History 1301
April 1st 2012
McCullough, David. 1776. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005, 386 pp.
Word Count- 1157

David McCullough’s novel 1776 is a compelling story of America’s war for independence. We have all read chapters and heard the related history of the war of 1776, but David McCullough takes the epic story even further. The book covers the entire year of 1776 from the beginning of the war until the end. The author provides an extremely detailed description of both sides of the conflict both American and British. David McCullough is a renowned author and historian and has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for two of his novels; John Adams and Truman, and with reading 1776 you can see exactly why he is so celebrated. His
People like Charles Lee who was Washington’s second in command and which had such a bad temper that the Indians nicknamed him “Boiling Water”. Israel Putnam, who was probably the oldest member of the army, but feared absolutely nothing. It was a little hard to fathom, but I guess in a time when all help was needed, maybe the youngest soldier was Israel Trask who was probably around 10 years old.

I reading all the hardships and adversity faced by the Continental Army, from not having enough munitions, fighting off smallpox which killed more than the British, from freezing weather, hurricane type storms, and extreme heat. They were starving, underpaid, if paid at all, and wearing mostly the same clothes they started fighting in. It absolutely amazes me that we had a chance at all. With the descriptions of these men it is easy to understand why the British felt there was no way they could possibly loose against us. With McCullough using the letters written by soldiers to their families, you can get a very good sense of their hardships and desperation. During the battle of New York, McCullough describes a scene where Washington is standing on Brooklyn Hill watching his best regime from Maryland get “cut down”, cries out, “Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose!” I can’t help but try and comprehend how difficult and trying it must be to have to watch men die in front of your eyes, and you are completely helpless to do