01x10 - Washington Takes Command

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[Applause]

see we

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see the truth will rise and fall Oh

yeah that's just the way it goes A word

now to the

wise The world was made to change Each

day is a

surprise I'm looking at life through my

own eyes I'm searching for a hero to

idolize Feeling the pain as innocent

eyes Looking at life

I shake my heart into battle Give that

freedom by the rattle Hit my independent

eye Declare it on the ded Let the

freedom rate and patriotic voices sing

Red white blue Never give up You

represent America

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I listen to my heart and I oy How can I

see it any other way I'm looking at my

life My own eyes

[Applause]

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Today on Liberty's Kids Washington is

the only hero we have the only man the

whole country will support Otherwise the

revolution will remain New England's w*r

You signed on with this army for six

month service However the enemy is still

behind his barricades He is not going

home But neither are many of your

friends They died in that fight on the

hill Bunker Hill defending an idea That

idea is freedom

July

1775 Dearest mother this has been the

hardest hottest bumpiest trip I've ever

made Thank heavens it's almost over We

are 10 days out of Philadelphia and

should arrive in Boston any time now

General Washington is to take command of

the Continental Army And Dr Franklin has

assigned James and me to report on it

James has embarked on a great experiment

How do you know where these birds will

go They're homing pigeons The Gazette

will get news from the w*r before any

other newspaper Fly away home little

brother

He's headed north I keep telling you we

ought to eat them

Here we are I can't wait to see the army

I can't wait to eat

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This is an army

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General Washington takes command of

colonial forces in Boston The general

has begun to impose discipline on the

eager and patriotic but disorganized

group of citizen soldiers facing General

How's formidable British regulars I

don't know how General Washington will

turn this rabble into an army A more

sloppy disrespectful bullheaded group

this journalist has never seen But Dr

Franklin this is supposed to be James'

report from the front What you read is

not at all like what he said in his

dispatch Editor's privilege Besides if

the army is to become a real army

they'll need money from Congress And

Congress won't give it if they think the

army is hopeless It was a brave thing to

let the kids go along but I can't help

but worry about them They'll be fine

Moses James has the makings of a fine

reporter And Sarah well if either of

those boys gets out of line Sarah will

put them straight soon enough Have you

spotted any of James' pigeons yet I've

seen plenty of pigeons but none of them

look like w*r correspondents I told him

that the distance might be too great

Just as well he uses the army gallopers

as a precaution

[Music]

General Washington has his work cut out

for him He has to strengthen the area

around the entire city and somehow whip

this bunch of farmers and layabouts into

an army

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Hey Present

arms

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Would you say that rations here are low

I would say rations here are

non-existent We throw together whatever

we can find I've heard that things will

change now that General Washington is in

charge I've heard there's an island in

the south where dogs can talk and wear

hats Do you really work for a newspaper

Yes indeed Dr Benjamin Franklin's

Pennsylvania Gazette

Pennsylvania What business is this of

theirs Dr Franklin says all the colonies

have a common interest in this w*r

That's so Well I'm just interested in

yours truly and his part of this w*r

which will be over and done with in 52

days 52 How can you be so sure of that

That's when my enlistment is up That's

when most of these men will be on their

way home What if the British are still

in Boston They're welcome to it as far

as I'm concerned Look Laddyy I'm a

storekeeper Dry goods mostly some

fribbles for the ladies and such I can't

afford to let my business do for itself

And that there's Jeremiah Bredic He's a

farmer Who's going to bring in his hay

and sweet corn if he's stuck down here

parading around for Mr Washington What

are these children doing here Take it

easy Striker They're doing no harm This

one says he writes for a newspaper

Really And you Sprout What are you

supposed to be I'm not supposed to be

anything

I am Enriad Maurice

Did you hear that boys This tadpole's

got a whole laundry list for a name

Can't you read

Of course Is there something you would

like me to read for you You little scam

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[Applause]

Look at him The big pig farmer from

Virginia Everyone knows nothing good

ever came out of the

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south I hope you're as good at fighting

red coats as you are at chasing children

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Dearest mother James spends more and

more time each day with General

Washington's A*DS trying to find out and

report to Dr Franklin the army's plans

But only as long as the naval g*ns in

the harbor remain silent

I'm afraid we still don't know if the

pigeons are getting through

[Music]

I thought Philadelphia was that way Are

you sure these aren't British

pigeons We only have one doctor Poor Dr

Maren for the men here and over at the

school And you know he's not well

himself Were these men wounded in the

battle at Bunker Hill Yes but most are

just

sick It's a fever that takes them mostly

We have no ice

I wonder what devotion to duty or

country would make men go through

something like this We're fighting for

our liberty young lady Simple as that

If these New Englanders don't know how

to drill yet they certainly know how to

dig These hearty colonists know more

about building than

fighting They've never had an army but

they have carved a nation out of a

wilderness

No one knows how long the British will

wait before they

attack or indeed why they are waiting at

all We can only be thankful for the time

to ready this

[Music]

army December

1775 Dearest mother we've been in this

camp for nearly 5

months A beautiful autumn has come and

gone as have all the leaves on the trees

Henri stays out most of the day and

comes in with a bag full of odds and

ends he's collected from the b*ttlefield

He insists there will be a big market

for souvenirs of the great battle for

[Music]

Boston And now as if he didn't have

enough on his shoulders General

Washington has a new worry The

enlistment of half of the men here is up

and many of them are going

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home In this freezing cold General

Washington's army is melting away in the

face of a dangerous enemy

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Men of New

Hampshire you signed on with this army

for 6 months

service That enlistment is now up and

you want to go home I cannot blame you

for that and I cannot stop you from

going I'm here to appeal to you to stay

6 months ago you and your neighbors

stood on that hill Bunker Hill and

heroically fought off a superior force

The enemy is still behind his barricades

and he is not leaving until we make him

do so He is not going home but neither

are many of your friends and neighbors

They died in that fight on the hill

defending their honor defending an idea

That idea is

freedom Before you go I ask you to think

about the men you knew and loved who

will forever man their post on that

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hill Ben this is Colonel Henry Knox

Colonel of the a*tillery There are 56

British cannons waiting for us at Fort

Ticonderoga captured this past May Knox

needs men to move those g*ns here to

Boston to bear on the

enemy We need a*tillery to drive the

British from this

city Who will

go The time is passed when we think of

ourselves as New Hampshire men or

Virginiaians We are Americans and we

have to stand as one Are you with me I

come in here Colonel Knox and the

promise of his cannon seems to have

convinced at least some of the men to

stay Now all they have to do is move

them 500 miles over Winter Mountains

somehow Since I was there when the

cannons were captured I'm going back to

see how he does it

Will the pigeons come here or go on to

Philadelphia Philadelphia I hope Be

safe I'm going to visit with some of the

new recruits in from Maine Want to come

along No I uh I've got an assignment of

my own

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It's all

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Promise me you'll introduce me to Dr

Franklin when I make it down to

Philadelphia That's a promise I've read

every edition of this poor Richard's

Almanac Really

I used to have a bookshop down in

Boston Ah here it is Poor Richard's

almanac Never failed to find something

useful in these pages Listen to this If

you would not be forgotten as soon as

you're dead and rotten either write

things worth the reading or do things

worth the writing Well then Colonel you

do the doing and I'll do the writing

[Music]

London riding on a

pony feather in his head

All right All right That's enough This

is dreadful This show opens on Saturday

night and you people will never be ready

General How himself will be here And

he's issued a special invitation to

General Washington himself to come and

bring his own noose Take it from

Reggie's chorus

Reggie from the top And for heaven's

sake will you two decide on who's

wearing the cow suit

Yankee Doodle came to Boston thought

he'd beat the Tomies Got a look at

Cage's g*ns and ran right home to

mommy Yankee Doodle went to w*r Yankee

Doodle dy thought the Brits would run

away but he found us too handy

Hey

you get back

in

Hey there he is

Come back down

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Oh who goes there

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Yes Help

Help James James Find the choke

Jump James Jump

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You say they plan this entertainment for

Saturday night Yes sir And they

expressly invited you to attend Well

that is a tempting invitation isn't it

Perhaps an invitation for us to launch

an

attack This is just a quick raid

gentlemen We don't have enough men for a

full attack Bring back whatever you can

carry especially powder Let's move out

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Doodle came to Boston Thought he'd beat

the

Sorry to interrupt the entertainment but

it seems General Washington has launched

an attack on Bunker Hill Come along

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General Washington's captured much

needed supplies in his raid and let

General How know that the Americans will

attack without warning James' pigeons

have all come here instead of flying to

Philadelphia and I can't get them to

leave James has been gone with Colonel

Nox for over a month now I'm beginning

to worry about them More new recruits

are coming in each day and this army

becomes stronger each day What General

Washington has done is nothing short of

a miracle He doesn't say much but he

inspires confidence and obedience by the

sheer force of his presence

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What is it Those weren't there last

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night British leave Boston Continental

Army victorious in siege operation

It's a great victory Dr Franklin Yes and

we needed one I imagine those red coats

are halfway home by now I imagine

they're halfway to New York This w*r is

far from over but I suppose we should

celebrate At least Boston is free

Looks like one of James's pigeons

Here you go

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June 28th We've reached Newark and

should be in New York by tomorrow

morning That dispatch is months old

Where on earth have you been Bird

Wherever he's been he's probably ready

for a nap

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Dr Franklin says we should come back to

Philadelphia as soon as possible What

will happen here We'll keep a garrison

here but the bulk of the army and new

troops from the southern colonies will

be gathering in New York How long do you

think the w*r will last Colonel Nox I

don't know Sarah but we have to be ready

for as long as it takes

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the new flag

and a new army A worthy army An army we

can be proud of

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Looking at life through my own eyes I'm

searching for a hero to

idolize Feeling the pain as dice Looking

at life my own eyes I take my heart into

battle Give that freedom better rattle

Give my independent sign Declare it on

the dotted line Red white and blue Never

give up You represent America

[Music]

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