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Old 07-05-08, 07:06 AM   #4 (permalink)
donsutherland1
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Thread Starter Re: The Road to American Independence: John Adams' Observations

Quote:
Originally Posted by PeteEU View Post
Today they would be considered terrorists....
No, they would not. They engaged the British Army head-on. They did not direct their campaign against British civilians in the 13 colonies, Canada, or Britain. They did not seize hostages to extort ransoms or prisoner releases. George Washington's orders to his Army were to avoid causing harm to civilians.

For example, here is General George Washington's September 4, 1777 general orders with respect to an incident where some abuses had been reported to him:

Notwithstanding all the cautions, the earnest requests, and the positive orders of the Commander in Chief, to prevent our own army from plundering our own friends and fellow citizens, yet to his astonishment and grief, fresh complaints are made to him, that so wicked, infamous and cruel a practice is still continued, and that too in circumstances most distressing; where the wretched inhabitants, dreading the enemy's vengeance for their adherence to our cause, have left all, and fled to us for refuge! We complain of the cruelty and barbarity of our enemies; but does it equal ours? They sometimes spare the property of their friends: But some amongst us, beyond expression barbarous, rob even them! Why did we assemble in arms? Was it not, in one capital point, to protect the property of our countrymen? And shall we to our eternal reproach, be the first to pillage and destroy? Will no motives of humanity, of zeal, interest and of honor, restrain the violence of the soldiers, or induce officers to keep so strict a watch over the ill-disposed, as effectually to prevent the execution of their evil designs, and the gratification of their savage inclinations? Or, if these powerful motives are too weak, will they pay no regard to their own safety? How many noble designs have miscarried, how many victories been lost, how many armies ruined, by an indulgence of soldiers in plundering? If officers in the least connive at such practices, the licentiousness of some soldiers will soon be without bounds: In the most critical moments, instead of attending to their duty, they will be scattered abroad, indiscriminately plundering friends and foes; and if no worse consequences ensue, many of them must infallibly fall a prey to the enemy. For these reasons, the Commander in Chief requires, that these orders be distinctly read to all the troops; and that officers of every rank, take particular pains, to convince the men, of the baseness, and fatal tendency of the practices complained of; and that their own safety depends on a contrary conduct, and an exact observance of order and discipline; at the same time the Commander in Chief most solemnly assures all, that he will have no mercy on offenders against these orders; their lives shall pay the forfeit of their crimes. Pity, under such circumstances, would be the height of cruelty.

In addition, here is the relevant portion of General Washington's October 11, 1778 instructions to Bartholomew von Heer:

...you will always remember that you are as carefully to avoid laying innocent free Citizens under any unnecessary restraint and inconvenience, on the one hand, as risking any mischief to the Army from ill-placed lenity on the other.

Source: George Washington's Papers: 1741-1799
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