The General's terrible anger unleashed

[CyValley2]

Roaming about topics on the Web, I just now tripped across this. Do Americans today understand we had a Wild Man leading the Revolution?

General George Washington’s Explosive Temper Helped Shape the Man Who Forged a New Nation

General George Washington. Reenactment photo by Ken Bohrer at American Revolution Photos. Kip’s Bay, mid-Manhattan Island, New York, September 15, 1776. American militia, including New England brig…

revolutionarywarjournal.com

 

[FarmerCy1]

Roaming about topics on the Web, I just now tripped across this. Do Americans today understand we had a Wild Man leading the Revolution?

General George Washington’s Explosive Temper Helped Shape the Man Who Forged a New Nation

General George Washington. Reenactment photo by Ken Bohrer at American Revolution Photos. Kip’s Bay, mid-Manhattan Island, New York, September 15, 1776. American militia, including New England brig…

revolutionarywarjournal.com

If you ever get the chance to watch Turn: Washington’s Spies, it does a good job of showing a couple of the incidents where Washington lost his temper: the defection of Charles Lee at the Battle of Monmouth and the mutiny of the Rhode Island Line.

He was certainly a gentleman, but it was pretty well known not to cross him

 

[KnappShack]

NSFW....but....

 

[Gonzo]

It's weird that there have been so few movies about the Revolutionary War for the past 20-30 years. Aside from The Patriot, I don't know what else has been done. There have been some great TV series. But given the number of WWII, Vietnam, Civil War feature films, seems strange that there have been hardly any about the Revolution.

 

[CyValley2]

If you ever get the chance to watch Turn: Washington’s Spies, it does a good job of showing a couple of the incidents where Washington lost his temper: the defection of Charles Lee at the Battle of Monmouth and the mutiny of the Rhode Island Line.

He was certainly a gentleman, but it was pretty well known not to cross him

I did watch it.

I do not recall where I read it, but his happy enthusiasm sometimes erupted, too. When the French arrived in 1778 (de Grasse, Rochanbeau?) the General waited for the arrival on the dock. At the commander's approach, Washington took off his hat, threw it onto the dock, and jumped up and down on the hapless hat. Geez, I'd so love to have video of that!

I searched for this incident online but after a brief search did not find a reference. Maybe I remember wrong. Hope not, thought it was a cool story. Anyone here got info?

 

[CyValley2]

NSFW....but....

Re----ed? Am I being too sensitive?

And 1770, when it was 1776? One more, it wasn't British at Trenton but Hessians.

Why not get the basics correct and have at it?

 

[CyValley2]

It's weird that there have been so few movies about the Revolutionary War for the past 20-30 years. Aside from The Patriot, I don't know what else has been done. There have been some great TV series. But given the number of WWII, Vietnam, Civil War feature films, seems strange that there have been hardly any about the Revolution.

Ken Burns refers to this, I think, in recent interviews promoting his 10-year, 6-part, 12-hour series on the Revolution airing in November (I can't wait, almost peeing my pants thinking about it).

To the best of my recollection from Burns's interviews, some of this disconnection is the result of the Revolution occurring before the age of film. The distance from that time to ours, the overwhelming mythology that has spawned over the years, even the clothes these Americans wore separate them from us.

Burns says that he did not think this story could be told, so broad is it, reaching out over so many distances (the war segued into a global conflagration). He explained that his series uses CGI, graphics, art, re-enactments to explain the events.

Most importantly, though, Burns relies on their written words. It was an age when writing was supreme. The Washington papers alone:

>> The papers of George Washington, held at the Library of Congress, contain approximately 77,000 items. This collection, spanning from 1745 to 1799, includes correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records. It is one of the largest collections of original Washington documents in the world. <<

50 years ago when I was a student at UI, traipsing about the Main Library, I found the Washington section. So much stuff, including 20 volumes of Washington correspondence. Wow, I thought.

Yet, as important as the papers of those leaders are to our American history, I love reading the words of the lesser known, the troops, the 'expendables.'

Joseph Plum Martin, a Connecticut lad only 15 years of age, enrolled early in the Revolution and served almost from the beginning thru the Yorktown campaign in October 1781 that virtually sealed our victory. Young Martin kept a diary that was later published; I read it some years ago.

Burns is adamant that "the story is the story is the story." His absolute goal is not to intrude current day interpretation into the history he depicts. The truth as best we can understand it rules.

Is it November yet?

In recent days I've become aware that a number of young Patriot boys kept journals; I hope to read them.

 

[FLYINGCYCLONE]

Watched a program on Netflix, I think? About George Washington. A newspaper showed George with a rope around his neck as he hung from a tree. The paper could have had British flavor?

 

[FarmerCy1]

I did watch it.

I do not recall where I read it, but his happy enthusiasm sometimes erupted, too. When the French arrived in 1778 (de Grasse, Rochanbeau?) the General waited for the arrival on the dock. At the commander's approach, Washington took off his hat, threw it onto the dock, and jumped up and down on the hapless hat. Geez, I'd so love to have video of that!

I searched for this incident online but after a brief search did not find a reference. Maybe I remember wrong. Hope not, thought it was a cool story. Anyone here got info?

I believe it would have been the announcement from Dr. Franklin of the treaty with Louis XVI, and subsequent arrival of the Marquis LaFayette that you’re thinking of.

 

[Gonzo]

Ken Burns refers to this, I think, in recent interviews promoting his 10-year, 6-part, 12-hour series on the Revolution airing in November (I can't wait, almost peeing my pants thinking about it).

To the best of my recollection from Burns's interviews, some of this disconnection is the result of the Revolution occurring before the age of film. The distance from that time to ours, the overwhelming mythology that has spawned over the years, even the clothes these Americans wore separate them from us.

Burns says that he did not think this story could be told, so broad is it, reaching out over so many distances (the war segued into a global conflagration). He explained that his series uses CGI, graphics, art, re-enactments to explain the events.

Most importantly, though, Burns relies on their written words. It was an age when writing was supreme. The Washington papers alone:

>> The papers of George Washington, held at the Library of Congress, contain approximately 77,000 items. This collection, spanning from 1745 to 1799, includes correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records. It is one of the largest collections of original Washington documents in the world. <<

50 years ago when I was a student at UI, traipsing about the Main Library, I found the Washington section. So much stuff, including 20 volumes of Washington correspondence. Wow, I thought.

Yet, as important as the papers of those leaders are to our American history, I love reading the words of the lesser known, the troops, the 'expendables.'

Joseph Plum Martin, a Connecticut lad only 15 years of age, enrolled early in the Revolution and served almost from the beginning thru the Yorktown campaign in October 1781 that virtually sealed our victory. Young Martin kept a diary that was later published; I read it some years ago.

Burns is adamant that "the story is the story is the story." His absolute goal is not to intrude current day interpretation into the history he depicts. The truth as best we can understand it rules.

Is it November yet?

In recent days I've become aware that a number of young Patriot boys kept journals; I hope to read them.

View attachment 152262

Yep, I'm looking forward to the Burns series as well.

 

[Gonzo]

Ken Burns refers to this, I think, in recent interviews promoting his 10-year, 6-part, 12-hour series on the Revolution airing in November (I can't wait, almost peeing my pants thinking about it).

To the best of my recollection from Burns's interviews, some of this disconnection is the result of the Revolution occurring before the age of film. The distance from that time to ours, the overwhelming mythology that has spawned over the years, even the clothes these Americans wore separate them from us.

Burns says that he did not think this story could be told, so broad is it, reaching out over so many distances (the war segued into a global conflagration). He explained that his series uses CGI, graphics, art, re-enactments to explain the events.

Most importantly, though, Burns relies on their written words. It was an age when writing was supreme. The Washington papers alone:

>> The papers of George Washington, held at the Library of Congress, contain approximately 77,000 items. This collection, spanning from 1745 to 1799, includes correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records. It is one of the largest collections of original Washington documents in the world. <<

50 years ago when I was a student at UI, traipsing about the Main Library, I found the Washington section. So much stuff, including 20 volumes of Washington correspondence. Wow, I thought.

Yet, as important as the papers of those leaders are to our American history, I love reading the words of the lesser known, the troops, the 'expendables.'

Joseph Plum Martin, a Connecticut lad only 15 years of age, enrolled early in the Revolution and served almost from the beginning thru the Yorktown campaign in October 1781 that virtually sealed our victory. Young Martin kept a diary that was later published; I read it some years ago.

Burns is adamant that "the story is the story is the story." His absolute goal is not to intrude current day interpretation into the history he depicts. The truth as best we can understand it rules.

Is it November yet?

In recent days I've become aware that a number of young Patriot boys kept journals; I hope to read them.

View attachment 152262

This scene from Lincoln about Ethan Allen and Washington never get sold. Love it.

 

[CyValley2]

Watched a program on Netflix, I think? About George Washington. A newspaper showed George with a rope around his neck as he hung from a tree. The paper could have had British flavor?

At the signing (or thereabouts) of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin said that the document for the signatories could lead to the gallows. The Declaration was treason. Said Franklin (paraphrasing): We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will hang separately.

In the British empire, convicted traitors were often subject to: >> English law, high treason was punishable by being hanged, drawn and quartered (men) or burnt at the stake (women), although beheading could be substituted by royal command (usually for royalty and nobility) <<

For those not sure what drawing and quartering entails, the victim would be hanged, before death cut down and horses attached to each limb and the condemned wrenched apart, leaving head and torso. A beheading then followed, the head jammed onto a pike that was inserted into the ground for all to witness for months and perhaps years.

In the summer of 1776, the British, after American exploits expelled them from Boston, arrived in New York. The world's most powerful military brought with them 32,000 troops, a number exceeding the population of the colonies' most populous city, Philadelphia.

The British Army did not come alone. 400 ships, many of them large Man O' War carrying 80-90 cannon, filled the New York harbors. It was the most massive Navy force ever assembled at that time (iirc). The Colonies' Navy? Non-existent.

The Continentals were routed on Long Island, escaped to Manhattan by clever deviousness and 'providence' (the massive British fleet, with the wind denying it, could not move up the East River to intercede) and at a crucial moment, the retreat was enveloped in fog preventing the British from recognizing the escape was under way.

To believe the Rebels were not in the greatest danger is to disparage their courage, their determination, and their patriotism.

What a story.

 

[CyValley2]

Oh, let me add, Washington with only 3,000 soldiers, many of whom whose enlistment would expire at the end of the year, was desperate as the Continentals crossed the Delaware River. It was certain that The Cause was at its end, dead.

Washington, who would spend 8-1/2 years in the field with his men (iirc was home only 4-5 days in those many years)

As historian David McCullough has said, Washington would not quit. At the very lowest point in our fight against the British Empire, he attacked. Trenton. Princeton.

The General was a sucky tactician, says McCullough. He was aggressive and wanted to meet the British in the open field. He came to learn, though, on the huge American continent, if the Continental Army lived, the British could not win, though they controlled cities. If the British could not defeat the American Continentals, they were done.

Geez. I so love our origin story. Never before in human history have humans believed the individual, not the sovereign, is supreme. We are the product of the enlightenment. The human race will move forward only if we defeat the.. . . .