Henry Knox: Washington’s Artillery Master | 5-Minute Videos | PragerU
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The British held Boston. Washington needed cannons. Enter 25-year-old Henry Knox—a former bookseller who set out on an impossible winter mission to haul 60 tons of artillery 300 miles through snow, ice, and mountains. Eric Metaxas, author of "Revolution," tells the remarkable story of the man who became George Washington’s chief of artillery.
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Transcript:
Henry Knox: Washington’s Artillery Master
Presented by Eric Metaxas
The year was 1775 — winter. The Revolutionary War had begun. British General William Howe and his troops were encamped in Boston. In a few months, reinforcements would arrive. Then, he would finish off the “annoying” rebellion.
What American commander George Washington desperately needed was artillery. With cannon, Washington could bombard the city before those reinforcements arrived and force the British out. But Washington had almost none. The closest collection was 300 miles away in Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
Enter bookseller Henry Knox. He was all of twenty-five, big and burly with a booming laugh to match his size. He told Washington he could get him those Fort Ticonderoga cannons. It would take him a few weeks. Maybe a month. But he would get them and bring them back to Boston. Guaranteed.
Thus began one of the most remarkable stories of the American War of Independence and the military exploits of one of that war’s most important figures.
Knox’s first task was to break the news to his pregnant wife, Lucy. She had already sacrificed much. Her family were prominent Loyalists. They had disowned her for marrying Knox and for supporting the patriot cause. Now, with their first child on the way, Knox was asking her to make
