The Revolutionary War: How a Ragtag Bunch of Rebels Defeated the British Superpower

a ragtag bunch of rebels faces the greatest military superpower of the day it's a war they never should have

won this is the secret history of how they did it

daring leadership new ways of fighting

and true American [Music] git we are

pioneers and Trailblazers We Fight For Freedom we transform our dreams into the

truth our struggles will become a nation

New York City gateway to North America today the financial capital of the world population 8 million

[Applause] people in

1776 this is a city of just 20,000 it will soon become the Battleground for the biggest land

invasion in American history 3 miles from Wall Street where 23rd

Street crosses Lexington Avenue today the rebels dig in to defend New York at Kips

Bay commander of the Rebel Army is General George Washington he has already driven the

British out of Boston a surprise Victory against Superior forces but they'll be

[Applause] [Music] back the hour is fast approaching on

which the honor and success of this Army and the safety of our bleeding country depend

Joseph Plum Martin enlisted in the rebel forces at [Music]

15 inspired to fight under Washington's command a farm boy he joins thousands of untrained

volunteers our revolutionary Army was was quite something it was in a nation that wasn't really a nation yet just

starting out and and we took on the the greatest superpower of of the time Washington's rag tag troops are

about to face the best equipped and most powerful fighting force in the world June 29th 45 British warships Mass

off Staten [Music] Island

[Music] bearing down on New York City the ultimate War Machine of its day the

British ship of the line each ship is made from over 2,000 Century old

trees each carries hundreds more soldiers to the fight against the colonies

and each is armed with up to 64 heavy cannons capable of hurling a 24lb cannonball at the speed of

sound delivering it to targets over a mile away one ship of the line cost the

equivalent of a modern aircraft [Music] carrier

another 350 British ships are racing across the Atlantic to join them the British want to terrify the

rebels into submission instead they Inspire them to resist on July 2nd there's a crisis

meeting in Philadelphia 50 delegates elected to the Continental Congress from the 13

colonies hold aner emergency session they include radicals like Ben Franklin Thomas

Jefferson and John Adams what they're debating is nothing less than high treason total independence from Britain

the penalty is death they're in the midst of a revolution the most complete in the history of the world

it's the birth of American democracy we have to expect a great expanse of blood to obtain it some don't

believe the rebels stand a chance we are about to Brave the storm a ski made of

[Music] paper but the doubters are outnumbered nearly 5 to

one on July 4th 1776 the delegates ratify a document that will change the

world the Declaration of Independence we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created

equal and they are endowed by their creator with certain inable rights think about that they're saying

that your rights come not from the King not from the government your rights come from God and furthermore they can't be

taken away from you they are [Applause] inalienable every group blacks women

gays everybody looks to the Declaration is a way of saying we are Americans too so the Declaration is the American

creed that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of

happiness you cannot help but be stirred when you read those words and you feel the excitement of

being on the cusp of something so profound we can be free now soldiers like plum Martin have

something worth fighting [Applause] for on July 12th two British warships

open fire on New York [Applause] [Music]

City must have been quite a shot because New York up to that point was pretty quiet City it was a business City so you

had significant support for the rebels but also significant support for the people who are still loyal to the

king a month later Joseph Reed secretary to George Washington tracks the British Fleet massing off New

[Music] York over 400 ships the largest British Naval task force until

dday 32,000 British troops prepare to storm Manhattan Island they outnumber Patriot

Forces 2 to one just five of the biggest British ships carry more Firepower than all the

Patriot guns in the [Applause] city Reed is AED by the

sight when I I look down and see the prodigious Fleet they have collected I cannot help being astonished that a

people should come 3,000 miles at such risk trouble and expense to Rob plunder and Destroy another people because they

will not lay their lives and Fortune at their feet it's the biggest attack on New York

City until September 11th 2001 [Music]

[Applause] [Music] but the rebels will stand and

fight the difference for me was that uh the British army was fighting for a king the Americans were fighting for their

lives Plum Martin is one of 500 men standing guard at Kips Bay have a look

the first thing that saluted her eyes was all four ships at anchor within musket shot of

us the Phoenix I could read her name as distinctly as though I was directly

underneath her Stern run out you

the assault begins September 1776 New York is under

Fire in 1 hour 22,000 British cannonballs smashed

the rebel defenses at Kips Bay 4,000 British troops storm Manhattan tough and battle hardened a

British red coat has six times more combat experience than a patriot army recruit get back in your

lines Washington watches his army collapse Hold the Line B they Retreat along an ancient Native

American path that will later be known as Broadway September

20th New York now in British hands Burns no one knows who starts the fire but over two days it destroys a

quarter of the city [Music] it gives you a sense of the people who

wanted to be free how much they were willing to endure the city being burned City being

occupied gives you a sense of how much they wanted Freedom more than 3,000 Patriot p are

thrown into prison ships in New York Harbor the most notorious is the HMS Jersey nicknamed

[Music] [Applause] hell one prisoner Robert Sheffield

escaped to tell the tale the air was so foul that at times the lamp could not be kept burning by

reason of which the bodies were not missed until they had been dead 10 days nine in 10 prisoners

die there is a memorial over in Brooklyn to those that died on British uh prison ships in New York Harbor thousands of

Americans over the course of the war 12,000 Patriot PS will die in the prison ships three times more than are killed

in [Music] battle the loss of New York is

Washington's first defeat as commander-in-chief the overwhelming British Force crushes the rebel

[Music] Army Washington's only hope now rests hundreds of miles

Inland with men the British know nothing about a new type of soldier with new weapons and new rules of

[Music] War let's go kill us some red coat by June a new British Army of 8,000

men heads south from loyalist C Canada its objective kill off the American Revolution once and for

all they're led by General John booy an aristocrat politician and art lover he's also one of the best Cavalry

officers in the British military bagoy pushes South following the Hudson

River his army is like a Mobile City the red coats are accompanied by

2,000 servants wives and [Applause] [Music]

Mistresses 200 Supply wagons carry 84 tons of powder and Shop as well as silver and Porcelain

table wear for the officer's meals bergy's plan is simple he's traveling from St John's in

Canada 170 Mi South to Saratoga deep in the interior of the New York colony then he'll link up with the

Victorious British Army in New York City cutting the colonies into two parts

but the American frontier becomes the British Army's worst enemy the problem is they're in uh what

we might call a counterinsurgency kind of campaign where uh their Passage through the land and

the offense that they give to Farmers creates enemies wherever they go now Washington unleashes revolutionary new

tactics and a totally new type of soldier men who learned their skills on the

[Music] frontier so this Army came together an army of militia an army of woodsmen an

army of Sharpshooters and we didn't play by the rules British red coats are trained for

open battlefields now they face Rebel Sharpshooters hidden in dense

cover leading them Daniel Morgan hard Drinker Gambler brawler and now the colonel of an elite

Corp of 500 Riflemen he was a self-made man and he was a although not educated at a great

school was a smart guy was a tough guy and was ready and willing to step up when the time called he was the perfect

guy to show up at the perfect time booy's route takes him through dense forest over five times larger than

all of England trees once intended to build British

[Music] ships now become Rebel [Music]

roadblocks the British are sitting ducks their Advance slows to just a mile a day the March South becomes a six we

nightmare the Sharpshooters know the land and have technology on their side Morgan's men are armed with

American long rifles they lightweight with a slender Barrel at least 40 in long and fire a 50

caliber shot a/ in wide based on a German hunting weapon the guns have a unique American

innovation grooves inside the barrel that spin the shop stabilizing it giving it deadly

accuracy armed with this rifle Patriot marksmen can hit a Target 250 yards away more than three times the average

distance of a modern FBI sniper ship and twice the range of the British muskets the tide of the war is about to

change Morgan's plan First Take Out bergy's Native American Scouts 400 have Allied themselves with

the British to preserve their ancestral lands but Morgan and his men now use traditional Native American tactics

against them they attack using speed stealth and surprise after months of Guerilla

Warfare all the scouts are dead or desert Behind Enemy Lines any knowledge the Red Coats had of

the terrain goes with them the rebels are rewriting the rules of war and they're about to do it

again 1777 the American war of independence is in its second year New York and many

parts of the colonies are in British hands the Rebels have been driven into the

[Music] Wilderness but the fight back has begun Patriot Sharpshooters Target a

British Army under General John bgy they've already picked off bergy's Native American

guides now the two armies meet near Saratoga here the rebels break the rules of 18th century

Warfare and start targeting British officers the plan leave the foot soldiers

leaderless your officers tended to be your most educated guy they understood the communications line they understood

exactly what the orders were they were the source of trying to get something done on a battle

space in Britain's 53rd regiment all but one of its 11 officers are killed or wounded

[Music] the tactic of assassinating officers appalls the

British on the defensive the British regroup under General Simon Frasier he brings fresh Spirit to the

baguer British army Daniel Morgan commander of the Sharpshooters acts fast she own up that

tree and take out the red coat on his high horse his best shooter is an illiterate frontman from Ireland Tim

Murphy this shot will turn the tide of the war the first shot

misses this left the second skims his horse too high

reload come on take him [Music] out the third it's

home you could argue that whoever fired the bullet that took out Simon

Frasier uh did as much as any founding father to establish American independence without leadership the

British lose a thousand Men twice as many as the Patriots on October 17th

1777 General booy surrenders it's a turning point the victory persuades Britain's

greatest rival France to join the war on America's side now the French navy will force the

British to fight a war on two fronts land and sea but first Washington must face his

greatest challenge as leader he makes his winter camp in Pennsylvania in a place called Valley

[Music] Forge in freezing temperatures the rebels build 900 Huts in just 40 days

each houses a dozen men he has an army of 14,000 men and no houses and the Continental Congress has failed to

provide him with resources and by willpower by Courage by leadership by cajoling he has to hold

the Army together in the middle of a terrible winter Joseph Plum Martin veteran of the

Battle of New York is at Valley Forge it's a desolate place we're now in a truly forlorn

condition no clothing no provisions and as disheartened as can be a prospect is indeed

dreary right Soldier this is going to hurt a bit all right you just R your teeth surgeon alens Waldo watches

Washington's Army head toward crisis the Army which has been surprisingly healthy now begins to grow

sickly from the fatigues they has suffered from this campaign we don't keep this clean they

going to be right back in here a fifth of the soldiers have no shoes with little clean water denter

spreads through the [Music] camp within weeks 2,000 men are sick and

they run out of meat down to their last 25 barrels of flour the men survive on fire cake a

mixture of flour and [Music] one the rebel Army is a Melting

[Music] Pot as many as 60% of recruits are convicts freed slaves and

[Music] immigrants but Washington's leadership inspires unruly men to stay in line what

he had was a confidence that if you want freedom this is what it's going to take it's going to take sacrifice it's going

to take blood it's going to take cold winters at Valley Forge it's going to take losses General Washington he was a

great General to be able to uplift his army during Valley Forge during that winter and still be able to fight I wish

I would have been there I wish I could have fought for him cuz I damn sure would

have but Washington's Army soon faces an enemy far more lethal than the

British small [Music] poox the revolution breaks out during

the worst small poox epidemic in US history The Deadly Airborne virus spreads through the British prison

ships isolated from the disease for Generations the American colonists have little resistance to it and there's no

cure victims break out in blisters and Soares the virus spreads through the blood invading healthy cells which it

kills producing more of the virus in the process four in 10 victims [Music]

die once small pox arrives at Valley Forge it spreads through the cramped Huts like wild

fire Washington survived smallpox as a child now he decides to take a gamble with one of the most daring

experiments in US military history surgeons have learned about inoculation from African

slaves they harvest P from a small poox [Music] victim

[Music] and smear the live virus into cuts on the skin of a healthy

patient the inoculation spreads the infection but at a slower rate a week after exposure the victim's

white blood cells create antibodies these attack and kill the virus that causes small poox before the

disease can spread but it's a dangerous race Against Time To Survive the patient's immune

system has to work faster than the virus or it will run out of control one in 50 of those inoculated

will [Music] die but Washington's gamble pays off new

cases of small poox fall from several thousand to just a few [Music]

dozen but to win the war against the British Washington turns to an unlikely hero to transform his rag tag militia

into a formidable fighting machine 1778

George Washington's Patriot Army survives a hard winter and an outbreak of smallpox at

Valley Forge now Washington introduces a new recruit who will change the course of

the war Baron voban is an ex-russian army officer an elite soldier whose career is

said to have been ruined by his homosexuality but Washington makes him one of the most

powerful men in his command Washington was a genius in taking people in who didn't seem like

they could achieve great things but under him uh they Rose to the challenge they Rose to the occasion that's what

great leaders do love Von Stan's task reinvent the demoralized Patriot Army so they can take on the British in a close

fight our arms are in horrible condition cover with rust our men are literally naked some to

the fullest extent of the world vanan starts by drilling discipline into Washington's ragtag

[Music] recruits the men are unlike any he has ever trained

before the genius of this nation is not in the least to be compared with that of the prussians or austrians or

French you say to your soldier do this and he doesn't but here I'm obliged to say this is the

reason why you ought to do that and then he does it vonin brings order discipline and

hygiene to Valley Forge he moves latrines away from living quarters rebuilds the Kitchens on the

opposite side of the camp and organizes housing according to regiments and companies his biggest contribution he

writes a manual on military training with methods that are still in use today

faster Von stoan drills European Battle Tactics into an elite core of 100 men I'm

[Music] soier each will train a 100 more he also teaches them a new and

deadly weapon the bayonet bayonet fighting will prove

pivotal in the battles ahead bayonets allow rifles to double as Spears making close hand to-hand combat

possible without reloading but it's not just new weapons and skills vonin gives the

Patriots it's a new attitude you know we can talk about weapons and how certain weapons change the face of

warfare it which which is absolutely true but the greatest weapon that you could ever have is right up here men

like Plum Martin leave Valley Forge highly skilled [Music]

Killers while they retrain another secret War has been raging in British occupied New

York here a network of spies has been busy passing information to the

rebels their leader is George Washington himself a man who's come down to us in history as someone who is incapable of

telling a lie succeeds as a commander in no small

measure because of his capacity for deception a British General will later claim that Washington did not outfight

his enemies but outs spy them now his French allies come under deadly threat and only his secret army

of spies can save them from disaster in New York an estimated 20% of the population is still loyal to the

British food costs are up [Music] 800%

to the British New York Merchant Robert Townsen is a loyalist a member of the Loyalist

militia he writes for the loyalist press but to Washington's spy Network his code name is Culper Jr a fact that

was only discovered in [Music] 1939 Culper gang will change the course

of the war [Music] by July

1781 New York is buzzing with rumor a French fleet has been sighted off Rhode

Island news leaks out that the British plan to send warships from New York for a surprise

[Music] attack Culper must get word to Washington to

somehow stop the British Fleet the spies use invisible ink an advanced formula unknown to the

British the ink is made from GIC acid it can only be revealed by brushing the paper in liquid iron

sulfate the next Link in the chain is Austin rad a Tavern owner from Long

[Applause] Island his contact Abraham wood hole picks up the message and buries it at a

secret drop another agent Anne Smith strong then uses her laundry as a secret

code it signals a sailor who picks up the message and takes it to [Music]

Washington Washington moves troops towards New York threatening the city forcing the British

Fleet to stay put in New York Harbor the French Fleet sails out of danger it can play a critical role in

the next stage of the war now with a spy Network and a modern Army backed by French naval power

Washington is ready for a final showdown come on October

1781 6 years into a War the British thought would last 6 months the American Revolution comes to a head at Yorktown

[Music] Virginia in trenches around the Fortified

City Plum Martin now a sergeant Waits with 8,000 other Patriot soldiers for the signal to

attack Washington's Army has reinvented itself with Sharpshooters with training discipline

and new weapons and with a spy Network that has saved the French Fleet giving the rebels

dominance at [Music] sea

what remains of the British army is under siege in Yorktown Trapped In The City the Red

Coats wait for reinforcements but back in Britain the war is

unpopular and costing far too much money this was a case of hanging on uh in the face of the the British actions

long enough to where the British literally would grow weary of this and realize that it was endless this is

Washington's chance to end the war with one decisive blow he committed to this idea of being able to stand on your own

see America is a dream and the only way to go get that dream is to show up and bring your very best to that moment and

not stop until you bring that dream into existence Plum Martin will be one of the first over the top God's

spe how you doing old friend good how are you good to check it out

[Music] [Applause] behind yorktown's defenses 9,000 battle

hardened British troops are waiting they're protected by a series of outlying Cannon forts called

routs by October 14th just two remain if they're captured and their guns turned on Yorktown the British will be forced

to surrender do look up there it's

time all the batteries in our line lay silent We Lay anxiously waiting for the signal

[Music] [Music] Patriots raised 100 yards to the British

lines under Fire and a hail of hand grenades come

on a force of 400 break through and storm the British Fort fighting in close combat with

bayonets they beat the Red Coats back [Music]

[Music] the immediately after the fighting at Seas

East I went out to see what had become of my wounded friend he was

dead 34 of Martin's comrades lie dead or wounded but they've breached yorktown's [Music]

defenses two days later the British surrender begin negotiations for [Music]

peace for the past 6 years leadership training weapons and intelligence have been

vital the rebels have achieved The Impossible the United States is the only country to win independence from the

British in war on April 30th 1789 Washington is inaugurated first

president of the United States of America under the new constitution but Liberty comes at a

price over 25,000 men have lost their lives in the battle for Independence but a new nation is

born we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their

creator with certain inalienable rights and among these are likes

liberty and the pursuit of [Music] happiness