daniel bloch 4th

8/2/2019 Daniel Bloch 4th

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Daniel Bloch 4th

My Life Before Politics

The war

Word count 615


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Before The Revolution

I was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County. I was the first

son of my father Augustine's second marriage and my mother was the former

Mary Ball of Epping Forest.Born a Virginia planter family, I learned the morals,

manners, and body of knowledge for an 18th century Virginia gentleman. My

father died in 1743 when I was only eleven years old leaving me a lot of

responsibility. I thought at one point to follow the sea, but instead divided my

adolescence among the households of relatives, finding a home and a role model

in my half-brother Lawrence. I pursued two interests: military arts and western

expansion. When I was sixteen I helped survey Shenandoah lands for Lord Fairfax.

I was twenty two when I commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754 and fought in

the first few skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. From 1759

to the outbreak of the American Revolution, I managed my lands around Mount

Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. I married a lovely beautiful

widow, Martha Custis, and devoted myself to a busy and happy life. But soon I felt

cheated by British merchants and by British regulations.

The Revolution

The year was 1775. There was an American army gathering together

outside of Boston, getting ready to defend themselves from the British. The

battles of Lexington and Concord had been fought just the month before the

Second Continental Congress, and the mood for war was ripe. When the Second

Continental Congress was called in Philadelphia in May 1775, I was one of the

Virginia delegates, as well being elected Commander in Chief of the Continental

Army. On July 3, 1775 I took command of a force of unorganized, poorly

disciplined, short-term enlisted militia. Faced with the problem of holding the

British at Boston with a force that had to be trained in the field I momentarily

overcame these handicaps with the strategic move of occupying Dorchester

Heights, forcing the British to evacuate Boston on March 17, 1776. Against my

wishes, the Continental Congress made me attempt to defend New York City with

my poorly equipped and untrained army against a large British land and sea force


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commanded by Sir William Howe. I was not yet experienced enough to conduct a

large-scale action, and I committed a military blunder by sending part of his force

to Brooklyn, where we were defeated and surrounded. With the British fleet

ready to close the only escape route, I saved my army with a retreat across the

East River back to Manhattan. With colonial morale at its lowest, I invaded New

Jersey. On Christmas night, 1776, we crossed the Delaware, surrounded and

defeated the British at Trenton, and pushed in to Princeton by Jan. 3, 1777, where

I defeated a second British force. Later in 1777 I attempted to defend Philadelphia

but was defeated at the battle of Brandywine on Sept. 11. I carefully planned

counterattack at Germantown by Oct. 4, 1777 but it went awry, and with a

second successive defeat certain discontented army officers and members of

Congress tried to have me removed from command. After Germantown, I went

into winter quarters at Valley Forge. Seldom in military history has any general

faced what I did in the winter of 1777. I proved equal to every problem, and in the

spring I emerged with increased powers from Congress and a well-trained striking

force, personally devoted to me. The fortunes of war soon shifted in favor of the

colonial cause with the arrival 1780 the French military and naval forces, and

victory finally came when General Cornwallis surrendered to me on Oct. 19, 1781.

Works Cited

whitehouse.gov George Washington 12/5/11

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington

infoplease.com The American Revolution

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0861866.html


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