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American Revolution
 George Washington - General

George Washington - General
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.94

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    untrained, alcoholic, military, leadership, unsuccessful, raggedy, teaching, camps, retreat, supplied, better, extremely, saying, defeat, successful, springtime
     content words:    George Washington, Grand American Army, Second Continental Congress, William Howe, New York, Long Island, Colonial Army, Christmas Eve, New Jersey, Delaware River

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George Washington - General
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     When we think of George Washington, we think of a very successful military man and leader. He was not always successful. In some cases he was just lucky. After being appointed to lead the Grand American Army by the Second Continental Congress, Washington headed for Boston. It was there that the first shots had been fired. It was there that the British troops were gathering. The British generals were often heard saying that it would take very little effort on their part to put an end to the foolishness of the colonists. How could a man like George Washington think he could take a bunch of untrained, raggedy farmers and tradesmen and make them into an army good enough to defeat the British?
 
2     The British army was the largest, best trained, and best supplied army in the world at that time. When they needed more men, they paid for soldiers from other countries to help them. That is exactly what they did in this case. German soldiers, named Hessians, were hired to fight for England in the colonies. The British forces were led by a vain general named William Howe. He planned to make short work of these American rebels while teaching them a lesson of respect at the same time.
 
3     It was mentioned that George Washington was lucky. Let's look into two of his luckier moments. One of the first battles that George Washington led his men into was in New York. There is an island just off the coast of New York called Long Island. The British had sent ship loads of men to Long Island to prepare for a war. George Washington marched his men onto Long Island, also. They didn't know the British were there, so the colonists walked right into a trap. Many of the colonists panicked and began to run away. George Washington called for a retreat. Here's where the luck comes in. As the colonists were retreating, a thick fog began to roll in, and the rebels disappeared right before the eyes of the British army. A second bit of luck occurred when they reached the shore of the island and found fishing boats manned by Massachusetts fishermen. They took the fleeing Colonial Army on board their ships and sailed them away to safety. They respected George Washington's leadership and commands. This is why they lived to fight another day.

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