“Defend the bridge to the last extremity!” Washington shouted to his officers and men 245 years ago as he stared at the massive British army coiling in front of the stone arched bridge that stood between his men and their destruction.
In the fall of 1776, the United States faced complete collapse. In those dark days, Americans reached deep within, through their agency, to change the course of history.
General George Washington, was guarded by an elite unit of trusted soldiers, known as his Life Guard, who protected the commander in chief as well as performed special missions and engaged in battle.
Doctor Bond had a problem. During the Battle of Lexington and Concord in obedience to his Hippocratic Oath, he had treated British soldiers. For performing his duty as a doctor, he was falsely accused of being a Loyalist and had his life threatened by an angry mob.
Americans in 1775 faced an ammunition crisis—specifically a crucial shortage of gunpowder. “On Courage I know we have in abundance, conduct I hope we shall not want, but powder—where shall we get a sufficient supply?” John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail.
