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Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
@KKriegeBlog
Jul 6 • 26 tweets • 9 min read • Read on X
A thread of threads. 20 misconceptions about the Revolutionary War (or American War of Independence). Americans (proud to be one) are often quite ill-informed about the military struggle which led to our independence from Great Britain.

This isn't your father's rev war. 1/25 Image
I'm a history professor who studies the military history of George Washington's time: ~1739-1789. I teach at a small liberal arts college with a revolutionary mascot, and absolutely love my job, and our history. Spent the week in Philly, seeing cool Americana. 2/25
First of all, we didn't win the war bc we had rifles and they didn't. Mel Gibson is a fictional character, even if riflemen played an important role in engagements like King's Mountain, they were less important in George Washington's army after 1776 3/25

Although the idea is that Americans nobly volunteered for the war (and many did) that army was destroyed in the 1775-1777 period, and conscription (a draft) played an important role after 1776. This is the single best book on our army: check it out. 4/25 Image
The Libertarian Party jokingly characterized American soldiers as drunken farmers, and that might ring more true than they realize. Americans were motivated to fight by both patriotic and materialistic appeals. 5/25
There are misconceptions about our enemies: the British and the "Hessians". First of all, we didn't win the war bc we hid behind trees and sniped the British who foolishly stood in lines out in the open. They took cover too. 6/25
Indeed, misconceptions of how the British army fought the war abound. They were a fast, flexible, and tactically aggressive force, which gave Washington a run for his money, defeating us in many of the major battles of the war. 7/25
Likewise, the British didn't have the best army in the world at this point, even if they had the best financial mechanisms to support it. Who did? Probably Prussia or Russia. 8/25

That doesn't mean that the American Continental army was bad: the American military trajectory in the 18th century was similar to Russia, trying to modernize and Europeanize their army on the fly. Washington and Peter I had similar command styles. 9/25

A final thought on Russia: it was nearly Russian troops, instead of Hessians, who came to fight us alongside the British. You read right, we almost got Red Dawn: 1776 as the origin story of America.

Can we get this made into a movie? I'll consult. 10/25
There are tons of myths out there about the Hessians: from being drunk on Christmas, to being mercenaries, to how much they plundered and robbed American civilians. Fortunately, I tackle them all in one convenient thread. 11/25

From British wearing red to Hessians wearing big metal hats, is it any wonder that we won the war when our enemies were so ridiculously dressed? How crazy were revolutionary war uniforms? How impractical were they? 12/25

And what about those inaccurate smoothbore muskets the troops used? Weren't all firefights at really close range? Like 50 yards? Emphatically, no. 13/25

Are we really sure the British didn't march slowly to the beating of drums? I've seen it is so many movies and even at reenactments. Yes, we are pretty sure. 14/25

And with the muskets being inaccurate, weren't bayonets a more important weapon? Didn't most battles come down to hand-to-hand fighting in the Revolutionary War? Again, no. 15/25

One of George Washington's headaches was trying to supply his men with ammunition. During the Battle of Germantown, his troops ran out of ammo, and started streaming to the rear, showing him their empty ammo pouches. A bad day for loggie guys. 16/25
Americans loved using buckshot, but were they alone in this? Did the British use it too? 17/25

Did African and African American men many fight for one side? Didn't the British offer them freedom? Black men fought in most armies of the period, whether in North America or Europe. A number of them served with the Hessians. 18/25

While George Washington led from the front and inspired his men, he was also not afraid to use the stick alongside the carrot, threatening to execute cowards and men who fled from combat. 19/25

And what about American soldiers, didn't Steuben say that the Americans were better troops than the other European soldiers? Well, he certainly said they were different, and you and I might interpret that as better. He probably didn't. 20/25

And was Steuben openly gay? Well, it's complicated, and honestly, a little unclear with the sources we have. A range of possibilities exist. 21/25

And after all the suffering they went through to win our freedom, did Continental Army soldiers get appreciation from the American people? Surely they didn't just make up a legend that the militia won the war, right? 22/25

If you can't tell from the above, I love studying this period, and trying to understand that past as it occurred, to the best of my ability. Sometimes that means telling cherished stories, sometimes that means revising what we think.
23/25
Teaching undergraduate students and future military officers about this period has been the best job I've ever had.


24/25
So, as we finish out July 4th weekend, spend some time dwelling on the reality of the Revolutionary struggle, the sacrifices made by the founding generation, and even the assistance that the French, Spanish, and Dutch gave us in winning our freedom. 25/25 Image
This got some traction: I'm glad to see so many of you enjoy 18th century military history! If desired, you can support me on Patreon () , purchase my edited volume, or register interest in my forthcoming book, Infantry in Battle:
patreon.com/Kabinettskriege
helion.co.uk/people/alexand…

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More from @KKriegeBlog

Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
Jul 2
Happy early July 4th, everybody. A 🧵on how Americans see foreign policy and the world through the lens of history, specifically the history of the American War of Independence. Americans love to view ourselves as plucky underdogs.

But we aren't underdogs anymore.
1/25 Image
Christopher Duffy, writing under the pen-name Hugh Faringdon, described his motivation to write "Confrontation: The Strategic Geography of NATO and the Warsaw Pact" with the following anecdote: "The speaker hailed from an anglophone foreign country,..." 2/25 Image
"...and he was discoursing on the current issues of strategy. The audience was composed of typical representatives from the British upper class, or those who aspired thereto. Every now and then a phrase from the rostrum cut through my reverie..." 3/25
Read 25 tweets
Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
Jun 25
For students, wargamers, reenactors, etc, I think one of the hardest things to grasp about the eighteenth-century wars that I study is the lack of nationalism on the part of combatants. Modern films, games, etc, usually filter this layer in, when it wasn't there. 🧵 1/ Image
Christopher Duffy argues that patriotism in its modern form was most recognizable in Russia and Britain, and the letters of British soldiers do occasionally express semi-patriotic sentiments: Thomas Plumb wrote home to his family in Feb of 1777, speaking about Americans: 2/20 Image
"And they must fight and die. But had they the heart that we Britoners have we should stand no chance with them." A patriotic sentiment, one that puts Americans down and makes Britons look noble. Most eighteenth-century soldiers' letters aren't filled with these ideas. 3/20
Read 20 tweets
Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
Jun 20
The brainwashing of pedigree (where you went to college, how prestigious it was) is everywhere in academia. This has never been brought home further than when I lost a colleague (a good friend, veteran, and wonderful man) in January. 1/11
This scholar (an emeritus in his 70s) was close to the end with terminal cancer. He had a wonderful career, publishing four books, and securing a professorship. Our department went to visit him in the hospital, four days before his death. 2/11
We talked about a number of subjects, light and heavy but as we were leaving, he got serious, and pulled us in. The future of our department was in our hands, he said. We needed to publish in prestigious journals, write books, and... 3/11
Read 11 tweets
Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
Jun 18
Waterloo, Waterloo, Waterloo. With greatest love and respect to my Napoleonicist friends, June 18th is also the anniversary of the Battle of Kolin in 1757, so I'm going to do a thread on a battle you haven't already heard everything about. 1/28 Image
The battle is often remembered as "Frederick the Great's first defeat", but it is much more significant than that, reshaping the possibilities and aims of belligerents in the Central European Seven Years War. A bit of background. 2/28
This battle occurred in the second year of the European Seven Years War (1756-1763), and saw Prussian (North German Protestant) forces fighting against Habsburg (Austrian, Bohemian, and Hungarian) forces over control of what is today the Czech Republic. 3/28
Read 28 tweets
Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
May 8
For the last 10 years, I've been interested in the history of the British Regiment that fought the Revolutionary War in the American Midwest, the 8th (King's) Regiment.

I was able to present on the history of the regiment at a conference last year (video below). Short🧵1/8 Image
The 8th (King's) Regiment gets a bad wrap as a result of 3 things: 1) pithy comments from other units 2) their status as essentially a garrison regiment 3) comments from their officers. I try to address all of these things in the lecture, as well as explain their successes. 2/8 Image
They defended Canada and projected British power across much the trans-Appalachian midwest during the AWI. They were fairly successful in doing so: in some sense, the posts that they held form the boundaries of Canada and the United States down to the present. 3/8 Image
Read 8 tweets
Dr. Alexander S. Burns Profile picture
May 4
Were the industrial revolution and its consequences a disaster for the human race? Were we better off pre-capitalism? Was life better before nationalism?
The post below combined with the pesky resurgence of "medieval peasants had more days off than you" has inspired a 🧵. 1/25
I'm a historian who studies the last part of human history before these developments (1600-1789), in the North Atlantic World (Europe and NA) with a focus on the lives of ordinary people (peasants) and especially soldiers drawn from that peasant class between 1730-1790. 2/25
In addition to thinking in an academic and archival way, and teaching in my university courses, I also have tried to grasp them in the world of living history as a volunteer at museums and historic sites. It doesn't give special insights, but can help framing. 3/25

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Read 25 tweets

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