IV. Essay On December twenty-third of the year 1776, Thomas Paine wrote the renowned words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Never had truer words been written. Not only was the revolution trying for the men of the colonial army, but for the British army, and all those who had something riding on the outcome of the war. Though they were subjected to different sides of the war, George Washington, King George III of England and William Howe all experienced the hardships and trying times of the year 1776. General George Washington knew that he lacked experience with almost all aspects of the war. He had retired from military life fifteen years before the revolution, and had never led an army in battle, commanded anything more than a regiment or directed a siege. He accepted the command of the army on June 16, 1775 where he warned Congress, “[should] some unlucky event happen unfavorable to my reputation…may it be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declared with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. (McCullough Pg. 49)” Washington knew his limits, but what he did not know was the state of disarray that the army was in. Washington arrived in Boston the first week of July, 1775. No head count had been taken, and when an official count was taken, Washington learned that instead of the twenty thousand men he had been informed he had, he had sixteen thousand with only fourteen thousand fit for duty.
Gen. John J. Pershing , a veteran of the Spanish-American War, commanded the AEF. The U.S. was far from prepared to send an army to the European front
The Great War , or as it is known now, World War One was a global conflict fought between the Allied Powers ; Great Britain, France, Russia, and the United States along will other smaller nations and the Central Powers ; Germany, Austria – Hungary, Turkey/Ottoman Empire and other small nations from 1914 to 1918. World War One began from a series of tumultuous events, that in turn affected the balance of alliances that had been made between countries at that time in the world.
If someone was to lay their life on the line for something that had little to no survival rate, little to no people would do it. Very few men had the courage. Washington is a well-known historical figure for leading the way through the revolutionary war. As Washington states before the Battle of Long Island, “The fate of the unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the
Unfortunately, one major problem Washington and his army faced early on in the war, was the absence of money. With low revenue coming in for the soldiers, food, clothes, training, and living conditions faced a sad decline. To keep soldiers performing at their best, food was a necessity, and maintaining the food supply was starting to decline. This soon led to starvation leading to the death of men who were without food for too long. Since money was attributed to necessities only, wants such as uniforms were denied and looked at as unneeded. Without uniforms, “field officers were all but indistinguishable from the troops they led”, which contributed to unprofessionalism and confusion causing Washington to distribute certain color ribbons to officials in order to distinguish between the ranks (32). Sadly, there were even men who had to live without shoes, because there wasn’t any money to spare. With money being an issue, it also affected the amount of soldiers the army had. Men didn’t feel a strong need to return since they weren’t being paid. Washington wanted to pay men in advance so they would have another reason, other than for the love of their country, to stay and fight, but there was not enough money to give out (63). Sadly, only 2,540 of Washington’s army had reenlisted, out of a total around 10,000 (63-64). With more money, like the British contained, the Continental Army could have been healthier, fuller, and even better trained. I believe this could have helped the army by providing an easier way to reach freedom for America. With this not being the case, I have a higher respect for Washington and his army for continuing to persevere and move forward when they had little hope at times. Although there was many negatives about being in the Continental Army at this time, McCullough kept stating how Washington
The operations of the Potomac and Rappahannock started with eight on board the Blossom. One person who was named Bagley was reported being engaged in traffic between the states of Virginia and Maryland upward to a full year. There were 30 sacks of wheat on the vessel. On the 11th instant, Acting Master Josselyn chased and ran on shore a small sloop which was attempting to cross to Virginia from Breton’s Bay. The crew managed to escape while also destroying or carrying with them everything except some salt and 2 hogsheads of sugar. The prisoners, vessel, and prize goods are secure and were handed over to the provost-marshal which was according to
The Second Continental Congress made the decison to put Washington Head commander in chief. Not only did Washington have that much military expierence along the congressional delegates but, John Adams pointed out to the congress it was better to have someone outside of the New England area to take command of the army that was congregated around the Boston Area. Arriving short after the conclusion of Battle of Bunker Hill, Washington moved very quickly to assume command of the ragtag forces surrounding the besieging the British Garrison within the city of Boston. What Washington didn’t realize is it was gonna be a long six years of battle anywhere from marching,seige,crisis
General George Washington faced many hardships during the Revolutionary war. “On July 3, General George Washington of Virginia had taken command of the American ‘rabble’.” (McCullough 7) During Washington’s time as General he was constantly faced with the shortage of soldiers. “Washington pleaded with Congress and the provincial governments to send more men with all possible speed. And new recruits did continue to arrive, though only in dribs and drabs.” (66) The constant need for men was a serious problem throughout the entire war, this need for new recruits helped cause a supply shortage. “…the supply of arms was depleted to the point where there were not enough for the new recruits. ‘We have not at this time 100 guns in the stores of that have been taken in the prize ship [the captured British supply ship Nancy].’” (79) As well as guns being in short supply, the Colonial Army also lacked gunpowder. “Very little by gunpowder was produced in the colonies. What supplies there were came
The line that Tohmas Paine wrote “These are the times that try men’s souls” has much meaning to the revolutionary war. It was written at first as a morale booster during Valley Forge. The line was in a book called the Crisis which was written to boost morale, and this line in particular showed that they know that times are tough and that they really need to get out of this, but we couldn’t do it without the people. In Valley Forge, the men were losing morale because they had little to no food and were basicly trapped. The line was meant to help show the men that they were needed, but this line really related to the whole war though, because things were not looking too bright for the colonists. They had little supplies and were struggling to
How could a traumatic war possibly be a great cause to our country? The battles of the American Civil War for example, has dramatically affected this country in a plethora of ways; from abolishing slavery in the South, uniting the United States, and changing the political and social ways of how we are today. However, these are not the only changes to occur. Military and medicine started to advance, and even different cultures and languages began to develop across the land. As of today, it has been a huge part of our history and without it, we probably would not be who we are today.
Of the number of different battles of the Civil War, there are only three that will be mentioned in this essay. The purpose is to expand the knowledge of the three battles and provide a better understanding behind the reasoning of the Civil War. In addition, the wars, which consisted of bloody combats and unique strategies, provided a settlement for who controls the United States of American and its future. The three main battles that changed the course of history are the following: the Battle of Bull Run, the Western Theater, and the Virginia Front of 1862. The result of the war, of course, was the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, permitted the Union to gain control over the South, caused over 600,000 casualties, and provided a victory for millions of African American slaves. Indeed, the war also resulted in Lincoln’s final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.
What was it like living during the Great Depression? What strategies did Australia use to get out of the Great Depression?
During World War Two, a guy named Hitler made his way up the chain in Germany and gain power and he decided to lead his army with the help of Japan’s and Italy’s army; he attacked France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. While doing that, he also captured Jew and put them in camps were that became their graves. This event in history is called the Holocaust. In America December 7, 1941; Pearl Harbor just got bombed by the Japanese. The day after Japan declared war on America; followed by Germany and Italy declaring war on America. Ten weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a document that would change all the lives of Japanese and Japanese descent life's. That document was the Executive Order of 9066.
The Battle of Normandy was a pivotal moment of World War II in Europe. It outlined Germany's last chance to end the war on any favorable terms. However, a type of invasion of this magnitude took two years in the making strategically planning every significant moment and movement appeared to be an overwhelming task for the allied forces. Execution of the war had commenced, in late August 1944, three months after D-Day started our troops were in control of the battlefield and defeat was imminent a year later. Here begins the Battle of Normandy also known as Operation Overlord. (McManus, 2013)
One of the most significant encounters of World War II was the Battle of Normandy (the first day of which is commonly referred to as D-Day). Nearly three million soldiers were deployed for the invasion. Those deployed consisted mainly of American and British soldiers, however Canadian, French, Polish, Belgian, and Czech forces were represented as well (Jensen). The battle was fought in an effort to gain European ground and to reduce the German potential for overrunning Russia (Lucas). The Battle of Normandy was significant in that it was the turning point of World War II, incurred heavy casualties on each side, and was the greatest amphibious landing in history (Cohen).
The Experience Of War Many authors have written about war themes, some extracts of the stories and poems that I have read and researched are The Upturned Face by Steven Crane .It is about a fictional war being fought in an imaginary Europe. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell describes his senses and feeling of getting shot in the neck during battle. Exposure by Wilfred Owen,describes the horrors and reality of being in the trenches of the First World War. And The Making of Me by Robert Westall is about a shell-shocked grandfather who has the responsibility of looking after his grandchild.