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