The Glenn Beck Program - Gambles & Glory： Washington and the Revolutionary War ｜ The American Story ｜ Ep 7

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00:00:19.220 It's Christmas night, 1776.

00:00:23.040 The Delaware River is frozen.

00:00:25.120 It's an obstacle course, chunks of ice drifting like slowed daggers through the current.

00:00:30.000 Snow pelts the men's faces and numbs their fingers as they row.

00:00:35.180 When striving for silence, every splash of an oar feels louder than a gunshot.

00:00:42.540 General George Washington, tall, solemn, wrapped in a heavy cloak, stands near the bow of his boat.

00:00:50.340 He says very little. He doesn't have to.

00:00:53.500 Everyone here knows the stakes.

00:00:56.040 A ragtag bunch of farmers, merchants, and dreamers shivering in the threadbare coats,

00:01:01.640 their morale as thin as the ice coating the ground on the opposite bank.

00:01:06.760 The Continental Army has been thrashed repeatedly and chased across New Jersey.

00:01:12.920 Its numbers have shrunk from 19,000 to less than 6,000. Most enlistments expire in just days.

00:01:20.280 If this night fails, the revolution could very well die before the new year begins.

00:01:28.000 Sometimes, desperation breeds boldness.

00:01:32.860 The British, they think the war is over for the winter, and they've hired German Hessian mercenaries,

00:01:39.040 and they are all in cozy quarters having just enjoyed Christmas celebrations with plenty of wine.

00:01:45.760 Washington's plan is audacious.

00:01:48.740 it's straight out of a heist movie. They're going to cross the icy Delaware River under the cover

00:01:55.120 of darkness, march nine miles, and launch a surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton

00:02:01.900 just before the sun comes up. It's a gamble against time, a gamble against weather and

00:02:08.520 exhaustion, but Washington is convinced this gamble is a must. He splits his force to approach

00:02:16.060 Trenton from different angles. Many of his men are barefoot and without coats, trudging through

00:02:21.980 the snow and gutting it out for the commander they still believe in despite the massive setbacks.

00:02:28.300 The river fights them, waves crashing, ice grinding against the flat-bottomed freight

00:02:33.740 boats that are built for hauling iron. Hours tick by. They're late. Dawn now threatens to expose them.

00:02:42.380 It's after 8 a.m. when Washington's troops finally swarm into Trenton.

00:02:49.320 There's no turning back now.

00:02:51.320 The Hessian troops stumble from their barracks into heavy musket and cannon fire.

00:02:56.500 In the frenzied charge, an 18-year-old Virginian takes a musket ball through the shoulder that severs an artery.

00:03:04.460 He collapses. He's bleeding out in the snow.

00:03:07.840 A civilian doctor named John Riker, as in Riker's Island, rushes into the fray.

00:03:14.940 Riker's not in the army.

00:03:16.900 He'd just shown up to offer his assistance when he heard the battle erupt.

00:03:21.960 Spotting the fallen officer, he tears open the man's uniform and clamps the artery with his bare fingers.

00:03:28.300 It works.

00:03:29.340 Dr. Riker saves the young lieutenant's life.

00:03:32.800 A young man named James Monroe, who is going to go on to serve as the nation's fifth president.

00:03:42.100 The battle lasts barely 45 minutes.

00:03:45.400 It's a lopsided victory for Washington's men.

00:03:48.240 22 Hessians killed, 900 captured, along with a trove of much-needed weapons and supplies.

00:03:56.700 Trenton isn't just another battle for the Americans.

00:03:59.920 It's a lifeline.

00:04:01.120 For the very first time, Washington's army has beaten some of the world's best soldiers

00:04:07.880 in open combat.

00:04:10.300 Word spreads like wildfire across the colonies.

00:04:13.740 Hope that was so nearly extinguished begins to burn again.

00:04:18.360 But the revolution is far from over.

00:04:22.080 Because across the Atlantic, the British are already planning their next move.

00:04:27.740 as bleak as the winter of 1776 has been for Washington and his men, an even darker winter

00:04:34.800 lies just ahead.

00:04:38.760 This is The American Story, The Beginnings, adapted from the book of the same title by

00:04:45.660 David Barton and Tim Barton.

00:04:49.480 Episode 7, Gambles and Glory, Washington and the Revolutionary War.

00:04:57.740 By late summer 1777, George Washington knew what British General William Howe was thinking.

00:05:08.440 Philadelphia, the rebel capital, was in his sights.

00:05:12.180 The British commander had 18,000 disciplined troops and a navy to move them wherever he wished.

00:05:18.880 If he took Philadelphia, it would strike at the revolution's nerve center.

00:05:25.240 Washington's instinct was to block him.

00:05:28.940 So he moved his Continental Army to defend it, positioning his troops strategically around the city.

00:05:35.140 He had maybe 11,000 men who were hungry, underpaid, and half-trained.

00:05:40.420 Yet he decided a bold show of force might impress the locals and lift everyone's spirit.

00:05:46.900 A grand parade through Philadelphia's streets, letting citizens cheer for their defenders.

00:05:51.680 it would help prove to Americans, and perhaps to himself, that the cause was still alive.

00:05:58.340 But as his men marched, it was clear they were no polished European force.

00:06:05.000 John Adams watched from a window and wrote with bold admiration and pity.

00:06:10.040 Our soldiers have not yet quite the air of soldiers.

00:06:13.620 They don't step exactly in time.

00:06:16.160 They don't hold up their heads quite erect, nor turn out their toes exactly as they ought. 0.95

00:06:21.220 The ragtag vibe was undeniable, but it was all they had. 0.88

00:06:26.580 It was the portrait of an army learning on the job.

00:06:32.300 General Howe landed his forces south of Philadelphia and marched inland.

00:06:37.720 Washington chose to meet him along Brandywine Creek.

00:06:41.380 Before the main clash, though, a chilling what-if moment unfolded.

00:06:47.100 Washington rode forward with a few officers to scout the ground.

00:06:51.220 What he didn't know was that in the nearby woods lurked one of Britain's finest marksmen,

00:06:59.320 Major Patrick Ferguson.

00:07:01.640 He was armed with a cutting-edge breech-loading rifle.

00:07:05.900 Ferguson spotted a tall, distinguished-looking officer on horseback and had him dead to rights.

00:07:13.580 But then this officer turned his horse and his back to the sniper.

00:07:18.840 took his finger off the trigger. He couldn't shoot this man in the back. Washington rode on,

00:07:25.780 oblivious to the potential disaster, and Ferguson only found out later that he had spared the one

00:07:32.080 and only George Washington. That brief moment of hesitation might have changed world history.

00:07:39.240 The Battle of Brandywine erupted on September 11, 1777

00:07:46.040 Howe's forces executed an ideal flank maneuver

00:07:50.580 Catching the Americans off guard

00:07:52.300 Washington's lines buckled

00:07:54.540 His army splintered into another humiliating defeat

00:07:57.680 With 300 killed, 600 wounded, and 400 captured

00:08:01.980 Adding salt to the wound

00:08:05.020 A week later, British infantry crept through the Midnight Woods

00:08:09.140 towards the American General Anthony Wayne's camp.

00:08:13.120 To maintain silence, they unloaded their muskets, fixed bayonets, and then descended on the

00:08:18.180 tents like ghosts.

00:08:20.520 They pounced on the sleeping troops with savage surprise, stabbing and slashing in the dark.

00:08:29.600 300 Americans were killed or wounded.

00:08:33.940 A horrifying massacre that echoed through the colonies as proof of the British brutality.

00:08:42.120 Within days, British troops marched triumphantly into Philadelphia, and the Continental Congress fled west to York, Pennsylvania.

00:08:52.340 Another British army, under John Burgoyne, marched south from Canada, expecting to meet up with General Howe in New York.

00:09:00.020 The British Prime Minister planned for Howe and Burgoyne to combine armies to create a 40,000 troop force

00:09:07.800 that would smash General Horatio Gates' 9,000 Americans.

00:09:12.580 This would isolate New England and choke the rebellion for good.

00:09:17.540 But Howe was preoccupied with taking Philadelphia, so he never showed up in New York.

00:09:23.100 The first Battle of Saratoga in New York was a brutal slugfest across fields and thick woods.

00:09:31.440 General Burgoyne pushed forward, but early on, Colonel Daniel Morgan's concealed sharpshooters

00:09:37.800 picked off British officers with deadly precision, creating all kinds of confusion.

00:09:43.760 The British held their ground, but at staggering cost.

00:09:46.900 440 killed, 700 wounded, versus 90 killed, and 240 wounded on the American side.

00:09:54.760 Three weeks later, in October, came the second major battle of Saratoga.

00:10:00.060 With Burgoyne again on the offensive, Major General Benedict Arnold impulsively grabbed a horse and led a charge straight into the fray.

00:10:09.280 His daring assault broke the British center, but a musket ball smashed through his leg, leaving him lame for life.

00:10:16.320 Arnold's offensive was the turning point.

00:10:19.600 Realistically, no one saw this coming. 0.99

00:10:21.520 The Americans won.

00:10:22.980 They defeated a full British force in battle.

00:10:26.620 Burgoyne had to surrender, and 5,000 men were taken prisoner.

00:10:31.580 It was the first large-scale British surrender of the war.

00:10:35.900 The victory electrified the colonies and stunned Europe.

00:10:39.640 The Continental Congress declared a national day for solemn thanksgiving and praise.

00:10:45.520 It was a milestone to celebrate, yet it also sparked intrigue.

00:10:51.040 A group of military officers and some members of Congress grumbled that Washington was unfit to lead.

00:10:56.760 They thought the hero of Saratoga, General Horatio Gates, should replace him.

00:11:02.920 This group was known as the Conway Cabal, named after Brigadier General Thomas Conway,

00:11:09.660 who wrote a letter mocking Washington's competence.

00:11:12.500 The scheme was unraveled when a copy of that letter reached Washington's desk.

00:11:18.000 He confronted Conway, who denied calling him a, quote, weak general.

00:11:23.320 Later, Conway refused to hand over his correspondence with the cabal to Congress.

00:11:28.360 Then, other generals sent Congress letters of support for Washington,

00:11:32.000 and the movement to remove him from command faded away.

00:11:36.400 Washington survived that political trial, but a different trial replaced it soon after.

00:11:43.140 This was the pattern in this brutal war for survival. On December 19, 1777, 12,000 soldiers

00:11:51.060 and 400 women and children trudged into Valley Forge northwest of Philadelphia.

00:11:56.900 Washington chose it for its defensible hills and the proximity to the enemy.

00:12:01.620 What awaited them, however, was misery. 4,000 of the men had no blankets. 2,000 log huts would

00:12:10.420 have to be built before the snow deepened. The officers divided the army into construction

00:12:15.380 squads, each tasked with building 14 by 16 foot cabins. Thomas Paine saw the work firsthand and

00:12:23.020 wrote, I was there when the army first began to build huts. They appeared to me like a family of

00:12:28.820 beavers, everyone busy, some carrying logs, others mud, and the rest fastening them together.

00:12:36.460 Soon, the encampment stretched two miles, complete with fortifications.

00:12:42.100 For six months that Washington's army camped there,

00:12:45.560 Valley Forge had become the fourth largest city in America at the time.

00:12:50.940 The hardship wasn't new to this army,

00:12:53.420 but the deprivation intensified in the miserable cold at Valley Forge.

00:12:58.660 A Connecticut doctor in camp painted a haunting picture.

00:13:01.920 There comes a soldier.

00:13:03.040 His bare feet are seen through his worn-out shoes, his legs nearly naked from the tattered

00:13:09.100 remains of an only pair of stockings, his breeches not sufficient to cover his nakedness,

00:13:15.740 his shirt hanging in strings, his hair disheveled, his face meager.

00:13:23.040 His whole appearance pictures a person forsaken and discouraged.

00:13:28.100 Disease, including influenza, typhoid, and dysentery, devastated the ranks, killing 2,500.

00:13:35.500 Surgeons amputated legs and feet that were blackened by frostbite, and yet, somehow, the Army's overall spirit survived.

00:13:44.440 Colonel John Brooks of Massachusetts wrote to a friend,

00:13:48.400 Under all those disadvantages, no men ever showed more spirit or prudence than ours.

00:13:53.800 In my opinion, nothing but virtue has kept our army together through this campaign.

00:13:59.780 There has been that great principle, the love of our country,

00:14:03.620 which first called us into the field, and that only to influence us.

00:14:09.440 That love of country was a genuine sustaining factor.

00:14:14.660 But the main glue that held everything together was George Washington.

00:14:18.940 He wrote with deep empathy.

00:14:21.160 To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without

00:14:28.200 shoes by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet, is a mark of

00:14:34.680 patience and obedience which, in my opinion, can scarce be paralleled.

00:14:39.400 Yet, it was still an army, and Washington rigidly enforced discipline, going through

00:14:45.200 with the required floggings for men caught stealing food.

00:14:48.860 Dr. James Thatcher described the scene.

00:14:51.180 The culprit, being securely lashed to a tree or post,

00:14:54.980 receives on his naked back the number of lashes assigned to him by a whip,

00:14:59.320 formed of several small knotted cords,

00:15:01.720 which sometimes cut through his skin at every stroke.

00:15:04.840 Thatcher described how men survived the flogging by biting on lead bullets,

00:15:09.620 which is where we get the phrase, biting the bullet.

00:15:13.520 Washington spent that entire winter badgering Congress for money and supplies.

00:15:18.160 To be fair, Congress had their hands tied. They couldn't tax, so they were at the mercy of the

00:15:23.220 states for money. Plus, the continental currency was basically worthless. Washington was especially

00:15:29.520 angered by local farmers selling their goods to General Howe's army in nearby Philadelphia,

00:15:34.140 who paid in British pounds instead of paper IOUs. Throughout the Valley Forge ordeal,

00:15:41.160 Washington inspired the soldiers with his resilience and sense of duty. He persevered

00:15:46.300 with Congress, to reform the supply system and end the crippling shortages.

00:15:51.060 And in February 1778, he welcomed a blue-coated Prussian, who was an officer that came to

00:15:57.060 camp, Baron von Steuben.

00:16:00.400 Washington assigned him the task of training the troops.

00:16:04.020 He spoke very little English, only German and French, and cursed in both.

00:16:08.780 Alexander Hamilton and the other aides translated while he whipped the army into shape.

00:16:13.820 Von Steuben's drills, the precise turning of lines, coordinated volleys, hygiene routines,

00:16:20.120 standardized camp layouts, became the DNA of the future U.S. Army.

00:16:25.760 His methods eventually worked, but he didn't find it easy.

00:16:29.520 American soldiers were cut from a different cloth than Von Steuben was used to.

00:16:34.140 He later explained,

00:16:35.180 The genius of this nation is not in the least to be compared with that of the Prussians, Austrians, or French.

00:16:42.580 You say to your soldier in Europe, do this, and he doeth it.

00:16:48.420 But at Valley Forge, I am obliged to say, this is the reason why you ought to do that.

00:16:55.700 And then he does it.

00:16:58.320 By spring, the ragged men moved like soldiers.

00:17:02.860 And when that thaw came, they marched out of Valley Forge, not simply as survivors, but now as professionals.

00:17:09.540 and they would need every ounce of this newfound discipline

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00:19:05.900 From the beginning, the Continental Congress angled for French support, knowing the old

00:19:11.160 rivalry between the French and the British could be their golden ticket. But was France's hatred

00:19:16.840 of Britain enough to overcome the skepticism of an unproven army of colonial farmers?

00:19:23.260 Way back in the summer of 1775, Congress approved an expedition into Quebec.

00:19:30.040 The goal? Lure the French-speaking province into an alliance against the crown.

00:19:35.920 It did not go as planned.

00:19:39.580 In September 1775, as Benedict Arnold led troops north through the main wilderness toward Quebec,

00:19:46.440 they stopped in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

00:19:50.020 There, in a bizarre sort of superstitious act, Arnold and several officers broke open the grave of the famous Great Awakening preacher, George Whitefield.

00:20:00.380 They cut pieces from his clerical robe to carry with them and pin to their own uniforms as good luck charms for their campaign.

00:20:09.080 It was creepy, almost like a scene from a gothic thriller, and it hinted at the gaping holes in Benedict Arnold's character.

00:20:18.020 The Quebec campaign collapsed in the snow.

00:20:21.220 Starvation, disease, and British firepower drove them back south.

00:20:27.360 Benedict Arnold would prove to be a smart and daring officer in the field,

00:20:31.340 but he had craved recognition and grew resentful when he didn't get it.

00:20:36.740 That first attempt at a French-related alliance went nowhere,

00:20:40.920 but two years later came those pivotal battles in Saratoga, New York.

00:20:45.360 When word of British General Burgoyne's surrender reached Europe, it stunned the French royal court.

00:20:53.140 The Americans, against all odds, had defeated a professional army.

00:20:57.880 Maybe this rebellion wasn't folly after all.

00:21:01.240 Before Saratoga, France had already been secretly helping.

00:21:04.860 Through a front company, the French government funneled military supplies to the Americans.

00:21:09.380 In fact, nearly all of the gunpowder used in the revolution's first year came through that channel.

00:21:15.920 The American success at Saratoga was a plot twist that nobody saw coming. It convinced France that 0.52

00:21:22.240 maybe there was something to these revolutionary amateurs after all. France was still nursing a

00:21:28.000 grudge against Britain from the French and Indian War and now it saw an opportunity. Maybe the

00:21:34.720 Americans could actually win this war with just a little help. Saratoga was the nudge that finally

00:21:42.160 made France commit. On February 6, 1778, in a lavish Paris ceremony, the French government

00:21:50.460 sealed the deal with Benjamin Franklin and his fellow American envoys. The treaty recognized

00:21:56.500 America's Declaration of Independence and pledged military and financial aid.

00:22:01.800 Troops, ships, loans, France went all in. It was Benjamin Franklin's masterstroke in diplomacy

00:22:10.020 and one of the most consequential signatures in world history.

00:22:14.800 Soon, France's allies, Spain and Holland, joined the conflict.

00:22:19.640 Almost overnight, Britain found itself at war on multiple fronts.

00:22:24.760 Back at Valley Forge, where Washington's men were still hunkered in their beaver-like huts,

00:22:29.100 battling frost and famine, the news landed like a warm blanket.

00:22:33.920 Washington, always the master of morale, issued a proclamation to his troops.

00:22:38.000 It having pleased the almighty ruler of the universe to defend the cause of the United American States

00:22:45.300 and finally to raise up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth

00:22:50.820 to establish our liberty and independence upon a lasting foundation,

00:22:56.960 it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the divine goodness

00:23:02.360 and celebrating the important event which we owe to his divine interposition.

00:23:09.760 The men erupted in cheers.

00:23:13.500 And for the first time since the war began, almost three years earlier,

00:23:16.720 there was real hope that the colonies might just be able to pull this off.

00:23:23.140 General Washington's intelligence network soon reported

00:23:26.740 that the British were packing up and ditching Philadelphia.

00:23:30.280 They were headed back to New York to consolidate their forces.

00:23:35.220 At dawn on June 28th, outside a small New Jersey town of Monmouth Courthouse, the Continental Army intercepted them.

00:23:43.840 Temperatures soared above 90 degrees. Powder cartridges grew slick with sweat.

00:23:49.300 Washington ordered Mater General Charles Lee to aggressively attack the British rear.

00:23:54.480 Instead, Lee hesitated, then panicked as the British counterpunched.

00:23:58.280 counterpunched. His lines dissolved into a messy retreat, men bolting in confusion, officers shouting

00:24:06.080 over the din. When Washington arrived and saw his army retreating, the famously composed Virginian

00:24:11.700 exploded at Lee. He almost never used profanities, but General Charles Scott, who witnessed the

00:24:18.940 confrontation, said later that Washington cursed at Lee, till the leaves shook on the tree.

00:24:24.440 charming, delightful. Never have I enjoyed such swearing before or since.

00:24:33.000 General Lee was eventually court-martialed. But once Washington took command on the field,

00:24:39.560 the momentum shifted. Von Steuben's training at Valley Forge paid off. Lines reformed,

00:24:46.240 volleys fired in rhythm, bayonets drove forward. The fighting stretched into the longest single-day

00:24:51.920 marathon of the war, although the Americans were outnumbered two to one. By sunset, it was the

00:24:58.060 British who withdrew. Washington planned to renew the attack at dawn, even having his men sleep with

00:25:03.960 their weapons in the open field. But when morning came, the British were gone. They used his own

00:25:11.860 trick from when he escaped Brooklyn almost two years before. They left campfires burning while

00:25:16.780 their army just slipped away in darkness. While it wasn't a total knockout, it bloodied the British

00:25:22.520 nose short term and supercharged the American confidence long term. The Continental Army again 0.91

00:25:28.980 had stood toe-to-toe with Britain's best and had not broken. Philadelphia was free and the war 0.69

00:25:35.760 dragged on, playing into Washington's attrition strategy. Washington wrote after,

00:25:41.160 The hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this 1.00

00:25:45.280 that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith 0.99

00:25:49.480 and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.

00:25:56.520 But it will be time enough for me to turn preacher when my present appointment ceases,

00:26:02.620 and therefore I shall add no more on the doctrine of providence.

00:26:06.800 philadelphia was back in patriot hands the british army limped north to regroup

00:26:14.420 the tide at last seemed to turn britain was not however just going to roll over and give up

00:26:23.100 by 1779 its war planners adopted a new strategy focus on the south where loyalist sympathy

00:26:30.560 supposedly ran deep. The results were brutal for the colonies. Savannah, Georgia fell in 1779.

00:26:38.960 Charleston, South Carolina followed in 1780. Charleston was one of the worst defeats in the

00:26:44.440 war. Almost 5,000 American troops were captured. For this southern campaign, Washington turned to

00:26:50.380 one of his most trusted generals, Nathaniel Green. Green understood something the British didn't.

00:26:56.580 you could lose battles and yet still win the war. He forced General Cornwallis to chase him

00:27:02.580 through the Carolinas. Combined with guerrilla troops, the Americans kept the British off

00:27:07.160 balance, slowly draining their supplies, their energy, and their morale. The losses for Green

00:27:12.740 continued to pile up, but what mattered was the continuing of the fight. Writing to a friend

00:27:18.780 after yet another narrow escape, Green joked, Don't you think that we bear beating very well,

00:27:23.960 and that the more we are beat, the better we grow?

00:27:27.300 Yet as Green's cat-and-mouse game unfolded,

00:27:30.540 the war's underbelly of division started to show.

00:27:34.480 Americans began to turn on each other

00:27:36.340 in ways that made victory very fragile.

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00:29:43.900 The Revolutionary War was not just a fight between Britain and America.

00:29:52.040 It was also a civil war, neighbor against neighbor, family against family.

00:29:56.780 In the typical way that we learn about the Revolutionary War,

00:30:00.520 this truth is under-emphasized.

00:30:03.700 America was never fully united in fighting Great Britain.

00:30:07.080 I mean, historians estimate that one-fifth of the colonists were loyal to the crown,

00:30:12.380 Another fifth openly rebelled, and the rest lived somewhere in the fog between.

00:30:18.060 Alliance shifted with the wind, or with whoever's army happened to march through town.

00:30:24.480 For example, at one roadside inn along the busy route in New Jersey,

00:30:28.720 every morning the innkeeper sent out a servant to look down the road.

00:30:32.780 Depending on which army he spotted, he would raise the corresponding flag to avoid harassment.

00:30:38.320 For many, the goal was just survival over loyalty.

00:30:43.160 When the British invaded upstate New York, a small Baptist church was split

00:30:47.340 when some members defected to the British side

00:30:50.200 and ended up fighting against fellow church members on the battlefield.

00:30:54.640 Even within many families, loyalties were split.

00:30:58.460 Benjamin Franklin saw his own son, William Franklin,

00:31:01.960 become the royal governor of New Jersey and was in prison for siding with Britain.

00:31:07.500 The father and son, Benjamin Franklin and his son, never reconciled.

00:31:11.620 This was a war that was full of splits and betrayals, but none would betray more spectacularly than one of Washington's favorite officers.

00:31:25.440 Before he was a traitor, Benedict Arnold was a hero.

00:31:30.620 He was the co-leader of the mission that captured Fort Ticonderoga.

00:31:35.180 He led a daring assault at Saratoga.

00:31:37.860 He had been wounded twice in battle.

00:31:39.680 Washington admired his ferocity and his grit.

00:31:43.840 But heroism can sour into envy.

00:31:47.840 Arnold felt overlooked, especially after Saratoga,

00:31:50.920 when General Horatio Gates received much of the credit for the win.

00:31:55.420 Arnold felt passed over for promotion,

00:31:57.840 and by 1779, his bitterness curdled into treason.

00:32:01.880 That year, Washington gave him a command at West Point, a fortress guarding the Hudson

00:32:08.100 River. 0.75

00:32:09.100 If West Point fell, the colonies would be split in two, which is exactly what Britain 0.75

00:32:14.340 wanted.

00:32:15.940 Arnold secretly opened communication with the enemy.

00:32:20.280 In exchange for money and a British military commission, Arnold offered to deliver West

00:32:25.660 Point and George Washington himself into British hands.

00:32:31.760 British contact was Major John Andre. In the fall of 1780, the two men met near the Hudson River at

00:32:38.960 night to finalize the plot. Arnold handed Andre plans for West Point's defenses and arranged his

00:32:45.400 escape route south. Disguised in civilian clothes and carrying a pass signed by Benedict Arnold,

00:32:52.760 Andre rode towards the British lines. But on his way, three American militiamen stopped him.

00:32:59.280 He seemed to be in a hurry which aroused their suspicion.

00:33:03.880 They searched him and they found papers hiding inside of a boot,

00:33:07.760 maps, fort plans, and letters bearing Arnold's unmistakable handwriting.

00:33:13.700 Andre tried to bribe the men. It didn't work. They arrested him as a spy.

00:33:21.180 Incredibly, George Washington was at Benedict Arnold's house near West Point

00:33:25.620 when Alexander Hamilton brought him the papers that had been found in John Andre's boot.

00:33:31.300 Washington was there to inspect the West Point defenses and meet with Arnold,

00:33:36.500 but Arnold had been inexplicably absent all day. Washington just couldn't believe what he was

00:33:43.060 reading. He exclaimed, Arnold has betrayed us. Whom can we trust now? It turned out that at that

00:33:51.940 At last moment, just before Washington's party arrived at his house, Arnold received

00:33:56.960 word that John Andre had been arrested, so he bolted.

00:34:01.860 He fled down the Hudson River in a barge and defected to the British.

00:34:06.280 Arnold's young wife, Peggy, stayed in their upstairs bedroom all day, babbling nonsense

00:34:10.980 seemingly out of her mind.

00:34:13.260 Washington, Hamilton, and the rest of the party thought she was just distraught by the

00:34:17.180 news of her husband's betrayal and sudden departure but it was all a masterful performance

00:34:22.780 because she was in on Arnold's plan the whole time. When George Washington found out about

00:34:28.780 Arnold's betrayal he was devastated but composed as usual. He was typically great at judging

00:34:35.580 character but he had missed all the warning signs with Benedict Arnold. The next morning

00:34:41.180 Washington addressed his troops.

00:34:43.340 Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered.

00:34:47.920 General Arnold, who commanded at West Point,

00:34:51.260 lost to every sentiment of honor,

00:34:54.260 of public and private obligation,

00:34:57.160 was about to deliver up that important post

00:35:00.040 into the hands of the enemy. 0.99

00:35:02.640 Such an event must have given the American cause 0.75

00:35:05.780 a deadly wound, if not a fatal stab. 0.69

00:35:09.980 Happily, the treason has been timely discovered to prevent the fatal misfortune.

00:35:16.240 The providential train of circumstances which led to it affords the most convincing proof

00:35:22.600 that the liberties of America are the object of divine protection.

00:35:28.080 Congress declared another day of public thanksgiving for the discovery of Arnold's treason.

00:35:34.500 John Andre was tried and hanged as a spy.

00:35:37.780 Benedict Arnold, meanwhile, was safe behind British lines, newly commissioned as a Brigadier

00:35:42.980 General in the King's Army. At first, Arnold seemed to be gaining the upper hand. In January

00:35:49.300 1781, he led 1,600 British and Loyalist troops up the James River in Virginia to the new state

00:35:56.100 capital of Richmond. Arnold ordered the city burned, warehouses, homes, and stores went up in

00:36:02.740 flames, among the witnesses of the vicious attack on Richmond was a young enslaved man

00:36:07.300 named James Armistead, who decided he was going to do something about it.

00:36:13.360 After the Richmond raid, James Armistead asked his owner for permission to serve with the

00:36:18.560 Americans.

00:36:20.320 He was loaned to the Marquis de Lafayette, the 23-year-old Frenchman who was a major

00:36:25.600 general under Washington's command.

00:36:28.060 Lafayette quickly realized James had skills

00:36:31.000 as an undercover agent.

00:36:33.220 Armistead then infiltrated Benedict Arnold's British camp,

00:36:37.040 posing as a runaway slave.

00:36:39.640 Arnold trusted him, allowing him to serve

00:36:42.540 in the officer's tent.

00:36:44.200 This made James privy to plenty

00:36:46.640 of high-level conversations.

00:36:49.060 James carried messages, observed the troop movements,

00:36:52.980 and delivered reports back to Lafayette,

00:36:55.060 all while gaining the trust of the most infamous traitor in American history.

00:37:00.340 When Arnold was reassigned, Armistead followed the British forces under General Charles Cornwallis.

00:37:06.900 That is when he became a double agent. Posing as a loyal servant, he carried

00:37:13.060 false information to the British about American troop strength, information that was crafted by

00:37:18.180 Lafayette. Cornwallis swallowed it whole, believing he faced far fewer enemy soldiers

00:37:24.260 than he actually did. Armistead's intelligence, meanwhile, revealed Cornwallis' true numbers

00:37:30.420 and his planned entrenchment at the small coastal town called Yorktown. He reported to Lafayette

00:37:36.980 that the British planned to reinforce Cornwallis with 10,000 troops. By late 1781, Washington

00:37:45.780 had a plan. He would first feint toward New York to mislead the British command,

00:37:50.900 then swing south with French forces to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown.

00:37:56.160 The French Navy would then block the escape by sea.

00:37:59.780 And none of it would have worked without Armistead's reports.

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00:39:04.580 for more of the history that inspired this podcast series be sure to read the american story

00:39:12.440 The Beginnings, by David Barton and Tim Barton. Available now at wallbuilders.com.

00:39:21.660 In the waning months of 1781, the stage was set for what would become the grand finale in this

00:39:29.220 epic struggle of underdogs versus empire. British General Cornwallis, the aristocratic commander

00:39:37.140 who had been calling the shots for Britain forces across the colonies, had positioned himself and

00:39:42.260 his army at Yorktown, Virginia. It was a quaint tobacco port jutting out on the peninsula

00:39:48.460 where the York River meets the Chesapeake Bay. It was a spot he deemed strategically

00:39:54.080 sound with its natural defenses and proximity to the sea.

00:39:58.460 Cornwallis was just biding his time, confident that a British fleet would soon sail in to

00:40:03.100 reinforce his roughly 9,000 troops. But Washington had orchestrated a masterful redeployment.

00:40:11.100 He marched his Continental Army south from New York, a grueling 400-mile trek that kept

00:40:17.080 the British guessing with feints and deceptions.

00:40:20.460 Along the way, he linked up with French allies, swelling their combined force to over 17,000

00:40:27.100 men.

00:40:28.240 It was a high-stakes gamble, pulling resources from the North, but Washington sensed the

00:40:33.480 endgame.

00:40:35.020 After years of retreats and hardships, could this be the knockout blow?

00:40:40.980 a French naval force sailing north from the Caribbean arrived late in August and sealed off

00:40:46.360 the Chesapeake. By September 5th, this French fleet defeated the British Navy at the Battle

00:40:52.540 of the Chesapeake, cutting Cornwallis off completely. He was trapped. His supplies were

00:40:58.460 dwindling. And three weeks later, Washington's combined American-French army encircled Yorktown.

00:41:04.620 They dug trenches, they dragged cannons in position, and they bombed the British lines

00:41:09.620 day and night. Cornwallis' men huddled in the shallow shelters, half-starved and deafened.

00:41:16.520 On the night of October 14th, Washington ordered a bold assault to seize two critical redoubts.

00:41:22.300 Alexander Hamilton led 400 light infantry with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets to storm the

00:41:28.360 first one. Under a starry sky, they surged forward, axes chopping through obstacles,

00:41:33.880 ladder scaling walls amid the grape shot and volleys. Hamilton himself vaulted the parapet

00:41:40.740 first, sword in hand, his men pouring over a frenzy of hand-to-hand combat. The second was

00:41:46.940 captured by the French troops in similar fashion. Both readouts were captured in under half an hour.

00:41:53.520 The Americans weren't used to things going this well. Cornwallis was running out of options.

00:41:57.980 He attempted an escape, and on the night of October 16th, he ordered a covert evacuation

00:42:04.100 across the York River using whatever boats they could find.

00:42:08.120 The first wave made it over.

00:42:11.000 But then, a violent squall erupted without warning.

00:42:15.440 Howling wind, rain lashing in sheets, waves churning the river into a frothy nightmare.

00:42:22.000 The men lost control of their boats.

00:42:23.560 Some capsized.

00:42:24.420 the storm divided Cornwallis' army,

00:42:26.680 stranding portions on either bank.

00:42:29.760 The next day, with his lines in tatter and no relief in sight,

00:42:33.880 Cornwallis waved the white flag.

00:42:37.480 Negotiations between the two armies

00:42:39.260 dragged on through another day,

00:42:41.360 until finally, at 10 o'clock in the morning,

00:42:43.980 October 19th, 1781,

00:42:47.260 a column of 8,000 British troops

00:42:49.760 marched between silent lines of American and French troops.

00:42:54.360 Cornwallis, claiming a sudden bout of illness, stayed in his tent, sending his second in

00:43:00.680 command to surrender his sword.

00:43:03.560 The war, for all practical purposes, was over.

00:43:09.420 News of the shocking victory at Yorktown reached London in late November.

00:43:13.740 The following February, Parliament voted against continuing the war and one week later authorized

00:43:18.940 the Crown to make peace.

00:43:22.240 negotiations began in Paris that summer. It was a complicated diplomatic dance full of intrigue

00:43:28.240 and hard bargaining. But America had an all-star team of envoys. Benjamin Franklin with his fur

00:43:34.800 cap and wit, John Adams with his focus and tenacity, and John Jay with his legal sharpness.

00:43:42.900 The Americans proved to be shrewd negotiator over borders and debts and loyalist properties,

00:43:48.300 even fishing rights. After months of proposals and counters, they signed a preliminary treaty

00:43:54.240 recognizing the independence of these United States. The final treaty of Paris followed in

00:44:01.400 September 1783, and it made the United States a free nation, at least on paper. In reality,

00:44:09.300 the country was a fragile experiment. Thirteen states loosely bound together,

00:44:13.360 staggering under war debt and arguing over boundaries and taxation. Native tribes saw

00:44:20.420 their land parceled away in treaties they never signed. Thousands of loyalists fled to Canada and

00:44:26.620 Britain. Enslaved people who had fought the British were abandoned in exile or resold into

00:44:31.800 the Caribbean. The new country surely had a lot of work to do. Back in Virginia, victory brought

00:44:39.520 another kind of reckoning. James Armistead, the enslaved double agent whose intelligence helped 0.99

00:44:45.680 make Yorktown possible, returned home, still legally bound to his master. State law emancipated

00:44:53.620 only those slaves who had fought as soldiers, not as spies. Armistead petitioned the legislature

00:45:00.320 for his freedom, but it was denied. General Lafayette wrote to the Virginia Assembly testifying,

00:45:06.900 This is to certify that the bearer, by the name of James, has done essential services to me

00:45:13.240 while I had the honor to command in this state. His intelligence from the enemy's camp were

00:45:19.740 industriously collected and most faithfully delivered. He perfectly acquitted himself with

00:45:26.160 some important commissions I gave him, and appears to me entitled to every reward his situation can

00:45:32.300 admit of. In 1787, Virginia finally granted James emancipation and a military pension.

00:45:40.760 He then changed his name to James Lafayette in honor of his general and his friend,

00:45:46.340 and he lived out his days as a farmer near New Kent County, a free man whose courage

00:45:53.360 help free his new nation.

00:45:58.860 December 4th, 1783, Francis Tavern, New York City.

00:46:03.920 The last British ships had sailed away.

00:46:07.500 In an upstairs room, General Washington gathered his officers,

00:46:12.000 men who had weathered blood and sacrificed for eight long years.

00:46:17.400 The room was silent as he lifted the glass.

00:46:21.320 Tears rolled freely down scarred faces

00:46:25.620 No one cheered

00:46:27.260 No one speaks

00:46:28.980 When the moment comes to part

00:46:32.040 The general embraces each man in turn

00:46:34.780 Eyewitnesses later write that even the stoic Washington

00:46:39.000 His voice broke as he said goodbye

00:46:42.340 From there he rides south to Annapolis, Maryland

00:46:46.220 Where he officially resigns from the army

00:46:48.940 and then finally home to his beloved Mount Vernon, a private citizen once again.

00:46:56.780 He refuses power, he refuses a crown, he refuses the temptation of dictatorship

00:47:02.580 and in doing so, he invents a new kind of victory.

00:47:07.400 In reflection, he writes,

00:47:09.300 Glorious indeed has been our contest.

00:47:13.200 Glorious if we consider the prize for which we have contended

00:47:17.040 and glorious in its issue.

00:47:20.680 But in the midst of our joys,

00:47:22.820 I hope we shall not forget

00:47:24.520 that to divine providence

00:47:26.460 is to be ascribed the glory and the praise.

00:47:30.400 The revolution was over.

00:47:33.200 Now, a new struggle began.

00:47:36.920 How would this new nation govern itself?

00:47:47.040 Coming up on The American Story, The Beginnings.

00:47:52.400 Whispers in the barracks turn to shouts and suddenly 400 Continental Army troops erupt into action.

00:47:59.440 The soldiers bar the door of Independence Hall.

00:48:02.600 The delegates are now trapped inside, held hostage by their own troops.

00:48:07.040 The crowds outside grow more and more restless, fueled by the rum and their sense of betrayal.

00:48:13.060 It's a full-blown mutiny, a powder keg ready to explode,

00:48:17.400 the fragile unity of a nation barely born.

00:48:27.760 Just a reminder, I'd love you to rate and subscribe to the podcast

00:48:32.000 and pass this on to a friend so it can be discovered by other people.

00:48:42.420 We'll be right back.

The Glenn Beck Program - May 23, 2026

Gambles & Glory： Washington and the Revolutionary War ｜ The American Story ｜ Ep 7

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