Revolutionary War Series - Böcker

Volume 3 covers the final months of the siege of Boston. It opens with General Washington proclaiming the commencement of the remodeled Continental army on New Year's Day 1776 and closes at the end of March as he prepares to depart for New York in the wake of the British evacuation of Boston.Washington's correspondence and orders for this period reveal an uncompromising attitude toward reconciliation with Britain and a single-minded determination to engage the enemy forces in Boston before the end of the winter. Washington's bold proposal to attack Boston across the frozen back bay in the middle of February was rejected as too risky by a council of war, but the council did approve occupying the strategic Dorchester Heights overlooking the city and harbor. During the last weeks of February and the first days of March, Washington devoted himself to mobilizing artillery and gunpowder for a massive cannonade of Boston and assembling materials for portable fortifications to be erected on the frozen soil of Dorchester Heights. The successful execution of this operation on the night of 4 March failedto provoke General William Howe into assaulting the American lines and thereby open the way to counterattack on the city as Washington hoped it would. It did, however, compel the British to withdraw from Boston in haste a few days later, giving Washington and his army a spirit of confidence with which to embark on the New York campaign. The volume also includes a number of documents relating to Washington's private affairs in Virginia, the most important of which are eight letters from his Mount Vernon manager Lund Washington.

Volume Four of the ""Revolutionary War Series"" completes the documentary record of Washington's first year as commander in chief of the Continental army. It opens with this final preparations to leave Cambridge following the successful siege of Boston and concludes with news that General William Howe's British army was soon to arrive at New York, an event which would mark the beginning of the New York campaign. In the interim between campaigns, Washington established his headquarters as New York and began wrestling with the perplexing problems of defending the strategically important corridor between New York and Canada formed by the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. In addition to Washington's activities as commander in chief of the Continental army, the volume includes documents and notes concerning the medal that Congress awarded him for the liberation of Boston, Washington's efforts to terminate his long and successful administration of the Custis estate, and details of his travels from Cambridge to New York and between New York and Philadelphia. As in earlier volumes of the ""Revolutionary War Series"", Washington's writings show him to be unwavering in his advocacy of American independence and in his commitment to the subordination of the military to civil authority.

Covers the preliminary phase of the New York campaign, the period when the stage was set for Washington's greatest challenge yet as commander-in-chief of the Continental army. The importance of Washington's inseparable roles as military commander and political leader is demonstrated.

Documents Washington's decisions and actions during the heart of the New York campaign, from late summer to early fall 1776, when his opponent, General William Howe, took the offensive and outmanoeuvred the American forces in and around New York City by amphibious landings.

This volume documents the events of the final phase of the New York campaign and the ensuing New Jersey campaign. The work opens with Washington's withdrawal of most of his army from Manhattan Island and ends with his daring counterstrokes against a Hessian brigade and a British detachment.

This collection of papers chronicles George Washington's first winter at Morristown. Situated in the hills of north central New Jersey, Morristown offered protection against the British army headquartered in New York yet enabled Washington to annoy the principal enemy outposts.

This volume covers the spring of 1777, a period when George Washington was obliged to spend much of his time pleading with the state authorities to fill their recruiting quotas and with officers to bring in the men whom they had enlisted. He was further hampered by a high desertion rate.

The tenth volume of the revolutionary war papers of George Washington. It opens with Washington headquartered at the Continental army's encampment at Middlebrook, New Jersey. From this vantage point Washington could survey the country between Perth Amboy and New Brunswick.

This is the 11th part in a series of volumes containing the papers of George Washington. This particular volume contains correspondence, orders and other documents from August to October 1777, one of the most militarily active periods of America's Revolutionary War.

Volume 12 of the Revolutionary War Series documents Washington's unsuccessful efforts to capitalize on the American victory at Saratoga and his decision to encamp the Continental army for the winter at Valley Forge. The volume opens with the British forces at Philadelphia, where they had returned following the Battle of Germantown, and the Continental army, in Washington's words, ""hovering round them, to distress and retard their operations as much as possible."" Recognizing the importance of restricting communication between General William Howe and the British fleet, Washington dispatched a brigade to New Jersey to assist in the defense of Forts Mifflin and Mercer, key components in the American effort to obstruct the Delaware River. Upon receiving news of the surrender of British general John Burgoyne's army to Major General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, Washington called a council of war to consider his army's options. Although his generals advised against an immediate assault on Philadelphia, Washington perceived an opportunity to defeat Howe and dispatched his aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton to the northern department to urge upon General Gates the ""absolute necessity"" of sending a ""very considerable"" reinforcement to the main army. If those troops arrived before the British could open a supply route on the Delaware or be reinforced from New York, then the American forces could ""in all probability reduce Genl Howe to the same situation in which Genl Burgoine now is."" There was little further that Washington could do to strengthen the Delaware River defenses, however, and despite the determined efforts of Fort Mifflin's defenders, the Americans were forced to evacuate the fort in mid-November following a sustained bombardment from British land and naval artillery. Moreover, British and Hessian troops from New York arrived before Washington's reinforcement and joined in the British occupation of Fort Mercer a few days later. After the fall of the Delaware River forts, Washington and his generals began extensive deliberations about the related questions of a possible winter campaign and where to quarter the troops for the winter. The generals were nearly unanimous that a winter campaign was not feasible, but they were divided between quartering the troops at Wilmington, Delaware, or in Pennsylvania along a line from Bethlehem to Lancaster. Washington settled on the third option discussed: hutting in the Great Valley of Pennsylvania. Consequently, the volume closes in December with Washington establishing his headquarters at Valley Forge, about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Volume 13 of the ""Revolutionary War Series"" documents a crucial portion of the winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, when the fate of Washington's army hung in the balance. It begins with Washington's soldiers hard at work erecting huts and preparing for the next campaign.

Volume 15 of the ""Revolutionary War Series"" documents a period that includes the Continental Army's last weeks at Valley Forge, the British evacuation of Philadelphia, and the Battle of Monmouth Court House. The volume begins with George Washington's army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, celebrating the new alliance between the United States and France. Washington joined in the festivities but did not become complacent, and as the celebrations ended he redirected his attention to winning the war. Over the next few weeks Steuben drilled the soldiers incessantly while Washington and Congress conducted a much-needed overhaul of the army's structure and administration. The benefits of the training became apparent on the evening of 19 May, when a large detachment under Major General Lafayette deftly evaded an attempted British entrapment at Barren Hill, Pennsylvania. Yet Washington had little time to ponder his troops' new efficiency and discipline. The British evacuation of Philadelphia began on the morning of 18 June, as General Henry Clinton's army crossed the Delaware River and marched east-northeast across New Jersey toward a rendezvous with British transport ships at Sandy Hook. The Continentals at first pursued at a respectful distance, but on 24 June Washington overrode the objections of some of his general officers and sent forward a detachment of 5,600 men under Major General Charles Lee to seek opportunities for attack. That opportunity came at Monmouth Court House on 28 June, in the midst of a brutal heat wave that claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers on both sides. Lee's attack at first caught the British by surprise, but General Cornwallis formed up his troops for a counterattack and easily drove Lee's detachment from the field. Washington meanwhile hurried forward with the remainder of his army and encountered Lee and his fleeing troops a short distance west of Monmouth Court House. Berating the dejected Lee for failing to follow orders, Washington stopped the retreat and formed a new line of defense. The remainder of the battle consisted of a series of closely fought encounters as Cornwallis attempted and failed to dislodge the Americans from their positions. That night the British withdrew east with the rest of Clinton's army, marching to Sandy Hook and thence sailing to New York, leaving Washington and his army in possession of the battlefield. Clinton considered the battle a successful delaying action; Washington, with equal certainty, declared it a glorious American victory.

The massive ""Revolutionary War Series"" (1775-1783) presents in documents and annotation the myriad military and political matters with which Washington dealt during the long war for American independence. Volume 16 documents a time of unusual optimism for Washington and his army. Following the great victory at the Battle of Monmouth, Washington received the welcome news that a French fleet had arrived in American waters. Understanding the advantages usually afforded to the British army by their control of the seas, Washington looked to deliver a decisive blow that might end the war.

Volume 17 of the ""Revolutionary War Series"" opens with Washington moving his army north from White Plains, New York, into new positions that ran from West Point to Danbury, Connecticut. His purpose in doing so was threefold: to protect his army, to protect the strategically important Hudson highlands, and to shore up the equally vital French fleet anchored at Boston. His new headquarters, located near Fredericksburg, New York, about seventy miles north of New York City, was one of the most obscure of the Revolutionary War. Nevertheless, Washington remained as busy with important tasks during the fall of 1778 as during any other period of the war.It was a time of delicate transition for the new Franco-American alliance and for British strategists yet unwilling to concede defeat. Both circumstances required Washington to exercise the sort of mental agility he had demonstrated during the first three years of the war. Equally pressing were the immediate problems of British raids - threatened and real - in New Jersey and New York and along the extensive American frontier and coastline. Within the Continental army, troubling breakdowns in discipline and morale demanded Washington's close attention, as did the logistical and political difficulties of planning proper troop dispositions for the coming winter - the fourth straight winter that Washington would not see home.Although Washington could not foresee in October 1778 that the British would soon try their hand at conquering the southern states and that the war would last another five years, he sensed that the British Ministry still had both the financial means and the political will to continue the struggle. Ever a realist, Washington recognized that American victory would not come cheaply in what had become a war of attrition as well as an international conflict involving North American, European, and Caribbean theaters. As he had done since 1775, Washington was once more adjusting his thoughts to meet new realities on the long road to American independence.

Volume 18 of the ""Revolutionary War"" series covers the period 1 November 1778 through 14 January 1779. It begins with George Washington at Fredericksburg, New York, watching New York City for signs that the British were about to evacuate North America. The British had very different intentions, however, dispatching the first of several amphibious expeditions to invade and conquer the Deep South. Congress meanwhile mulled plans for the formation of a Franco-American army and the invasion of Canada. Washington worked hard to quash these plans, which he considered both impractical and dangerous. On 11 November, he wrote a long letter to Congress laying out the military reasons why the invasion could never succeed.Three days later, he wrote another, private letter to the President of Congress, warning that a French army in Canada might attempt to reestablish France's North American empire, transforming allies into oppressors. While Congress reconsidered and ultimately scrapped its plans, Washington oversaw the transfer of the captive Convention Army from Boston to Charlottesville, Virginia; planned for the dispersal of his own army to winter cantonments across New Jersey; and rode to Philadelphia in late December to open crucial discussions with Congress about the reorganization of the Continental Army and American strategy for the 1779 campaign.

The publication of this volume has been supported by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Volume 19 of the ""Revolutionary War Series"" documents Washington's activities during the winter and early spring of 1779, when the bulk of his army was encamped at Middlebrook, New Jersey, strategically situated where the Watchung Mountains rise from the coastal plain in the middle of the state. Washington took advantage of the relative quiet of this period to consult with a congressional committee of conference in Philadelphia. He returned to Middlebrook in early February and devoted himself yet again to reorganizing and reinvigorating the Continental Army. Recruitment problems, disputes among officers over rank, and compensation woes had grown old, but Washington corresponded at length with state officials and Congress in order to keep an effective fighting force in the field. Winter camp also allowed Washington to consider future military operations. Emphasis fell on planning a punitive expedition against Indians of the Six Nations and Loyalists whose raids had terrorized settlers along the Pennsylvania - New York frontier. Washington's most immediate challenge was simply understanding the geography of this largely unknown region, and he sought information from anybody who had direct experience with the terrain and the Indian inhabitants, a group that included army officers, prisoners, land surveyors, interpreters, traders, and missionaries. Washington carefully sifted through these reports, observations, and opinions. To aid analysis, he consolidated the most pertinent materials, in his own handwriting, into a comparative table, and appended significant related items. His final plan called for the main force to cross the Susquehanna River at or near Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and strike into the heart of the border region while a supporting column advanced from near Albany, New York. After Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates declined Washington's offer to command this expedition, citing health reasons, it was accepted by Maj. Gen. John Sullivan, who left his post at Providence, Rhode Island, to begin preparations at Middlebrook. In a late-February reply to Mount Vernon manager Lund Washington's question about selling slaves, the general expressed his confidence in the eventual success of the American struggle for independence as well as his personal resolve, saying, 'if we should ultimately prove unsuccessful (of which I am under no apprehension unless it falls on us as a punishment for our want of public, & indeed private virtue) it would be a matter of very little consequence to me, whether my property is in Negroes, or loan office Certificates, as I shall neither ask for, nor expect any favor from his most gracious Majesty, nor any person acting under his authority'. By every measure, Washington remained indispensable to the Revolutionary cause.

As the largest of the original thirteen colonies, Virginia played a central role in the fight for independence and as a state in the new republic. Three remarkable Virginians stand out in their service to the new nation: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. This title presents biographical portraits of each of them.

Volume 22 of the Revolutionary War Series covers 1 Aug. through 21 Oct. 1779. As it begins, Washington is focused on expanding and strengthening the fortifications at West Point, N.Y., in the wake of the British attack in June that had captured King's Ferry, New York. Although he had to concentrate his army on the defence of West Point, Washington sought to launch whatever strikes he could against the British forts on the Hudson River and bring his operations on the western frontier to a successful conclusion. To follow up the successful assault on Stony Point, N.Y., Washington planned a surprise attack on Paulus Hook, New Jersey. Maj. Henry Lee carried out the assault on 19 Aug. and succeeded in capturing the garrison and effecting a retreat back to the American lines in New Jersey. During the weeks covered by this volume, Maj. Gen. John Sullivan successfully completed his devastating expedition against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations. Though not in tactical command of the expedition, Washington, particularly in August, had to dedicate a substantial portion of his time to supervising logistical support for the expedition and defending himself against Sullivan's charges of failing to properly support the campaign.Washington's overriding concern in August, other than strengthening the defences of West Point, was the long anticipated arrival of British army reinforcements that would enable the enemy to renew their attack up the Hudson. After he received information confirming arrival of the reinforcements in late August, Washington pushed his defensive preparations into high gear, issuing orders designed to concentrate the main army near West Point and gather information about the reinforcements and British intentions.But within two weeks, Washington's assessment of his intelligence reports had convinced him that the British reinforcements were too few to enable the enemy to launch an offensive. When intelligence reports of a large French fleet on the coast began to arrive in September, he turned to planning his own offensive operations.The prospect of the arrival of the powerful French fleet of Vice Admiral d'Estaing on the American coast promised an opportunity to overcome British naval superiority. Washington first designed a limited attack on the British outposts surrounding New York City. Then, after receiving official confirmation from Congress of the arrival of the French admiral on the American coast, Washington planned a major attack on New York itself; an attack, as the letters in this volume show, which Washington designed to be decisive, to drive the British from North America, and potentially end the war.

As October 1779 became November, George Washington realized that autumn had advanced too far for a combined Franco-American assault against the British forces in New York City that year, and he curtailed preparations. After a large British expedition departed New York in late December, Washington concentrated on settling his Army for the winter, which already had become unusually snowy and brutally cold. Troubles confronting the army and the incipient nation did not erode Washington's sense of humanity. When Elizabeth Burgin, a widow who had assisted American prisoners in New York City, called upon him for assistance, Washington ordered the commissary at Philadelphia to provide her with provisions and successfully urged Congress to extend additional relief. He also took careful measures to facilitate his wife Martha's travels from Mount Vernon to join him at winter camp at Morristown. As British persistence, physical suffering among the troops, financial difficulties, and widespread disgruntlement eclipsed the optimism emanating from the enemy's evacuation of Rhode Island that October, Washington's personal fortitude and steadiness at this daunting time was crucial to the revolutionary cause.

With volume 24 of the Revolutionary War Series, the conflict enters a new decade. New Year's Day 1780 finds Washington in winter quarters at Morristown, N.J., having established his headquarters at the Ford mansion there one month earlier.During the weeks covered by this volume, the Continental army experienced the harshest winter of the war. But the severity of the winter did not prevent Washington from mounting an offensive against British forces. Ice had formed a natural bridge to Staten Island, and Washington decided to use the situation to launch a major attack on the enemy's forts there. He assigned Major General Stirling to command the strike and assigned him 2,600 troops. Stirling launched the assault as planned in the early morning of 15 January, but the next day he had to report to Washington that the operation had failed. Although the attack was fruitless, it provides evidence of Washington's aggressive generalship: a major winter attack designed to cut off and capture enemy garrisons.Washington's enemy was not idle either. In addition to several raids on New Jersey towns and surprise attacks on outlying detachments, the British launched one operation with a far more ambitious goal: to seize Washington at the Ford mansion and carry him into New York City as a prisoner. The attack failed, but it was the deep snow--and not American bullets--that stopped the cavalry force sent to capture Washington.Enemy operations, however, were not the greatest threat to the survival of Washington's army. The harshness of the winter, the precarious state of Continental finances, and the resulting lack of provisions threatened his forces with starvation. To feed his troops, Washington implemented an emergency ""requisition"" of provisions throughout New Jersey.As usual, administration of the army consumed much of Washington's time. In addition to obtaining supplies, he had to oversee recruiting the army, obtaining clothing for his men, negotiating for the exchange of prisoners, and conducting inspections, as well as attending to the professionalism and discipline of the army. His burden became so heavy that in February he felt it would be ""impossible"" for him to execute the duties of commander in chief unless he received more support from his senior officers.Several letters to or from well-known figures of the Revolution appear in this volume, including Benedict Arnold, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Morris. Washington's letter to Morris gives rare insight into the general's personal life. The commander in chief expressed his inclination to accept Morris's invitation to spend some of the winter with him, but he lamented that ""public duty"" necessitated remaining with the army at Morristown. He would, he explained to Morris, have to forgo such ""social enjoyments"" until the end of the war.

Bad weather plagued Gen. George Washington’s army during its winter encampment near Morristown, N.J., far into the spring of 1780. Finances caused further woes. Commissaries lacked both cash and credit to obtain provisions, and food shortages meant restless troops. Only vigorous exertions b largely anonymous supply officers kept Washington’s army intact. Recognizing these grave financial needs, Congress passed reform legislation in March, but any benefit from the new system lay in the future. Washington tried to be optimistic as he tackled present challenges. Numerous officer resignations worried the general, who felt the loss of such experienced men undercut the army’s effectiveness. Sensitive about morale, he pursued negotiations for a general prisoner exchange. Talks broke down quickly, however, because British negotiators acted only on local military authority rather than on the authority of the king. To Washington, that approach failed to recognize the legitimacy of the United States as a nation. Armed conflict as well as administrative perplexities occupied Washington’s thoughts. At no point could he escape the reality that soldiers fought, soldiers died, and survivors – both comrades and loved ones – grieved. Raids into the patrol areas generally east of Morristown caused significant casualties on 22 March and 16 April. A larger confrontation unfolded around Charleston, S.C., where a British expedition from New York City encircled the city and its defenders under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. Washington sent additional reinforcements and encouraged the beleaguered Lincoln, but Charleston’s surrender on 12 May eventually came as no surprise. Washington hoped for better things from a congressional "Committee at Headquarters," appointed to deal directly with the principal army officers to solve vexing supply questions. Such an approach promised some good after previous verbal sniping. Additionally, Major General Lafayette returned to the United States from France to announce the coming of a French expeditionary army. The king wanted this force to serve under Washington. The possibilities for this allied command undoubtedly excited the general, who openly recently had extended himself to pay proper respect to French minister La Luzerne during that official’s visit to Morristown. Army responsibilities left Washington little opportunity to address his personal business, but he doted over a carriage purchase and offered the usual futile financial advice to his stepson John Parke Custis. Legal engagements undertaken years earlier for George William Fairfax and George Mercer provoked headaches. Despite Washington’s conscientious efforts, these entanglements persisted until after the war. Washington never quailed form a personal or public obligation. Very much the realist, he knew that his army faced steep odds. Determined to overcome all obstacles, he strode ahead, fully aware that he shouldered the heaviest burdens of the revolutionary cause.

Bad weather plagued Gen. George Washington's army during its winter encampment near Morristown, N.J., far into the spring of 1780. Finances caused further woes. Commissaries lacked both cash and credit to obtain provisions, and food shortages meant restless troops. Only vigorous exertions b largely anonymous supply officers kept Washington's army intact. Recognizing these grave financial needs, Congress passed reform legislation in March, but any benefit from the new system lay in the future. Washington tried to be optimistic as he tackled present challenges. Numerous officer resignations worried the general, who felt the loss of such experienced men undercut the army's effectiveness. Sensitive about morale, he pursued negotiations for a general prisoner exchange. Talks broke down quickly, however, because British negotiators acted only on local military authority rather than on the authority of the king. To Washington, that approach failed to recognize the legitimacy of the United States as a nation. Armed conflict as well as administrative perplexities occupied Washington's thoughts. At no point could he escape the reality that soldiers fought, soldiers died, and survivors - both comrades and loved ones - grieved. Raids into the patrol areas generally east of Morristown caused significant casualties on 22 March and 16 April. A larger confrontation unfolded around Charleston, S.C., where a British expedition from New York City encircled the city and its defenders under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. Washington sent additional reinforcements and encouraged the beleaguered Lincoln, but Charleston's surrender on 12 May eventually came as no surprise. Washington hoped for better things from a congressional ""Committee at Headquarters,"" appointed to deal directly with the principal army officers to solve vexing supply questions. Such an approach promised some good after previous verbal sniping. Additionally, Major General Lafayette returned to the United States from France to announce the coming of a French expeditionary army. The king wanted this force to serve under Washington. The possibilities for this allied command undoubtedly excited the general, who openly recently had extended himself to pay proper respect to French minister La Luzerne during that official's visit to Morristown. Army responsibilities left Washington little opportunity to address his personal business, but he doted over a carriage purchase and offered the usual futile financial advice to his stepson John Parke Custis. Legal engagements undertaken years earlier for George William Fairfax and George Mercer provoked headaches. Despite Washington's conscientious efforts, these entanglements persisted until after the war. Washington never quailed form a personal or public obligation. Very much the realist, he knew that his army faced steep odds. Determined to overcome al obstacles, he strode ahead, fully aware that he shouldered the heaviest burdens of the revolutionary cause.

Three major themes dominate George Washington’s correspondence in volume 27 of the Revolutionary War Series: the arrival of a French expeditionary army and navy, the urgent need to prepare the Continental army for a joint Franco-American offensive to take New York City, and the cultivation of Washington’s relationship with Lieutenant General Rochambeau, the commander of the French army. Urgency and vigor typified Washington’s planning throughout, as he raised new Continental troops, obtained militia reinforcements, increased Stocks of ammunition, gathered wagons and horses, and recognized that he and Rochambeau possessed similar views on campaign plans and other matters—a development that would ultimately prove essential to victory at Yorktown and the successful conclusion of the war.

In late August 1780, Gen. George Washington was buoyed by expectations that French reinforcements would participate in an attack on New York City and that a southern army was poised to advance through South Carolina and possibly regain Charleston. News soon reached him that a key division was delayed in France and that units under Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates had been scattered near Camden, S.C. In response to these crises, Washington dismissed northern militia to conserve supplies, directed additional forces to the southern department, and selected Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to replace Gates. In a dramatic turn of events, Washington learned of the defection of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold - who had plotted with British adjutant general John André to betray West Point - and, acting decisively, concentrated his troops and rebuffed British appeals to spare the captured André (who was hanged as a spy), ensuring the rescue of the Post & Garrison of West point from Arnolds villainous perfidy.

In volume 29 of the Revolutionary War Series, problems and frustrations dominate the final nine weeks of 1780 for Gen. George Washington—particularly the failure to strike a meaningful blow against the British headquartered in New York City and its environs. He abruptly canceled implementation of his own complex plan to assault the forts on northern Manhattan in late November, focusing instead on maintaining his troops through the winter’s chronic shortages of provisions.Unlike previous winter encampments, Washington separated his command to avoid undue pressure on any one place for food and forage, as well as to protect strategic points. The distressing situation in the southern department was also a concern, as Major General Nathanael Greene traveled to take command of the shattered army and relayed discouraging reports on the lack of immediate assistance in the form of troops or supplies. Washington, who assured his anxious subordinate in a private letter written on 13 Dec. that "the great public" was not "so unreasonable as to expect impossibilities," did all he could to put men and material at Greene’s disposal and shared the ominous news that a British expedition had sailed from New York in late December. Washington and Major General Lafayette, who sought additional support from his French countrymen and from increasingly sympathetic European countries, both realized that overzealousness in diplomacy could be counterproductive. Meanwhile, a new congressional establishment of the Continental army adopted in October and promulgated in the general orders for 1 Nov. buoyed Washington’s optimism, and he welcomed Martha Washington’s arrival at his winter headquarters and penned a rare joke involving Greene’s son approaching his first birthday in a letter to that general’s wife, Catharine. Throughout these tumultuous times, rather than become unpleasant and brittle, Washington demonstrated emotional and mental balance, attributes essential to the eventual success of the revolutionary cause.

This volume 30 of the Revolutionary War series opens in January 1781 with a mutiny in the Continental army’s Pennsylvania regiments, presenting Gen. George Washington with one of the most formidable crises of the war. Although a negotiated settlement resolved the problem, he feared the implications for discipline in the rest of the army. Washington’s concerns were well founded, as news reached him that the New Jersey troops had followed suit. He sent a detachment of New England troops to put down the rebellion. In the meantime, a coastal storm that damaged British ships offered Washington an opportunity to defeat and capture Benedict Arnold, now in command of British and Loyalist troops in Virginia. The subsequent joint naval and land offensive with the French shifted the main theater of war from New York to the southern states, foreshadowing the coming campaign of Yorktown.