Thomas L Knowlton: Colonel, Patriot, Spymaster, and Soldier of the American Revolution. Colonel Thomas L Knowlton bravely fought and died in the revolutionary war. He is seen as America's first intelligence officer because his unit Knowlton's Rangers reconnoitered and gathered information during the beginnings of the Revolutionary war. But much of his bravery has gone unnoticed, which moved Ashbel Woodward to write this short yet powerful memoir. Towards the end of the memoir, he writes, "Has the government of the United States whose faithful soldier he was, or the city of New York whose soil he died to defend, or the Commonwealth of Connecticut, that points with pride to his name as one of her brightest jewels, ever offered this slight tribute of filial duty? To all such inquires we must answer in the negative." However, just as Woodward intends your reading of this memoir will keep the legacy of Thomas L Knowlton, one of America's greatest soldiers, burning.
Excerpt from Memoir of Col. Thomas Knowlton, of Ashford, Connecticut The reputation men leave behind them depends materially upon circumstances unconnected with their services or worth. Where individuals have acted an important part in moulding the history of their time, posterity, by oft-repeated siftings and reviews, will in the end generally mete out to each the proper measure of credit. Still, not a few brave men who sacrificed fortune and life to secure our national independence, - men held in high estimation by the most honored of their cotemporaries, - have been allowed a very inadequate place in the national records and the national remembrance. Some are forgotten because their acts of heroism were performed in the shadows cast by greater names. Others achieved too much to pass into oblivion, yet fall far short of receiving their deserts through the modesty or indifference of those to whom their reputation was more immediately intrusted. This, we think, is true of Col. Knowlton. We believe that the position has not been awarded to him in the history of the colonial and revolutionary periods, to which his sagacity and valor, his patriotism and distinguished public services entitle him. Col. Thomas Knowlton was born in the town of West Boxford, Mass., November, 1740. The church records of that place show that he was baptized on the thirtieth day of November, and as the ceremony of baptism was then almost invariably performed on the eighth day after birth, we may infer that he was born on the twenty-second of that month. The Knowlton family were of English origin, and among the earliest settlers of Massachusetts. During the boyhood of Thomas, his father William Knowlton removed from Boxford to the town of Ashford, in the province of Connecticut, where he purchased a farm of four hundred acres. Not long after the commencement of the "Last French War," in 1755, Knowlton began his military career by enlisting as a private in the company commanded by Capt. Durkee. He continued in the army about four years, and was successively promoted to the rank of sergeant, ensign, and lieutenant, holding the last office in the campaign of 1760, which was signalized by the capture of Canada from the French. He was present at the battle of Wood Creek, fought in the month of August, 1758. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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When the American Revolution began, the colonial troops had little hope of matching His MajestyÕs highly trained, experienced British and German legions in confrontational battle. Indeed, WashingtonÕs army suffered defeat after defeat in the first few years of the war, fighting bravely but mainly trading space for time. However, the Americans did have a trump, in a reservoir of tough, self-reliant frontier fighters, who were brave beyond compare, and entirely willing to contest the KingÕs men with unconventional tactics. In this book, renowned author, and former U.S. Army Colonel, Robert Tonsetic describes and analyzes numerous examples of special operations conducted during the Revolutionary War. While the British might seize the coastlines, the interior still belonged to the Americans should the Empire venture inward. Most of the operations were conducted by American irregulars and volunteers, carefully selected, with specialized skills, and led by leaders with native intelligence. While General Washington endeavored to confront the Empire on conventional termsÑfor pure prideÕs sake at the founding of the Republic--he meantime relied on his small units to keep the enemy off balance. The fledgling Continental Navy and Marines soon adopted a similar strategy. Realizing that the small American fleet was no match for the powerful British navy in major sea battles, the new Navy and its Marines focused on disrupting British commercial shipping in the Atlantic and Caribbean, and launching raids against British on-shore installations first in the Bahamas and then on the British coastline itself. As the war continued, Washington increasingly relied on special operations forces in the northeast as well as in the Carolinas, and ad hoc frontiersmen to defy British sovereignty inland. When the British and their Indian allies began to wage war on American settlements west of the Appalachians, Washington had to again rely on partisan and militias to conduct long-range strikes and raids targeting enemy forts and outposts. Throughout the war, what we today call SpecOps were an integral part of American strategy, and many of the lessons learned and tactics used at the time are still studied by modern day Special Operations forces. As this book establishes, the improvisation inherent in the American spirit proved itself well during the Revolution, continuing to stand as an example for our future martial endeavors.
