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George Washington - General American Revolution

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George Washington - General
Print George Washington - General Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

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Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.05

Vocabulary

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

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George Washington - General By Jane Runyon

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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 it needed more men, it paid for soldiers from other countries to help. That is exactly what the British did in this case. German soldiers, called 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 shiploads 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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