or sailmaker, to learn about what happens when you pull together exactly what you can do. >> this weekend, we are featuring the history of port huron, michigan with our comcast partners. /citiesore at c-span.org tour. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. back discusses , igniting the american avenue of -- american revolution and the war before independent. talk, she thatng mr. back the details sides of

the conflict that took place in and around boston, massachusetts prior to the declaration of independence. >> tonight, we are delighted to have derek back presenting the war of independence, 17 75-1776. easily set a passion for military history which inspired him to start a career in the air force. in served as an officer and 2005, he earned a science degree from m.i.t. where he fell in love with boston's revolutionary past. he later transitioned to the air force reserve and still remains quite active, presently holding the rank of major. his book received an honorable mention here in april. wassecond book, the sequel released in may.

i would now like to welcome derek to the lectern. [applause] >> thank you all for coming. it's an honor to be here come a very historic site and it's cool to give a historic lecture at a i have twote stop books that tell the story of the entire boston campaign. the first covers from the start of the war, which i describe as the start of the action at the boston tea party and then the first shots are fired and it ends with the siege of boston just beginning. and books are standalone can be read independently, but the two together tell the entire boston campaign. about who i amre

and the reason behind this. details -- i is an air force base and started working on short films on the weekend and took some courses at the new york film academy. i wanted to focus on writing and storytelling so i had material to shoot. i became interested in revolutionary history and at that would make a great movie. i started a film script about the start of the war. that's the outline that became these books. i was discovering a lot of details that could not be covered in the film and i was going through some of the source material and there was a lot of underrepresentation on the british side and i was trying to tell the story from both sides, so i felt i had to turn it into a book which became two books.

why history? question i hear a lot. history is boring and i think that's wrong. i think if you think it's boring, you are not reading the right looks because history is exciting. there in "thebson there arethe fact is people shooting at each other and if you could see these events, your heart would be racing. these should not be boring. it's like an action event. it happened in the past but it should be a very exciting thing and that was my approach. wayproach it in a cinematic and i want to capture that excitement. academic reasons why study history is so that you understand your culture, where you came from, that the cultural roots of everything we do in this society. the other reason is hopefully we learn from the past. a lot of times we don't learn

from the past but hopefully we can take something from the past and not make those same mistakes. approaches tont make that happen and you can read them there, but one of the on realgs is oka singh people. it makes them real. george washington was the hero of the revolution, but he's not a superhero. he has flaws. if you get to read his letters and see his perspective, he was doubting his perspective quite a bit. seeing the american side and the a real valuegives and relatable understanding to the british. a roboticot merely enemy. they have logic behind their decision-making. i'm in the air force and work with british officers today and they seem to be good chaps. why is that i would learn that

they were the bad guys and the americans were the good guys? that's the other approach. i avoid the word patriot. patriot means lover of one's country. the british were fighting for their empire and their country. they were patriots in their eyes. sometimes the good guys look like the bad guys and sometimes the bad guys look like the good guys. i portrayed as if you are a journalist following along, you can decide who is the good guys and who is the bad guys. i don't make that decision for you. this one is a little different -- most history books are bogged down with details. in informationap so we have to theorize about these events. thehave to explain perspective and that bogs down the story. theoryth my prevailing based on the evidence and i

defend it in the back. all of those things you need as a historian, my and notes are beefed up and i have more appendices in my books and there's this historic information that historians love but the body of the book reads like a narrative. they compare it to reading and action novel. i want you to enjoy the action and the events and all of the stuff that slows down most history books does not need to be in the body. book, and i'm going to recap the first book to catch you up. it starts with the boston tea party and the ultimate result is the british tried to force austin to pay back the tea and to pay back boston the tfa pass a series of laws. that closes down the port,

putting a ton of people out of localnd creating a economic depression. the second is the massachusetts government act that restricts freedom of assembly and something like this event right now, getting together and talking about things the government hasn't sanctioned was not allowed. the royalke away was governor that was a civilian and american war and is now replaced with general thomas age of the first royal governor that's a military governor from massachusetts. ofs the commander-in-chief all british forces in north america. end of party is the 1773. the british call them coercive act. in america, we call them the intolerable act. they sent troops to boston and

previously, the renault troops since the boston massacre. the result was that they kick the troops out and now they have come back and turns out one out soldierin boston is a or officer. you have a lot of people who are ticked off and they have nothing to do. if you go to boston now, it's hard to tell because it was a peninsula than and they filled in the mud flats and created boston as it is. trapped, out of work and a lot of time on your hands. you have soldiers reminding you every day that you are in this predicament because of overbearing parliamentary decisions. there's a lot of brawls that happen and escalation occurs

within and outside boston, so the new royal governor and british general weapons outside of boston and concorde. he will take a preventive action to seize those weapons to prevent the americans from uprising against his forces in boston. the leader of the revolution at this point is dr. joseph warned. he is a known today and that is too bad. he is my focus character for the first part of this book and into the second book. he is the guy that should be remembered. , -- know- names we now these men that you know from boston, there outside of boston. they are not in boston.

dr. joseph warrren is in boston and he is controlling the protests, not quite a revolution, but the reaction to british oppression in boston. after the first shots, hancock and the two atoms go to philadelphia for the continental congress and worn as the guy -- warren of the guy left in charge. warren is the guy that sends these two men, when he sees the british mustering at boston comments preparing to go to concorde to seize these weapons, at first he to syndication throughout the time that this may be happening. left to the man on the go to lexington and worn hancock. later there are indications that warren sees the troops mustering on boston commons and he sends the man on the right and an

urgent ride to lexington and that man is famous, is the famous actor jack black. [laughter] i think he looks the same. paul revere. paul revere rides out and meets up and they ride to concorde going house to house yelling, we all know he says, the americans are coming. it is that the americans are coming. you're confused. if i can to your house in the middle of the night, not on your door and said the americans were coming and you give me disabled. if you a grab it and aim it at me. same with paul revere. he did not go to those houses and to the british are coming because they are all british. they are all british americans and the big issue, the big reason why there is this issue

with american colonies and britain is because the american colonies want to be treated more like british. they feel like they are second-class citizens. it is not about taxation. the whole taxation with representation focused on the representation parts. they are second-class citizens and they don't have any representation and they see how they are treated in many different ways, the way that george washington complained that he cannot have any sort of position in the government of virginia because he was american-born. the lots of indications that people were fed up. they wanted to be treated like british in person. there were not and i was a major complaint here they were proud to british, they were happy to french andd -- be they wanted to be recognized as british. if you would've come up to any house at that time and said the

british are coming, he would have looked at you very confused. it makes no sense. like,ker said something he leads three versions of the deposition. he does us exactly what he said. he may have said, probably said something like the regulars are coming referring to the regular army versus the militia. or the redcoats are coming. or the regulars are turning out. something like that. definitely did not say the british are coming. the british to come. i have to use the terms because it is a modern audience. the british market and on their way to concorde which is over here, they meet up with the lexington militia on a green park. the lexington much was dating in protest not looking for a skirmish. a shot rings out, the first

shot. we don't not be shot first. there's indications they came from a spectator, and american spectator on the sidelines. at the end of the day, it did not matter. the first shot rang out and the americans used it for the propaganda. shot first is important. just like in star wars. [laughter] seat.ind of hard to han solo should take about a hunter in 1977. he shoots in cold blood this bounty hunter. lucas remakes the star wars movies and changes it, digitally altered the scene so that the bounty hunter shoots and fires second consulate does. that's a big deal because george lucas but that han solo needed moral authority and did the same case for the americans. they felt like whoever shot

first is vitally important that the british were seen as the ones that started the war. because of the moral authority. the americans had to be the victims to win the hearts and minds in person as well as potential allies as would be the case with the french. after the first shot in lexington, the british make their way to concorde. the are shorts part at concorde. the british admit fault in this case. the militia, thanks to paul , have and other riders come to concorde and basically harassed the british all the way back. there is ambushed upon him all the way to lexington. the original expeditionary forces nearly destroyed. until they get to lexington and the relief of the reinforcement of british soldiers. british reinforcement enveloped the original expedition or force

and takes them back towards boston and the worst fighting his house to house in this town called monogamy, now does called arlington. -- it is called arlington. the result of this daylong battle is that the british on besieged. in boston any of theseind weapons and concorde because they were all hidden ahead of the british arrival. for the next two months, the british are stuck in boston, they get new officers and new soldiers arriving almost daily and then two of these gentlemen are william howell and his deputy. howell is going to lead an attempt to bust the siege and that is what leads to a plan

where the british are going to go south. this of the peninsula boston. these are the americans surrounded them and there's a peninsula to the south called dorchester. now does part of boston. there is a no man's land. the british will centrist by boat and circle around and take the american headquarters in cambridge. that is the plan. there's also no man's land in charleston. are on one side and the americans are on the other, the inhabitants realize they are stuck between two armies and they abandon the town. 1775, charlestown is a no man's land. however, the american intelligence network is pretty good and instead of waiting for the british to attack dorchester and circle cambridge, they decide i did 16th that they will theypreemptive maneuver --

decide on june 16 that they would a preemptive maneuver and use earthworks on a hill in charleston. they put them can in their which the hell can rain down on boston and put the british at risk. boston can rain down on and put the british at risk. they're going to meet the battle ofin the first the war. meanwhile, it takes the british and long time to cross the river by boat in the americans continue to fortify. there is a square, basically four foot-five foot hill of dirt that they created and extended out in one line and told some other fortifications and here there is a fence in the fence is basically one fence they reinforced with another fence and stuffed with pay.

hay.mericans -- the americans think they are ready. general howell will lead the fight. he is dismayed to see that this fence, his intended path, he will try to circle around and surround these americans on the hill. he is dismayed to see that the rail fence was put up as he was transitioning across the river for his happy to see his secret away, yet undiscovered by the americans. this huge path along the beach. the beach is about 8-10 people of the battlefield. the americans can't see it. ,t is about four-feet wide rocky and there are no americans there. thebritish plan is to move lightest troops, they carry very little light weapons and light baggage up that beach in the plan is to get around the americans and break this rail fence and everyone will surround

them. hopefully the americans will disperse because the british are the greatest army in the world supposedly. that is the plan. ndsever, new hampshire semd some militia troops over there and what colonel determined that beach is open and so he decides to put a couple dozen, that is all, americans down there and they put together a little dense with a couple rocks, no more than knee-high and they just wait. the british are nearly 330 troops. the british have bandits and americans have no bandits. here's what is happening. i will read from the book. the new hampshire man is colonel stark. in a triple rubbed offenders, held their fire as the elegant column of light infantry marched up the beach towards them with the bandits with them. slowly they approached that stake in the ground.

fusilier noticed it as he marched by. the british column was determined to plow through stark's with bayonet alone. they were nearly close enough to begin their charge. then the doll barrels before them studied to a level went to new england twang give the order. they five. the, fence defenders instantly disappeared with smokers likely only have fired first. the others fight next as the first reloaded. their muska balls formed a wall of light that flung toward the help was british. ripping into them and estimating their front rows. the body tumbled onto the beach and into the river. the next rosa british scattered as they struggle to maneuver over the carnage that had been their brothers in arms. the new hampshire man kept in almost incessant fire on them knowing them down for any time ranked by rank come officers and privates alike. the blood mingling with the small title pulls that i

collected on the beach. the officer shouted and try to push the men off but british discipline failed. without orders, some we british climate fired their muskets towards the white smoke that had replaced the kabul fence defenders. making a mistake. by awkwardly slowing the farther musket instead of charging the head, the redcoats lingered within the lethal range of the american musketry which only allow the yankees to slaughter more of them. causing british bodies to pile up as hurdles of carnage for those behind. all of this cause the column to compress on itself, the front ranks driven to a halt while the men in the back continued forward. the british officer somehow managed to drive them forward in a people charge. but but momentum and initiative were lost. the unforgiving american musketry continued to wipe out the lead british soldiers until the column at last gave way and began to fall back. meanwhile as they are doing

this, the other forces are moving but are stalling. bombardssh mile navy and start ablaze. the light infantry does not do what is expected but the fight on the beach does not go as expected and then they retreat. now the general's stuck. he has a decision to make. this attack here is not meant to be an attack. they are just stalling would number the beach attack to do with job before they moved there. now he has to make a decision. he decides that he is good to charge his troops on the battlefield at the americans. it is not a smart decision. it is probably one that he did because of honor. the fact is, just to mention this, the americans are behind 845 foot pile of dirt. they have muskets. nobody has rifles at this point. to his with balls

and them and if you can take one of these tips and put it on a tribe had an aim it at a target 50 feetd and aim it at away, a target, one bomb might be there or one might well be there, it is inaccurate. their risk of getting shot by musket is very low. the way to do this in the reason they do this in march of mine is because if you get a bunch of guys together and they all should together, some of the shots will fit the target. must of them will not. fire, you hire and i have about 30 seconds it will take you to reload. probably little slower because you are nervous because you have guys running at you with blades on the guns and you don't have any bandits. -- bandits. -- bayonets. the americans have come to a knife fight without a knife.

the british have blades. every one of them sticks on their muskets and these muskets are long in the bayonets along. -- are long. the americans don't have any of that. there's a theory that if the british simply continue forward once the musket balls start shooting out and certainly can fire beyond 50 feet and maybe hit something, but they are inaccurate, if-- the british keep their lines and what they get within the lethal range charge towards the americans, the americans will have no choice but to retreat. but that is not what happens. they move forward in the american start shooting in the british make the fatal mistake and they stop and shoot back. the americans are behind four or five foot tall piles of dirt or rail fences.

the british are out in the open. it does not go well. casualties extreme and they finally retreat. now general howell has to figure out what he would do differently. her positions the troops -- repositions the troops into column formations. becausewill make sense if the first couple troops in a column, which is about four guys ife and hundreds deep, even they do get shot down there are some a behind that you can't stop the momentum. the americans when not bill to stop the momentum. -- be able to stop the momentum. , they positionht just like before. they help the americans will fall for it. it is a race -- roose. they march forward and then make

prepared to charge. -- they prepare to charge. as the british drew near, the americans held their fire waiting until the redcoats were closer. suddenly all at once, the british left wing broke their stride in charge forward rushing up. on the british right, the front lines comprised of grenada years -- grenadier's. firing at a reference from a state distance. maneuvered into a column and searched left led by howell himself in charge let. -- charged left. aninstant, on the entire assault had become a swarm of columns. this surprised the defenders. prescott and his men held their

fire over at the rail fence it was obvious that the position was no longer the objective so it's defenders and merely begin firing. -- immediately began firing. what happens next to the light infantry stays here and five from a safe distance. they keep the rail fence defenders in check. everyone else storms into and over these earthworks into the americans. the americans do not have bayonets. the british do and they all do. it is pretty intense fighting over there. here, far british left one is a marine lieutenant and troops are that his the other some of companies and they are disorganized. they agree to charge in and over the readout. has come toarren

the field as a volunteer. working with colonel prescott who is the american in charge. waller is a marine and he asked his two officer to form a file on his blank and they charged with bayonets. the officers all agree and a storm passed the hedges through the ditch, over the ground and that the rampart. prescott for delivery focused his defenders in that direction meeting the value british charge . the regulars took heavy casualties including british captain campbell shot dead as his men swarmed. they were too many redcoats for the rebels to reports. repulse. prescott's men fired. the next wave of soldiers instantly took their place. mounting the parapet and firing smack into ashot

kernel. the american musketry beginning to slacken from want of ammunition. the british board into the structure. a moment later, the british port in from all sides. a vicious and bloody melee. the british swarmed in. this imbalance the frontline yankees. the tent wall or road i cannot pretend to describe the four of the scene within the redoubt. when we entered, streaming with blood and string with thine meant soldiers dabbing some and bashing up the brink of others, a slight -- site to welding -- depressing to dwell on. there's a reinforcement of british getting ready to come over. the result is that the americans are forced to retreat. they don't have bayonets and cannot fight at close range. during the retreat there are stories about dr. joseph

warren.he dies in this battle. one story is that he is shot in the back of the head as he is rushing out. another is that he gives a dying speech before he is shot and a third is that he is shot in the face as he is rallying some of the retreating americans to shoot warmer volley into the oncoming british. this is dr. joseph warren. he was -- his skull was photographed who is also a doctor. they do not think a forensic and no one put a ruler here to figure out size but there's some forensics of the biographer has done, they were able to do some averaging of orbitals for males

of his ethnicity during that era to try to get some measure here and here is the entry wound and there is the blast out of the back of the skull. this entry wound is determined as about a half an inch in diameter. the musket that the british sugar carried to three quarters of an inch. this shot is mark which means it is probably a pistol shot and a pistol was carried by either an officer or an officer serving. we don't know much about the servant but a lot of these officers are nobles so they had henpeckedrom home or is ordered to be acting as a servant on the battlefield. the mostt was important thing to take away from this picture is that the most of the small city -- velocity of guns at this time was very low to mean that to shoot at the skull he was shot very close range in the story that he rallied the troops to fire into the british is probably true, he definitely saw

his assailant. that is how he died. that is really like his forgotten because he dies early in the war. he is the first marker of the revolution. martyr of the revolution. he was very well loved. he may have been a future u.s. president, unfortunately we will never know. what was the point of the battle poker health? -- bunker hill? it is basically a no man's land and it is still surrounded. they meanwhile put 2600 officers and soldiers into this bite my kind of the reinforcements. or of them are either killed wounded. almost half of the fighting force is killed or wounded for a peninsula that no one really needed. the british now have to extend the troops to two peninsulas to

protect morland -- more land and have less meant to do it. the americans, george washington tried to figure out later from the americans ask a fun at the battle and because -- thought at the battle -- fought at the battle. no one really is for sure, but george washington estimated that perhaps 3000 perhaps it dated -- participated. initially the number than 2000 with her at once. wounded 22% killed or or captured by the british. the british now have two pencil is. -- peninsulas. the british have gained nothing. they are still stuck. that is the issue. they sacrificed a lot of people. george washington has been selected by the continental

congress to take over the motion because it is a mess organizationally and turned them into a continental army. yet he is on his way to boston before the battle of bunker hill . he is around new york during the battle. he learns about it while he is in route but he is not there. he never meets dr. joseph warren but i consider the battle of bunker hill the turning point of leadership because dr. joseph arren hands over his leadership to george washington by dying. meanwhile, general gay choosing cards -- charge of the british -- general gauge -- who is in charge of the british soldiers inspired. it will be howell versus washington for most of the rest of the war. washington --s to massachusetts to assemble some of the continental army and almost has no guns.

very little gunpowder as well. however, he also has a major british force in canada which he has strong concerns they will come down and break the siege of boston, which is their aim. so the cost of congress authorizes a new campaign into canada and personally i never learned any of this in elementary school. i had no idea canada was involved. they were invited to the continental congress as a 14th colony. colonel arnold, benedict arnold is one of the key men in the campaign and goes towards quebec city. richard montgomery goes and he has some sieges along lake champlain and up to montreal that ultimately meet benedict arnold are quebec city.

i would not give everything away and the book but the battle of quebec city -- they fight during a blizzard on new year's eve. up to this point, the walled city of quebec has never been breached and the french and indian war, the way that the british wanted from the french, the french were safe in their city, the way the british one it was a finally goaded the french commander to go out onto the field and that is where the english beat the french and took the city. in the french would of stayed in the city, it would have still so benedictbut -- arnold things they can do it and the ultimate result of the campaign into canada is that it is successful in that it keeps the british penned up in canada for long enough for general washington to force the british evacuation of boston. the key thing here is

that the guns that they needed were in fort ticonderoga. near saratoga and albany. 1775were taken in may of but not have brought the guns to the boston area. colonel henry knox is the guy and he is sent their in december of 1775 and he has to bring this back. and the painting that is always shown and the stories are that he carried all of these guns by guns overing the frozen rivers into the boston river with washington where he could use it. he had no option. this is a myth. not at all, he had mostly horses. the reason of the myth is interesting. a lot of people just go to george washington's letters into the letter say that i'm bringing the guns and it will be 134 calls atoxen and knox

this double trend of artillery. after the letters sent, knox negotiates with the local guy in the local guy who has the monopoly on oxen is like you need oxen and i'm the only guy that has them and you have a new army and are getting funded the to charge a triple. when a couple days back and forth with this guy and finally said i'm done. he hired horses and said. -- instead. he used horses. that not accurate to say he denies any auction whatsoever because in a few places he found a charm -- farm that could help them in a difficult spot market lend them in oxford day or just in that spot. for the most part it was horses they carry all of these guns to massachusetts. guns in with those massachusetts, dorchester which

was the open space south of boston on the eve of the boston massacre anniversary which is march 4, march 5 is the anniversary. washed and put these guns and a new fort -- washington put these guns in a new fort on these hills and dorchester. he knows the new englanders will fight more fiercely on march 5. the british wake up on march 5 and he -- the port with a lot of guns, they decide, general howell decides he will put men in boats and attacked the americans fortified. it is basically conquer hill again. it is like general howell did not learn anything. here's the issue with this. and i kind of glossed over it. deald out not to be a big

at the battle of bunker hill because they do not use cannons that they do not know how to use them. now they do in the have a lot more guns in the have them on overlooking often. the reason how will have to do something is because these guns could hit anywhere in boston and they are too high for him to shoot back up. his guns cannot get a ball that hard. they are on the hills. they can shoot down on boston. meanwhile, john hancock, the richest guy in boston has given washington approval to destroy the town if need be. whatever its we got to get the british out of boston. the royal navy does not have any luck shooting balls up at the heights. they do something, firing on the uproar, when a swell of water goes by and the boat rocks they could fire a little bit higher. it is to not high enough. to put theo way americans on dorchester heights

at risk except by landing troops justaking the americans on like about of bunker hill. it would be fatal to the americans. i'm sorry, failed to the british. meanwhile, the weather is poor. some people called a hurricane. whatever it is, once the british are actually on the boats, they beached.d off and they decide to post on the fight for the night. meanwhile the americans basically we fortify and strengthen their position all throughout this weather. finally general howell calls out the attack. the weather prevents what would have been the battle of dorchester heights. they agree to turns. this is march 5. day,rch 17, st. patrick's 1776, the british finally are out of boston. they regroup in nova scotia with

plans to come here. new york. it makes sense for them. the royal navy can support them because they can surround the island and error -- there are a lot of loyalists. the plaintiff to move the campaign to new york and as robert litan will be. -- that is where all the fighting will be. independenceon of -- one of the things i saw interesting, when alternative book published, some of the people i was talking to early on said we are interested in things that happen before the war, we want to know about things that happened from july 4 onward. explain, what is us if we separate and revolt against your home government unless a lot of things happen. aprilre actually begins 19, 19 70's -- 1775.

i wanted to leave you with a final thought. [laughter] if you think america's divided today. i tried to find the most serious looking pictures of both of these two. our child to position them so they were staring at each other. -- i was trying to position them so they were staring at each other. [laughter] i argue that we have always been divided. the civil war. captain america versus spiderman. i'm team captain america. where the real civil war. we fought over that. there's also a major controversy that is waging throughout the country, especially in georgia. coke first pepsi. -- verse pepsi.

the point is that it goes back to the beginning. we've always has some kind of division even in the revolution. it is easy to think now in retrospect, i would be a patriot. but would you be? would you be willing to put all your finances, life, likelihood at risk to support a result against the lawful government? the question depends on whe you are thinkingn. if you're asking this before any shots are fired, you're probably more likely to be a loyalist. or a pacifist. but not really committed to armed revolt against king george. i things happen like the battle of bunker hill, you're probably more swayed to finally fight because the oppression is now violent. which placelso on you are. a lot more loyalists in new york. partly by the british move the

campaign to new york. however in massachusetts, 1% were loyalists. 20 percent were loyalists. other colonies were simply undeclared. canada. the case of it is an interesting rhetorical question and if you think about that question in modern times, there are revolutionary forces of sorts at work even today. in the american air force i would be a loyalist. even though i want to sam a patriot. that, any questions? [applause] i think they are passing the mic.

>> buried his body in front of a grave and chop them up and it was not until year later they were able to identify him by examining his teeth? >> he was buried at the battle by the earthworks and was thrown in with no ceremony along with another an american soldier. he was not topped up. but yes he was identified by paul revere's handiwork. it is considered the first known forensic dentistry. paul regret this over smith, there was no true dentistry. he dabbled in dentistry and put a silver to connect and ivory to and warns about -- warren's mout and wash able to identify the handiwork and identify the skull. what kind of a doctor was dr. warren?

just a position? -- physician? >> either a physician or surgeon. and surgeons, while their respectable today, they were considered the low form of being a physician back then. physicians were generalists do not do cutting. handsy that gets his bloody as the lower body guy. lower guy. >> did the americans find a candidate they had a dorchester health? hill. >> they fired some shots. several days prior their fire and all around broxton -- boston to get the british confused and unprepared for this assault that is coming they are firing all around.

there is really no attack on boston. mostly just harmless shots. what episode is the conclusion of your book and when does it end? on march 17, 1776 which is the british evacuation of boston and it is leading up, a cliffhanger said that for the new york campaign. these two books are potentially part of a series and there may be more books. no has ever written a series of books covering the entire revolution probably because it is long and hard and the war does not end until 1781. backup to mention when i started this project is that i said a film script but the ultimate goal now is a miniseries invest for the reason i went to los

angeles and if you're familiar with the brothers said world war in think band of brothers the revolution. that is the ultimate goal. that is probably why if you read it, you'll see it is very visual and cinematic. i see the scenes as i'm writing them. knowing the importance of the revolution, why did he not stay off the battlefield especially with the other leaders gone and why did he not go to the congress anyway? they was offered -- considered offering him a position as surgeon general for the new army but they knew he would not take it. he was a guy that had to be in the middle of it all. he was in the fight for my glossed over that, the battle of he was there in that fight and the shot past 30

hair and broke the pin that was holdin his hair up. he almost died there. he is the type of person that had to be in the fight. he went to the -- as a volunteer. colonel prescott and general putman were both at the battle in both cases they offered their for their warren respect him and he was just approved to be a major general in the massachusetts army. paperwork, just like bureaucracy today, the paperwork was not done yet. he was not a major general yet. he came to the battle as a both cases, putnam and prescott offered the command and he said i don't know what i'm doing. i'm just as a volunteer and i would to learn from you guys because you guys have been here setting up the fortifications and i just want to learn and be in the fight.

that was his attitude. leadership,m of literally being at the front. two questions. as your editor and a native of concord massachusetts, who do you think actually started the american revolution? that is on eczema request in. one of the things you do so well is you bring to light these characters and these people who kind of were lost in all of this history and everything that happened and throughout the american revolution and certainly leading up to two countries to know, besides dr. warren, is anyone as you feel like has not been given their due to should be as a historical figure and some who was a big influence in the early days?

>> richard montgomery, maybe not as they can influence as dr. guy i warren, but he is a show who led one of the two prongs of the quebec city and he has met -- not been given his due. give away give up -- what happens in quebec. those who don't know the story. leader andredible because canada is ignored, he is often ignored. he is one of the good generals at the early start of the revolution. to what you did -- attribute the failure of canada to join the american revolutionary cause? >> a couple answer to that. the first time, they were not invited and part of the complaint that the continental congress sent to england was

that they were appalled that britain was treating massachusetts with such oppression while being liberal to the catholics in canada. they talked about how the continental congress wrote about england had thought many wars with france to keep catholicism out of the british isles and now, thanks to the french and indian war and canada , canada and quebec are interchangeable at this time, becoming part of the empire now catholicism was part of the empire as well. when the continental congress complained of this to britain, the people in canada learned about this. nevertheless, in the battle of quebec in the campaign to canada, their canadians that fight on both sides and those

that are fighting on the american side, there are some french and also a lot of just people like moving from new england up that way at speaking officially part of british america. on the british side, a lot of those that were fighting were actually the retirees from the british army who had been given land in exchange for going and settling in putting the bridge influence into canada and quebec. there's a lot of interesting aspects to canada. do you know about when the first casualty at happened? i've heard as early as 1770, the first casualty. on lies and legend with bill o'reilly. was anfirst casualty 11-year-old.

that's what i've heard. all, i've not watched any of that but i'm told that made the cut for the john adams episode. the answer is it depends on when you count the start of the american revolution. it is academic, really. the rhetoric and revolution -- american revolution is a political movement and it is the fighting within that larger umbrella term. the american revolution. one would argue that the revolutionary war begin with lexington and concord and april 19. when the american revolution against, that does everything to answer. a lot of people would say that it began with the end of the french and indian war because of the whole taxation problem kim about because britain needed money after they depleted all of

the treasury to pay for the war the they fought to defend western boundary of the 13 colonies against the french and indians. the french and indian war as we caught is also the seven years war and became a world war of sorts. it was a hugely expensive war for the british. they needed to raise revenue and a lot of people would argue that at the start of the american revolution because i made a tax of taxation without representation, protesting in america. it depends on how you define the start of the american revolution. >> is there a book you recommend on joseph warren? daniel --aphy dr. samuel forman.

>> how old was dr. boring at the time of the revolution and who would you like to play him in the miniseries? ori forget his exact age, 34 35. he is a young guy. he's very accomplished and is well respected. i have no idea who would play him. graduated from harvard. harvard was interestingly enough, there is the medical school at harvard yet. he is a proponent of a harvard medical school. part of the training, he would wherely, they had a club they stole bonsai cemetery to do

autopsies to learn anatomy because he had learned from books. it was considered unacceptable formerlyly use any live specimens to learn. he was a proponent of a harvard medical school and up with his brother was the one that made that happen later on. harvard, part is that you had to degree options. as a clergyed school where he could learn to be a preacher or you could get a liberal arts, lesson, learn the classics so that is what most of them did and that is what he did. you would go as an apprentice under an established doctor and that is how you learn to be a doctor. was there any noticeable tension when washington, the

outsider from virginia came up to new england to assume the command of a bunch of new and would more shows --new england more shows? militia.ous? -- >> there was a lot of tension. each militia would both their officers in. the officers had to carry favor with their men. they do not want to get beat it out.- vetoed the command was abysmal and is washington complained very much about this in his letters and diaries and the other problem was that while the southern colonies were starting to assemble troops to send up to this new continental army, some of the officers were coming that in washington wanted to break this localism where the people of this county will always serve under an officer

from their county and the way mike registered under some guy from north carolina. basicallyhington broke up all of these militias and turned them into mixing people and he was constantly f ought. there were meant that refuse to join because you had to choose and he was having to reenlist all these people into the new contract and it was a mess. that is part of what he is dealing with well he is lacking cap power and the british are doing other things in and around boston and it is a big mess for .im at is deftly in the book. kind of hard to encapsulate. any other questions?

>> i never heard any mention of catholicism brought up before in this era. was there a constant undercurrent between france and britain on a religious level? war proxy war. >> later on the french join with the americans against the british cabana floor standing hatred of each other and so after the americans are convinced that the french king that they can win some battles and the turning point is the battle of saratoga, their french decide they will support the americans and part of it is just like, identified the english again and this time have a good ,eason is unsupported animation

we will absolutely do it. . they took the opportunity what they were should the americans could when. there was a lot of fighting. this was just long hatred between the two countries. >> of a catholic he owed allegiance to the pope and even the king of france of some of allegiance to the pope and the english were anti-catholic because the buck stopped with the king who is the head of the church of england. that was the main, going back to henry when he broke with the church and created his own church. having created the church of england. that is why they were kind of affect -- anti-catholic.

the markets, the only colony that had a lot of catholics was maryland. pennsylvania was open. they were open to almost any church. most places were anti-catholic. your ise of part of really the basis for the label on the sam adams beer because sam adams is not an attractive man so these partner as a model. they used part of your of the model. >> privateering operations in boston?- >> the first sort of navy is really these will votes that they have fixed some very small cannons but they're fast and

and it becomes, they start to organize, the continental army takes charge ultimately and their under congress initially and a sanction some of these ships and post to be built later on in the fall of 1775. the wheel butters are really the first navy on the scene and they are hindering the resupply of the british penned up in boston. it is a big issue for the british. the charming nancy is one major transport that the americans take because of the privateers and it has a ton of gunpowder and some muskets. everything these americans needed. with one transport ship, they got it all. they got a lot of it actually. questions?

i heard there a whole bunch of people warning, not just order -- paul revere. >> he was not very famous until lungful read the poem. -- wrote the poem. longfellow was trying to arrest patriotism ahead of the civil war. he did a good job because now we on the paul revere is. not ridere, he does very far before his capture by the british. longfellow failed to mention that. rear, paul reve and another rider from concord, they meet up on the road and this writer goes to concorde and tells his brother and the network spreads. riders byhundreds of the end. spreads andads --

even reaches a counting camp -- hunting camp in central kentucky and they decide to name the camp after the first shot of lexington and that is now a tintin, kentucky. -- lexington, kentucky. he goes on the dotted georgia within a couple weeks. everyone pretty much knows about it. paul revere, he helped get it goesed and william dawes home after the british capture over here but the network continues. -- paul revere but the network continues. there a poem about william dawes that makes fun of the fact that longfellow on the references revere and nobody cares about

dawes. >> what would you run with -- rhyme with dawes? [laughter] >> revere did quite a bit of supporting for adams. >> he is a career and has many rides. the famous midnight ride is just one of them. there are several false alarm rides that he did before which as ay warren sent dawes precaution and waited until he saw firsthand that the british were mustering at boston commons becauseending revere you do not want to send another false alarm. it was because the previous false alarms that revere set up a plan that if you got trapped in the town of boston with a lantern, he was concerned that after that that there might be british soldiers roaming it

would not be would get around them. questions? thank you for coming up. -- out. [applause]