Posted on 07/30/2019 4:51:24 PM PDT by Perseverando
In the decades prior to the Revolutionary War, tensions arose between the two largest global powers: BRITAIN, led by King George II, and FRANCE, led by King Louis XV.
Because of their alliances with other nations, fighting escalated into the first global war -- the Seven Years War, or as it was called in America, the French and Indian War.
The conflict included every major power in Europe as well as their colonies from the Caribbean, to India, to the Philippines, and to Africa.
Over a million died.
It was sparked by the ambush in 1754 of a French detachment in the Ohio Valley by British militia led by 22-year-old Virginia Colonel George Washington.
During this crisis, people turned to Christ.
The Great Awakening Revival swept through the American colonies.
A notable dissenting preacher, Samuel Davies, spread revival across racial lines and was heard by many in Virginia, including Patrick Henry, who credited Davies with "teaching me what an orator should be."
Rev. Davies regularly invited hundreds of slaves to his home for a Bible study on Saturday evenings, their only free time, and taught them hymns and how to read.
Realizing the importance of education, Davies helped found Princeton University, and was chosen its president after Jonathan Edward's sudden death.
In 1755, 1,400 British troops marched over the Appalachian Mountains to seize French Fort Duquesne, near present day Pittsburgh.
One of the wagon drivers for the British was 21-year-old Daniel Boone.
On July 9, 1755, they passed through a deep wooded ravine along the Monongahela River eight miles south of the fort.
Suddenly, they were ambushed by French regulars and Canadians accompanied by Potawatomi and Ottawa Indians.
Not accustomed to fighting unless in an open field,
(Excerpt) Read more at myemail.constantcontact.com ...
“It also showed people that one can grow and mature as a leader.”
I read that Washington’s greatest asset was that he KNEW he wasn’t ALWAYS the smartest man in the room which enabled him to see that others had better plans and he would accept and execute those plans with the same vigor and determination as he would his own.
General Washington was particularly galled by the fact he had been run out of the city of New York. It was his burning passion to retake the city and keep the British out.
When the French naval leader de Grasse informed Washington that he intended to blockade the Chesapeake bay Washington abandoned New York, the apple of his eye, and set out for Virginia.
Washington was also known for his loyalty, honor and sense of justice.
When Cornwallis forced the surrender of Charles town, SC he denied the request of Continental General Benjamin Lincoln to be allowed to surrender with Military Honors of War.
When Cornwallis asked to surrender with Military Honors of War General George Washington insisted: “The same Honors will be granted to the Surrendering Army as were granted to the Garrison of Charles Town.”
When Cornwallis’s sword was presented to General Washington by the British second in command he refused and gestured to his second in command, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, the same man who had been treated so shabbily at Charles town.
Is there any wonder his officers loved him?
Very interesting. I’m going to watch the Netflix series on this spy ring. Maybe my ancestor was a spy, sure sounds like it. The British were full of drink and food and were playing cards when the messenger arrived.
Yeah, that message was probably on it’s way to the colonial army before the British finished playing cards. :p)
Turn is about the Culper spy ring, so named by Washington for Culpeper county, Va which Washington surveyed as a young man.
The members of the Culper ring were everyday people who had access to information through their everyday lives.
One was the owner of a loyalist paper prominent in New York.
Another was the writer for the society section of that newspaper. Both men had access to high ranking loyalists and British officers.
Anna Strong would hang her laundry in a certain manner to let her contact know when a message was dropped and at which pre-arranged drop site it would be found.
The Culper ring
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/spying-and-espionage/american-spies-of-the-revolution/
Washington was the consummate spy master.
He set about creating an intelligence organization that was on the cutting edge of spycraft of the day.
Knowing that invisible ink was visible when heat was applied, held over a lit candle, Washington drafted James Jay (brother of John Jay) to develop an invisible ink that only became visible when a chemical re-agent was applied (think the secret msgs on the Declaration of Independence in the movie National Treasure).
The colonial intelligence service designed ever evolving codes that the British never seemed to catch up to.
After the war one British intelligence officer stated “Washington did not really outfight the British. He simply out-spied us.”
The spies were so vital to the Independence cause that their names were kept secret long after the war.
Washington the spymaster
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/spying-and-espionage/george-washington-spymaster/
Very interesting information. My next book is one called Young Washington by Peter Stark. Washington was a brilliant man. Going to read more about the spies. Fascinating!
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