So today we are going to focus on the Continental Army and we are situating this very much in the broad history of war and the military. The Continental Army in a lot of ways is different from other armies that have preceded it largely because it is one that is very much based on ideals and certain concepts and beliefs rather than your traditional army. So what is the Continental Army. Where is it . Anyone . America. Okay. Continental army based in america. It will become the First United States Army but before it is the u. S. Army, it is the army of america, yes. But what element of america . Certainly part of the American Revolution. This typically the united colonies. So, when does the Continental Army begin . It is not necessarily with the start of the revolution but we are going to pick up our story at the beginning of the war. 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 primarily france, 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 required when the the two colonies interactive . In a lot of ways the british are looking down on the colonists for number of reasons and that had to do with a lack of formal military training. Some of it had to do with how they dressed. We know there is lots of resistance and there is a large aspect over who holds the higher rank. There is a colonial officer and does that outrank a british officer . British officers of lower rank outbreak any colonial officer and this infuriated the young George Washington. Our story begins after the french and indian war and the start of the American Revolution. Who wants to give me the standard answer, what caused the American Revolution . The tea party. Thats part of it. And taxes. Give me the phrase. No taxation without representation. Or taxation without representation is tyranny. Perfect. From there, from taxes it is also more than that. It is about being treated as a full british subject. And ultimately it involves violence. This starts after the tea party. Theres the boston port bill and a number of intolerable acts that are going to shut down local government. It is going to bring into martial law over boston, massachusetts. The british under thomas page who was general military governor start seizing powder and weapons leading to increased tension. This is ultimately going to build to a potential chance to seize gunpowder and maybe even arrest sons of liberty, leading revolutionary figures who would be samuel adam or john hancock. And one result is this. The shot heard round the world. Concord also heard the shot heard 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 michelman. From mass militiamen. Who fired the first shot . Nobody knows. Exactly. But who did the british they fired . The colonists reveled. The colonists they fired . The british. And it is from this that the war begins. This is initially michelle militia. A militia unit is anyone from the ages of 1660. They would meet up once a month and drill and train in traditional trapping, sort of like the National Guard today. Most american colonists do have some experience with a gun, with a musket. More so than your average british soldier largely from hunting or fighting native americans. But they dont have former military training of fighting in ranks and lines. Shots are fired. The colonists lose and the british one here. But this is a profound moment that is going to begin the war. Thomas jefferson is going to refer to this very specifically. It is unprovoked murder. In open violation of honor in defiance of the sacred obligation of treaties which even savage nations observe. What is jefferson getting up here . Using what the british did, it was straight up slaughter. We didnt provoke them. They decided to kill us and even savages could comprehend. This is no ethics behind it. It is fundamentally immoral. He uses this idea to say that what the british have done is something that is so barbaric, to use a term that this cannot be looked over. This is beyond right now. It is justification for the war. We talked about the idea of a just war principal. What makes a war just in a list every circumstance . It basically comes down to who attack sue. The americans are presented as an aggrieved party. They are fighting a defensive war which means what . They are in the right and their war is just. Largely based on, a swiss philosopher who was law of nations is going to cast the correctness and the morality or the honor of war based on who starts it. If the british start the war it justifies american resistance. Meanwhile, we have 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. Why do you think this is . You may remember this from William Wallace a scottish rebellion. You have to cross the bridge chokepoint meeting numbers dont matter you have to funnel in. And this is where you get the traditional shot heard round the world if you believe the 19thcentury poland. This is where americans under orders fire. At lexington both sides were under orders not to fire. So, when we think of american colonial militia men fights, we probably think of the romanticized notion of the minutemen. What are the minutemen . Someone who is ready to fight in a minute. They are going to jump out of bed fully closed, but their hat on, grabbed their musket and run out ready to fight. An average musket at the time takes a minute and a half to load. So whats in a name . The idea is the militiamen are fighting in regular style, what we would call today in a guerrilla style. Why the americans developed this style as opposed to the british who are fighting in open rank formation as they would in europe . They had to defend themselves against the native people that were living in the americas when they got there so they had to adapt to their tactics so they learned from the indians. They had to adapt over centuries. Also the british were equipped to fight in that style of warfare so they would be marching in rank. We have seen this specifically if we think back to the french and indian war where the british army is defeated by french and their native allies using the same tactics. The british had higher numbers so they had to adjust the fighting style to accommodate for that. They have to accommodate and adapt to their enemy. The perception on the march back from concord is the attack from the tree line. You will see them fall from hidden positions on the exposed flight, the exposed side of the british army. What is interesting on this long march back, 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 and limited ammunition. They can just be picked off. What we see on this map is you will see these explosion marks. Every time you see that it was actually a moment where there was a battle. Despite the comment romanticized element of their hitting, running and hiding behind trees like mel gibson in the patriots, there are pitch battles. Basically it will force the british to retreat to boston and defend themselves. Ultimately the british will attempt to take four or five colonial positions at bunker hill which as every other trivia fan nose was actually fought on a different hill. Americans lose but with heavy casualties. This is not the Continental Army. These are colonial militia forces. There was a pretty good one loss ratio. The one at concord forced to retreat to boston. The idea that the british one and the heavy losses lead to running out of ammunition. It is the fighting in massachusetts that forces the unified response by the colonies. The question is is this americas war or massachusetts war . The Continental Army is going to be formed by the Continental Congress and we get George Washington as commander in chief. He is serving based on my countries honor and my own character which is very different than the young washington we talked about in his early 20s where he actually resigned his commission and he says for his own honor and his country loyalty. So, it is a fundamental reversal of the roles, washington saying i am taking this up for duty to the nation , he is saying i take my orders from congress. I dont function as a military dictator. Meanwhile, there is some opposition. A lot of it comes from this man , his name is charles lee. You may remember him from a two second reference in the hamilton musical. He is a general. Charles lee, british trained. He has been around europe trying to change his rank. He thought he would be one of the people named commander in chief. There were others as well. And lee in a lot of respects is british trained and he does not think americans can win fighting in traditional european style. And he thinks the americans should be using this guerrilla style, hitandrun militia style and maybe even retreat west and make the british chase them. Washington is fundamentally opposed to this. Washington uses multiple styles and he is very much trying to fight the war more on the traditional european style. There are a few reasons why. One of them is he is concerned with the reputation and how this revolution will be viewed internationally. If they are fighting as other europeans do and in a gentlemanly civilized way, it will be respected. If they are not, then they may not gain alliances or support from other nations. So theres this difference of opinion and these two will clash many times throughout the revolution. Ultimately washington will prove successful but that is a story that is coming. Anyway, washington is going to take command and he is going to meet the now Continental Army in boston in late spring of 1775. This is right after the battle of bunker hill. At first the two sides dont get along, particularly the militiamen of massachusetts. 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, they were appointed. So what is the problem with elected officers versus appointed officers in any sort of fighting force . Many times it becomes a popularity contest rather than skill and people are often willing to order their friends in combat. When you are voting on who is going in, i feel like more people dont run as much. It is like im going to do this because it seems cool. Often times who was one where those who have the barbecue. So washington is going tos try to stack his army and he will have a certain type of individual to be an officer. Every man is a gentleman. In the 18th century it meant something different. A man of reputation. A man of morality, bravery and valor. Washington said if you are a gentleman, of honor we can translate that to military. America doesnt have a military and they dont have a professional army. Who are your officers and your soldiers, just regular people. No formalized training. Some fought in the french and indian war. Very limited overall. So, here are the british trapped in boston. You will see on the map. The british forever retreating. Any of these elevated positions you have american, Continental Army who forces the british out. The british are going to evacuate boston and the data that was actually two days ago, march 17. Here is a big overarching map of the campaign. The war goes from 1775 to 1783. The last battle is in 1781 technically. If you are the british what are your tactics here . How are you going to be the americans . Numbers. Amex appear here army, hands down. Snuff them out. Get them to quit and cut them off. Have you cut them off . The navy. You blockade the coast. And then the british are going to make another tactical decision. They believe that since the war has begun in massachusetts if you cut off massachusetts what can you stop . The word. The mac had you cut off massachusetts . You create a border and you cut them off from the ocean. You blockade them. Dont you blockade the hudson . You take new york and got the hudson and you split them off. This is one of the worst kept military secrets. Washington knows they are going to attack there and the british know they are attacking there. So why attack there . It is the only thing they can do. The british know they have a good shot at the harbor and they can use their navy. Washington is reluctant to defend this. The Continental Congress that you must. What is the basic obligation of government . Protected citizens. There you go. If they dont do it they are failing just as the british have in attacking their citizens literally at lexington and concord. The declaration of independence is read right before the battle of long island. These are the reasons they are getting some of the chief reasons for breaking away from britain. The king, george iii had abdicated government here i declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. So how do you split with the king . A breakup letter. He is no longer your king. He has done something wrong. At the same time the americans are taking issue with the conduct of the war, particularly the british are to hire mercenaries known as hessians. They are from the german state and the popular belief is they are mercenaries fighting purely for money. They are actually an army that is rented out by their prince. They are fighting for regular wages it is just the prince is cashing in on this. So, the battle of new york does not go well. In fact, there are numerous retreats. Heres washingtons retreat from long island to manhattan island. Extremely difficult moving an army across anybody or of water but washington proved quite successful. The british are easily going to take new york. The Continental Army is forced to retreat. Literally crossing the bluffs. Traditionally a major defeat like this would be crushing to a war. Crushing to a commander. It is how washington interprets this and how he uses it to change the way we look at the military and warfare. How does he do that . Well, he studies. Washington complained about his defective education his whole life. He never went to formal school. How did officers learn to become officers . There were a handful that had been trained to the british. How do most learn . They get a book. Two of your most successful generals, henry knox and benedict arnold, an American Hero up until certain time anyway, both sold books. So, maybe a little simplistic, henry knox came the head of artillery because he read a book on it. So they are in many ways self taught. They are going to military text to learn how to be officers and soldiers. And religion on the idea of which there is an ethical basis. Honor consists in the constant practice of virtue and the duty of a soldier is honorable and honest were properly performed. The idea is that if you act well in a battle or campaign you are doing your duty and you receive honor. Used to be honor was only for the victor. James wolf who had been a british general that died during the french and indian war in quibec is going to say also the character of your armies. Not a vicious irregular army, but the virtue, courage and obedience of the troops are sure guard against all assaults to execute their part with honor and spirit. So you dont want a drunken vicious army pillaging and brutalizing. You cant organize them and they cant maintain order. They cant maintain order and that breaks down the military. The revolution is about ideas so who do you want on your side . Gentleman, but who else . You are fighting for a better america. You dont want to upset the delicate talents between potential patriots. Frederick the great, we read about him. He is a russian general. At this point numbers are an essential part of war. The general who loves his honor will take extreme care to conserve and recruit his troops. He is taking his concern with the wellbeing of the average soldier. What is so shocking is you think about war and the common soldier prior to this, whether it is in the british army or pretty much any european army. You joined the military because you had no other strengths. So they were viewed as expendable. So what is frederick the great doing here that is fundamentally different . He is talking about how the numbers of your army is really important because each individual man could be the tipping point. Like a Single Person could make you win or lose. You are dependent on the conduct of your soldiers. At the same time for washington what happened if the army is defeated . If he loses too many men . The revolution, the war is over. Theres an understanding of the soldiers is something different. Another british general, published a book that the Continental Armys take seriously. When an officer has the misfortune of being beat, his honor will suffer by it provided he has done his duty and acted like a soldier. , at some point an officer will lose. And it shouldnt be an officer chasing victory or a potential victory. So long as they put in a valid effort when the odds make sense they can be honorable. They are performing their duty. Washington is literally going to relay this to the marquis of lafayette, he says no rational person will condemn you for not fighting with the odds against you. While so much is depending on it, all will censure a rash step if it is not attended with success. What is he getting at here. Its okay if you decide if the odds are against you, dont do it. But if you have a small chance that the odds are with you and you brush it. You have an obligation to preserve the army. Some of it is maintaining an army in the field so the revolution will stay alive. Some is protecting them and it is not this complete difference in the british army were you still have the aristocracy. There is less difference between your gentleman officer in your soldier. So, washington is going to use, again going back to fabian tactics. This is the general fabius. The classic defenses that are first employed in the classical era. Fabian strategy which we talked about long ago involved a defensive war, so