PATRICK K ODONNELL: Revolutions epic test showed strength of our Greatest Generation
A wilderness trek marked by rushing waterfalls, gorgeous fall foliage and optimism in the fall of 1775 soon transformed into a brutal struggle with starvation, torture and despair.What started out in late September as a high-spirited but long journey from New England through the Maine wilderness to invade Canada soon became a brutal test of survival that pushed members of America’s Greatest Generation to the limits of human endurance.The Revolutionary War generation, America’s Greatest Generation, suffered untold struggles in their epic fight for the freedom and liberty that changed the world and that Americans still enjoy today.
These ragtag colonists not only took on the greatest army and navy of their time.They also had to guard against sabotage from within by fellow Americans who did not favor independence from the Crown.
Simultaneously, they faced violence from hostile Native Americans.And perhaps most deadly, they battled the ravages of nature and the American wilderness itself.All these elements came into play in Col.
Benedict Arnold’s ill-fated attempt to move his army from New England across the beautiful but rugged wilderness of Maine to attack Quebec.Spearheading that effort were the Continental Army’s first special operators, the riflemen.
An advance team of 11 scouts, clad in hunting shirts, carried heavily laden canoes as they bypassed falls and marked trails and places for the bateaux, or flat-bottomed boats, along the way for the following army.THE UNWINNABLE WAR AMERICA'S FOUNDING FATHERS FOUGHT AND WON CHANGED HUMAN HISTORY FOREVERThe scout team was made up of members from the 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment.They and their leader, 35-year-old Lancaster native Lt.
Archibald Steele, had been handpicked by Arnold for the expedition.These riflemen were some of the best shots in Washington’s army.
Many had been long hunters who lived and hunted beyond the Allegheny Mountains and often had to battle Native Americans.A 1786 oil painting by...