How did the revolution survive its darkest hour . Because, of course, while all of this lofty language about liberty and rights and creating constitutions and remember the ladies is going on, the Largest Overseas expedition in european history is headed towards new york. So the mural that you see beside me here is an eyewitness depiction, which weve blown up as a mural, showing 5000 british warships and about 6,000 british and hessian troops in landing boats about to land on manhattan baynd in kept bay kips on september 15, 1776. At the time, one of the soldiers saw the ships gathering in new york harbor and later said i thought all london was afloat. So, it was one thing to declare independence, to tear down the king, to declare that you are now living in the American Revolution, but to actually achieve american independence was going to be an effort of many, many more years of struggle. And the first thing americans had to do was just survive the onslaught that was coming in the form of the british army. We have a really exciting opportunity to look at that transition from resistance to revolution through these two objects. These are two original revolutionary war flags. On the left, a flag made during the first year of the war. You can recognize immediately that union canton. But think about that decade of nonimportation when americans are trying to not rely on imported fabrics. Theyve used for the red here a piece of silk damask. This is of type of cloth that would have been used to lsterlster upho furniture or used for drapes. This is a homemade flag at the beginning of the war of independence. Here in 1776, we have a flag having been altered after the declaration of independence. If you can see in the upper left corner, slightly different color of red. You can see how the original canton has been cut out of it. And those white pieces of silk from the union have been resewn to make six on one side and seven on the other, white stripes to suggest that red and white alternate stripes of the 13 states. There is the transition to revolution and the search for a new symbol to represent the United States expressed through two original revolutionary era flags. We go through a series of galleries which take you on a kind of chronological march through the early years of the revolutionary war. Exploring as you go different communities of people who are affected or who participate in that fighting. The first, of course is the british army. We bring back another one of our life cast figures here whos representing young soldier in his 20s, William Burke who was irish recruit in the british army who served in the new york campaign. He had enlisted just shortly before being sent to north america. Then objects and weapons that reflect those forces that participated in the fighting in the campaign of 1776. And then we move on. We introduce another character. Martin. Joseph plumb probably one of the most famous american common soldiers of the revolutionary war. He wrote a narrative of his life when he was an old man. It was published in 1830s. Its known to many people when privateprinted as yankee doodle. So he enlisted just as a young teenager in connecticut. Were depicting him here during the battle of kips bay. He was one of the new england soldiers on shore when the ships and landing boats were anchored off of kips bay. The new englanders were there along the shore were completely overawed by this show of force and ran. They really did not stand and put up much of a resistance and were driven across manhattan. That was really the story of 1776, that campaign that was documented so well in david mccullochs book. Where just fighting and nearly a dozen actions from long island along manhattan, eventually being driven across new jersey, Washingtons Army is in full retreat by the beginning of december 1776. These are some objects that we pulled together from our collection and from other lenders that illustrate American Forces that were fighting in 1776. So this portrait is by relatively unknown at the time artist, very famous today. Named Charles Wilson peele. Peele had been born in maryland, and was part of a large family. He was orphaned when he was relatively young. Apprenticed as a saddle maker. But showed real promise as a painter and received the patronage of some wealthier more influential people in maryland. And eventually, in the early 1770s painted virginia colonel named George Washington and was starting to get a reputation as a very good painter. This is a portrait of a philadelphian named benjamin flower. He is depicted in his uniform as an officer in the continental artillery. He was one of the philadelphia associators the , the voluntary militia that lived in philadelphia and really marched to washingtons assistance as his army were starting to fall apart after that new york campaign. They had been driven through new jersey. And by the first week of december 1776, theyre crossing the delaware from trenton into pennsylvania. Not Washington Crossing you are used to seeing in the painting in the metropolitan museum but crossing east to west. This was really one of the lowest moments of the revolutionary war. Congress is fleeing philadelphia. Theres a sense that this revolutionary effort is over and basically the men who signed that document were all going to end up being hauled off to the tower of london. Charles wilson peele is part of the group of philadelphia soldiers who march up to reinforce Washingtons Army. One of the men thats been with washington through that whole summer is his brother, james peele, who was serving with the maryland forces. They fought very hard at the battle of long island in august of 1776. They had lost many men. All of their baggage. They were really starving, nearly naked, many of them barefoot as they crossed into pennsylvania. The night of december 8, 1776, a man came staggering out of the crowd of soldiers, came to Charles Wilson peele and he didnt recognize his own brother james. Thats the scene that weve recreated with this tableau here. Its based on Charles Wilson peeles own diary he wrote at the time. He wrote a more expanded memoir of it later in life. He actually did a painting that he called the crossing of the delaware. It has not survived, he described it in a series of letters to Thomas Jefferson in 1818. He noted that for him, this was the lowest moment of the revolution. He wanted to do a painting that captured the suffering of the soldiers as they were coming up out of the river. And included the presence of women and children also and wanted to acknowledge their presence as camp followers and the fact that they were along and in the army and sharing the suffering and sacrifice of those who helped to win independence. So as you pass the peale brothers, of ours, that scene is thatothers, of course, scene is taking place, as thomas payne, who we know of course as the author of common sense is with the army. Hes penning an essay which he published a week or two later called the american crisis number one. Thats who he writes those immortal words, these are the times that try men souls. The sunshine patriot will shrink in the crisis of the service of his country. He that stands it now will deserve the love and thanks of man and woman. Thats the scene that hes really seeing in front of him as hes writing that on the head of a drum. As we move into the next gallery then, we come from that low moment, and really its by middecember 1776, things are looking bad. We lift up another one of those communities. In this case, the hessian soldiers. Those german soldiers who had been hired to supplement the british army in america by king george iii, another teenager here. This is johannes royber, who is just 17 years old when he arrived in new york in 1776, was captured at the battle of trenton, which, of course, is the surprise reversal that takes place on christmas night when washington crosses the delaware in a desperate attempt to try to deliver some kind of blow against the british to keep them from marching on and capturing philadelphia. We have digitized here, we have blown up a period map that shows the location of all of this fighting and what became known as the 10 crucial days. The first action, the crossing of the delaware, battle of trenton, you can see Washington Crossing. The army, Washingtons Army dividing marching down from the from east to west, attacking these green dots representing the hessians at trenton and that fighting taking place. In a series of actions over the next 10 days, crossing at and recrossing the delaware , culminating in the january 3, 1777 battle of princeton. This is when washington, who has been attacked by a much larger superior british force, during a littleremembered battle called the second battle of trenton, in the middle of the night manages manages to slip off, leaving the british here, marching crosscountry and attacking the rear of the british line at princeton. This is within sight of what where Princeton University stands today. And that fighting takes place , again, on january 3, 1776. It was in that action that a scottish immigrant named hugh mercer, who had served with washington during the french and indian war, he was a very old friend of his. Washington had persuaded him to move to fredericksburg, virginia after the war where he set up as a medical doctor. He knew washington very well. In the early revolutionary period he became involved in independence movement. He became a british commander. He was a general commanding lead elements of that American Force at the battle of princeton. When the british counterattacked, mercer was knocked from his horse and apparently these british troops thought they had actually captured general washington and demanded that he surrender. But mercer defended himself with a sword. This is actually the original sword that mercer had in his hand. You see in the background depiction from john trumbells famous painting of the death of mercer. A bayonet, this is from the british regiment that attacked the americans at princeton. These blades may well have crossed one another as mercer lay on the Ground Fighting off a circle of british soldiers. He was repeatedly stabbed with bayonets, mortally wounded. He lingered for nine days. And became a kind of martyr for the american cause. When he eventually died, his body was brought here to philadelphia. It was placed on public exhibition so that americans can see these horrible wounds that he had suffered, and then he was buried at christchurch here in philadelphia. If you fastforward to 1784, Charles Wilson peale is commissioned by Princeton University to do a fulllength portrait of general washington to hang in nassau hall, which still stands today in princeton. Behind you here, this is reproduction of that painting. Which you can see in the Princeton University art gallery. Notice here, nassau hall. Very recognizable, if anybody has been to princeton with the fighting going on in the background. Both charles and james were participants in this battle. They knew well and charles went and sketched the battlefield. So, we got all of the details right. Here at general washingtons you see the dying general mercer. Then in probably first photo bomb in American History, youll see charles and james peale have been painted into the background of the scene. Its a nice way to bring their story full circle here from seeing them in that horrible condition on banks of the delaware, to that victorious moment at the battle of princeton. Chronologically, were now in early 1777. And this is where our story moves to consider another group of people who had to make a choice about what they would do in the midst of this angloamerican civil war thats going on, the American Revolution. And thats native people. And here we focus on the experience of the Oneida Indian nation, located now in whats central new york. They were part of that iroquois confederacy of six nations that stretched from the Mohawk Valley to the area around niagara falls. So, through an immersive media experience we are actually in the middle of a group of men and women of the Oneida Nation as they debate, how can they preserve their sovereignty and independence when the british and the Continental Congress are now saying you have to make a choice and fight for one side or the other . So they reflect on what are the consequences of choosing one side or the other or trying to remain neutral . For most of the six nations of the iroquois confederacy, they felt the best choice was to side with the british. They felt that the expanding american colonies were much more of a threat to their sovereignty than the british would be. For the oneida and the tuscarora nations, they felt that siding with the Continental Congress was the best way forward for them. So that ancient confederacy of the six nations was pulled actually was actually pulled apart, a civil war within their confederacy that echoes the larger civil war between the colonists and the british. [video] the oneida are allies of the United States. We will share the fruits of victory with them or be buried in the same graves. Then we will bury you in the same graves. [end of video] and so later in 1777 the campaign and series of battles known as saratoga take place in upstate new york. We tried to use the Saratoga Campaign as a way to explore the experience of war for noncombatants. So, we used the baroness riedesel here. This is a german woman. She was actually married to the commander of the brunswick german troops fighting with the british, often called hessians. But nick lee these were but technically these were brunswickers. Her memoir, based on her diary that she kept through the campaign, is remarkable. And is a great reminder of the deep, psychological trauma that can come from experiencing war. Now we often, because we look at those wonderful, dramatic paintings by john trumbull, we think of the 18th century as a kind of glorious era, you know, with heroic soldiers, with flags flying. Its not the same kind of gritty view of conflict like we have for the american civil war, for instance, because of those tremendous photographs. And so, the baroness and her diary give us an opportunity to explore that experience of war through a noncombatant who was there marching along with the army. She cared for wounded. At one point she spent several days in the basement of a house being bombarded by the americans , who didnt realize that there were wounded there. They thought this was a command post. So using her diary, using objects associated with people that she encountered, even archaeological items from one of the prisoner of war camps that she lived in later in the war. Because, of course, she and the soldiers from general Burgoynes Army were captured and treated as prisoners of war. We are able to tell her story. This is an english horse pistol that belonged to major henry harnage who served in the 62nd regiment, one of the british regiments on the burgoyne extradition. He was badly wounded in the battle of freemans farm, which took place during this series of actions around saratoga. And after the battle the baroness riedesel cared for harnage and mentioned him by name. She was kind of a witness, it was a witness object. He did recover from his wounds and became a prisoner of war along with the baroness through the rest of the conflict. We have also in this gallery a display that we call arms of independence. And this is a tremendous collection of nearly 50 weapons that were carried by American Forces during the revolutionary war and a depiction in the center. This is a painting of the battle of princeton. So you can see general washington brandishing his sword on the left. In the distance, in the middle , you see a fallen white horse and a soldier who is helping general mercer. Whats remarkable about this painting, the original, after which this is a copy, the original was by james peale. But this is a copy that was done by general mercers son, william, who was orphaned by the death of his father at the battle of princeton, who was apprenticed to the peale brothers to learn a trade, to become a painter, and actually executed this copy in the early 1780s that included a depiction of the death of his father. So again, a reminder of the, you know, human dimension of the revolutionary war which is often missing from most Museum Displays about this period. Behind us here, this is an area when the museum is open and operating, we line soldiers up here, visitors as soldiers, the doors open and youre able to march in and actually experience a 4d immersive battlefield experience of being at the battle of brandywine on september 11, 1977. We tell the story of that largest land battle of the American Revolution, which is, ultimately, an american defeat. Followed up about a week and a half later by the british army marching into philadelphia and capturing the revolutionary capital. This is just a year following the declaration of independence, when philadelphia falls and will be occupied by the british for nine months. And so, british troops who, on september 26, 1777, marched down chestnut street, they march up to what we now know as independence hall, and they turn the building where about declaration of independence was adopted and signed into a prison for american soldiers. And thats the scene that we depict in this tableau here, a wounded american officer being brought into independence hall. Weve recreated the interior, very exacting here. We know about this particular scene through the diary of a quaker woman named elizabeth drinker. We depict two quaker women who were part of a delegation that came to see these prisoners being brought in to offer assistance and caring for the wounded. This allows us to talk about another community of people, those who were pacifists, or desire to be neutral. What is their experience of