250 Years Ago: Early December 1775
By Shawn Everett
Submitted to Corner Post
Good day, neighbor! I trust your family and the fortunes of your labor are uplifted by the approaching holidays and the end of 1775, only weeks away. Once again, we meet here at the corner post to share the latest colonial news, for the situation facing our cause is indeed precarious. ​It seems ours is an army in the balance.
​Newspapers, like the latest from Philadelphia, speak little of battles, but much of crisis. The problem arises not from the King's army, but our own! Our immediate struggle revolves around two stark realities: rapidly expiring enlistments and the crushing realization that we lack the instruments necessary for victory.
​General Washington is engaged daily in an agonizing test of wills outside Boston. True, his Continental Army has confined the British in Boston. But that is a fragile reality because the enlistment papers of thousands of his citizen-soldiers are set to expire on New Year’s Eve. He is fighting time and the human longing for home, especially at this time of year. He must convince free men, who have endured months of service without proper pay or adequate shelter, to risk execution as traitors for another year.
​Washington relies on a dedicated group of officers to transform independent, often insubordinate militias into a disciplined, professional army. It is through the character and willpower of these men that a professional army is slowly being forged. ​Colonel Joseph Reed is a lawyer who resigned his practice to handle Washington's massive correspondence. ​Colonel John Glover, a wealthy merchant and tough fisherman from Marblehead, commands a maritime regiment of experienced seamen. General Nathanael Greene, a Quaker blacksmith turned brilliant strategist, and Major General Charles Lee, a former British officer whose extensive experience commands respect, have shown themselves to be capable field commanders. Colonel Henry Knox, a young bookseller from Boston, whose passionate interest in artillery and military engineering, serves as a trusted technical advisor. However, I've heard that Colonel Knox and a large group of men have vacated the camp. Are they deserters or are they on a mission?
​It is a queer twist of fate that this strife began with Parliament taxing American colonists to bear the burden of its war with France. Now, our Congress faces a similar financial dilemma. Rather than raising taxes, however, our representatives are issuing more Continental dollars, money backed only by the promise of our future, hoping the paper will hold enough value to pay the soldiers and secure desperately needed supplies. Stability of our cause rests as much on the integrity of this paper as on the loyalty of our troops. But the markets suggest that printing more of this currency is diluting its value.
​General Washington is concerned by the lack of heavy artillery to dislodge the British from Boston. To gain a decisive advantage, we need powerful cannons to pound the city and the ships in the harbor. Washington knows precisely where those valuable arms are located. The challenge is to secure and transport these heavy instruments of war. The future of the siege hinges on it.
​And have you heard of the shadow of foreign intervention. Disquieting reports have emerged from across the Atlantic. Newspapers reveal that the British government is actively negotiating to hire mercenary soldiers, specifically Hessians from Germany. These fearsome fighters, whose allegiance goes to the highest bidder. The Hessians have a fearsome and widely known reputation across Europe: they are professional, well-trained career soldiers who fight only for the highest pay. The thought of the Crown sending thousands of these ruthless mercenaries who share no language, loyalty, or kinship with us—to our shores carries a profound and chilling weight. Our enduring hope is that the strength of free people fighting for their homes will prove more resilient than the vast sums paid to foreign guns.
And what of the Canadian Conquest, you ask? ​Alas, from the North, there is only silence. While Washington struggles with the internal decay of his army, our thoughts turn constantly to the frozen North. For weeks, the desperate gamble to seize Canada has been moving toward its final, brutal confrontation. We know that brave Colonel Benedict Arnold and the ragged survivors of his march are now outside Quebec City, preparing for a nearly impossible assault.
​Friend, may the coming season bring peace and health to your family and throughout the world. Remember our countrymen and pray that God continues to bless our efforts and guide us. Let us meet here at the corner post soon to share the news from the final, fateful weeks of December 1775.
