[music playing] NARRATOR: April 20,
1789, George Washington, the former Commander-in-Chief
of the Continental Army has been called back into
service by his new nation, the United States of America. For eight years, Washington
led the Continental Army through a war against the most
powerful empire in the world. A war few believed he could win. VOICE ACTOR: Fire! [music playing] NARRATOR: Now he is on
the fifth day of a journey to the city of
New York, where he will be sworn in as
America's first president. At each town along the
way, banquets and parties are thrown as the
new nation celebrates the great American
hero of the revolution. Next up, City Tavern, the city
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [music playing] Philadelphia, the
former rebel capital is a fitting halfway stop
on Washington's journey. 11 years earlier, he faced
one of his greatest challenges at a place just outside
the city, a place that even now in 1789 has
become an American legend, a place called Valley Forge. [music playing] January 1778, Washington
is making winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. It has been another
long year of fighting, and his men are in desperate
need of rest, of resupplying, of retraining. But building and running
a camp a third the size of Philadelphia is a
mammoth undertaking. Washington relishes the task,
overseeing to the last detail, the layout of the barracks,
the placement of roads, the location of defenses. His hands-on approach wins the
admiration of his soldiers. He assures his men that he
will share in every hardship and partake in
every inconvenience. And for the first month, he
lives in a tent at the edge of camp alongside his soldiers. [music playing] Yet for all his efforts, supply
shortages become a problem. Washington pleads with
Congress for more aid but to little avail. By February, 2,500 soldiers
are dead from disease, more than have been killed in
battle since the war began. Thousands of others are stricken
with sickness and hunger. Washington will need help to
turn this looming disaster around. [music playing] In mid-February, a
new recruit arrives in camp, a foreign officer sent
by the Continental Congress to lend badly needed
experience to the cause. He calls himself Friedrich
Wilhelm Augustus Heinrich Ferdinand Baron von Steuben
and wears a bejeweled cross representing an honorary
knighthood from Prussia. Curiously, von Steuben
carries no papers confirming his supposed achievements. But Washington is
desperate for leadership, for officers with
European training. And he puts Von Steuben to work. JOHN HALL: Baron von Steuben
is a remarkable figure. Von Steuben's genius was
the ability to distill the complexity of
state-of-the-art European drill tactics into a digestible form
to this raw material that was the American soldier. NARRATOR: Under von
Steuben's tutelage, Washington's ragtag
army learns how to form solid, orderly columns,
how to properly load and fire a weapon in formation, and
the proper use of a bayonet. Von Steuben brings a new level
of professionalism to the army. And that, by itself, creates
its own sense of belonging. They're belonging to something
larger than themselves. NARRATOR: Every soldier
is taught von Steuben's techniques, which become
the basis of the Army's first training manual. Once Steuben's work gives
Washington confidence, his army is now ready to
meet the British head on. [music playing] With the spring thaw comes news
that the British are pulling out of Philadelphia and marching
overland back to New York City, Britain's archenemy, France,
has recently entered the war. And from his headquarters
in Philadelphia, General Henry Clinton, Britain's
new Commanding Officer, fears that an approaching French
fleet will blockade New York City. He is determined to protect
the city at all costs. Washington, eager to avenge
his loss of Philadelphia the year before, decides
to go on the offensive against the British as
they cross New Jersey. BRUCE CHADWICK: His army
has been trained and turned into a new and
hard-fighting army. And that army and
its commander are now convinced that they can beat any
army on the face of the Earth. And they are eager
for the fight. And that fight comes on one of
the hottest days of the war. [music playing] NARRATOR: June 28, 1778, in a
searing heat, the Continental Army catches up with the British
at a New Jersey crossroads called Monmouth Court House. Washington's second
in command on this day is another of his old
nemesis, General Charles Lee. Lee is charged with
leading the advance force, while Washington forms a second
wave of 7,000 soldiers 7 miles behind. 3 hours into the
fight, Washington waits near the front
line of battle, where he encounters
Lee's soldiers, who appear to be in retreat. Lee was not attacking. What was going on here? In fact, Lee had no
battle plan, nothing. He was hopeful of
victory somehow. It's obvious to all the men at
Monmouth that there is no plan. The men retreat. NARRATOR: In a fury, Washington
rides ahead and intercepts, generally, himself. WILLARD STERNE RANDALL:
Nobody accurately knows what Washington
said because it was almost sacrilegious to write down
when George Washington swore. And whatever he called
Lee, it was enough for Lee to get the idea and
to get out of there. NARRATOR: It is
not the first time Lee has ignored
Washington's orders, but it will certainly
be the last. Lee retires to
the rear in shame. [music playing] Washington now takes charge,
ordering his retreating soldiers to form ranks,
to create a new front line against the fast
approaching Redcoats. By the time the British arrive,
exhausted from their March in woolen uniforms in
the 100-degree heat, they find the Continental Army
in a strong defensive position. The winters training at
Valley Forge has paid off, and Washington knows it. He then does
something astounding. He rides back and forth
in front of his lines to rally the troops, putting
himself in the line of fire, risking his life as he asked
his own men to risk their lives. The British open up on him
and miraculously missing. NARRATOR: The Battle
of Monmouth erupts. More than 20,000 soldiers
clash continuously for 5 hours in the brutal heat,
longer than any other battle of the war and some of the most
intense fighting these men have ever seen. Sunstroke kills as
many as musket balls. [music playing] BRUCE CHADWICK: When the
smoke had cleared at Monmouth, it was a draw. Washington knew and the country
knew that this new army that had come out of Valley Forge was
a good one, that held their own against the British. This renews the public's
spirit for the war and forever solidifies
Washington's position as the unquestioned
Commander-in-Chief. [music playing] NARRATOR: 11 years after
the Battle of Monmouth, as his friends in
Philadelphia toast his send off to the presidency,
that scorching June day stands as the moment
Washington's silenced Charles Lee and all his other critics,
the day he climbed back on the road to immortality. [music playing] April 21, 1789, day six of
George Washington's journey to New York City gets underway. As he leaves
Philadelphia, Washington is reminded of the man
he personally appointed to run the city, a bold and
brave American general he once admired and respected
and now despises more than any other man-- Benedict Arnold, one of the
most troubled and treacherous characters of the revolution. [music playing] July 1778, City Tavern. Benedict Arnold has recently
arrived in Philadelphia to assume his new post
as military governor. He will attempt to
restore order to the City after nine months of
British occupation. Quite well-heeled now, Arnold
seems to have forgotten his own troubled background. Though born into a prominent
Connecticut family, Arnold's alcoholic father
squandered their fortune, forcing his son to take
a lowly apprenticeship as an apothecary. The determined young boy grew
to become a successful yet angry man with ambitions of
becoming a gentleman and once war broke out, a hero. [music playing] In 1775, it was Arnold
who helped lead a daring raid on a remote British
outpost Fort Ticonderoga. But Arnold's co-commander
on that mission, the wily frontiersmen,
Ethan Allen, took complete credit for
the capture of the Fort. [music playing] Two years later at Saratoga,
Arnold's battlefield heroics were again usurped by a
fellow officer, Horatio Gates. Though it was Arnold
who led the fight and suffered a near-fatal
wound, he received no credit for the victory. BRUCE CHADWICK: The
people and the press hailed Gates as a
new American hero. In fact, the hero of the
Battle was Benedict Arnold. NARRATOR: Crippled by
the injury from Saratoga, Arnold has relinquished
a battlefield command for this new post
in Philadelphia. Determined to make
the best of it, he now throws
himself into the job, but his actions begin
to raise questions. WILLARD STERNE RANDALL:
Arnold's first act was to close all the stores. He said to take an inventory
of what there was available. But immediately, the
accusations began to fly that he was cornering
the market on goods that he was going
to sell himself. I don't think Benedict
Arnold was doing anything that many of the other
generals on both sides did as a matter of custom. Well, he was just doing what
was common practice at the time, but he got nailed for it. NARRATOR: Arnold's
questionable business dealings come under fire in the press
with charges of corruption and abuse of power. Charges compounded by
his choice in women. [music playing] Arnold courts and marries
18-year-old Peggy Shippen, a beautiful young lady
from a wealthy family and a suspected loyalist. WILLARD STERNE RANDALL: She
was a gorgeous young woman. She was extremely well
educated by her father, could run a business, which
appealed to a Yankee merchant like Arnold. Today, they would be
considered a dynamite couple. [music playing] NARRATOR: But they are a
couple under intense scrutiny. In an overheated
political climate, the cries against
Arnold's actions escalate for nearly a year. They are charges that
will have to be answered. March 5, 1779, Benedict Arnold
stands in the Continental Congress, called by a special
investigative committee to answer the accusations
levied against him. In his mind, he is yet
again, underappreciated. His honor, unfairly tarnished. His statement is really a
recitation of all that he did and all that he had lost. He'd been crippled for life. He'd been passed over for
promotion several times. And he thought he had lost
his honor with its lingering cloud over him. NARRATOR: Arnold's impassioned
defense vindicates him in front of Congress, but the
charges just won't go away. [music playing] Leading the attack
against Arnold is Joseph Reed, formerly one of
Washington's trusted officers, now the acting governor for
the state of Pennsylvania. Reed threatens to withdraw
Pennsylvania support for the war if Washington
refuses to take action against Arnold. And George Washington
is forced to weigh in. The Commander-in-Chief wants
to give the talented Arnold a well-deserved field command. But he needs
Pennsylvania's support and agrees to issue a
written rebuke to Arnold. Once the affair blows over, he
can give Arnold the intended promotion. [music playing] When Arnold receives the ruling
from his Commander-in-Chief, the words are stinging-- "reprehensible,"
"imprudent," "improper." For Arnold, it is
the final slight. Now in his mind, betrayed, he
devises a betrayal of his own. He taps an old friend of
Peggy's from the occupation of Philadelphia, British
Major John André, and offers to surrender a mighty
fort to the British in exchange for 20,000 British pounds and
a general's rank in their army. It is a Fort that even bears
the general's name, Fort Arnold, also known as West Point. West Point is a prize
the British have coveted since the beginning of
the war but have never been able to take with
a military offensive. Control West Point, and you
control the vital Hudson River, severing communication
between New England and the rest of the colonies. At West Point,
the river remains tidal, which is to say it some
times the day, it flows south. And in other times of
the day, it flows north. This made West
Point an ideal place to mount cannons on
both sides of the river as ships had to navigate
this very tricky curve. NARRATOR: The British readily
agreed to Benedict Arnold's terms, but Arnold sets
his plot in motion. Arnold takes a meeting
with his Commander-in-Chief and uses Washington's desire
to give him a field command to his advantage, persuading
Washington to instead, give him control of West Point. George Washington was puzzled
that Benedict Arnold would want the command of West Point. Washington wanted to put him
back into the line of battle, but Arnold insisted
on West Point because that was the
deal with the British. NARRATOR: Now in
charge of West Point, Arnold prepares detailed
information on the Fort and sets a meeting
with the enemy. [music playing] September 21, Benedict Arnold
and his British contact, Major John André, come face
to face along the banks of the Hudson River. They go over the plans of
the Fort and troop movements. [music playing] Arnold's treason
is now complete. WILLARD STERNE RANDALL: I
think the biggest misconception about Arnold's treason is
he did it for the money. I don't think he did. I don't think it was
as simple as that. He did it for his pride. The money was secondary. NARRATOR: Arnold will
now wait for the moment when he and Peggy
can slip quietly behind the British lines. The news is about to arrive
that will change everything. André has been captured. And on him are discovered
the plans to West Point. Arnold knows it is only
a matter of moments before the plot is
uncovered, so he flees. [music playing] Just a few miles away,
a familiar figure is making his way towards
a breakfast meeting with a trusted general. When Washington arrives, it
is clear something is amiss. Arnold is nowhere to be found,
and Washington gets the news. John André has been captured
with the plans to West Point. It all adds up to one
undeniable conclusion. One of the great heroes
of the revolution has sold out to the British. [music playing] In British-held New
York City, there is a new officer in their ranks,
Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. His loving wife, Peggy, forced
in shame from Philadelphia, now by his side. [music playing] Arnold's treason was the
highest in the young history of America. It was an act that shook
George Washington to the cold, that one of his
highest-ranking generals would betray the cause,
forever raise the question, who else might be
considering the same? [music playing] April 22, 1789,
the last two days of George Washington's journey
to the American presidency takes him through
the countryside of New Jersey, a place
of both grave humiliation and great success. It was here that his army
retreated from the British in 1776. Here, where he made his
greatest reversal of fortune with a surprise
attack at Trenton. But it was the
winters at Morristown that proved to be his
greatest challenge. [music playing] Morristown, 1780. Washington has just received
a dispatch from his Southern Army. They have been
forced to surrender. Nearly 5,000 soldiers
have fallen to the British at Charleston, South Carolina. His Southern Army is
now lost, the South's major port in British hands. [music playing] Outside of Washington's
headquarters, the brutal winter of 1780
is taking a mighty toll on his army. LIBBY HAIGHT O'CONNELL: The
winter encampment in Morristown was a lot harder than the
encampment in Valley Forge. Valley Forge seems
to get all the press, but Morristown was
really dire straits. BRUCE CHADWICK: That
was a long winter. It snowed in May. Soldiers are starving. System of furloughs-- NARRATOR: Dissension
and insubordination grow in the ranks. Some soldiers even
threatened mutiny. Washington must step forward
and rescue his command from the threat of chaos. [music playing] Eight nooses, prepared
for eight men charged with various offenses-- insubordination, forging
documents, theft. All are sentenced to death. Washington orders the execution
held before the entire camp for all his men to see. It is a carefully
choreographed event. Washington wanted to
use capital punishment, particularly sparingly. But he also knew it
was great theater. BRUCE CHADWICK: All eight were
put on top of the gallows. Their graves had been dug
in front of the gallows, and their coffins, which
he ordered manufactured, placed next to the graves. [music playing] As they were about
to be hung, a soldier stepped forward from the crowd. Reprieve, reprieve from
the commander-in-chief. Seven of the eight were freed. NARRATOR: This time, just one
man will hang for his crimes. But it would not be the end of
the problems in Washington's ranks. [music playing] One year later,
it happens again. Mutiny erupts. [music playing] Now, it appears as if the
Continental Army is unraveling. And without the Army,
there is no revolution. Washington takes swift
and decisive action. [music playing] Leaders of 200 mutineers
are condemned to death. And to carry out the task of
execution, Washington orders a group of the other mutineers
to form the firing squad, to pull the trigger on
their own comrades in arms. It is a psychologically
devastating punishment. [music playing] The Morristown Winters
of 1780 in 1781 where some of
Washington's darkest days. His army and the cause
seem to be coming apart. The war had to come to an end
soon, but the question was how? The answer would come from
the southern colonies, where one of Washington's
favorite generals was leading a
swift moving fight. [music playing] February 1781, North Carolina. Major General
Nathaniel Greene is in the thick of a campaign
against British General Charles Cornwallis. Rhode Island's native son
and his force of 1,000 are traveling light,
using guerrilla tactics against the heavily laden
British Southern Army. A backwoods game
of cat and mouse that wears the Redcoats down. The fights are few
but take a heavy toll. The Battle of Guilford Court
House in North Carolina costs the British a
quarter of their troops. By the summer,
Cornwallis is spent. His weakened army limps into
a small Virginia port named Yorktown. [music playing] What happens next has not
come before in the war. All the pieces fall into
place for Washington, one after the other. The French dispatch a fleet
north from the Caribbean. Washington marches
his army south, while British General Henry
Clinton chooses to keep his men protecting New York. All roads now lead to Yorktown
and an assault on Cornwallis. [music playing] For 11 days, the Americans and
French lay siege to the city, tightening the noose
around the British army. [music playing] Surrounded, cut off,
and unsupported, it is only a matter of time until
the British supplies run out until they must
yield and surrender. For all practical purposes,
the war is now over. [music playing] Now, 7 and 1/2 years later,
the victorious general who led his nation's soldiers
on the battlefield and two years later, it's politicians through
a Constitutional Convention, he's about to
begin the third act of his remarkable
revolutionary life. As his coat finally brings him
to the outskirts of New York City, George Washington
will, in a matter of days, become President Washington. [music playing] April 23, 1789,
George Washington enters the eighth and
final day of his journey across many of the
American states. A journey to the city
of New York, where he will be sworn in as the
country's first president. If there was ever a question
in Washington's mind of the admiration the
young nation has for, this ride serves as
testament to his fame. The newspapers of the era
printed George Washington's route. There was no television
at that time. There was no CNN. No radio. But the newspapers
were read by everybody. So the entire country knew where
he was going and what time. The highways are filled with
people who have ridden days just to see him. They bring their grandchildren,
so their grandchildren can tell their grandchildren
to tell their grandchildren. They actually saw
George Washington, this great national hero. NARRATOR: It is a
much deserved hero's welcome for the former
Commander-in-Chief and soon to be leader of the new
nation, a nation that won a war but still has a
long road to travel. [music playing] Since 1789, the
new United States is an extraordinarily energetic,
diverse but also unstable place. It's a turbulent
time in the country. People are apprehensive
about the future. All the soldiers, all the
gallant brave young men of the war, 240,000 of
them fought in revolution. But there aren't
240,000 jobs for them. When they go home, a lot
of them are unemployed. Politically, the
country is a mess. NARRATOR: The very ideals
that set the country ablaze and drove her to revolution,
individual liberty, representative
government, freedom are no longer just lofty goals. They are being put into
practice across the land. People seem to think that
democracy means that everybody should govern. Maybe they should not. Pennsylvania has over 400
people in its state legislature. If you put 12
politicians in a room, it's hard to get anything done. Put 400 in a room. There is no one man that can
hold the country together except him. [music playing] NARRATOR: In
defeating the British, America has won
her independence. And under Washington's guidance,
she must now become a winning nation. But the war for independence has
left many losers in its wake. Britain has lost her colonies,
a crushing blow to the empire. But somewhat surprisingly, it is
America's closest ally, France, that suffers the most. The French are kind
of left holding the bag in this conflict. The French aid
for the American War has generally been estimated
at something like $13 billion in today's dollars. We wouldn't have
had any uniforms. It wouldn't have had any
ammunition without the French. But from the French
point of view, they are bankrupted by our war. And of course, it will have
disastrous consequences for them. NARRATOR: France in 1789,
bankrupt and weakened, is hit by an even greater wave,
as the democratic earthquake that ripped the American
colonies for Britain hits France's shores
with a vengeance. Peasants and commoners alike
rise up against the monarchy, tearing down centuries
of feudal rule. The French people hold
their own revolution. [music playing] Back in the colonies,
restoring peace in the wake of a wrenching
war, is first and foremost in Washington's mind. In a war between brothers, where
people have been forced to take sides, those who chose to remain
with the crown, the loyalists, have to come to grips
with their loss. And many are still
on American soil. It does take several
years for the loyalists who stay in the newly
established United States to be reincorporated as
members of the society. But one of the things you
don't see in this country is a massive retaliation
against the loyalists. And that is due to the nature
of the American Revolution and to its leadership. [music playing] NARRATOR: This is the country
Washington will have to govern, a country in need of peace
between loyalists and patriots, a country where many
African-Americans, participants in the struggle for
national independence find themselves still
in the bonds of slavery, where American Indians, many
who sided with the patriot cause find themselves forced out
of the national dialogue. It is a complicated
picture indeed. Nobody had created
a republic that was this big geographically
or contained so many different types of people. It really through the rules
of what a democracy, what a republic could be out
the window and said, we're going to
change all of that. [music playing] NARRATOR: The final day of
George Washington's journey nears its end. He makes one final
crossing, leaving New Jersey on a barge that
carries him to the city of New York. BRUCE CHADWICK:
Alongside his barge is a barge full of
continental soldiers. And another barge is a
choir of men and women. And he notices that
the old standard God Save the King has now been
translated into God Save George Washington. He had considered himself
the father of the army. The next logical
step to him would be to be the father
of this country. NARRATOR: The inauguration
of George Washington, the great hero of the
revolution is just days away. [music playing] George Washington, the
Father of the American Army is about to assume a new role
as the Father of America, the first president
of the United States. It is April 30,
1789, and today, he will be sworn in at New
York City's Federal Hall, the final step in his long
journey, a journey no other man has known. It's important to remember
that the American presidency in this Constitution is a
innovation that comes out of this period. No one quite knows
what the role is. It's not a monarch. It's not a king. It's something new, so
it has to be invented. [music playing] NARRATOR: At Federal Hall,
Washington visits the Chamber of the newly created Congress. Massachusetts
firebrand, John Adams is Vice President at his side. It is a day for celebration,
a day for ceremony, and every ceremonial detail must
be created from scratch, even how to swear in a president. In the five days prior
to the inauguration, Congress had battled
back and forth. Should the President
be sworn in inside? Should he be sworn in outside? Everything that Congress did and
president-elect Washington did was precedent setting. And they knew that,
and he knew that. NARRATOR: In the end,
George Washington himself makes the decision. He will be sworn in outside,
out among the American people. [music playing] April 30, 1789, America's
first inauguration. George Washington
takes his position on the balcony at Federal Hall. Thousands look on. Months of planning have
led to this moment. Though there is one small
detail that has been overlooked. In all the planning,
they forgot to get a Bible. At the last minute,
somebody runs two blocks to a fraternal organization
and borrows their Bible to tell them George Washington
is going to be sworn in on it. NARRATOR: With everything now
in place, the ceremony begins. [music playing] A revolution that began
with self-evident truths has given birth to a
constitution and a leader to preserve, protect,
and defend it. BRUCE CHADWICK: He takes
the oath of office. And as he ends it, adding
himself in a confident voice says, so help me God. Justice Livingston turns
to the crowd and says, long live George Washington, the
President of the United States. The crowd just roars. [cheering] NARRATOR: George Washington
takes his place in history. And although some wanted
him to have a grand title, Washington, ever the
Virginia gentleman, insists on being called
simply Mr. President. [cheering, applause] CHRISTOPHER BROWN: No one knew
if this was going to work. There are observers speculating
that, just give them a few years. They're going to be
tearing each other apart. BRUCE CHADWICK: Many people at
that time said that the war did not end the revolution. The revolution ends with
new democratic government, this great experiment
in the world. Do inauguration of
George Washington was not the end of the story. It was just the
start of the story. [music playing] NARRATOR: 25,000 gave
their lives for liberty. And long after the heroes
of the revolution came home, others took their
place in history. [music playing] John Adams, the great
firebrand of the revolution, became the second president
of the United States. He died, somewhat fittingly, on
Independence Day, July 4, 1826, reportedly saying, Thomas
Jefferson survives. But that was not the case. Five hours earlier
on that same day, Thomas Jefferson, the third
president of the United States, whose Louisiana purchase
doubled the size of America with a single stroke,
died at the age of 83 at his home Monticello. [music playing] Benjamin Franklin, the man
who delivered the French to the American cause, withdraws
from public life in 1788 due to ill health and dies two
years later at the age of 84. 20,000 people attend the
funeral of the man who tamed the lightning. [music playing] British Commander-in-Chief Henry
Clinton returned to England after the crushing loss at
Yorktown, where he received a very cool reception. He spent the last years
of his life compiling his complete memoirs, a vain
effort to vindicate himself for losing the war. Britain's King George
III, never able to crush the American rebels,
went mad and was deemed mentally unfit to
rule for the final decade of his reign. [music playing] Benedict Arnold, the
Connecticut-born Yankee and America's greatest traitor,
landed in London after the war where he failed
as a businessman. He died a broken man
at the age of 60. Suffering one final
slight, Arnold was buried without military
honors and a grave mistakenly marked with another man's name. [music playing] Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus
Heinrich Ferdinand Baron von Steuben, the man who almost
single-handedly whipped Washington's army into shape
over the winter at Valley Forge, was rewarded
for his efforts with 16,000 acres of land
in upper New York state. He died there a
bachelor in 1794. [music playing] Nathaniel Greene, the Rhode
Island Quaker and George Washington's favorite
general, never got to see the swearing
in of his old commander. He died of sunstroke 1786 while
on a plantation in Georgia. [music playing] George Washington served as
president of the United States for two terms, refusing
to accept a third. He returned to his
beloved Mount Vernon home in 1797, finally leaving his
life of service behind him. He died just two years
later at the age of 67. In one final act for her
ever private husband, Martha Washington burned
their personal letters written throughout the war, a
record of a man and a war, forever lost to time. [music playing] The American Revolution,
a colonial rebellion, a revolution of ideas, a
revolution between brothers, a revolution for independence. [music playing]
