683. Washington: Hero of the Revolution (Part 1)

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Valley Forge: A Portrait of Diversity — Women, Foreigners, and Free Black Soldiers

At 49:13 · chapter starts 48:20

After Martha Washington's February arrival — 'I never knew a woman so busy from early morning till late at night' — the episode broadens out to survey Valley Forge's remarkable human patchwork. There are generals' wives, including the magnificently named Lucy Flucker Knox. There are men from all thirteen colonies, Catholics, Jews, and recent arrivals from across Europe: Scotland, Ireland, France, Prussia, Austria, Poland, Holland, Italy, Spain, and even Hungary. Washington is initially suspicious of the nineteen-year-old Marquis de Lafayette but quickly falls in love with his energy and enthusiasm, adopting him as a surrogate son. About fifty Oneida scouts from the Iroquois nation — one of the few native groups to side with the Americans — serve loyally, winning Washington's admiration. Most native tribes backed the British, correctly judging that American colonists simply wanted to steal their land. Washington gets a hard congressional visit at the end of January, where he must be on his best behaviour while begging for improved recruitment and supply lines.