Things You Probably Didn't Know

[IceWizard]

About The American Revolution






On April 19, 1775, the American Revolution began when
American and British soldiers exchanged fire at Concord and Lexington.
Here are some things you probably never heard about the
American Revolutionary War




The Word Independence Never Appears In The Declaration

The title of the document is not the Declaration of Independence. The document's first words
are "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." The only reference
to independence is the phrase "Free and Independent States" near the document's end.



General Washington Insisted On Inoculating The Troops

Before the advances of modern medicine, disease—not combat—was one of the primary
causes of death in war. In the winter of 1777, Washington demanded the entire
Continental Army to be inoculated against smallpox. This operation required great secrecy,
as the process left the inoculated soldiers incapacitated for a stretch of time.
As a result, death by smallpox decreased from 17% of deaths to 1% of deaths
after troops were inoculated.



The Boston Tea Party Had a Sequel

We all know about the initial incident on December 16, 1773, when Boston’s Sons of Liberty
dressed as Mohawk Indians and tossed 342 chests of tea from three ships into the
Boston Harbor to protest the taxes imposed in the Tea Act. But we forget that they felt the
need to hammer the point home with a second party, on March 7, 1774 — probably because
they grabbed only 16 chests of tea.



George Washington Returned British General Howe's Dog

At the Battle of Germantown, 150 of Washington’s men were killed, 500 wounded,
and 400 taken prisoner.  But George Washington didn’t lose his sense of good manners
with the battle. A fox terrier appeared in the American’s camp that was wearing a tag
with British General Howe’s name as the owner. Washington promptly returned the
dog back to Howe along with the following polite note
(likely written by Alexander Hamilton):

To General William Howe:

General Washington’s compliments to General Howe.
He does himself the pleasure to return [to] him a
dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and by
the inscription on the collar appears
to belong to General Howe.




A Woman Disguised Herself as a Man and Served During the War

Massachusetts born Deborah Sampson, who was taller than most men at the time,
was one of a few women who saw military combat during the War of Independence
and proved to be an excellent soldier. Using the name Robert Shurtliff, she enlisted
in the army with the 4th Massachusetts Regiment and was wounded in the leg by
two musket balls at a battle in Tarrytown before she was discovered after having
served for about three years. She was honorably discharged on October 25, 1783,
after a physician discovered she wasn’t a male when he treated her for an illness.