Today, were going to focus on the Continental Army. And this is were situating this very much in the broad history. Of war and the military. And the Continental Army, a lot of ways, is different from other armies that have preceded it, largely because its one thats very much based on ideals and certain concepts and beliefs rather than sort of your traditional army. So, what is the Continental Army, what is it . America. America, okay. Continental army based in america. It electrical but first United States army, but before it is the u. S. Army it is the army of america, yes. But what element . Certainly part of the American Revolution. The united colonies. Yeah, the united colonies. So when does the Continental Army begin . Its not necessarily with the start of the revolution. But we are going to pick up the story with the beginning of the war. So, a couple classes ago, we were talking about the french and indian war. And the french and indian war was a world war that fundamentally altered several different nations, but primarily, france, moved from the north american continental, britain and the british colonies. And Many Americans had fought alongside british soldiers and british officers during the war. Does anyone recall what were some of the things that transpired when the two groups interacted . The british okay, a lot of ways, the british are looking down on the colonists for a number of reasons and that had to do with tactics. That had to do with lack of formal military training. Some of it had to do with how they dressed. So, we know theres lots of resistance. Theres also a large aspect over who holds the higher rank. Does a colonial officer outrank a british officer . As we call, the british officers lower rank, were saying they outranked a british officer and this infuriated George Washington. Our story begins at the start of the American Revolution. Who wants to give me the standard answer. What caused the American Revolution . The tea party. Well, thats part of it. Taxes and given the phrase taxation without representation. No taxation without representation. Or if you like taxation without representation is tyranny. Perfect. Okay. From there, from taxes, its also more than that, its about rights. Better about being treated as a full subject. Or full british subject. And this starts after the tea party. Theres the boston port. And a number of intolerable acts are going to shut down local government. Its going to bring in martial law over boston and massachusetts. And the british actually start, under thomas gage, whose military governor to start seizing weapons leading to aggression. This is going to lead to a chance to seize gunpowder at the town of concord. And maybe revolutionary figures. In lexington. And what results . Hmm. Is this. The shot heard round the world maybe. Concord also said the shot round the world happened in concord. One of the first shots of the American Revolution is fired when the British Regulars meet up with colonial militiamen. From massachusetts on to lexington grid. Shots are fired. Who fired the first shot . Nobody knows. Exactly. But who do the british say fired . The colonists . The colonist rebels. Who do the colonists say fired . Hanna. Good enough. The british. Murderers. The war begins. This is a militia unit. To refresh, a militia unit was basically anyone from the age of 16 to 60. They would meet up roughly once a month and drill and train in traditional trappings. Think of like the National Guard today. Most american colonists could have some experience with a gun. With a musket. More so than your average british soldier. Largely from hunting or fighting nativeamericans. But they dont have necessarily formal military training in fighting in ranks and lines. Shots are fired. Nonredded colinists moves in the british wing here. But this is the profound moment that is going to begin the war. And Thomas Jefferson is going to refer to this very specifically. Unprovoked murder. In ep violation of plighted faith and honor, in defiance of the sacred obligates of treaty which even savage nations observe. What is jefferson getting at here . Hes saying that the british, it was straightup slaughter. We didnt provoke them. It was ridiculous, even savages can predict that. Theres no fundamentals behind it. He uses it, that what the british has done is something so barbaric, to use the term, that this cannot be looked over. This is beyond rights now. This is a justification for the war. And weve talked about briefly the idea of a just war principle. And what makes a war just in almost every circumstance . It basically comes down to who attacks who. So the americans are presenting themselves as an aggrieved party. So, theyre finding a defense of war which means what . Theyre in the right. Theyre in the right. Their war is just. Largely based on everyones one of the theorists weve red in class. Swiss philosopher, who in his law of nations is very much going to cast the correctness or the morality or the honor of a war based on who starts it. So, if the british start the war, it justifies the american resistance. Meanwhile, we get another battle at concord bridge, named that because it has a bridge. So the americans are successful at concord bridge even against more trained, skilled British Regulars. So, why do you think this is, you may remember this from william lawless, scottish rebellion. You have to cross the bridge choke point. Meaning numbers dont matter. Dont matter. You have to funnel in. This is where you get the quote unquote traditional shot heard around the world. This is where americans under orders fired. Whereas, at lexington, both sides were under orders not to fire. So, when we think of american colonial militiamen fighting, we probably think of the romanticized notion of the minuteman. Okay, so what is a minuteman. Someone who is ready at the minute. Theyre going to jump out of bed, fully clothed. Put their hat on, grab their musket, ready to fight. Average musket at the time takes a minute and a half to load. So whats in a name. So, the idea is the militiaman is fighting in regular style, what we call today granada style. Why did the americans develop this style, as opposed to the british fighting very much open rank formation . They have had the defense also against the native people that were living and the americans that got there so they had to adapt from their tactics so they kind of learned from the indians. Exactly. They had adapted over century. The british werent equipped to fight in that style of warfare, so they would be marching in ranks. Exactly. So, weve seen this specifically, if you think back to the french indian war at the battle, where the british army is defeated by french and native allies using the same tactics. They get the british were high in numbers so they can adjust the fighting to accommodate to that. Okay. You have to accommodate and adapt to their enemy. Now, the proper perception on the march back from concord is sort of attack from the tree line. Youll see them all down here from hidden positions. On the exposed flank. The exposed side from the british army. Whats interesting, though, on this long march back. Now, think about this. The british army is marching back after doing an immediate march at night from boston to the outskirts and then marching back with limited ammunition. They can just be picked off. But what youll see on this map is, youll see these little explosion marks. And every time you see that, there was actually a moment where there was a battle. Despite the romanticized element of running behind the trees think like mel gibson and the patriot there are pitch battles along this. But basically its going to force the british to flee to boston and ultimately, they take four or five positions at bunker hill which every trivia fan knows is actually breeds hill. The americans lose but they inflict heavy, heavy casualties. But still, this is not the Continental Army. These are colonial militias fors. There have been pretty good win loss ratio. Win concord, and retreat to boston. Empiric sort of victory. The idea that the british win but lose heavy losses only due to the heavy ammunition. And its this fighting in massachusetts that ultimately is going to force a unified response by the colony. The question is, is this americas war . This massachusetts war . And the Continental Army is going to be formed by what do you guess hes going to head it. But under the continental congress, were going to get George Washington and commander in chief. Hes going to say, hes serving based on my countrys honor and my own character. Which is very different than the young washington we talk about in the early 20s. Where he actually resigns his commission and he says for his own honor and his country will be. So its a fundamental reversal of these roles. And washington is saying, i am taking this up for duty to the nation, enhancing civilian supremacy. Hes saying i take my orders from conquerors. I dont function as a military dictator. Meanwhile, theres opposition, and a lot of this comes from this man. His name is charles lee from that twosecond reference in the hamilton musical. Hes a general. Lee. Charles lee, british trained. Hed actually been all around europe to accumulate ranks. He thought hed be one of the people named commander in chief. There are others as well. And lee as well british trained doesnt think americans could be fighting in the traditional european style. And he thinks americans should be using this guerilla hit and run style. And making them chase them into the hinterlands. Washington is fundamentally opposed to this. Washington knows he uses multiple styles. Is very much trying to fight the war more on the traditional european style. And there are a few reasons why. And one of them is, hes concerned with the reputation and how this revolution will be viewed internationally. If theyre fighting as of the europeans, theyre fighting in a quote unquote, gentlemanly civilized way, it will be respected. If they are not, then they may not gain alliances or support from other nations. And so theres this difference of opinion. And these two will sort of clash many times throughout the revolution. Ultimately, washington will prove successful, but thats a story thats coming. Anyway, washington is going to take command. And hes going to meet the now Continental Army in boston late spring 1775. So, this is right after the battle of bunker hill. And at first, the two sides dont get along, particularly the militiamen of massachusetts. And if you think back when we talked about early colonial warfare, the massachusetts militia in particular elects their officers. In virginia, where washington is from, theyre appointed. So whats the problem with elected officers versus appointed officers . In any certifying force. Less popular. Many times, it becomes a palm later contest rather than skill. And people are able to order their friends into combat. Particularly when youre voting on who is going on, i feel like maybe more people dont run as much. Its or kind of like oh, im going to do this because it seems cool. Oftentimes, who would win is who had the most barbecue or whatever would happen. Washington is going to stack his army. And hes going to urge a certain type of individual to be officer, generally. Nowadays, every man is a gentleman. But in the 18th century, it meant something different. So a man of honor. A man of reputation. A man of rivalry and bravery. And washington is saying if youre a gentleman a man of civilian life we can translate that to the military. America doesnt have a military academy, they dont have a professional army. So, who are your officers, who are your soldiers . Just regular people. No formalized training. Yeah, some had dealt with the french american war. Very little training. Here is boston. Youll note that the british forever retreated. And any elevated positions, youd have american colonial excuse me, Continental Army canons. And they forced the british out from bombarding certain areas. And the british are going to evacuate boston. And they dated that actually two days ago, march 17th. So heres a big overarching map of the campaign. The wars go from 1775 to 1783. Technically, the last major battle is in 1771. And if you are the british, what are your tactics here . How are you going to beat the americans . Numbers. Whats that . Numbers. Okay. Superior army, hands down. You want to snuff them out. Like cut them off from the rest of the world. Okay. How do you cut them off from the rest of the world. Navy. There you go, blockade the coast. Then the british make another tactical decision. And they believe since the war has begun in massachusetts, if you cut off massachusetts, the what can be stopped . War. How do you cut off massachusetts . You like create like a border almost, you cut them off from the ocean and you bloc them. You blockade them. And . Dont you blockade the hudson . Yeah, you take new york, go up the hudson, you can split them all. Now, this is one of the worst kept military secrets. Washington knows theyre going to attack there. The british know theyre going to attack there. So why attack there . Its the only thing they can do. Well, the british know they have a good shot here. The harbor, they can use their navy. Washington is not always reluctant to defend this, but the continental congress, really, you must. Because what is the basic obligation of government . To protect its citizens. There you go. And if they dont do it, then they are failing just as the british had in attacking their citizens really in lexington and concord. The declaration of independence is read right before the battle of brooklyn, battle of long island. And these are the reasons theyre getting some of the chief reasons for breaking away from britain. The king, he, george iii had abdicated government out of his protection in waging war against us. So, how do you split with the king . Breakup letter. Youre no longer the king. Hes done something wrong. At the same time, americans are taking issue with the conduct of the war. Particularly, the british are going to hire mercenary commonly known as hessoms. Theyre from the hessica cell. The army is rented out by their prince so theyre fighting for their regular wages. Their regular wages, the prince of hessica cell is cashing in on this. Battle of new york does not go well. In fact, numerous retreats. So heres washingtons retreat from long island to manhattan island. Again, extremely difficult. Moving an army across any body of water. But washington proves quite successful. The british are easily going to take new york. And again, the Continental Army is forced to retreat. Literally crossing the bluffs of the palaisades. Traditionally, a defeat like this would be crushing to a commander. Its now washington interprets this, how washington uses this fundamentally changes the way we look at warfare. How does he do that . Well, he studies. Washington complains about his defective education his whole life. He never went to formal school. How did most american officers learn to become officers . Theres a handful like charles lee that had been trained by the british. How did they learn . Get a book. Yeah, they get a book. Two of the most successful generals, henry knox, and Benedict Arnold, an american hero, up to a certain time, anyway, both sold books. How do they making it a little simplistic, henry knox becomes the head of artillery because he read a book on it. And religion, and the idea that theres an ethical basis in the military is constant honor. Honor exists in the constant practice of duty of a soldier is honorable and honest where properly performed. The idea if you acted well in a campaign, a battle, youre doing your duty, youre doing your honor. James wolfe who had about british general that actually died during the frenchindian war in quebec, is going to say also the character of your army. He doesnt want a drunken army. The virtual and obedience of all troops are a sure guard. Why dont you want a vicious army raping and pillaging . Because you cant organize them. Right. They cant maintain organize. And the revolution is about ideas. So who do you want on your kid . The gentlemen. The gentlemen, but who else . The american. Yeah, you dont want to upset the potential balance between the potential patriots, potential loyalists or quote unquote neutralists. Frederick the great. We focused on him before. In this point, numbers are an essential point of var. And a jen who loves his honor and his republic operation will always take extreme care to conserve troops. When you think of it, whether in the british army or any european army, they were the dregs of society. The absolute lower class. You joined the military because you had no other choice. So, they were viewed as expendable. So what does frederick the great doing here that is fundamentally different . Hes talking about how like the numbers of your army is really important because each individual man can be the tipping point. Okay. Like a Single Person could make you win or lose. Okay. So youre gedependent on the conduct of your soldiers. At the same time for washington, what happens if the army is defeated if he loses too many men . Thats the whole country. Yeah, the revolution. The war is over. This is what he has. So theres an understanding that soldiers are something different. Humphrey bland, another british general, again, hes going to publish a book that the Continental Army takes seriously. When an officer has had the misfortune of being beat, his honorable suffered by it provided hes done his duty and acted like a soldier. Okay. Youre going to lose. At some point, an officer will lose. And it shouldnt be an officer chasing victory, or chasing the potential of victory. So long as they put in a valiant effort when the odds make sense, they can be honorable. They are performing their duty. And washington is literally going to relay this to marquis de lafayette. The general of the pseudo son. He says, no National Person will condemn you for not fighting with the odds against you and while so much is depending on it. What is washington getting at here . Basically, its okay, if you decide not to make if the odds are against you, dont do it. But if you have smail chance that the odds are with you and you just rush it then yeah, you ha