Show C DEBT W to 16 probably the only man who could have won liberty for the people which he had to encounter were almost insurmountable lack of proper training hampered continentals in all their daule battles 1 I EORGE washington the GEORGE commander of 0 the Amer american lern U armies knew better than any oe O Q e else the offensive offe nelve and defensive value of the forces under him and ho be baa has left a vivid written record of at the relative value of untrained short term men and of a disciplined ions term body made ot at individuals of the same class lie ile plainly expressed his opinion fully confirmed by military men sinco since his time of at tho the army needed by this country when soon after the iho disaster at camden bo be wrote to congress what we need la is a good army not a large one probably no war was ever carried carriou on where the one side was represent ed in the field by so great a proportion of at unorganized troops not under a central national ca tiona coi control Arol and no great commander betre or since has ever succeeded with so rapidly shifting shit ting a body of badly equipped men at the battle of bunker hill ao an army of untrained Ame american manu minute a men and militia under the command however however of veteran officers like prescott frescott stark putnam and knowlton of the higher rank and among the lower officers a sprinkling of men experienced in the french and english wars from behind mento hastily erected but of at value against low power armament successfully resisted two attacks of well organized and disciplined british veterans with a loss to the latter of 1054 killed and wounded but theeo earno same troops by virtue not of superior individual courage but of their combined valor and discipline were rallied by their well trained officers made a third charge and although outnumbered succeeded in driving the am at the point of the bayonet from fram their trenches their supply of tit powder lang exhausted and their muskets not having bay oneta the Amr american rIcan force was vas justly justy proud of its resistance and of the heavy punishment it had inflicted V but at the result was in spite ot 0 ha its good fight a defeat to its lt arms perhaps only through failure in the quartermasters map department the british however pr carried the hill on account of the bolter 0 for of their line the better control of their officers and because their supply of ammunition was not exhausted and they thereby prevented the success of the colonial military plan this story in various ways wae was many times repeated in the war of the revolution always with the came same result in spite of the brilliant gen erale oral hip ship of washington greene schuyler chuyler TS lee and others I 1 the he americans did nol win a single victory over the british i regular croope when the latter were not outnumbered A brief of the powers of the continental congress will show what were the chief causes of this weakness in fn our armies that led so near to the collapse of our national defense and caused the intense anxiety and distress to washington and the band of patriot patriots about him in the army and in congress the congress presented as able and d vota men as were ver gathered in a single body but abay wore were not trained in the systematic methods of great deliberative bodies and above ill represented one of the very weakest forma forms of governmental power a mere confederacy or league of several states or colonies and without real governmental functions function a e although it assume assumed d both exec executive utise and legislative powers it bad had no authority to raise revenue and could only emit bills of credit their redemption being pledged by the twelve united colonies it la Is not singular that the staton refused to burrer to this loosly connect connected pd congress tae the control of the militia with officers of state selection gathered by sacrifice for tho the protection of its own state states not toro fare seeing aa as tas as proved eventually victory tor for the colonies could be won only by the long term organized and ira disciplined composing a ermall but good army congress antho in tho winter winter of 1775 recognizing Ogal zing zilig the necessity of raising troops to take the place of at those whose terms expired resolved to provide tv twenty enty six 1 with power to washington to the officers otil cors re eusted in many les for him and bis his wanz Sti uil al oMi cers for aa as wash aglon wrote connecticut wanted no massachusetts man in her bar corps mas blas acu seUa could see e no necessity for laying having a rhone island man in hers tal new hampshire says it is s very hard ard that her exper experienced leo ced ofil cars hould should be discarded because her own annot iannot i for them november 11 ho he wrote ganv of be the officers expected pro mellon others stood aloof to bee see what advantage they I 1 could make for themselves the difili culty with tho the rold lers was greater if pos possible bible than with tho the officers they refried ref tied to enlist unless they knew theu colonel lieutenant colonel major and capt captain aln up to november 19 10 only men bad had enlisted by november 23 28 they bad had reached 2600 2500 and they all wanted furlough wrote our situation Is truly alarming and of thia this contral howe Is well weh apprised it being the tie common tc ace c of at conversation when the people let left boston last friday in a private letter of tho the lame LAMS time ho he wrote puch such a da arth of public spirit suh stu k jobbing and fertility in all the low arts to obtain advantages in tha groat great change of military arrangement arrouge ment I 1 pray gods mercy I 1 may never rever sod arlain ebat will bo be the end of these maneuvers Is b beyond yond my scan I 1 tremble at the pros prospect we have teen until this time enlisting about thirty five hundred men after attar the last I 1 of this month mouth our lines will be so weakened that the minuteman and militia must bo be called jn in for our defense and these being under no kind of government will destroy destray the little subordination I 1 have been laboring to establish und and run me into one evil while I 1 am endeavoring to avoid another but the loss less must be chosen after five yeara years of experience exper lenco in command of the armies arrates washington thus expressed himself jn a letter to tho the president of at the congress cung reea dated august 20 1780 had we formed a permanent army armr in tho the beginning which by the con ti nuance of the same men in service bad had been capable of discipline we never should have bad had to retreat with a handful of men across the delaware in 1776 trembling tor for the fate of america which nothing but tho the infatuation of the enemy could nive saved we should not bavo have r remained all the sue suc boeding winter ut ot their mercy with sometimes scarcely a sufficient clent body of men to mount tho the ordinary guard we should not havo have been at valley forge destitute of everything in a situation neither to resist norto nor to re Com commander marder in chief aide aldo de do camp and line Of fletro tire we should not haye have soon seen the country ravaged our towns burned the inhabitants plundered abused murd arod with impunity the derangement oil 01 our finances Is to essentially to be to it the ex expenses of the war ard the ems emissions of at paper money have been greatly ra multiplied by it 11 our discipline has been much hurt if not mined by such constant changes there la to overy every reason to believe that the war has been protracted on an this account A little later washington wrote ro garding that defeat of general ortes at camden Rei Re sular cular troop aai atine are equal to the exigencies of var iyan fare as well defense as of fence fenie and wherever a substitute Is attempt ed it must prove illusory and rul nour nouv in my ideas of the true system ot at war tho the object ought to bo be to have a good army rather than a large one during the entire war the tho lack of money entailed greatest suffering upon the army but the men of at the con continent tinen tal army with the exception of at ono one or two regiments were true to the he end through hunger cold sickness ekness Bl poverty at born hom nakedness and defeat for this fidelity there were three reasons pason a patriotism sin training ard george washington |