The first victory of the American Revolution was over the British at Boston. George Washington had just taken command of the American Army in June of 1775 and had just met a young bookseller named Henry Knox. Here are Five Things you Probably Didn't know.
1. George Washington had been running his plantation for fifteen years and had no experience on how to run a siege against Boston or how to run a large army. In fact he lamented taking command an complained about the stupidity of the troops. He wrote that if he had known the condition of the army he would have never taken command.
2. Henry Knox was a twenty five year old bookseller who had no military experience at all. George Washington made him a Colonel of the Artillery and sent him 300 miles in the middle of winter to retrieve 60 tons of cannons because they had no artillery to force the British out of Boston. Nobody thought Knox was capable of getting the 120,000 pounds of cannons that is the equivalent of 28 SUVS back to Boston.
3. Knox used oxen and sleds to transport the cannons.When he crossed Lake George a cannon fell through the ice and had to retrieved. He then crossed the Hudson river where a 5000 pound cannon went through the ice and it took the the whole town of Albany to pull it back to the surface. When he crossed the Berkshire mountains the men refused to go no further. It took Knox three hours of pleading with the men to get them to continue. It took two months to bring the cannon back.
4. Washington put Knox'x cannons up on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston in one night and when the British woke up they found themselves under bombardment. General Howe tried to attack but a freak snowstorm drove him back and he opted to leave Boston, giving the Americans their first victory.
5. Henry Knox's journey of pulling the cannons to Washington in 1775 is referred to as the Noble Train because Henry Knox wrote Washington a letter from the wilderness stating he was bringing to him "his noble train of artillery."
Henry Knox Noble Train
1. George Washington had been running his plantation for fifteen years and had no experience on how to run a siege against Boston or how to run a large army. In fact he lamented taking command an complained about the stupidity of the troops. He wrote that if he had known the condition of the army he would have never taken command.
2. Henry Knox was a twenty five year old bookseller who had no military experience at all. George Washington made him a Colonel of the Artillery and sent him 300 miles in the middle of winter to retrieve 60 tons of cannons because they had no artillery to force the British out of Boston. Nobody thought Knox was capable of getting the 120,000 pounds of cannons that is the equivalent of 28 SUVS back to Boston.
3. Knox used oxen and sleds to transport the cannons.When he crossed Lake George a cannon fell through the ice and had to retrieved. He then crossed the Hudson river where a 5000 pound cannon went through the ice and it took the the whole town of Albany to pull it back to the surface. When he crossed the Berkshire mountains the men refused to go no further. It took Knox three hours of pleading with the men to get them to continue. It took two months to bring the cannon back.
4. Washington put Knox'x cannons up on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston in one night and when the British woke up they found themselves under bombardment. General Howe tried to attack but a freak snowstorm drove him back and he opted to leave Boston, giving the Americans their first victory.
5. Henry Knox's journey of pulling the cannons to Washington in 1775 is referred to as the Noble Train because Henry Knox wrote Washington a letter from the wilderness stating he was bringing to him "his noble train of artillery."
Henry Knox Noble Train
