DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

the most eminent and respected citizens of the Colonies. In 1776 Lord North offered to withdraw all the taxes, but the Colonists had been too deeply exasperated by the distress resulting from the treatment of Boston. At this juncture there came forward in America, for the first time in a position of prominence, the man who was destined not only to redress his country’s wrongs, but to gain her independence. This man was George Washington, descended of an old Virginian family. He offered to raise a regi- ment of a thousand men to defend the liberties of the people. His lead was followed by several other influential Colonists, and thus the nucleus was formed of the army which, with Washington as Commander-in-Chief, won the Independence of the American Colonies. The force which Washington was called upon to command would have been utterly useless in the hands of any man not endowed with his energy and enthusiasm. They were ill-disciplined, ill-armed, ill-fed, and ill-clothed; opposed to the tried veterans of the British army, who were amply pro- vided with everything they lacked. But Washington triumphed over every obstacle, and succeeded in keeping their hopes of victory alive. The first engagement of importance that took place between the insurgents and the Royalist troops