During the American Revolution George Washington didn’t have any Tier-1 Spec Ops, but he made the most of what he had.Posted on 11/13/2017 6:23:27 AM PST by w1n1
During the American Revolution George Washington didn’t have any Tier-1 Spec Ops, but he made the most of what he had.
When we think of modern day Special Forces, we think of Seal Team 6, Delta Force and the Green Berets. Back in the day of the American Revolution era, what did George Washington have? In a time where warfare was all about marching to fife and drum then lined up in rows to blast away with muskets at fifty paces. What did they know about unconventional warfare?
According to retired U.S. Army colonel Robert Tonsetic explains that unconventional warfare was a major part of the War of Independence. He states traditionally special operations has a long historic roots dating back to King Philip’s War of 1675, when the Plymouth Colony formed “an experimental group of men who would train and operate using Native American tactics to attack Indian war parties, and raid their camps in the dense forests and swamps.” However, if you were to ask other researchers, special operations existed back into the B.C. era.
Roger’s Rangers were famous in the French and Indian War, where Indian and French troops ambushed British regulars and American militia. By the time when the American Revolution was underway, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys—a band of Vermont irregulars—used small boats to cross Lake Champlain and seize Fort Ticonderoga in a coup de main in 1775.
Getting back to Washington’s spec ops soldiers, he created “Knowlton’s Rangers”, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Knowlton. They were an elite unit designed for reconnaissance, espionage missions and outfitted as a regiment of light infantry. Read the rest of George Washington Commandos story here.
Ping.
I’ve read more than once that the tactic of attacking from the side brush, as depicted in “The Patriot”, is a real re-enactment.
Rogers Rangers...then BC how about Abraham’s 300 or Gideon’s army? Sparta?
well the Loyalist sure did...
My ancestors were in Butler’s Rangers and the “Indian department” where they were paid extra as interpreters...they had lived amongst the Indians so they must have known something about one on one fighting etc...
Yep.
In grade school, I did a report on it.
Guerrilla warfare tactics.
I doubt that public schools teach about it these days.
Ask the Brits how they liked that march back to Boston from Concord?
One year I went on Patriots Day weekend to see how British officers conducted the retreat by moving skirmish lines front and back, left and right, to keep the main body intact amidst the narrow road surrounded by woods. Fascinating.
My first thought, too. The story of the “Battle Road”is amazing. The Brits came darn close to being completely wiped out on the march back to Boston. David Hackett Fisher wrote a thrilling account of it in “Paul Revere’s Ride.”
The second one that comes to mind is Arnold’s march to Quebec through the swamps of Maine.
Thanks w1n1.
Another Revolutionary war event comes to mind but I can’t recall any names.
A British army advanced south from Canada or upstate NY via a wilderness road and was continuously bushwacked by Indians in alliance with colonial operators.
The brits were bogged down by their huge baggage train and families in tow.
“The Swamp Fox”
that looks suspect...you can see around the edges the picture has been modified in photoshop also the gen 4 nvg (why use something so old and no multicam pattern on the housing) , hmmm, calling BS on this...we all know he crossed in a stealth submarine...
great pic...!!
He went commando. Everywhere.
Daniel Morgan
Before Robert Rogers was .......... Benjamin Church.
"My body lies on Mt Vernon, my clothes are upstairs." [centennial of GW's birth, memorial statue, Horatio Greenough, 1841]
Gen. John Burgoyne?
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