Winter Revolutions, 1775–1777

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was fought in the rain and wind of New England “nor easters,” the torrid humidity of New York and Long Island summers, the freezing hail and snow of New Jersey and Virginia winters, and in coastal hurricanes that ranged from the Gulf of Mexico to Chesapeake Bay. During the conflict, environment and literature intersected as weapons of a quarrel that began as a transatlantic civil war to ensure that English colonials were treated with the rights of British citizens, but quickly flamed into a revolutionary struggle for republican liberty and national, democratic self-determination. Environment, climate, and weather served as metaphors in the propaganda conveyed by the poetry and in pamphlets printed by both redcoats and rebels. The gazette, almanac, diary, ship log, and political and private letters, reveal representations of an Enlightenment Age ecological awakening and perception, blending confessional, folkloric, and empirical perspectives on the relation between environment and war during the period. This chapter examines the climatic and geographical dimensions of General George Washington's campaigns during the early years of the American Revolution: The Siege of Boston, 1775–1776, The Transport of British Guns from Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and The Battle of Long Island in 1776, and the Crossing of the Delaware to Trenton and the Capture of Princeton, 1776–1777.