this tactic . Why line up guys and go straight up the hill . Yeah. Because its always how theyve been fighting. Its always who are they fighting . Militia. The americans. Theyre not going to stand up against british regulars. Theyre way underestimating american ability. Theyre way overestimating british ability and is the british march up the hill the second time and they get blasted down the hill a second time. The way we know this is this third assault is the third assault, howe calls for reinforcements and the third assault, he lets them take off their backpacks. British soldiers carry about 60 to 80 pounds of commitment. The third time, howe says, maybe we dont need to carry the equipment up the hill. And the third time up the hill, the americans have run out of gun powder. And the british overrun bunker hill. The british capture bunker hill. So bunker hill is a british victory. They seize the charlestown peninsula. Are they going up breeds hill. Thats a good point. Its technically the battle of breeds hill. But its remembered of bunker hill, because bunker hill is the hill that the americans meant to be on and in the darkness they picked the wrong hill. The british have occupied the charlestown peninsula. But bunker hill is tremendously important because it has lots of ramifications. It feeds in this with this idea of rage militaire. One of the legacies of bunker hill is the casualties. British soldiers take horrible losses at bunker hill. 828 are wounded out of about 2,200, 2,400. Causality rate of 45 to 50 . William howe is on the field. Almost all of his staff is killed. Howe is miraculously unhurt. Two british regiments are wrecked and the british in boston are horrified by this. You have to think about how small boston is. And boston is now filled with wounded guys, dying men. Its sauummertime and hot. Theyre horrified by whats happened here. What is striking and well pick this up a little bit later today, the british army in boston is largely american losses at bunker hill are 115 dead and 305 wounded. A second result of bunker hill is even though the americans have lost this hill, the americans are greatly encouraged by this. It Shows Americans will fight. Americans will fight like crazy. As the british ultimately seize the hill and enter this american earthworks, american soldiers stay and fight them. And british officers comment that theyve never seen soldiers stand up like that. They wouldnt normal european troops would run. These angry americans dont do that. Another legacy of bunker hill is tremendously heavy officer casualties. Very hard to put precise numbers on anything in any war, especially the American Revolution. Its estimated that somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 , 13 of officers who were killed were killed at bunker hill. Whats interesting is William Howes response. He says not william howe, thomas gages response. He says the americans are spirited up by a rage and enthusiasm, this anger, a rage and enthusiasm as great as ever people were possessed of. And you must proceed in earnest or give the business up. Lets look at that quote. The americans are now spirited up by a rage and an enthusiasm as great as ever people were possessed of. What does that mean . Whats howe or gage literally saying here . He says, ive never in my entire career seen anybody so angry. The americans are like unbelievably angry. And this next quote is interesting. You must proceed in earnest or give the business up. Whats that mean . Go ahead, gabe. [ inaudible ]. You need to send the whole army. This is fullblown war. This is not a little rebellion. If youre not going to commit the entire empire, dont bother. This is wildly out of control. And then you go back to that quote, the rampage militaire has swept the continent. Theres another guy Richard Montgomery. Hes in new york city. Weve got philadelphia, weve got boston, weve got new york city. And this is what Richard Montgomery says about bunker hill. He says, see what the enthusiasm of liberty is capable of doing. Enthusiasm, tremendous anger, okay . He says, every friend of old england wishes this contest speedily concluded. If it lasts many months, shes done with us forever. Whats that last part of the line mean . Every friend of old england wishes this contest ended. If it lasts many months shes done with us forever. Whats that mean . What is he saying here . Go ahead. That everyone who is a supporter of england wants this to be over fast. If its not, theyre going to give up. Okay. This war is wildly violent and if this lasts very long, theres never going to be reconciliation. Theres going to be too much blood spilled and it shows you some people are still hoping for reconciliation. Richard montgomery is one of them. This is rampa this is rage militaire. Parliament relieves thomas gage. They see hes failed. One of the things were going to see, we talked about how the coming of the revolution, britain kept going through prime ministers. Once the war breaks out, britain keeps going through commanders in america. When you keep changing commanders, thats a bad sign because you cant pick somebody to stay. And thomas gage is relieved of demand. The new commander is william howe, the guy who fought at bunker hill. Whats interesting, hes going to show up very predominantly in your Washingtons Crossing book. Some historians have argued and i dont want to give away too much of that book. One of the problems with william howe is william howe is sympathetic to the americans. Hes a member of parliament and told his constituents he wouldnt fight against the americans. He changes the mind when they offer him the command. But the other effect is some historians have argued that william howe is traumatized by bunker hill. Some say hes probably today you would say he has ptsd. Hes horribly scarred isnt he the one who sends waves of people to die at breeds hill . He is. The guy in charge is a guy who is messing up. And of those three generals who arrived, howe was senior. Howe was now the commander in north america. Makes no sense, but thats what happens. Okay . Thats rage militaire. Okay . Well weve got another manifestation of rage militaire in the north and this is the invasion of canada. We talked a little bit about canada. Canada is new to the british empire, treaty of paris. We said theres 70,000 French Canadians there. And we said parliament has just passed quebec act to try to appease the French Canadians. It extended the providence of quebec to the ohio river. It allowed catholicism. It allowed for an appointed assembly and the use of french law in the providence of quebec. Whats interesting is the americans think the French Canadians might want to join them. And maybe the americans would be welcomed in canada. Why do you suppose they might think that . Any ideas . Yeah. Sour from the french indian war. Maybe they havent been assimilated into the empire and maybe they would join this rebellion. Is there any downside to that thinking . Yeah . It might be more interested in france taking back that area. Okay. They might want the french back. Do you suppose the French Canadians have great love for americans . Shaking your head no. Why . I assume they helped the french in the war . They certainly did. And the americans helped the british. The americans who pretty much started the war in the ohio river value. Thats part of it. They call the quebec act part of the intolerable acts. Congress thinks they might be welcome. One of the things that congress is thinking about and this is where the whole situation of canada gets really, really complicated. Theres 70,000 French Canadians here and these people are called the new subjects because theyre new to england. But after the british conquer canada, about 3,000 american and english merchants settle in canada. They were traditionically english. The old subjects dont like quebec act because they dont like that theres no elected assembly and they dont like french law. They want common law and an elected assembly. Throughout the spring before lexington and concord, americans are sending spies into canada and canada is sending spies out saying that the new subjects are indifferent, but the old subjects would welcome an American Invasion. Congress believes theres going to be support for an invasion of canada. They also want canada, if they would take canada, they would get the british off their back door. This route down Lake Champlain is an invasion route. This is kind of an interesting idea. If they could take canada, it would Show Parliament they were serious and there was some talk that you could use canada as a bargaining chip. Well give you canada back, if you repeal Something Like that. Once again, the americans capture tie cticondaroga. They consider moving the cannons to a safe place so they can give them back to england when the war is over. Congress Still Believes re reconciliation is going to happen. Throughout the summer of 75, congress believes that maybe reconciliation wont happen and Congress Authorizes an invasion of canada, but they dont do this until the end of june. Thats late. Its going to take a couple of months for the armies to get ready which mean americans armies arent going to enter until september or october. Why is that problematic . Logically. Canada in late fall. Why is that bad . Its cold. Congress doesnt know whats going on. They cant make up their mind what to do. So they adopt an invasion of canada. The order says if the canadian inhabitants dont mind. How are you going to know . Are you going to ask them . Theres going to be two prongs to this invasion. Its actually very smart. One prong led by Benedict Arnold is going to lead an army through the main wilderness. And the theory was, they would attack quebec city directly. They would emerge out of the wilderness and attack quebec city. This is Benedict Arnold. If you look at this painting, this is quebec city in the background. And arnolds march to quebec turns out to be a nightmare. Winter sets in earlier than they plan. He has about 1,100 men. The final 400 have most of the supplies. They turn back. They take all of the supplies with them so the other 700 are trapped in the wilderness with no food. Part of the problem for arnold is the americans have a map from the coast of maine from quebec. And the map says this route is about 160 miles. The map is off by about a factor of two to three. Its 300 or 400 miles. These guys get caught up in the rivers of northern maine and parts of southern quebec in winter and these men starve. These men are walking scarecrows. This account is very heavily recorded. Lots of arnolds men leave diaries. And you read about these guys accounts, theyre eating squirrel tails, shoes, some people have dogs and the dogs disappear quickly because theres no food. Arnold and 600 men make it to this place called point lavee and they call about the city of quebec to surrender and the british laugh at them. There are 600 scarecrows telling this walled city to surrender. They dont do it. But arnold does make it to quebec. Historians at the time writers at the time compared this to hannibals march through the alps. This is the famous route. This is the one Everybody Knows about because its well documented and its Benedict Arnold. Americans like Benedict Arnold because hes an interesting figure, a hero and the traitor at the same time. But the guy i want to focus on the Main Invasion force. His named is Richard Montgomery. This is Richard Montgomery. And montgomerys job was to take the city of montreal. He was supposed to spread up Lake Champlain and the theory was, if montgomery attacked montreal, the british would put all their force against him and quebec would fall without resistance. They were going to hit the two major cities of canada simultaneously. Well, whats interesting about montgomery is, first, i did my dissertation on him. So that makes him fascinating. I told my wife, if we had a son, i would name him Richard Montgomery gabriel, but mercifully that never happened. Hes an interesting guy. He shows us something about the coming of the revolution. He shows us something about conspiracy. He shows us something about rage militaire. Montgomery is 37 years old and a former british officer. He spends 15 years in the british army. Three very highranked American General officers from the revolution are all former british soldiers. They all seemingly know each other. Well talk about gates later, charles lee, well talk about him later. Richard montgomery enters the army when hes 18 years old. Hes a tie ccondaroga. Catches yellow fever in the caribbean. He fights in uppontiacs rebellion. And on the way to fight pontiacs indians, Richard Montgomerys ship runs aground on the hudson river and meets a family called the livingstons. Meets their eldest daughter. She remembers when his regiment comes back, hes not there and hes going to marry her at a future point. Following service in america, montgomery goes back to england and seemingly sympathizes with the american position. He seems to be a political liberal for his time and montgomery grows disillusioned partly because he cant get promoted. This is something to bring up a little bit. At this point in history, british officers are promoted by a purchase service. If you have enough money, you can buy yourself a commission. A Second Lieutenant is 500 pounds, the First Lieutenant is 800 pounds. A majority is 2,600 pounds. Montgomerys dad buys him a commission and he earns his way up and he serves as a captain. But multiple times after the french and indianen war, montgomery gets passed over. He never can get promoted and he gets disgusted and he comes to america. He writes a very interesting letter to his cousin and he says i cast my eyes on america where my pride and poverty will be much more acceptable. Hes pretty wealthy. But by british standards, hes pretty poor. He settles near new york city. In 1772, he marries the eldest daughter of this wealthy American Family called the livingstons. Montgomery sees the coming of the American Revolution. He sees the boston tea party. The thing that seems to politicize him is the they cause him to enter the american service. Hes a member of the new york provincial congress. And in june 1775 because of his military background, Congress Makes him a general. Congress picks him to be a general. And montgomerys comments are pretty interesting. Listen to the last line and think about what we talked about in this class. The congress having done me the honor of electing me a Brigadier General in their service is an event which must put an end for a while, perhaps forever, to the quiet scheme of life i have prescribed for myself. Listen to this line, he says, for though entirely unand you wanted and undesired by me, the will of an oppressed people compelled to choose between liberty and slavery must be obeyed. The will of an oppressed people pressed to choose between liberty and slavery, must be obeyed. Freedom. He believes in the conspiracy. And montgomery is put in command of the invasion of canada. Hes the number two officer, the number one officer gets ill and montgomery takes over. And montgomery leads the army into canada. Just north of the current day american border, theres a british fort at a place called st. Johns. And they lay siege for 43 days. If you look at this map, this is a map drawn by the british commander of st. Johns. Look at what he calls, thick swampy woods. Not a great place you would want to spend 43 days in october. It rains inassessently and he becomes more and more depressed. He calls his army drowned rats crawling through the swamp. But after 43 days, st. John surrenders. And they capture almost the entire british army and hes just destroyed it. Montgomery proceeds on and occupies montreal. Montreal surrenders without firing a shot. Montgomery has taken the eastern part of the western part of canada and hes destroyed the british army in canada. The other thing that is left is quebec city and about 70 regulars. The guys holed up in quebec city facing arnold. And montgomery, throughout this entire period writes letters to his wife and talks about being home stick and how he has moral qualms against fighting the british army because he was a british officer for 15 years. And his great fear is hes going to have to fight his old regiment. He hears word that his regiment is being deployed to america and writes Something Like, heaven save me from having to fight my old regiment. I feel more closer to the people of the 17th regimen than i do with my own family. I hope i dont have to fight these guys. And montgomery, horribly home sick advances to quebec city. He meets arnold outside of quebec and the americans lay siege to quebec. The americans have about 900 men. Montgomery left about 500 behind in montreal. He works his way down to quebec city. Montgomery lays siege to quebec for about a month. He tries to shell the city. Quebec is a walled city. The american artillery is so light, the cannonballs bounce off of them. Montgomery sends letters telling the british governor he should surrender. He sends the messages back unopened. Montgomery who outranks arnold faces a huge problem and thats on january 1st, most of arnolds arm enlistments expires and are going to go home on january 1st. Richard montgomery decides on the night of december 31st, 1775, to try to storm the city of quebec. The midst of a roaring blizzard, wild blizzard, the American Army is demolished. Richard montgomery is killed almost immediately. Benedict arnold is seriously wounded and the American Army in canada is shattered. Whats interesting here, this is where were going to take a quick aside, is montgomery becomes the great yes. Go ahead, brook. Did they really only go in because all of their it was all going to expire . They were going to go home. Yeah, thats why they attack. Because if we wait until january 1st, half the army is going home . Do you think they had any chance thats a debatable question. Montgomery believes he has a fighting shot because he thinks the blizzard is going to hide them. I didnt work. And theres very wild accounts. Montgomery is literally leading the attack. Theres these barricades. Montgomery grabs an ax and hacking his way through. Hes the first guy killed. He really wants to go home. He really does. Montgomery becomes the first martyr of the revolution, or at least the first major martyr. Richard montgomery is the first and highest ranking american officer killed in the revolution. Highest american officer killed in the revolution, highest ranked. And kind of an odd irony on the day Richard Montgomery is killed, his overall commander who is back in albany writes him a letter and says, theres a rumor youve been killed. I hope thats not true. And Congress Just made you a major general. Congratulations. As hes writing that letter, montgomery is being killed. Whats interesting, if you would take the early republic class next semester, well talk about this a little more, he becomes a major hero. This is a famous painting done in 1786. If you would look, you could put up all of these other paintings, montgomery if you compare it to a lot of renaissance paintings it looks like christ being taken down from the cross. Richard montgomery is like almost a deity. The first monument that was paid for was of Richard Montgomery in new york city at a place called st. Pauls chapel. 43 years later, they dig his body up to new york city and bury him in new york city. This is Richard Montgomery. Thomas payne will write for an appeal of independence using montgomerys ghost to argue for independence. Montgomery becomes this great hero. What is interesting is he doesnt want independence. We saw that one letter he wrote where he said we hope, you know, this thing ends quickly or england is through with us quickly. About two weeks before Richard Montgomery is killed, he writes a letter to his brotherinlaw who is a member of congress and he says, has the americans approached any foreign powers and have they set a date beyond which reconciliation is impossible . He never gets answered because he gets killed. And he has an interesting postscript, an addon, okay, i hope and believe that the ministry will not reduce us to this melon colley assessment. So Richard Montgomery doesnt get killed dying for american independence, he gets killed for neglect. The American Army persists in canada until the spring, but the American Army in canada is finished. Well talk about this a little more next week. Horrible smallpox epidemic destroys whats left of it. Canada because become a bargaining chip. They try like crazy, but it doesnt happen. I asked you guys to read a document, this translation of this british report on who collaborated. If anybody had the time to do that, throughout that document its called the journal of it keeps talking about these people called the boston a. Who is the boston a. . People from the boston and new england area. Youre basically right. Anybody else. I think you said it was americans in general. Its the americans in general. Its interesting, the French Canadians think anybody who is an american is from boston. Theyre a new englander. All americans are from boston. That document keeps talking about the habitants. Who are the habitants . Anybody pick that up . The french the French Canadians. Thats exactly right. The common people. The farmers. So those are the people who you dont know if theyre going to help the americans or not. Thats what everything was ultimately riding on. From that document, the baby journal, did you see any ways the French Canadians helped americans . Anybody see anything . This is question number two that i passed out. Yeah . They protect the spies i have it written done in my notes. What i read was, there were three spies that stayed and there was a notice sent to have them removed and then the general that was supposed to remove them told a friend of his that they needed to get them out before okay. They aid american spies. Anything else . They smuggled food and armorments. Anybody else . Some of them stand guard, some of them fight with the americans. Not that many. Did anybody see anything why the americans arent welcome in canada . Theres one or two things. You have to read it fairly carefully . If it looks repeatedly, it says the americans buy provisions and they give them ious. Whats the matter with doing that . Why . You cant pay someone if youre dead. Anything else thats bad about ious. What is it sort of implying . They dont get it. Theyre assuming the army is going to stay in canada and canada is going to become part of the united states. If that doesnt happen, those ious is worthless. Why dont they pay for cash . Why not give the French Canadians gold coins and stuff . Why give them paper ious . They dont have any hard currency. They dont have any. They can barely feed themselves. As the army stays in canada, they begin to take things because theyre starving to death. That doesnt build a lot of confidence among the French Canadians. And the british keep saying, if they cant feed themselves, what are you supposed the odds of that theyre going to protect you and treat you well if you become part of the united states. The American Invasion of canada is doomed. Probably always was doomed. But its definitely over. But theres a silver lining, like poor Richard Montgomery and all of these other guys who died in smallpox dont die in vain, this the a major diversion. They will be forced to send 12,000 troops to canada to reconquer it. Theyre going to keep 4,000 to 6,000 troops to keep canada loyal and under control. And by diverting troops to canada, theres less troops to fight in the main lower 13 colonies, okay . In a sense the invasion of canada works out okay for the americans but its a very, very, very high loss. Thats rage militaire in the north. But fighting is spreading to the south. Talked about boston, new york, canada. Well, virginia, virginia is a royal colony. Most populous, wealthiest royal colony and the royal governor is a man by the name of lord dun d more. And he seizes all of the gun powder in willamsburg. They seize all of the gun powder because he doesnt want the american rebels to get it. Throughout the summer of 75, he fights these skirmishes with american militia. The other thing he does, were going to pick this up later in this class, in november he issues a proclamation that he tells slaves, any slave who enters british area and takes up arms will be set thing. What hes doing, hes creating a force made up of a handful of british regulars, loyalists and slaves. By the fall of 1775, he has about 1,200 of these people in the area around norfolk virginia. He flees to a british warship. We saw British Authority collapse in new jersey in the Benjamin Franklin book. British authority in new york collapses. British authority all across america is collapsing. In december, dunmore lands at great bridge. And they try to defeat the american militia force and take the city of norfolk. And they defeat dunmore at great bridge. The battle of great bridge is an american victory that secures virginia for the colonist cause. December 9th, 1775. At the same time montgomery is in canada, theres fighting in virginia. Just to wrap dunmore up, he hangs around off the coast and on january 1st, he burns the city of norfolk to the ground. He burns it. Some will argue that very much alienates british sympathies in virginia because if dunmore will burn a city, will he burn other cities . We talked about how do you win this war . How do you make civilians like you . How do you promote the loyalist population . Maybe burning cities isnt the answer. And very soon after burning norfolk, disease breaks out on dunmores ships. The ships scatter. Dunmore goes to florida. Later goes to staten island. But whats sort of tragic, the slaves who had fled, theyre taken to the west indies and sold as slaves. The british didnt free them, they moved them from virginia to barbados. So virginia has been secured. The same situation is happening in North Carolina. Theres a royal governor in North Carolina who has fled to a warship. This is a man named josiah martin. I want to read you part of this proclamation. Its issued in january 1776, an unnatural rebellion is exerted in this province by artifices of wicked and designing men. Thats a lot. Thats really bad. And then he called upon all loyal people to rise to the british standard. He calls on all males to join the british cause. He says, all such rebels who will not join the royal banners, rebels and traitors, their lives and property will be forfeited. If you dont join, well kill you and take your property. Dunmores not dunmore. Martins proclamation resonates in North Carolina. We said North Carolina is badly divided, east versus west. Theres lots of different ethnic groups in rural North Carolina, irish, germans, and a force of 1500 high land scotts who are loyalists begin to march towards the coast. Theres word that a British Naval squadron is approaching North Carolina. If this British Naval squadron could meet these loyalists, maybe they could subdue North Carolina. On february 27th, 1776, another battle is fought. This one is called the battle of moores creek bridge. February 27th, 1776. This is moores creek bridge. Its a Little Bridge over this deep, swampy stream. And what the americans did, they took the plankings off the bridge and greecased them. And theyre crying out, king george. They try to walk across the runners of the bridges under fire. What do you suppose their odds are . Bad. Thats an understatement. They get slaughtered. The americans lay the planking down, counterattack, and within a couple of days, about 40 of these people have been killed and over 800 have been captured. And North Carolina is secure for the patriot cause. Virginia has been secured at great bridge. North carolina is secured at moores creek bridge. The patriots are taking over. Weve got a final case, this one in South Carolina. South carolina has another royal governor. This mans name is welcoilliam campbell. He has flees to a warship. Campbell has heard that a naval force eventually is going to come to charleston because charleston is a major southern city. Its the best port south of new york. Its also a very rich area. Lots of slaves, rice, indigo. And in early june, this British Naval squadron arrives off the coast of charleston. This naval squadron was supposed to go to North Carolina, but they were delayed by storms. And by the time they arrive at North Carolina in march, they find out about moores creek bridge. North carolina has been lost so they go to South Carolina. And on june 28th, 1776, the british navy attacks charleston in the battle of sullivans island. This would be the battle of sullivans island. Anybody ever been to charleston . What do you think of charleston, matt . Its very old, very historic. Pretty nice place, actually. The british navy has a disaster. The americans are firing very, very accurately. They shoot the heck out of two british warships. A third british warship gets stuck. The british are forced to burn it because theyre afraid the americans will capture it and the british are repelled to charleston. And South Carolina is now secured for the colonists cause. The three major southern colonies have all been secured. The royal governor of georgia flees. Georgia is secured. The americans have secured the deep south. This is a very famous painting of the battle of sullivans island. This man is Sergeant Jasper. Very famous soldier or very famous story. This fort is made out of palmetto logs. The americans will recover 300 cannonballs. Their flagstaff gets shot down and theyre afraid if the flag goes down, people might think theyve surrendered. So he stands up and he reattachs the flagpole. Very famous scene. Youll find 20 different versions of Sergeant Jasper at sullivans island. Two years later, he tries this again and gets killed. Probably shouldnt have pressed his luck. But the whole story here of rage militaire in the south is the deep south is being secured to the patriot cause. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, georgia. And there will be no more fighting in the carolinas or actually anywhere in the south until 1778. That means these colonies contribute support, troop, resources to the fight in the north. It means these governments can coalesce. These people can coerce loyalists was there a divisive battle in georgia. Georgia is very new. It was only settled in the mid 1730s. Very small population. With Everything Else falling apart in the south, the governor flees. They arrest him and he escapes and goes on a warship. So theres georgia rolls over. Doesnt fight. Okay. So, thats rage militaire in the south. Well, we have one last topic and thats boston. Okay. The siege of boston. Lets go back to the very first picture here. Boston has been under siege since bunker hill. The americans cant get in. The americans cant get out. George washington shows up and begins to turn it into the main Continental Army. Washington crossing begins at this point. Washington meets all of these guys who are new englanders. They have black soldiers. Washington is up about that okay. Washington has the strength to get into the city but doesnt have the strength to get out. For the next nine months, boston remains under siege. Theres period iic skirmishes. The british have a hard time. Theres not enough food. Theres lots of battles at this place called noodles island for lifestock, for sheep. Stuff like that. What americans need, cannons, cannons that can blast out of boston. The americans remember they do have canons at ticonderoga. So in the wind of 1776, George Washington sends a man named henry knox who will be the chief of his are tillery. To boston. Take about eight weeks. One of the forgotten events of the American Revolution but an important one. The Continental Army is getting heavy are ti artillery. And that goes to washington and the map. Cant do anything with the charlestown peninsula because the british are occupying it. Doesnt do anything to put it here but youve got this place called Dorchester Heights. Dorchester heights overlooks boston and the harbor. And looks a lot like breeds hill. In an early march 1776, George Washington puts his heavy are tillery on Dorchester Heights making boston untenable. American artillery can sink any ship in boston. William howell, british commander, wakes up and finds heavy american canons overlooking the city. William howell could fight. He could land troops here. He could line them up and do bunker hill all over again. William howell, though, mass lost his stomach for bloody linear combat. And what William Howell does, on st. Patricks day 1776, William Howell evacuates boston. The british army leaves boston, goes to halifax, nova scotia. The british go to halifax. When the british leave, about 1,000 loyalists go with him. Youre going to see something. Every time the british evacuate an area, thousands of loyalists go with him. Loyalists dont want to be left behind. They dont know what americans are going to do to loyalists. Thats not a particularly wonderful prospect. The other thing thats interesting about the evacuation of boston and people dont actually remember this is for all intents and purposes the war in new england is over. Theres almost no major fighting in new england after this point. Theres periodic coastal raids on the british. New f newport, rhode island. For all practical purposes, the fighting in new england is pretty much over. The other thing thats kind of interesting here to bring rage militaire to a close, nobody remembers this but its actually correct. When the british army leaves boston aside from the places like the great lakes and ft. Niagara, there are no british soldiers. It looks like the americans have won the revolution. British authority in america has collapsed and there is no more military presence south of quebec and st. Augustine, florida. The british are gone, okay . The american rebellion has exceedingly succeeded. Rage militaire has been a very big year. The americans are fighting mad and theyre not going to take it anymore. Okay. Well close it here. Any questions for any, any concerns . Yes, isabella. Whenever they were evacuating the city, did the americans just let them go . Yeah, theres some thought of trying to sink them but they think its probably better to get them gone, okay . Its interesting when the americans, they find the british trashed boston. They beat the heck out of boston. They used churches as stables. They burn everything in sight for firewood. They satake shingles. And thats not pricing the british didnt like boston. Its the home of the massacre and the tea party. The british are relentinnesless with the slaves, what are the results of that . See, thats a heck of a question. What do you suppose the results would be . I think i read somewhere that this made distrust for even more, like if they were going to free their slaves . Yes, thats exactly right. That goes back to that question we asked, how does britain win . It makes sense to free slaves and ask them to fight their masters. Its not going to let loyalist slaveholders happy. Because if youll free some slaves will you free all slaves . Only ones that help you what if they dont help you but youre a loyalist . You know what i mean. Dunmore is not thinking long term. He needs to hold virginia and he thinks slaves are the way to do it. Yes, james. Back to the virginia governor, you said he burned norfolk the day after he is defeated if i say the day, im wrong. Its january 1st. Its about three weeks later. When he retreated, did he still go to burn that city down . Yeah, he loses about 300 men the great bridge. Hes got about 1200. They flee to ships and the ships just stay offshore. And early in the morning of january 1st, they start to shell the city. And they burn most of the city and then they leave. Its sort of ironic, norfolk has very strong ties with the british empire. So norfolk are mostly loyalists. So they burn a loyalist city. They leave about four houses and the americans come in and burn those. Norfolk is literally burned to the ground. Anybody else here . Yes. When they are in boston, does that make the liberty tree . G yes. Anyone else here here . I will see you guys next class. Home you got something out of it. Well see you next time. Week nights this month, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight, university of maryland professor Christopher Bonner teaches a class about the concept of power in antebellum slave societies. He explores the different ways owners and enslaved people exerted or expressed their will in looking at how it played out on plantations. He also looks at the cotton gin and the industry affected the relationship between owners and the enslaved. Watch tonight enjoy tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. William Woods University professor Craig Bruce Smith gives a lecture on the American Revolution about the british and continental American Forces and their differences in demographics, organization and the officer selection process. All right. Welcome, everyone, to northerly exciting adventure in the history of war. Today, weve gotten to the Continental Army, so welcome to all of you and welcome to many of our new students watching from who knows where. So happy 40th birthday, c