We think of the year 1776 with great nostalgia - - it was the
year we declared our independence from England and it is the
year from which we date the age of our Country. We memorialize
that year by using the term "The Spirit of 1776". In reality, it
was a disastrous year, with the British devastating our army,
and coming within a hair's breath of ending the revolt. We lost
every battle! We were driven out of Brooklyn - then New York
City. We lost our major defensive position at Forts Washington
and Lee, with great losses of men and critical equipment, then
were harshly driven across New Jersey. Our Army was reduced from
20,000 to a bit over 2,000! It was only the genius of George
Washington that saved the revolution and our fledging country.
He realized that you can not conquer a country by marching
through it. You must establish garrisons to control the local
population. Destroy those garrisons and the enemy has achieved
nothing. Realizing this, Washington fell on the New Jersey town
of Trenton on Christmas