Tuesday, May 19, 2015

BA Thesis: The Perfect Storm: Weathers Impact on the Patriots during the American Revolution


The Perfect Storm:
Weathers Impact on the Patriots during the American Revolution

History 494: Senior Seminar in History
Kaitlin Walsh
10 May 2015

            A man astride a white horse leads his troops in battle, shouting encouragement…evoking inspiration. He rides to and fro amidst the fray, among the bullets whistling past, a fearsome sight to behold. Just when it appears that he may be too close to the enemy to be saved, the fog rolls in, and he and his horse are enveloped in the white mist, disappearing from view, and he lives on, to fight another day.[1]  Weather can be unpredictable; it can be mild and placid or it can rage with the ferocity of one thousand suns. Throughout history it is has been an unwavering backdrop in our lives, taking a backseat to our more current situations; but weather is much more than a backdrop. It initiates change, adaptation, ingenuity, and perseverance. Weather has played an integral part in our military history, acting as the victor and the spoiler. In the American Revolution alone, a historian could spend a lifetime researching the effects of weather on each and every battle and confrontation. During the eighteen years between 1765 and 1783 the Patriots and the Redcoats were able to experience all of the individual seasons that are present within the United States from year to year. They endured harsh winters, violent squalls, sweltering summers, and tropical storms.            
             Weather largely goes unnoticed in most historical accounts of the past, being featured as background information or descriptive ‘fluff’. Jonathan T. Engle mentions in his thesis The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781 that most histories of the American revolution offer only a limited insight into how weather influenced battles, strategies, and war time tactics but not as, “a force that shaped military conduct.”[2] This practice is common in many of the primary resources of the time. For example, a soldier present at Dorchester Heights could mention how fog played a part in cloaking the men during preparations, while another soldier (present at the same battle) would leave any mention of the weather completely out. This phenomenon boils down to perspective and what each author deems necessary information to include and many other factors present at the time of writing the resource. The American Revolution primary resources that are available today in compendiums like Rebels and Redcoats, Redcoats and Rebels, and The Spirit of Seventy-Six, “provide a window into the past…unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought” for historians looking to understand the intricacies of daily life during colonial war time and some of our only firsthand resources for understand how weather shaped our past.[3]  
            Authors like Harold A. Winters who wrote Battling the Elements: Weather and Terrain in the Conduct of War, Laura Lee author of Blame it on the Rain, and Gary D. Attkins who wrote a thesis entitled “Impact of Weather on Military Operations: Past, Present, Future,” have all found the value in researching weathers various impacts on military history but the research into the American Revolution is far less substantial. There is very little research available on the subject in any form, but finding a novel solely discussing weathers roles in the American Revolution is almost impossible. Most authors who focus on the Revolution, like Joseph J. Ellis who wrote Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, will mention the weather in passing or write a small excerpt on how “weather played crucial roles,” in why the British didn’t win the war but expand on the idea no further.[4] One major contributor is Jonathan T. Engle whose thesis featured evidence that, “weather affected the operations of both American and British armies in three areas: strategy…tactics…and administration.”[5] Engle focuses on the historical aspect of weathers contribution, rather than the scientific details; he argued that all aspects of the war were touched by weather in some way;
            “Weather affected the operations of both American and British armies in three areas: strategy, influencing the planning of campaigns; tactics, affecting the course of battles; and administration, adding to the daily work of maintaining armies in the field and keeping them functional”[6]

Engle mentions all four battles specific to this essay in his thesis; he discusses the stormy weather that allowed time for Washington to fortify his position at Dorchester Heights, the cold weathers effect on men crossing the Delaware, its choppy waters,  and the storm that Christmas Day in which the hessians assumed no army would fight through, the fogs assistance to the Continental Army during the Long Island escape, and in perhaps one of the most pivotal moments of the American Revolution: the weathers influence on the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
            William R. Baron and David C. Smith worked together to create a study entitled “Growing Season Parameter Reconstructions for New England Using Killing Frost Records, 1697-1947,” that discussed the role in which weather played on agriculture in the early 1770’s. Through climatic evidence they uncovered that ‘killing frost’ wreaked havoc on corn crops during the years of 1761-1764 and again in the early 1770’s.[7] They concluded that this ‘weather phenomenon’ coupled with the growing taxes, “deserves a place on our list of causes for the coming of the American Revolution in New England.”[8] As historians analyze how weather has impacted the American Revolution, whether they believe it fate, fiction, or scientific fact, it continues becoming a growing subject of interest for students and historians alike, with much more research left to be accomplished.
            Weather can create obstacles, but more importantly it can create opportunities. The Fortification of Dorchester Heights (March 1776), the Escape of Long Island (August 1776), the Battle of Trenton (December 1776), and the Battle of Yorktown (October 1781) were four battles in which the weather played an integral part in the victory for the Patriots. Had the “perfect storm” of meteorological events not occurred at the time they did in these particular battles, America could very well look completely different today.

            Dorchester Heights is located just southeast of Boston in the state of Massachusetts [Refer to picture one in Appendix- Colonial Map of Boston and DH from 1776 that shows the elevation and troop encampments]. On March 2nd 1776 George Washington devised a plan to place cannons northwest and southwest of Boston in Cambridge and Roxbury. He chose those locations to create a diversion so that on March 4th 1776 a division of 2,000 soldiers led by American Brigadier General John Thomas could fortify Dorchester Heights without interruption.[9] The cannons used to provide cover for Thomas and his men were provided by Colonel Henry Knox who transported them by Ox sled 300 miles in 56 days from Fort Ticonderoga in which they were captured almost a year prior by Colonel Benedict Arnold, Ethen Allen and the Green Mountain Boys.[10] Weathers first service to the Patriots preparing for battle at Dorchester Heights was the snow that Knox used to transport the cannons all the way to Boston, “Thursday next trusting that between this & then we shall have a [inserted: fine] fall of snow which will [inserted: enable us to proceed further &] make the carriage easy.”[11] Severe winter weather in the Northern New York area is due to the lake-effect precipitation from Lake Ontario, where it is not uncommon to have 5 or more feet of snow a year. The Fort Ticonderoga area, even today, averages 66.7 inches, which is the average over the past 76 years that weather has been recorded by professional meteorologists.[12] Had Knox been unable to supply the cannons to Washington and his men at Dorchester Heights, they would have been ill equipped to adequately fortify their position and the strategic location of Dorchester Heights could have fallen into British Hands, securing their hold on Boston. 
            Weather continued to be on the patriot’s side as heavy winds carried the sound of cannon fire away from Boston. Reverend William Gordon of Roxbury Massachusetts wrote in a letter to Samuel Wilson on April 6, 1776, “the wind lay so as to carry what noise could not be avoided…into the harbor between the town and the castle, so as not to be heard… especially as there was a continued cannonade on both sides.”[13] Gordon recalls the fog that acted as an invisibility cloak to the Patriots, “it was hazy below so that our people could not be seen.”[14] As the fog lay thick on the city of Boston, the British were unaware of the work being accomplished in the clear moonlight air up on the hill of Dorchester Heights. Patriots continued to move unnoticed by padding their wagon-wheels with straw.[15] By the morning of the 5th the small group of 2,000 men had accomplished a great amount of work. In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams wrote that after the British had awoken to see the immense fortifications in which the American army had erected overnight, General Howe said, “My God! These fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my army do in three months.” Overnight the Patriots had constructed two forts, several barracks, and multiple long breastworks (vertical constructions that are usually built up even to the breast as a means for protection during battle).[16] Even though the Patriots had made substantial progress in the fortification of Dorchester Heights, General Howe concluded that if the British army didn’t make a move quickly, the Patriots would turn Dorchester Heights into an impregnable position. As General Howe was making plans to take Dorchester Heights, George Washington was devising a strategy to attack Boston, however, both armies were halted by an immense snow storm. William Gordon recalls the storm, “how amazingly strong the wind blew (for it was a storm as scarce any one remembered to have heard).”[17] In a climatology thesis, written and constructed by Professor R. Ward, Ward studied the weather patterns of colonial times along with data taken from primary resources to construct four maps illustrating the snowstorm that took place from March 4th-6th 1776 in the Eastern United States [Refer to picture two in Appendix-Map of the storm]. As the poor weather continued and the Continental army had more time to fortify their position, any attacks on Dorchester Heights from General Howe and his soldiers became impossible. General Howe quickly began making provisions to evacuate the city and on March 18th, 1776 General Howe and his troops sailed away from Boston. In a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth written on March 21, 1776 General Howe wrote that, “a wind coming contrary and blowing very hard, the ships were not able to get to their destination…the attempt become impracticable.”[18] During the Fortification of Dorchester Heights four instances of weather in favor of the Patriots can be seen and documented. The four meteorological events, especially the storm that began on the 5th of March, were crucial in the patriot’s victory at Dorchester Heights.
           
            After the success at Dorchester Heights, George Washington predicted that General Howe and the British Army would try to make a move on New York City. George Washington positioned nineteen thousand men in and around the Brooklyn area located just southeast of New York City.[19]  On August 22nd General Howe landed south of New Utrecht on the coast of the Hudson River and prepared his nearly forty thousand men for battle. The Patriots, who had been preparing themselves since April were now scrambling to make last minute preparations.[20] Colonel William Douglas, a soldier positioned in Long Island, wrote a letter to his wife on August 23rd, 1776, only four days before the fighting began and said,
            “the wind and wether [weather] has been remarkeable [remarkable] in our favor,” it “has kept back the enemy…I hope that the same kind Providence that has wonderfully carried us thus far will shew his power in bringing us off victorious.”[21]

The Patriots watched, waited, and prepared for what would be one of their most challenging battles to date in their fight for freedom.
            Howe executed a three pronged attack [Refer to figure three in Appendix-Map of Battle of Long Island, troop encampments, and movement of General Howe’s sneak attack], two regiments led by James Grant and a Hessian General named Leopold Philip von Heister attacked Washington’s left line (defended by William Alexander) and front line (defended by General John Sullivan).[22] Another large group of soldiers led by Howe, Cornwallis, and Clinton stealthily took a side road through Bedford known as the Jamaica Pass (just east of Brooklyn) and attacked Washington’s troops positioned in Brooklyn who also aided in attacking Washington’s front lines from behind.[23] The situation looked very bleak for the American soldiers and those that could, retreated to Brooklyn. As the Americans were trapped inland on all sides, their only saving grace was that wind and tides present in the New York Bay would not allow the British warships through so as to trap the Americans and their only means of escape: the East River.[24]
            On the night of the 29th General Washington called for as many boats as he could muster to evacuate his soldiers to Manhattan, a heavy fog, wind, and rain helped mask his narrow escape.”[25] In a letter to congress Washington explained that, “the weather of late has been extremely wet, yesterday it rained severely the whole afternoon.”[26] Captain Enoch Anderson recalls the weather conditions, “Our regiment was the last that left our lines. We set off at daybreak,-a thick fog arose;-it was the pillar of a cloud to our enemies and favorable to us.”[27] Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge made the decision, after being called to retreat from Brooklyn, to take the opportunity to go back for his horse. He recalls in his person memoirs that,
            “A very dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments… When the sun rose we had just received orders to leave the lines… The fog remained as dense as ever… Finally, the second order arrived for the regiment to retire, and we very joyfully bid those trenches ... adieu…I obtained my horse and got off some distance into the river before the enemy appeared in Brooklyn. As soon as they reached the ferry we were saluted merrily from their musketry, and finally by their field pieces; but we returned in safety.”[28]

Historian Edward G. Lengel credits George Washington as being the last man to leave Long Island.[29] Wind, tides, rain and especially fog were four crucial factors in the Americans escape from Long Island. Had General Howe been able to cut off the Americans escape or had the visibility to disrupt their escape, the revolution could have been crushed then and there, as General Washington, many of his elite officers, and a large portion of his army would have been captured or killed.
           
            As winter was briskly approaching, Howe decided to take the bulk of the British Army back to New York for the winter. He dispatched a small force in the charge of General Cornwallis who were tasked with continuing the pursuit of the American army. They chased Washington all the way to the Delaware River but were unable to cross because, “everything that floated for miles up and down the river,” had been destroyed by the Patriots in an attempt to foil the British army’s quest.[30] General Cornwallis then decided to strategically place the soldiers in his command all around New Jersey and set up camp for the winter in Brunswick. Troops were set up all over; in Princeton, Perth, Amboy, Bordentown, and Pennington…The Hessians were place at Trenton.[31] Though the Hessian commander Colonel Rhal had strict orders and protocols to enforce on his soldiers his, “fondness of drink and celebration” coupled with his assurance the fighting would be on hold until January were his ultimate demise.[32]
            1500 Hessian soldiers were placed at Trenton, located in the middle bend of New Jersey; southwest of New York and Northeast of Philadelphia. Washington devised a strategic plan of attack in which the Hessian forces would be completely surrounded but to reach the enemy Washington and his army of nearly 2500 men would need to cross the Delaware River [Refer to picture four in Appendix-Map of the Battle of Trenton showing the troop encampments and Washington’s strategy to surround the Hessian Army]. On a warm summers day this many not seem like such a feat but in the dead of winter amidst snow, wind, rain, and ice, it could have proved fatal. In Elisha Bostwick’s memoirs he talked about the dangerous expedition across the river, fighting against snow, ice, and recalled how their torches, “sparkled and blazed in the storm all night.”[33] In a letter to his wife, Henry Knox described the obstacles the Patriots endured in crossing of the Delaware, “the floating ice in the river mad the labor almost impossible…the night was cold and stormy; it hailed with great violence.”[34] George Washington wrote to John Hancock on December 27th 1776 that he had planned to make it to Trenton by five o’ cloak in the morning but, “the quantity of ice, made that night, impeded the passage of boats so much, that it was three o’clock before the artillery could all be got over, and near four before the troops took up their march again.”[35] While the weather seemed like it was a hindrance to the Patriots, it was really their key to victory.
            When Washington and his army finally reached Trenton and the battle began, Knox wrote that, “the storm continued with great violence, but was in our backs, and consequently in the faces of our enemy.”[36] The Americans took Trenton with relative ease losing only a handful of men while the incredibly inebriated regiment of Hessians were either killed or captured, the majority being the later. The effectiveness of Washington’s plans, and ultimately his victory, stemmed from the bad weather. The Hessians (and British alike) both assumed that with winter fully under way and a snowstorm above their heads no military operation would take place until the new year. The snow and ice present in Trenton on December 26th, 1776 was assumed to act as a deterrent for the American army but in actuality it acted as a cloaking device that followed the Continental army to their first major win in the Revolutionary war. This victory resonated within the army, rejuvenated spirits, and inspired new enlistments. This incredible transformation within the army is credited as a “turning point in the war,” and hope for the future of the America.[37]

            One of the issues that plagued soldiers during the summer months, especially in the southern colonial states, was the intense heat and humidity. At the battle of Monmouth alone the British lost 59 men to “fatigue” and the Patriots lost 37 to “sunstroke.”[38] While this heat affected both armies, Jonathan T. Engle describes Cornwallis’ blatant disregard for his soldier’s health in the heat of the summer months in his expeditions across the Carolina’s and Virginia in his thesis. Engle goes on to mention that Cornwallis was told multiple times by General Clinton (his superior officer) to find a cooler place to wait out the summer instead of tiring his men winning only, “trivial victories,” in the south.[39] Clinton wrote that the summer was a time when all military operations should cease as it was a period of, “deadly epidemics,” and a time, “when the rays of the sun are more fatal than even a superior and victorious foe.”[40] By the time his men had settled in Yorktown they were already exhausted and the summer months were not yet gone.
            The battle of Yorktown took place on October 19th, 1781 and is credited as one of major decisive victories of the Patriots which led to the end of the American Revolution.[41] Washington waited patiently for a chance to strike a tremendous blow to the British. His first thought was to ally with the French and strike New York but fighting the British at their strongest Fortification made both Washington and the French commander Rochambeau nervous. When General Cornwallis decided to entrench his men at Yorktown, it seemed like the perfect opportunity with a much higher rate of success. Washington wrote in his general orders of September 30th, 1781 that, “the present moment offers in prospect the epoch which will decide American Independence and the Glory and superiority of the Allies,” and his choice to attack Yorktown at the time turned out to be one of the most influential decisions of the American Revolution.[42]  Cornwallis was expecting reinforcements, which is one of the main reasons he chose not to evacuate his position earlier; instead, Cornwallis and his soldiers created heavy fortifications to wait out the oncoming storm.
            In late-September George Washington led 8,800 soldiers, along with 7,800 French allies commanded by Comte de Rochambeau, in a multi-pronged attack to trap General Cornwallis and his army of 8,000 soldiers in Yorktown by land and water [refer to picture five in the appendix-Map of the Battle of Yorktown that shows troop encampments and Washington’s troop movements].[43] The French took their position on the left side of Yorktown just southwest of the British encampments and were also present in the York River with Cornwallis’ two main vessels the H.M.S. Guadeloupe and the H.M.S. Charon. The Continental army surrounded Cornwallis on the right side just southeast of Yorktown. Cornwallis had also set up a small camp straight across the river from Yorktown at Gloucester Point but Washington sent both French and American soldiers to surround them as well. Historian Russell S. Perkins wrote that Cornwallis’s position, “was made so indefensible,” by the clout of the Franco-American forces, surrender was inevitable.[44]  
            Fighting dragged on from mid-September to mid-October and in some of the last days of the battle, the fighting became intense. In a journal written by Dr. James Thacher, a medic for the Patriots, Thacher said at one point during combat Washington’s aid asked him to back away from the front lines for fear of him being “too much exposed” in which Washington replied, “Colonel Cobb, if you afraid, you have liberty to step back.”[45] With Washington’s French and American forces slowly closing in on Cornwallis’ men he made a last ditch effort to escape, Cornwallis called for any and all available ships to transport his men down the York River and into New York. General Cornwallis wrote a letter to Henry Clinton on October 20th 1781 in which he described his secret escape attempt that took place only four days prior, but mentions that, “at the critical moment, the weather from being moderate and calm, changed to a most violent storm of wind and rain, and drove all the boats, some of which had troops on board, down the river.”[46] Captain Johann von Ewald, who commanded a Hessian regiment alongside the British recalled the weather on the night of the 16th,
            “I will not forget this past night in all my life.… It was dark as a sack, and one could neither see nor hear anything because of the awful downpour and heavy gale. Moreover, there was a most severe thunderstorm, but the violent flashes of lightning benefited us, since we could at least see around us for an instant.”[47]

After a devastating blow dealt by the weather, Cornwallis was forced to analyze all of his remaining options.
            It was on October 19th 1781 that Cornwallis officially surrendered at Yorktown, however he claimed he was too ill to attend the ceremony, so Brigadier General Charles O’ Hara attended the surrender in his place[48] Later Cornwallis wrote in a letter,
            “A diversion by the French ships of war that lay at the mouth of York River… Our numbers…diminished by the enemy's fire…sickness…exhausted by the fatigue of constant watching and unremitting duty. Under all these circumstances, I thought it would have been…inhuman to the last degree to sacrifice the lives of this small body of gallant soldiers, who had ever behaved with so much fidelity and courage, by exposing them to an assault, which from the numbers and precautions of the enemy could not fail to succeed. I therefore proposed to capitulate.”[49]

Once again weather played a crucial role in the victory for Yorktown. Had Cornwallis been able to escape, the Revolution could have dragged on for many more years.
           
            Weather worked in favor of the Patriots at The Fortification of Dorchester Heights (March 1776), the Escape of Long Island (August 1776), the Battle of Trenton (December 1776), and the Battle of Yorktown (October 1781) and were instrumental in their victories. In each of these battles weather conditions played their roles in supporting the Patriots. The cannons at Dorchester Heights were brought from Knox all the way from Ticonderoga using snow. Victor Brooks Author of The Boston Campaign: April 1775-March 1776 regarded Knox’s transportation accomplishment as, “one of the most stupendous feats of logistics" of the entire war.”[50] The wind and fog made it possible for the patriots to fortify Dorchester in secrecy and the large storm on the night of the 4th halted an oncoming attack from the British and allowed the Patriots to continue their fortification efforts at Dorchester Heights. George Washington described the events in a letter to Joseph Reed on March 7, 1776 as an, “act of providence.”[51] Wind and tides played a crucial part in stopping the British from trapping the Americans at Long Island and rain and fog allowed the Patriots to escape. During the winter of 1776 British assumed the harsh weather would deter any attempts to fight, but Washington used the weather to his advantage, orchestrating a successful attack on Trenton.  Finally, at the battle of Yorktown British soldiers unaccustomed to fighting in the summer months had become exhausted by the time they reached Yorktown, Virginia and when a violent storm interrupted Cornwallis’ escape attempt on the 16th of October 1781 the Patriots were finally the ones standing with two feet on the ground.
            Each of these battles played an important role in the American Revolution. The Battle of Dorchester Heights showed the British Army early on that the Patriots were a capable and competent force that was not to be underestimated. Thomas McGrath said that the victory at Dorchester Heights was the, “birthplace of this country,” and that if the British were able to push back the Patriots and occupy Dorchester Heights themselves we would not have won Boston and in turn, we wouldn’t have the Fourth of July; we wouldn’t be free.”[52] The Escape from Long Island allowed the Patriots time to regroup and continue fighting for their freedom from the British. At the Battle of Trenton the Patriots won an enormous victory at the time when their morale was at its lowest. That victory sparked revolution back into the hearts of the people in America and gave them to strength to carry on fighting. Finally, at the Battle of Yorktown, the Patriots all but ended the Revolutionary War fighting within the Americas. In the memoirs of Sir Nathaniel Wraxall he recalls a meeting with the Prime Minster at the time, Lord Fredrick North, who when received news of the British defeat at Yorktown exclaimed, “O God! It is all over!”[53] After their victory, George Washington and his army journeyed to New York where they were stationed until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.
            One conclusion that can be drawn from the patriot’s good fortune is the fact that they were more acclimated to the weather than the British army who were accustomed to a much milder climate than that of the colonial United States.[54] At the Battle of Monmouth Lieutenant Nathan wrote that the heat was “scarcely to be conceived in Europe.”[55] This is especially true for the fighting that occurred in the south during the summer months. The climate in the southern-to-middle-east coast states is different than the climate in England in the summer time, and the sweltering humidity took a serous toll on the troops, British and American alike.  However, it was the British soldiers who argued that style, nobility, and appearance were more important than comfort, practicality, and adaptability, no matter what the weather was like.  They especially suffered with their sixty-pound packs, “heavy woolen greatcoats,” and several layers underneath that were described as, “hot, heavy and immensely constricting.”[56] In Kyle Madison’s thesis entitled The Battle of Monmouth: How the Continental Army Used the Environmental Conditions to Gain Victory On June 28, 1778 he discusses how the British uniform was worn almost to their detriment in the colonies. They wore brimless hats that provided no protection from the sun or other weather conditions and heavy “buffalo-hide shoulder and waist belts.”[57] During the Battle of Monmouth, Washington ordered his soldiers to carry only the necessities in their packs and two days rations. The soldiers also “stripped off excess clothing, with some soldiers stripped to just their pants, in order to combat the intense heat”[58] The British’s adamant ideals about appearance over their soldier’s efficiency and effectiveness could have been a determining factor in some of their warmer weather conduct.
            The Patriots were also been better at predicting how the weather would change and adapting to it considering the British had colonized the United States almost one hundred and fifty years prior and they had already adapted to living through all of the seasons year after year. Madison writes in his thesis that it was the Continental soldier’s ability to “fight offensively in
the intense heat and incorporate the terrain into their battle strategy” that led them to several small victories at the Battle of Monmouth.[59] Meteorology and climatology really didn’t exist at the time beyond the means of what a thermometer or barometer would tell you. Jonathan Engle wrote that, “they had no satellites, no weather balloons, no radar to detect what was happening higher in the atmosphere… almanacs may have purported to offer meteorological insights.”[60] One of the main advocates of weather research at the time was Thomas Jefferson who kept a detailed journal of the temperature and day to day weather conditions from July 1776 to 1818 [Refer to picture six in appendix- Thomas Jefferson Weather Journal Excerpt Nov 1776-Feb 1777 (Note the Snowfall on Dec. 25th)].
            One other possibility is that the Patriots made better use of the foggy weather because of their smaller numbers. They were able to use the fog as a cloaking device that worked more efficiently with smaller regiments. At the battle of Dorchester Heights the Continental Army was half the size of the British Army; had they had as many men as General Howe, half of the Continental Army could have been captured including General Washington ending the revolution.[61] This thesis focuses on four instances in which the weather helped the Patriots, however it goes without saying that weather is not always on your side. There were times that the weather helped the British, or hindered both sides at the same time. Engle summed up his thesis by stating that, “Weather represents a striking commonality between the opposing sides… American and British generals…feared the same effects of heat and winter on their men, and had their gunpowder equally ruined by inconvenient squalls.”[62] There were countless instances in which both armies were fighting not only each other, but the wind, rain, snow, heat, and all of the other relentless elements.
            Whether they believe it fate, fiction, or scientific fact, weather, along with the incredible ingenuity, bravery, and perseverance of the Patriot army ultimately led them to victory at Dorchester Heights, escaping certain capture at Long Island, victory at the Battle of Trenton, dominion over Yorktown, and ultimately the American Revolution. George Washington wrote that at the battle of Trenton, even in the face of abominable weather that, “their behavior upon this occasion, reflects the highest honor upon them…the difficult of passing the river….the snow and hail…did not in the least abate their ardour [ardor].”[63] It is impossible to know which side weather favored the most throughout the entire American Revolution but had the “perfect storm” of meteorological events not occurred at the time they did in these particular battles, America could very well look completely different today.


Appendix:

Dorchester Heights, Ma.

1. Hyde, Thomas. “Boston, Its Environs and Harbour, with the Rebels Works Raised Against That Town in 1775.” Library of Congress. Accessed April 27, 2015. http://www.loc.gov/item/gm71000623/.

Dorchester Heights Storm

2. Ward, R. “Weather Influences Preceding the Evacuation of Boston Mass.” Monthly Weather Review: United States Department of Agriculture 36, no. 1 (January 1908): 128-29.

The Battle of Long Island

3. British Battles. “The Battle of Long Island 1776.” Accessed April 23, 2015.             http://www.britishbattles.com/long-island.htm.
  
The Battle of Trenton

4. Library of Congress. “Sketch of the Engagement at Trenton.” Accessed April 25, 2015. http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3814t.ar126700/.

The Battle of Yorktown

5. Perkins, Russell S. “Yorktown Campaign.” MOUNT VERNON. Accessed April 26, 2015. http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/yorktown-campaign/.

Thomas Jefferson Weather Journal Excerpt Nov 1776-Feb 1777


6. Jefferson, Thomas. “The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 7. Miscellaneous Bound Volumes.” The Library of Congress. Accessed April 30, 2015. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj7&fileName=mtj7page059.db&recNum=56.

Primary Resources:

Adams, Charles Francis. Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams. New York, Cambridge: Hurd and Houghton, The Riverside Press, 1876.

Anderson, Enoch. Personal Recollections of Captain Enoch Anderson an Officer of the Delaware Regiments in the Revolutionary War. with Notes by Henry Hobart Bellas. Williamston: The Historical Society of Delaware, 1896.

Bostwick, Elisha. Letter, “For God’s Sake, Keep By Your Officers!.” In The Spirit of 'seventy- Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 511, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Clinton, Henry. The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of His Campaigns,
1775-1782, with an Appendix of Original Documents. Edited by William B. Willcox.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.

Cornwallis, Charles. Letter, “I Have The Mortification To Inform Your Excellency” In The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 511, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1236-1238.

Douglas, William. Letter, “Let Them  Come On As Soon As They Dare.” In The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 431, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Ewald, Johann. Diary of the American War, A Hessian Journal. Translated and edited by Joseph P. Tustin. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979.

Gordon, William. Letter, “Washington Seizes the Heights of Dorchester.” In The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 177-179, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Howe, William. Letter, “General How Justifies His Decision to Evacuate Boston.” In The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 179-181, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Hyde, Thomas. “Boston, Its Environs and Harbour, with the Rebels Works Raised Against That Town in 1775.” Library of Congress. Accessed April 27, 2015. http://www.loc.gov/item/gm71000623/.

Jefferson, Thomas. “The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 7. Miscellaneous Bound Volumes.” The Library of Congress. Accessed April 30, 2015. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi- bin/ampage?collId=mtj7&fileName=mtj7page059.db&recNum=56.

Knox, Henry. Letter, “Providence Seemed to Have Smiled Upon This Enterprise!.” In The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 515, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

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[1] [edited by] George F. Scheer and Hugh F. Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats: the American Revolution through the Eyes of Those Who Fought and Lived It (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, 1987), 1.

[2] Jonathan T. Engle, “The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781” (master's thesis, Florida State University, 2011), 3.

[3] “Why Use Primary Sources?,” Library of Congress, accessed May 9, 2015, http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/whyuse.html.

[4] Joseph J. Ellis, Revolutionary Summer: the Birth of American Independence, Reprint ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013), xi.

[5] Jonathan T. Engle, “The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781” (master's thesis, Florida State University, 2011), vi.

[6] Jonathan T. Engle, “The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781” (master's thesis, Florida State University, 2011), Vi.

[7] William R. Baron and David C. Smith, “Growing Season Parameter Reconstructions for New England Using Killing Frost Records, 1697-1947,” The University of Maine-DigitalCommons@UMaine, November, 1996, accessed April 20, 2015,

[8] Ibid.

[9] “American Forces Occupy Dorchester Heights,” History Channel, accessed April 22, 2015, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-forces-occupy-dorchester-heights.

[10] Barbara Rimkunas “Moving Day in Winter,” SeaCoastOnline, January 8, 2010, accessed May 5, 2015, http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20100108/NEWS/1080339?template=printart.

[11] Henry Knox, “Letter from Henry Knox to George Washington On: Dragging Cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, 1775,” THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY, accessed April 22, 2015, http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/war-for-independence/resources/dragging-cannon-from-fort-ticonderoga-boston-1775.

[12] “United States of America Ticonderoga, New York,” Weather Base, accessed April 28, 2015, http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=305803&cityname=Ticonderoga%2C+New+York%2C+United+States+of+America&units=.

[13] NWS Grand Junction, “Science Briefing: Weather Impacts During American Revolution” (video), May 14, 2013, 12:07, accessed April 22, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5HDPUsfGks; William Gordon, “Washington Seizes the Heights of Dorchester,” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants. Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris (New York: Harper & Row, 1967), 178.

[14] William Gordon, “Washington Seizes the Heights of Dorchester,” 178.

[15] “American Forces Occupy Dorchester Heights,” History Channel, accessed April 22, 2015, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-forces-occupy-dorchester-heights.

[16] Charles Francis Adams, Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams (New York, Cambridge: Hurd and Houghton, The Riverside Press, 1876), 142.

[17] William Gordon, “Washington Seizes the Heights of Dorchester,” 179.

[18] William Howe, “General How Justifies His Decision to Evacuate Boston,” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 180-181.

[19] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 54.

[20] Mary Stockwell, “Battle of Long Island,” Mount Vernon, accessed April 25, 2015, http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-long-island/.

[21] William Douglas, “Let Them  Come On As Soon As They Dare,” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 431.

[22] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 54-57.

[23] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 58.

[24] Laura Lee, Blame It On the Rain: How the Weather Has Changed History (New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2006), 119.

[25] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 60.

[26] George Washington, Letter, “To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS Long Island, August 29, half past four, A.M., 1776,” Vol. 5, http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/washington/fitzpatrick/.

[27] Enoch Anderson, Personal Recollections of Captain Enoch Anderson an Officer of the Delaware Regiments in the Revolutionary War. with Notes by Henry Hobart Bellas. (Williamston: The Historical Society of Delaware, 1896), 22.

[28] Benjamin Tallmadge, Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, (New York: Thomas Holman Book and Jon Printer, Corner of Center And White Streets, 1858), 11.

[29] Edward G. Lengel, General George Washington: a Military Life (New York: Random House, 2005), 148.

[30] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution, 60.

[31] Ibid., 82.

[32] Ibid., 82.
[33] Elisha Bostwick, “For God’s Sake, Keep By Your Officers!” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 511.

[34] Henry Knox, “Providence Seemed to Have Smiled Upon This Enterprise!” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 513.

[35] George Washington, Writings (New York: Library of America, 1997), 262.

[36] Ibid.

[37] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 87.

[38] David G. Martin, The Philadelphia Campaign: June 1777-July 1778 (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003), 232-233.

[39] Jonathan T. Engle, “The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781”, 67.

[40] Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of
His Campaigns, 1775-1782, with an Appendix of Original Documents, edited by William B. Willcox (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1954), 290-291.

[41] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 336.

[42] George Washington, “General Orders, 30 September 1781,” National Archives, accessed April 29, 2015, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-07054.

[43] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution (New York, NY: Savas Beatie, 2010), 335.

[44] Russell S. Perkins, “Yorktown Campaign,” MOUNT VERNON, accessed May 9, 2015, http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/yorktown-campaign/.

[45] Dr. James Thacher, “An Army Surgeon Describes The Great Cannonade” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 1233.

[46] Charles Cornwallis, “I Have The Mortification To Inform Your Excellency” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 1238.

[47] Johann Ewald, Diary of the American War, A Hessian Journal, translated and edited by Joseph P. Tustin (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979), 337.

[48] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution, 336.

[49] Charles Cornwallis, “I Have The Mortification To Inform Your Excellency” in The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 1238.

[50] Victor Brooks, The Boston Campaign: April 1775-March 1776 (Conshohocken, PA: Da Capo Press, 1999), 210.

[51] George Washington, Letter, “To JOSEPH REED Cambridge, March 7, 1776,” In “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, Ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, Vol. 4,” George Washington Resources, University of Virginia, accessed March 30, 2015, Vol. 4, http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/washington/fitzpatrick/.

[52] Catalina Gaitan, “Evacuation Day Remembered at Dorchester Heights Ceremony,” The Boston Globe, March 17, 2014, accessed May 9, 2015, http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/17/evacuation-day-remembered-dorchester-heights-ceremony/PzoAaQiyf3dwFY1IZ38RVN/story.html.

[53] Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel. Letter, “Oh God! It Is All Over” In The Spirit of 'seventy-Six: the Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants, 1244-1245, Edited by Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

[54] Jonathan T. Engle, “The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781”, 72.

[55] Kyle Madison, “The Battle of Monmouth: How the Continental Army Used the Environmental Conditions to Gain Victory On June 28, 1778” (master's thesis, Rutgers University, 2011), 30.
[56] Harry Schenawolf “Uniform of the British Army Soldier During the American Revolution,” Shade of Liberty, May 23, 2013, accessed May 9, 2015, http://www.harryschenawolf.com/uniform-of-the-british-army-soldier-during-the-american-revolution/, Kyle Madison, “The Battle of Monmouth: How the Continental Army Used the Environmental Conditions to Gain Victory On June 28, 1778” (master's thesis, Rutgers University, 2011), 27.

[57] Kyle Madison, “The Battle of Monmouth: How the Continental Army Used the Environmental Conditions to Gain Victory On June 28, 1778”, 26.

[58] Ibid., 27.

[59] Ibid., 46.

[60] Jonathan T. Engle, “The Force of Nature: The Impact of Weather On Armies During the American War of Independence, 1775-1781”, 71.

[61] Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution, 55.

[62] Ibid., 72.

[63] George Washington, Writings (New York: Library of America, 1997), 264.

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