BBC_Rebels and Redcoats_2of4_American Crisis 1776
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00:00In April 1775, American militia launched a devastating attack on the British troops in Boston.
00:08It was the beginning of a revolution against Britain,
00:11and of a civil war between American rebels and colonials loyal to the crown.
00:17The British struck back and fought with discipline and bravery,
00:21but less than a year later were forced to withdraw,
00:24making Boston the first American city lost to King George.
00:55MUSIC
01:02In 1776, New York was central to the British administration of its American colonies
01:09and a stronghold of American loyalists.
01:12Here, Britain will make a stand.
01:17If you pick up an American paper today,
01:20you can be hard-pressed to find the foreign news section.
01:24But if you bought your paper here on Broadway 225 years ago,
01:29the cobbled streets would have been British,
01:31and most of the news in your paper would have been British too.
01:35Most New Yorkers knew more about what was happening in London,
01:39six weeks sailing away, than they did about events in neighbouring Connecticut.
01:45When in the momentous summer of 1776,
01:48the 13 disparate colonies declared themselves independent,
01:52they also prepared for war.
01:55The New Continental Congress formed a regular army
01:58under the command of General George Washington
02:01and ordered him to prepare the troops and equipment to defend New York.
02:07Soldiers were at this time enlisting for a year's service.
02:10I didn't like that.
02:12It was too long a time for me at the first trial.
02:14I wished only to take a priming
02:16before I took upon me the whole coat of paint for a soldier.
02:20Joseph Plum Martin was a 15-year-old Connecticut boy.
02:24He saw the call to arms as a way of escaping chores on his grandparents' farm.
02:29He kept a diary of his adventures.
02:32One evening, I went off with a full determination to enlist.
02:36The old bantering began.
02:38Come, if you will enlist, I will, says one.
02:40You have long been talking about it, says another.
02:43Thinks I to myself, I will not be laughed into it or out of it.
02:46At any rate, I will act my own pleasure.
02:51Plum Martin was typical of this fledgling army.
02:54Young, naive, untrained.
02:59and pitifully ill-equipped
03:01to face the discipline and experience of British regulars
03:04and their German comrades.
03:08I took up the pen, loaded it with the fatal charge,
03:12made several mimic imitations of writing my name,
03:15but took a special care not to touch the paper with the pen
03:18until an unlucky white who was leaning over my shoulder
03:21gave my hand a stroke,
03:23which caused the pen to make a woeful scratch on my hand.
03:26Which caused the pen to make a woeful scratch on the paper.
03:29Oh, he has enlisted, said he.
03:31He has made his mark. He is fast enough now.
03:35Well, thought I, might as well go through with the business now.
03:41Plum Martin decided to give army life a six-month trial.
03:45Congress only required men to enlist for a short time,
03:49six months or a year.
03:51And one of Washington's real problems
03:53was simply keeping an army together.
03:55Often, as soon as a man was trained,
03:58he'd be heading home to bring in the harvest.
04:04Even so, Washington scraped together 19,000 regular soldiers
04:08and local volunteers, the militia,
04:11to defend New York City.
04:15He had little joy finding recruits in the city itself.
04:19It was the heartland of support for the crown.
04:22New Yorkers loved all things British,
04:24including the luxury goods that still had to be imported.
04:28The arrival of the British fleet drew the crowds
04:31and was usually the signal for a shopping spree.
04:34Fashions, silver and Wedgwood china.
04:46But when 200 ships were sighted off New York in the summer of 1776,
04:51they carried a very different cargo.
04:5430,000 soldiers from Canada and England,
04:57the largest seaborne force Britain had ever mustered.
05:01To one observer, the fleet appeared like a forest of trimmed pine trees.
05:10The British were led by Admiral Richard Howe
05:13and his brother, General William Howe.
05:16Together, they intended to bring the American rebels back
05:19into the embrace of King George III.
05:25There's a conviction, certainly on the part of the Howe brothers,
05:28Lord Howe commanding the fleet and Billy Howe commanding the army,
05:32that ultimately this is going to be sorted out
05:34over a glass of Madeira and a bit of cake.
05:41On board the flagship was the Admiral's secretary, Ambrose Sarl.
05:46He recorded in his diary the British attitude to the American rebellion.
05:51The rebels appeared very numerous
05:54and are supposed to be near 30,000.
05:59But from the mode of raising them, no great matters are to be expected,
06:03especially when their loose discipline is considered.
06:10But the rebels were by no means representative of all Americans.
06:14Here in New York, perhaps two-thirds of citizens were against independence.
06:19Some felt that it was a betrayal of allegiance to their king
06:23and others feared that they'd lose out financially
06:26with the severing of economic ties with Great Britain.
06:31The British were determined to strengthen the Loyalists' hand
06:35and stop their persecution by the rebels.
06:39We learn the deplorable situation of His Majesty's faithful subjects,
06:43how they had been hunted after and shot at in the woods and swamps
06:47to which they had fled for these four months
06:49to escape the savage fury of the rebels.
06:52With the awesome power of the fleet displayed,
06:55General Howe gave Washington a chance to pull back from the brink.
06:59He didn't want to crush men who'd been his allies
07:02just 13 years before in the war against the French.
07:06Howe sent a letter offering peace if the rebels backed down.
07:10But General Washington took exception to it.
07:13As the address was to George Washington's choir,
07:17they said there was no such person among them
07:20and therefore would not receive it.
07:23Standing on ceremony over titles may seem trivial,
07:27but it typified the impasse between the two sides.
07:31If Howe wrote to General Washington,
07:35then in a sense he was recognising the Continental Army
07:39and with it America's right to self-rule.
07:42He tried to get round the problem by readdressing the letter
07:46to George Washington's choir, etc., etc., etc.,
07:51which he said could imply everything.
07:54Washington replied that it could imply everything or anything,
07:59and the letter remained unanswered.
08:02They have uniformly blocked up every avenue to peace.
08:06There now seems no alternative but war and bloodshed,
08:10which must lay at the door of these unhappy people.
08:14You can see why the British picked New York.
08:17In addition to its loyalist power base,
08:20it's got one of the best and deepest natural harbours in the world.
08:24And as a collection of islands, it favours a navy,
08:28something the Americans didn't have.
08:32Although the city has grown up a bit, its geography is still clear.
08:36Old New York was on the tip of Manhattan Island,
08:40south of Wall Street.
08:42On the right is the East River, with Long Island on the far side.
08:47Over there is the mighty Hudson,
08:50which separates Manhattan from the New Jersey mainland.
08:54If the British could gain control of Manhattan,
08:57they could sail 100 miles up the Hudson
09:00into the heart of rebel territory.
09:07In 1776, transport between the islands of New York was by boat.
09:12Washington had no idea where Howe was going to attack,
09:16so he took the risky decision to split his forces.
09:20He left some to guard Manhattan
09:22and ferried the rest over the East River
09:25to the Brooklyn Heights on Long Island.
09:31You can still see why Washington wanted the Brooklyn Heights.
09:36They're the ideal artillery position to protect Manhattan.
09:40A cannonball went much further if it was fired downhill,
09:44and heavy guns up here could reach all the way to the coast.
09:48Equally, if Howe had control of the position,
09:52he could shoot right across Manhattan,
09:54as far as the Hudson River on the far side,
09:57and make it quite impossible for the Americans to stay in the city.
10:02The American fortifications on Brooklyn Heights
10:05were protected from behind by a five-mile stretch of wooded hills,
10:10dissected by small roads.
10:12The Americans guarded the three main passes,
10:15but overlooked the distant Jamaica Pass.
10:19Howe's plan was brilliantly conceived and perfectly executed.
10:24While decoy attacks were made on the main roads,
10:27the bulk of the army slipped round through the Jamaica Pass.
10:31Realising that they risked being cut off
10:33from their fortifications on the Brooklyn Heights,
10:36most of the Americans fled through swamps and creeks.
10:42The rebels abandoned every spot as fast,
10:45I should say faster, than the King's troops advanced upon them.
10:49One of their officers did indeed make an attempt
10:52to form a considerable line of them in a ploughed field,
10:55but they had scarce formed.
10:57When down came the troops upon the ground,
10:59and the poltroons ran in the most broken,
11:02disgraceful and precipitate manner at the very first fire.
11:13Joseph Plum Martin was among reinforcements sent to Long Island.
11:22By the time we arrived, the enemy had driven our men into the creek.
11:26When they came out of the water and mud to us looking like water rats,
11:29it was a truly pitiful sight.
11:31Many of them were killed in the pond, more were drowned.
11:34Some of us went into the water after and took out a number of corpses
11:37and a great many arms that were sunk.
11:41Those Americans who made it back to Brooklyn
11:44were expecting another attack almost by the hour.
11:47They were sitting targets,
11:49with the East River behind them and the British in front.
11:52Incredibly, there was no attack.
11:55Howe was hesitating.
11:57On the third night, Washington was rowed across from Manhattan
12:01to supervise a secret evacuation.
12:04It might almost have been the inspiration for Dunkirk.
12:08With the help of local boatmen,
12:10all the American army, with its equipment and guns,
12:13was ferried across to Manhattan,
12:16under the cover of a timely sea fog.
12:22When the Redcoats finally arrived,
12:24there was barely a trace of the rebels.
12:30Howe's delay was so surprising
12:33that one American commander commented,
12:36''Howe must be our friend, or no general.''
12:39So why did Howe hesitate?
12:43Perhaps he was remembering his losses at Bunker Hill the year before.
12:47Or perhaps he was hoping that Washington would surrender,
12:50so that he wouldn't have to crush the rebellion by force,
12:54making reconciliation impossible.
12:57In any event, he didn't show that killer instinct
13:01and lost a good opportunity of bringing the war
13:04to a swift, if bloody, conclusion.
13:08The naval superiority of the British
13:11had given them a great advantage in the battle for New York.
13:14So the Americans decided to target British ships by stealth,
13:18from below.
13:21This is the Turtle, the world's first combat submarine.
13:25Designed by David Bushnell of Connecticut,
13:28it was used to attack British shipping in New York harbour.
13:33It's an ingenious thing,
13:36with just room enough for one submariner.
13:39There were two hand-cranked propellers
13:42to enable it to move backwards and forwards, and up and down,
13:45to manoeuvre beneath an enemy vessel.
13:48Inside, there's a cork bobbing up and down in a tube
13:51to register depth, and it was lit by phosphorescent fungi.
13:55This spike was to be screwed into the hull of an enemy vessel.
14:00The Turtle would then disengage,
14:03leaving this keg of explosives attached to the enemy by a rope.
14:07There was some sort of timing device.
14:10The Turtle's maiden voyage was on the 6th of September, 1776.
14:15Its plucky sailor was Ezra Lee.
14:19He got right underneath the British flagship, HMS Eagle,
14:23but hit metal, not wood,
14:27and couldn't attach the bomb.
14:29He had to jettison it, and it caused a huge explosion.
14:33This gave the British such a scare
14:36that they shifted the whole fleet.
14:41But New York fell.
14:43As the Americans pulled out of Manhattan,
14:46fire engulfed the city.
14:51St Paul's Chapel on Broadway
14:54was barely saved from the conflagration.
14:59Its vicar, the Reverend John Howard,
15:02says that it has a remarkable place in American history.
15:06The church was new then. It had just been built in 1766,
15:10and the Great Fire, 1776,
15:12destroyed most of what was then the city of New York,
15:16everything from this point down to the lower end of Manhattan.
15:20The citizens of New York so highly regarded this structure
15:23and were so proud of it that they assembled bucket brigades
15:27and surrounded it and prevented this particular church,
15:31St Paul's Chapel, from burning.
15:35Recently, the chapel survived another tragedy,
15:39the collapse of the Twin Towers right beside it.
15:43For Reverend Howard,
15:45St Paul's stands as a symbol of religious tolerance in America,
15:49in striking contrast to the state religion of Imperial Britain,
15:53yet another source of friction
15:55between the colonists and the mother country.
15:58America had been exposed to religion
16:02not just through established churches,
16:05not just through state churches such as the Church of England
16:08or the Roman Catholic Church in continental Europe,
16:12but had learned its religion from travelling itinerant preachers.
16:17It was an environment in which each individual
16:21was free to choose for himself the faith that he would follow.
16:25We could say that all armies believe that God is on their side.
16:29Do you think that the revolutionaries really did?
16:32Absolutely.
16:34My impression is that in the case of Washington,
16:37as in the case of most of the rest of his colleagues,
16:41his comrades-in-arms at that time,
16:44that faith, an ongoing personal relationship with God,
16:49was deeply held, deeply important,
16:52absolutely fundamental to them
16:55in the carrying on of their public duties.
16:58Faith in God and faith in the cause
17:01would be tested to the limit following the retreat from New York.
17:05That green mass over there is Central Park,
17:08and it gives a good idea of what this part of Manhattan used to look like.
17:13During their retreat, the Americans were using Indian tracks
17:17down the right-hand side of the park,
17:19and the British were just a spitting distance away on the other.
17:23But Howe didn't cut off the retreat.
17:26Some witnesses suggest that he was preoccupied
17:29with looking for suitable winter quarters.
17:32Billy Howe was a brave man and no fool,
17:36but he'd let another golden opportunity of trapping Washington
17:40slip through his fingers.
17:44On a ship in New York harbour,
17:46Admiral Howe's secretary saw the American retreat as cowardice.
17:52Nothing terrifies these people
17:54more than the apprehension of being surrounded.
17:57Well, they will not fight, at any rate,
17:59unless they're sure of a retreat.
18:03Retreat certainly wasn't a dirty word
18:05as far as George Washington was concerned.
18:08Given the strength of his opponent,
18:10it was a positive military strategy.
18:13He was like a boxer ducking and weaving,
18:16trying to avoid the knockout blow.
18:19He rarely attacked and tried to accept battle only on his own terms.
18:25He knew that his best chance of winning the war
18:28was to build up the strength of his own army
18:31and gradually wear down the enemy army on a foreign soil.
18:36But the retreat from Manhattan was panicky and disorganised.
18:40To Washington's anger, many raw recruits abandoned vital supplies,
18:44ammunition, tents, food and clothing.
18:48It left them little with which to face the coming winter,
18:51and no safe place to rest for long.
18:54Joseph Plum Martin was becoming disillusioned with army life.
18:59It now began to be cool weather, especially the nights.
19:04To have to lie on the cold and often wet ground without a blanket
19:07and with nothing but thin summer clothing was tedious.
19:10I have often, while upon guard, lain on one side
19:13until the upper side smarted with cold,
19:15then turned that side down to the place warmed by my body
19:18and let the other take its turn at smarting.
19:21Perhaps it would rain all night like a flood.
19:24All that could be done in that case was to lie down,
19:27take the musket in our arms,
19:29place the lock between our thighs and weather it out.
19:33The Americans surrendered Fort Washington and 3,000 men.
19:37They retreated into New Jersey
19:39and abandoned Fort Lee and more supplies.
19:44They commandeered food and clothing from the locals
19:47but found them unsupportive.
19:49Many didn't want to take sides.
19:51Others were deeply opposed to the revolution.
19:55The inhabitants here were almost entirely what were termed Tories.
20:00An old lady of whom I often procured milk
20:02used always when I went to her house
20:04to give me a lecture about my opposition to good King George.
20:07She had always said she told me
20:09that the regulars would make us fly like pigeons.
20:12I was not afraid of her poisoning the milk.
20:14She had not wit enough to think of such a thing
20:17nor resolution enough to do it.
20:23The Continental Army fell back through New Brunswick and Princeton.
20:28The Redcoats pursuing them said it was like a game of hide-and-seek.
20:36Winter fighting was unusual in the 18th century
20:39and on 14th December,
20:41Howe called off the hunt
20:43and retired to New York City with his officers.
20:46It was the signal for ten days of parties and balls
20:50to celebrate the Christmas season.
20:52It also gave him the chance to spend some time with his mistress,
20:56the wife of his prison commissioner.
20:58A ditty ran,
21:00Sir William he, snug as a flea,
21:02lay all this time a-snoring,
21:04nor dreamt of harm
21:06as he lay warm in bed with Mrs. Loring.
21:12Things weren't so cosy for Washington's army.
21:15They didn't have enough food, clothes, boots or shelter.
21:19Morale was at rock bottom
21:21and there were so many desertions
21:23that Washington had to post guards to prevent people from leaving.
21:27His army was down to 5,000 men
21:29and soon he would have no army at all.
21:34Enlistments were coming to an end.
21:36Plum Martin was one of the first to be released.
21:39Here ends my first campaign.
21:42I learned something of a soldier's life,
21:44enough, I thought, to keep me at home for the future.
21:46Indeed, I was then fully determined to rest easy
21:49with the knowledge I had acquired in the affairs of the army.
21:52But the ease of a winter spent at home caused me to alter my mind.
21:57The 31st of December, just a few weeks away,
22:01was the release date for most of his troops.
22:04Washington told his brother
22:06that unless a new army could be enlisted,
22:09the game would pretty much be up.
22:12He had to do something spectacular
22:14to prove that the army was worth reviving
22:17or watch the revolution crumble.
22:21It was just a question of when and where.
22:24The Americans, with the British and their German allies in pursuit,
22:28didn't stop running until they'd passed Trenton
22:31and crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania,
22:34where they felt safe to stop.
22:36As soon as Washington reached the Delaware,
22:39he seized or destroyed all the boats for miles around.
22:43This prevented the British from following him
22:46and also gave him transport for a surprise attack.
22:50These are 40-foot Durham boats,
22:52normally used for transporting pig iron to Philadelphia.
22:57As cargo boats, they were ideal for moving cannon, horses and men.
23:12Trenton was now occupied by German troops,
23:15known as Hessians.
23:17They were formidable professional soldiers,
23:19hired by George III from his royal relatives in Germany.
23:25The Hessians were particularly hated by the Americans,
23:28who regarded them as mercenaries, interfering in a foreign war.
23:34They were under the command of Colonel Johann Rau.
23:46The moment was right.
23:48While the Hessians were celebrating Christmas,
23:51Washington's men were being primed for a counter-offensive.
23:55As they waited across the Delaware,
23:57officers read them a specially written speech by Thomas Paine
24:01to remind them what they were fighting for.
24:04It was called American Crisis.
24:08These are the times that try men's souls.
24:12The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot
24:15will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country.
24:21But he that stands it now
24:23deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
24:28But the Americans were betrayed.
24:30A spy took a warning to Colonel Rau.
24:33Up and help us.
24:35Lay your shoulders to the wheel.
24:38Let it be told to the future world
24:41that in the depth of winter,
24:43when nothing but hope and virtue could survive,
24:46that the city and country, alarmed at one common danger,
24:51came forth to meet and repulse it.
24:54The letter warned Rau of an attack that very night.
24:59But he decided to finish his game before reading it.
25:05Cowardice and submission.
25:08If Rau read the note now, Washington's plan would be ruined.
25:13The American army faced potential disaster.
25:17Slavery without hope.
25:19Our homes turned into barracks and body houses for the Hessians.
25:24And a future race to provide for
25:26whose fathers we shall doubt of.
25:29Look on this picture and weep over it.
25:33And if there remains one thoughtless wretch
25:37who believes it not,
25:39let him suffer it unlimited.
25:55DRUMMING
26:06Rau drank late into the night.
26:08He didn't read the note.
26:12Washington planned three simultaneous crossings of the Delaware.
26:16But even the journey presented huge risks.
26:20The 25th of December was a filthy night
26:23with lashing sleet.
26:25The river was swollen and full of small ice flows,
26:28which crashed into the boats as they crossed.
26:34It was so dangerous that only Washington's men got across.
26:39He would fight the battle at half strength.
26:44This crossing has become enshrined in American history.
26:49The Americans marched into Trenton as it was getting light,
26:53hours later than planned.
26:55But they still managed to surprise the guards.
26:58Rau, who was sleeping heavily after a night of heavy drinking,
27:02could hardly be roused.
27:09This monument was built to commemorate the spot
27:12where Washington's troops placed their cannon.
27:19From this height, you can see the clear line of fire the cannons had
27:24down Old King and Old Queen streets.
27:27As the Hessians poured out of their lodgings to meet the attack,
27:31they were bowled over like skittles.
27:35Within an hour, the Hessians had surrendered
27:38and the Americans took 900 prisoners.
27:41Colonel Rau was mortally wounded.
27:44The Americans suffered only a handful of casualties.
27:47Trenton was a small victory, but it was crucial.
27:50It showed that the Americans still had the ability
27:53to inflict real damage on their enemies.
27:56Washington now had a victory.
27:59But did he have an army?
28:01His men were counting the hours to their discharge.
28:07The general begged them to stay, but not one man came forward.
28:11The revolution was hanging in the balance.
28:14You have done all I asked you to do,
28:17and more than can be reasonably expected.
28:21But your country is at stake,
28:24your wives, your houses,
28:28and all that you hold dear.
28:32You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships,
28:36and we know not how to spare you.
28:40We are facing the crisis
28:43which is to decide our destiny.
28:59His men answered the call.
29:01It was perhaps Washington's most important achievement so far.
29:05The Continental Army would survive.
29:10Don't drop them.
29:13You want another one too?
29:15These small successes generated new enthusiasm for the cause,
29:20at home and abroad.
29:22Gently, gently.
29:24The kings of France and Spain
29:26funded the smuggling of weapons and equipment to the Americans.
29:30Although wary of publicly encouraging the overthrow of a fellow monarch,
29:34they wanted the British to be beaten.
29:38Who needs a bayonet for their musket?
29:43The American army had a new momentum.
29:55The following year, 1777,
29:58the British campaign shifted away from the populated areas around New Jersey,
30:02northwards to Canada.
30:08I'm travelling along the mighty Hudson River,
30:12which flows all the way from Lake Champlain to New York City.
30:16It's one of the best-trodden war paths in the whole of North America.
30:21The British hoped that if they could control this waterway,
30:25they could cut off the rebellious states of New England,
30:28like Massachusetts and Connecticut.
30:31They already had Canada.
30:33They already had New York City.
30:35Now they wanted to join the dots in between.
30:40The British would thrust down from Canada
30:42into the wilderness country of Upper New York State,
30:46a wild land of remote towns and American Indian communities.
30:53The leader of this campaign was General John Burgoyne.
30:57As well as a soldier, Burgoyne was a man of great ambition.
31:01As well as a soldier, Burgoyne was a successful playwright and gambler.
31:06He'd wagered 50 guineas at his London club
31:09that he'd return victorious from America within a year.
31:14There's always a little bit of the actor,
31:16always a little bit of the mountebank in Johnny Burgoyne.
31:19There's always a bit of a bluff and a bit of a flourish,
31:22and he's never quite going to be able
31:25to put this complicated campaign together.
31:29Burgoyne was given powers to act independently of his superior in New York,
31:33William Howe, much to the latter's annoyance.
31:36The rivalry between commanders proved to be a British weakness.
31:41There's one key difference over the command structure during this war.
31:45Washington is in command throughout.
31:48Now, as well as being a good military strategist,
31:52he's quite a political animal as well.
31:54But it does mean that, from the American point of view,
31:57there is one directing brain which is able to see the whole campaign through.
32:01That's not the case with the British.
32:03There's never a single British directing brain start to finish.
32:07Burgoyne wanted Howe to push up from New York as far as Albany,
32:11while he pushed down from Canada through Indian territory.
32:17With the war on their doorstep,
32:19many tribes who would rather have stayed out of a British civil war
32:23were forced to take sides.
32:25Professor Colin Calloway believes that the revolution
32:28was a disaster for American Indians.
32:31Almost every Indian community, I think, is split by the civil war.
32:34The Cherokees divide over it, the Iroquois Confederacy splits over it.
32:39You have divisions within Indian villages about which side to support.
32:43And the issues that make them divide?
32:46The issues are, I think, survival.
32:48They're all looking for what's the best route to take
32:51in this very difficult situation.
32:53Where do our allegiances lie and where do our best interests lie?
32:57And what are our chances of coming out of this with our way of life intact?
33:01500 American Indians joined Burgoyne as scouts for his army.
33:06He exploited their fearsome reputation by publishing a proclamation
33:10threatening to unleash them on disloyal citizens.
33:15In Fort Ticonderoga,
33:17Burgoyne's arrogance disgusted American doctor James Thatcher.
33:21From the pompous manner in which he has arrayed his titles,
33:24we are led to suppose that he considers them as more than a match
33:27for all the military strength which we might bring against him.
33:32By John Burgoyne, Esquire,
33:35Lieutenant General of His Majesty's Forces in America,
33:38Colonel of the Queen's Regiment of Light Dragoons,
33:41Governor of Fort William, etc., etc., etc.
33:45The British Ministry,
33:47not satisfied with the disgraceful expedient of hiring foreign mercenaries,
33:52resort also to the savages of the wilderness.
33:58Here was the image of the British government
34:02unleashing these terrible warriors on people who, after all, were British subjects.
34:08And that was something that needed some explaining.
34:11Now, of course, the whole notion of what constituted savage and civilised warfare
34:15was pretty muddy,
34:17and many Indian people regarded the Europeans,
34:20whether they be French, British or Americans,
34:23as the perpetrators of uncivilised warfare
34:26because they fought by such different rules.
34:29By June, Burgoyne's Indian scouts were approaching Fort Ticonderoga.
34:36It appeared to be a formidable American stronghold
34:39defending the narrowest part of Lake Champlain.
34:48Twenty-three-year-old Dr Thatcher, who was billeted there,
34:52was confident Burgoyne's army would not get past the fort.
34:56The utmost exertions are now being made to strengthen our works at Ticonderoga.
35:01Mount Independence, directly across from Ticonderoga,
35:04is strongly fortified and well-supplied with water.
35:07It is strongly fortified and well-supplied with artillery.
35:10The communication between these two places is maintained by a floating bridge.
35:15It is supposed to be admirably adapted to the double purpose of a communication,
35:20as well as an impenetrable barrier to any vessel who might attempt to pass our works.
35:26The Americans held both sides of the lake,
35:29but they hadn't bothered to fortify that height, called Mount Defiance,
35:33considering that it was too steep for artillery.
35:37Burgoyne's senior artillery officer was Major General William Phillips,
35:41described as honest, industrious and irascible.
35:46He told Burgoyne that where a goat can go, a man can go,
35:50and where a man can go, he can drag a gun.
35:54It took the British two days to get two 12-pounder cannon up there.
36:00It is with astonishment that we find the enemy have taken over Mount Defiance,
36:05which, from its height and proximity,
36:08completely overlook and command all our works at Ticonderoga.
36:12The situation of our garrison is viewed as critical and alarming.
36:19The whole garrison fled.
36:21The British ships smashed through the floating bridge
36:24and Ticonderoga was taken with hardly a shot being fired.
36:29The abandonment of Ticonderoga
36:31has occasioned the greatest surprise and alarm.
36:34No event could be more severely felt throughout our country and our army,
36:38nor more unexpected.
36:40This disaster has given to our cause a dark and gloomy aspect.
36:47But while it was a severe blow to American morale,
36:50the loss of Ticonderoga actually worked in their favour.
36:54Burgoyne's close pursuit lured him away from the waterways where he was mobile
36:59into the virgin forests of New York State.
37:07He attempted a 25-mile shortcut to reach the Hudson,
37:11but it was to take him a month.
37:15He was hampered by a huge retinue of camp followers,
37:18500 women and children,
37:20and officers' wives in coaches.
37:24Right up to the Crimean War, which is almost a century ahead,
37:27the Redcoat goes on campaign with Mrs Redcoat,
37:30often not Mrs in any literal legal sense.
37:34But Burgoyne's army comes here
37:37with its wives and followers and mistresses and hangers-on.
37:42Thomas Anbury, a lieutenant in Burgoyne's army,
37:46recorded their terrible journey.
37:49The watery lands and marshes were so numerous,
37:52we had to construct no less than 40 of them.
37:55It was a terrible journey.
37:57It was a terrible journey.
37:59It was a terrible journey.
38:01It was a terrible journey.
38:03It was a terrible journey.
38:05It was a terrible journey.
38:07The waters were so numerous,
38:09we had to construct no less than 40 bridges by which to pass them.
38:13And over one morass was a bridge two miles in length.
38:24The British not only had to contend with nature,
38:27but also with sabotage from an enemy familiar with its environment.
38:31I think the real parallels between the American War of Independence
38:35and the war in America during the Vietnam War.
38:38And it always strikes me that any army operating a long way from home,
38:44in a country which it really doesn't know,
38:47is always at a disadvantage.
38:49It has to bring its supplies from another continent.
38:52It's never really in control of even its own supporters.
38:56It controls them in the daytime,
38:58it controls them as far as its own artillery reaches.
39:01But it's always at the mercy of a tougher, harder,
39:05better organised opposition,
39:07which gets at its supporters when it can't defend them.
39:18The deeper Burgoyne pressed on,
39:20the more extreme his difficulties became.
39:23His supply line from Canada was stretched to the limit.
39:26He had to leave men behind to protect it,
39:29reducing his army to less than 5,000 men.
39:32Burgoyne also found that he couldn't control his Indian allies.
39:36They insisted on their right to scalp victims,
39:39even though it harmed the British cause.
39:41They seize the head of the disabled or dead enemy
39:44and, placing one of their feet on its neck,
39:47twist their left hand in the hair,
39:49by which means they extend the skin which covers the top of the head,
39:53and with the other hand draw their scalping knife.
39:56If the hair is short and they have no purchase with their knife,
39:59they stoop and strip it off with their teeth.
40:05There was a wave of public revulsion
40:07when the Indians killed and scalped a young American woman
40:10who was supposed to be under their protection.
40:15Jane McRae was loyal to the British
40:17and engaged to one of Burgoyne's own officers.
40:20Her death was a propaganda coup for the Americans.
40:23On their way back to Burgoyne's camp,
40:25a quarrel arose to determine
40:27who should hold possession of the fair prize.
40:30During the controversy,
40:32one of the monsters struck his tomahawk into her scalp...
40:41..and immediately stripped her of her scalp.
40:47The death of Jane McRae fuelled a long-running saga.
40:51At the time, patriots declaimed angrily about Britain's savage allies,
40:56and subsequent commentators maintained
40:58that it triggered a flood of recruiting.
41:00Actually, Congress was already doing its level best
41:03to raise men to stop Burgoyne,
41:05and I doubt if this tragedy had any real impact.
41:09But it certainly had an impact in the years that followed,
41:12and Jane McRae was depicted as a martyr
41:14to a cause to which she'd never personally subscribed.
41:18This defining image of Indian savagery during the Revolution
41:21was painted in 1804,
41:23after America had won its independence.
41:26After turning its back on the British Empire,
41:29America was looking westwards to build an empire of its own,
41:32on Indian land.
41:34Anti-Indian sentiment helped justify this action.
41:38And that painting and that story
41:41typified or epitomised for many people
41:44what Indians did during the Revolution.
41:46They committed mayhem, they murdered innocent women and children,
41:50they fought against the new nation at the moment of its birth,
41:53at the moment of liberty.
41:55Having done that, they could not complain, therefore,
41:58when the new nation, having established itself,
42:00said, there's no place for you here.
42:05By late summer, Burgoyne's army had reached the Hudson.
42:09The river runs along the edge of that woodland.
42:12Burgoyne crossed it onto this side
42:14and destroyed his boat bridge behind him,
42:17cutting his umbilical cord with Canada.
42:20His men were now on half rations,
42:23with supplies enough for just a month.
42:26Success was now dependent on reinforcement
42:29and supplies from the south.
42:31But contact was proving difficult.
42:35The Second World War American commander, Omar Bradley,
42:38said that Congress makes a man a general,
42:41but communications makes him a commander.
42:44That was the essence of the British problem in 1777.
42:49Late in the day, Burgoyne received a message
42:52telling him that Howe had moved south to Pennsylvania,
42:55leaving General Henry Clinton in New York.
42:58Burgoyne was counting on relief from Clinton,
43:01despite the uncertainty of messages getting through.
43:05Howe in Philadelphia, Clinton in New York State,
43:08and Burgoyne up here, all had their plans and their ambitions.
43:13If Burgoyne had retreated when he had the chance,
43:16his intact army could still have posed a threat to American strategy.
43:21But there are times when there's nothing so stupid as a gallant officer.
43:27Burgoyne could not conceive of retreat,
43:30even if pressing on sacrificed his long-suffering soldiers.
43:34At Saratoga, he ordered them up onto the heights
43:37to attack a newly formed northern army,
43:40under the command of General Horatio Gates.
43:43The British faced 9,000 Americans, double their own force.
44:05MUSIC
44:25The Redcoats had learned to fear the American riflemen,
44:29the country's legendary marksmen,
44:31who used the range and accuracy of their rifles
44:34to snipe at the enemy from deep cover.
44:38WHISTLE BLOWS
45:00The riflemen had a distinctive private signal to communicate.
45:08WHISTLE BLOWS
45:17WHISTLE BLOWS
45:25Very good spot!
45:31At Saratoga, Colonel Daniel Morgan's rifle corps intercepted the British,
45:36picking off their officers to throw the troops into confusion.
45:40The riflemen claimed 600 victims that day.
45:59But riflemen were also among the most vulnerable troops in the field.
46:03While an infantryman armed with a musket could reload three or four times a minute
46:08and fix a bayonet for hand-to-hand fighting,
46:11a rifle took a full minute to reload, and it had no bayonet.
46:15If rushed after firing, the rifleman was defenceless.
46:24Saratoga was the first battle in which the Americans adopted the European tactic
46:28of using infantrymen to protect riflemen.
46:33WHISTLE BLOWS
46:38Burgoyne was surprised by the tenacity and discipline of the American army.
46:43The action went backwards and forwards all day, like waves on a sea.
46:47WHISTLE BLOWS
47:02The Americans were content to leave the battlefield to the British that night.
47:06Gates knew that without urgent supplies, Burgoyne's army was crippled.
47:11All he had to do was wait.
47:14After three weeks, and no sign of Clinton, Burgoyne made a final, fruitless attack.
47:20He was forced to surrender or starve.
47:25Burgoyne negotiated a gentlemanly surrender with Gates
47:28that allowed him to take his army home.
47:32Terms that were later broken.
47:36They toasted George Washington, and they toasted King George.
47:40Yet Burgoyne was oblivious to the serious impact his defeat would have on the war.
47:47Saratoga did more than remove a small piece from the military chessboard.
47:51It sent out a clear political message.
47:54Here in America, where the loyalists were disheartened and the patriots elated,
47:59and back in Britain, where the war's opponents said they'd seen this coming all along.
48:05Most of all, Saratoga delighted the French.
48:09A waning superpower, humiliated by British victory in the Seven Years' War,
48:14and persuaded them to enter the conflict.
48:17It had always been a civil war.
48:20Now it was a world war as well.
49:09© BF-WATCH TV 2021