Revolutionary Tales - Book Two Quiz

Answer: Mary Ludwig Hays

During the spring of 1778 Washington's rag-tag army was transformed into a real army by Baron von Steuben. The "new" Continental Army got it first test at the Battle of Monmouth. In the sweltering heat of battle, Mary Ludwig Hays tirelessly brought water to wounded men, earning her the nickname "Molly Pitcher". When her artilleryman husband William collapsed from heat stroke, she took his place at the cannon. In 1822, ten years before her death, the Pennsylvania Legislature granted her a pension of $40 a year.

The Battle of Monmouth ended in a draw, but was a resounding victory for the Continental Army. It proved the Army could stand-up to the vaunted British Army. The outcome also raised the spirits of those who supported independence.

Answer: Lt. Colonel Archibald Campbell

In the fall of 1778 the British decided to shift their strategic focus to the southern colonies, where they knew there was significant Loyalist support, especially in the coastal cities. Savannah was their first target. They sent Lt. Colonel Archibald Campbell with 3500 troops and the promise of reinforcements there.

The American commander was Major General Robert Howe with about 850 Continental soldiers. When Campbell saw how weak Howe was, he decided not to wait for reinforcements. He flanked the Americans and caused a rout. The British ended up occupying Savannah for most of the war.

Answer: first integrated regiment in U.S. history

The First Rhode Island Regiment was composed of indigenous people, African Americans, and white troops, and was led by white officers. The Battle of Rhode Island, fought in the fall of 1778, sought to return to American control the once sleepy port of Newport. The British recognized its strategic importance and turned it in to a major naval base.

During the battle, which also included the French Navy, the First Rhode Island fought gallantly, but, in the end, the British held the ground. All the enslaved people who fought with the First Rhode Island were granted their freedom at the end of 1778. The use of the First Rhode Island did not encourage more fully integrated units, however, it did inspire Civil Rights activists during the 1950s.

Answer: Major General John Sullivan

"The expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the six nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more. The country may not be merely overrun but destroyed."

General Washington issued the above order to Major General John Sullivan. The Sullivan Expedition wore a path of destruction through northern Pennsylvania and western New York in retaliation for the attacks on white settlers in 1778 and 1779. The campaign was catastrophic for the Iroquois and set a precedent for future U.S. Indian policy. General Sullivan estimated that over 40 Iroquois villages were destroyed.

The Sullivan Expedition had an enormous influence on American History by opening up western expansion. The Expedition caused thousands of indigenous people to flee the area of northern New York and western Pennsylvania, thus opening up that land to American settlers. In addition, settlers felt more emboldened to push further west in to the Ohio Territory. The Expedition also set a precedent for dealings with indigenous people in the nineteenth century by clearing the people off of their ancestral lands to make way for white settlers. The Trail of Tears is one example.

Answer: George Rogers Clark

George Rogers Clark, the older brother of William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame, marched his men for 18 days through the harsh winter to reach Vincennes and attack Fort Sackville. The shocked British surrendered the fort in two days. Clark's campaign also scored victories at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. These victories helped open the western frontier to American settlers.

Answer: True

True. The Quartering Act of 1765 did so prohibit. The Quartering Act of 1774 allowed for quartering in private homes, but only if necessary. The citizenry of towns did have to provide barracks or other public buildings, plus they had to pay for the soldier's beer, bedding, candles and firewood. Such demands helped to further the cause for revolution.

Answer: General "Mad" Anthony Wayne

"Mad" Anthony Wayne got his nickname for his almost reckless courage. His challenge at Stony Point was huge. Using tactics still studied at military command schools today, Wayne split his force into three columns and ordered them not to load their muskets, but to fix bayonets.

They then climbed the peninsula shaped rock. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ensued and in less than half an hour the British surrendered. The Americans abandoned Stoney Point when they determined it was too difficult to hold, but it proved that the Continentals could take on any British position using only bayonets and courage.

Answer: Penobscot Bay

The American fleet of around forty vessels was led by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall. His ships carried over three thousand soldiers led by Brigadier General Solomon Lovell. The British had built a major naval base at Castine, Maine, in Penobscot Bay from which they could threaten New England's commerce. The American commanders squabbled and neither advanced on Castine. This bickering gave time for British Admiral George Collier to arrive with a force of only seven warships. In two days the British ran circles around the American fleet, and in the process captured or sunk every American vessel.

Commodore Saltonstall was court-martialed by the Massachusetts Maritime Board and the Continental Navy. A majority of the ships lost were the property of Massachusetts (Maine was still a part of Massachusetts at that time). Massachusetts went first and found him guilty, even though they technically had no jurisdiction over him. The Continental Navy also found him guilty, but may have been unduly influenced by the verdict from the Massachusetts' Board that had no jurisdiction. Commodore Saltonstall was cashiered from the Navy for incompetence. The American troops were forced to flee.

Answer: Count Casimir Pulaski

Count Casimir Pulaski was born in Warsaw. He developed a reputation as an excellent field commander and cavalryman. Through friends he was able to arrange a meeting with Benjamin Franklin in Paris. Franklin was impressed with Pulaski, and wrote him a letter of introduction to General Washington. When Pulaski arrived in America in July 1779 he wrote Washington that, "I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it."

Pulaski first saw action in the fall of 1779. The British had held Savannah for almost a year. The Americans were determined to reclaim it. In the fall of 1779 American General Benjamin Lincoln, along with 42 ships under the command of Admiral Charles Hector, Comte d'Estaing, and a legion of troops under Count Pulaski, laid siege to Savannah. The ensuing battle cost more lives than most other Revolutionary War battles and destroyed the city. Count Pulaski was killed and the British held on to Savannah until the war's end.

Answer: Charleston, SC

After their failure in 1776, the British decided to again attempt to capture the South's main port of Charleston in March 1780. The British brought an overwhelming force of thirteen thousand men and fourteen warships. The American commander General Benjamin Lincoln was only able to scrape together about six thousand troops, most of whom were militia. The British were led by General Sir Henry Clinton. His men were able to surround Charleston, and the fleet was able to evade Fort Moultrie's batteries.

General Lincoln had no choice but to surrender. His militia troops were allowed to return home, but the Continental troops were imprisoned aboard British ships in conditions so deplorable that over 800 died of disease and malnutrition. The inhuman treatment of American prisoners fueled even more resentment of the British and emboldened guerrilla warfare.