We do seem to be spending a lot of time with George Washington this week.

It stands to reason, though: Washington was a very busy guy at this time, what with getting his army organized. That meant finding the men who were smart and reliable, to get the ones who weren’t into fighting shape. It also meant figuring out what resources he had and what he needed.

What we’re learning is that the men that he did promote would eventually go on to prosper, whether in the military or in politics or just their personal lives after the war. There were only a few who did not, and oftentimes there was a reason. Not all of them didn’t prosper out of incompetence; some of them simply had to deal with things like illness or lingering effects of injuries inflicted during the conflict.

The post August 15, 1775: Washington Makes Some Appointments appeared first on 250 and Counting.

There’s an episode of The West Wing in which Leo McGarry explains how, several years earlier, the President wanted to meet the Dalai Lama. The problem was that China was strongly opposed to such a meeting, so they arranged for an “accidental” meeting between the two:

Set up a low-level meeting with someone else and leave the door open. The President wanders by, “Hey, how ya doing, Dalai Lama?”

The point is, diplomacy can be weird. And when the Continental Army, needed gunpowder from Bermuda, it was arranged to have the gunpowder be “stolen” from their armory and somehow make its way into American hands.

Who knew!

The post August 14, 1775: “Stolen” Goods From Bermuda appeared first on 250 and Counting.

As you may recall, several months ago some members of the Continental Congress thought it was important to make one last effort to reconcile with Britain before things got worse. So they composed the Olive Branch Petition and sent it off to England.

Transit times being what they were then, the petition took several weeks to get to its destination. In the meantime, things got worse.

So when the Olive Branch Petition arrived, nobody really cared. But there were two other documents that made matters worse. Plus, you know, all the shooting that went on in April. And in June.

The post August 13, 1775: The Olive Branch Petition Arrives in England appeared first on 250 and Counting.

One thing that you can’t say about George Washington is that he was a slacker. He was constantly communicating with people, whether it was the orders of the day, making plans to organize his army, or writing letters. And Washington was absolutely prolific at writing letters.

In this case, he’s writing to a Rhode Island merchant, thanking him for the advance notice of an incoming shipment, and reassuring him that the shipment will reach its destination safely, at least to the extent that he had any control over the matter.

The post August 12, 1775: George Washington Writes a “Dear John” Letter appeared first on 250 and Counting.

While today is perhaps the earliest documented instance of George Washington expressing concern for his captured troops, it certainly wouldn’t be the last. For years he worried about this, largely because the British didn’t always consider the Continental Army to be a genuine army, nor did they consider themselves to be “at war” with America; instead this was some kind of petty grievance that needed to be put down.

As a result, Washington was in frequent communication with his counterparts on the British side, and several people on the Colonial side, expressing his worry that his men were being treated poorly…or worse.

The post August 11, 1775: Washington Gets Serious About POWs appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It’s peculiar, sometimes, how we know a lot of stuff about famous people, but we don’t often know much about their relatives. Sometimes we don’t realize that they even existed,

John Adams had two brothers, one of whom died on this day in 1775. He wasn’t famous, but he did have some involvement with the Siege of Boston until illness struck. Something like that must have made the loss just that much more worse for John, and the war effort that much more personal.

The post August 10, 1775: John Adams Loses A Brother appeared first on 250 and Counting.

This. This artwork right here is why I’m reluctant to use A.I. to generate cover art. But this one came out too hilarious for me not to use, am I right?

George Washington worried about supplies for his troops pretty much throughout the Revolutionary War. Sometimes it was ammunition, as we discussed a couple of days ago, other times it was basic things like clothing and blankets.

Fortunately, there were people who heard his concerns and took action on behalf of the soldiers who were working to break us away from England.

The post August 9, 1775: An Appeal for Supplies appeared first on 250 and Counting.

It was another net win for the Americans as the HMS Falcon, which had originally been assigned to the Colonies to enforce the Intolerable Acts, took a run at stealing livestock in order to provision the British who were stuck in Boston during the siege.

Unfortunately for them, the Colonists were wise to their moves and took appropriate action…more than once.

The post August 8, 1775: The Battle of Gloucester appeared first on 250 and Counting.

Once again, complacency wins the day. An American ship heads to Florida to raid the British ammunition stores there, and instead stumbles on a ship carrying literal tons of gunpowder. And it’s easily captured because the crew was asleep.

Wasn’t anyone on watch? Apparently not, or they still managed to allow the American ship to get close enough that they could get on board. EIther way, American ships weren’t worth considering, and there wasn’t any American Navy…yet. But events over the next few days could change all that.

The post August 7, 1775: A Victory in Failure appeared first on 250 and Counting.

I’m the first to admit that my math didn’t work out during yesterday’s episode. I have no excuse other than I’m on vacation this week and perhaps not as detail-oriented as usual.

You may remember a couple of days ago when we mentioned that one of the things that broke in George Washington’s favor was the timely arrival of a company of riflemen. These were the men in question. Rifles have different barrels from the typical guns that Colonial forces used, and were therefore more accurate. In addition, riflemen were specially trained for improved accuracy.

Daniel Morgan’s crew was one of the reasons that Washington’s ruse against the British worked out well: with these men around, the British were less likely to attack, and Washington was able to replenish his ammunition stores within a couple of weeks.

The post August 6, 1775: A Long March in August appeared first on 250 and Counting.