Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.

2 Chronicles 20:15

It was a warm morning in June 1775. The tall, blue-eyed Virginian walked toward his horse. The man looked handsome in his new general’s uniform of cream-colored breeches and a blue coat. A band played as people crowded the Philadelphia street in front of him.

The general felt embarrassed by all the fuss, but these people wanted to wish him well, and he was grateful for that. The general reached his horse and mounted. His country had called him into service. God had given him an important task. He was headed for Boston to take command of America’s new Continental Army. He waved to the people and rode off.

Who was this great man?

He was George Washington, the man God chose to help America in her greatest hour of need.

———

One week later, General Washington reached Cambridge, Massachusetts. Thirteen thousand American troops were camped around Boston. They were volunteers who had come from different colonies to fight in the Continental Army. They carried their own weapons and knew how to use them. They were farmers and townspeople who had answered the call to arms.

But Washington knew they were not yet soldiers. Most of them had never had any military training. The general’s first task was to get his army into shape.

Every morning after prayers, Washington issued new orders such as these:

The General expects all soldiers to obey the regulations that forbid cursing, swearing, and drunkenness.

The General also expects and requires all soldiers to attend Church services, carrying their arms and ammunition with them.

General Washington was especially concerned that the soldiers not curse using God’s name. One time he wrote an order that said the army could not expect God to favor the American cause if they kept on insulting Him by swearing and taking His name in vain.

Washington organized his staff and replaced officers who could not do the job. He ordered constant training exercises to teach the men the proper way to march and use their weapons. Soldiers who refused to obey orders were punished. Slowly, the Continental Army began to take shape.

The man chosen to lead this army was more than just a general. He was a man of God who practiced his Christian faith. Washington respected the Bible as the Word of God and observed the Sabbath by not working and attending worship services whenever possible. He maintained a daily prayer life.

After the Continental Congress appointed him, Washington quickly realized how much they would need God on their side. Congress had little power to make or enforce laws. The army badly needed ammunition and supplies. But Congress could only raise money when the colonies agreed. And getting the colonies to agree was difficult. Clearly, General Washington would have to rely on God’s providential help for the army.

While Washington prepared his troops, the Continental Congress approved a plan to attack Canada. They were hoping to prevent the British from smashing down into America from the north. Two separate Patriot armies advanced by different routes toward Quebec, the main British fortress on the Saint Lawrence River.

Colonel Richard Montgomery left Fort Ticonderoga with one army and proceeded toward Montreal. Sickness and bad weather slowed them down, and they did not reach Montreal until late fall. Montgomery captured Montreal and moved on.

Benedict Arnold led the second army up the Kennebec River in Maine into the Maine wilderness. But everything went horribly wrong. First, their riverboats leaked, ruining much of their ammunition and supplies. Then vicious, icy rapids damaged the boats even more. On October 18, 1775, the men slaughtered their two remaining oxen for meat. Over the next four days, a driving rain raised the river ten feet. More boats and supplies were lost. By October 25, the rain had turned to snow and brought the army to a halt. Some men ate candles to stay alive.

“We wandered through the swamps, cold and wet,” the army’s doctor wrote. “We were lost. Many men died from hunger and exhaustion.”

For three unbelievable days and nights, the men stumbled through the frozen Maine wilderness with nothing to eat. Only six hundred and fifty men survived to arrive across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec.

Montgomery’s forces joined them on December 2. The Americans had very few men and very little ammunition. They had to act fast.

“We’ll wait for a stormy night,” Montgomery told Arnold, “and attack from two different directions. I’ll take one group and you take the other.”

The attack failed. Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was wounded. With the British forces in pursuit, the Patriots retreated back across the river. Gradually they fell back to Fort Ticonderoga.

Now that they were back on American soil God’s blessing seemed to return. When the British sent their gunboats down Lake Champlain to take Fort Ticonderoga, Benedict Arnold’s soldiers turned into sailors and quickly cobbled together a fleet of river boats and sailboats that could carry guns. The brave little American fleet fought on until the British had sunk all their boats, but they stopped the Redcoats from taking the fort.

Why did so many things go wrong with the Canadian Campaign? Perhaps the Americans had stepped outside God’s will in invading Canada.

Perhaps God did not want Canada to become part of America.

———

Washington was meeting with his officers. The soldiers were drilling outside the headquarters tent. It was November 1775, and the weather in Massachusetts was turning cold. The worst problem was that many of the volunteers had only promised to be in the army for a few months. When their promised time was up, they left for home. Washington was worried. His army was shrinking.

“Sir, we’ve got to drive the British out of Boston soon,” a major general said, “or we won’t have enough men left to mount an attack. We’re losing our army.”

“But how are we going to do it even if we have the men?” another asked. “We have no ammunition or cannons. We can’t attack without cannons.”

The general sat quietly at his table, listening to the discussion. He had been praying about this, but God had not yet revealed an answer.

“If we only had a dozen mortars,” one officer wished, “or a dozen twelve-pounders. If we only had a dozen anything!”

The situation looked hopeless.

“Wait a minute. What about Ticonderoga?” The officers looked at the colonel who spoke. “Arnold and Allen captured cannons when they took the fort. Arnold said he’d transport the artillery back to Boston.”

“But that was in April when the roads were dry,” a brigadier countered. “It’s almost winter now. The roads are muddy and icy. We could never get the guns across the mountains.”

Washington stood up and walked around to the front of the table. He leaned against it and crossed his arms.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “I sense the hand of God at work here. Colonel Knox, this is a job for you. What do you say?”

“I can do it, sir,” Henry Knox answered.

Knox kept his promise. On the following January 18, over fifty pieces of artillery arrived in Cambridge, dragged by oxen on sleds through the snow all the way from Fort Ticonderoga!

“Gentlemen,” Washington said to his officers, “now we can attack. First, we’ll fortify Dorchester Heights, just south of Boston. From there we can bombard the city and the British ships in the harbor.”

“Sir,” one of them argued, “we still don’t have enough gunpowder. And the ground is frozen. How can we dig a fortification? The British will blow us off the hill!”

“The Almighty showed us how to get the cannons. He will make a way for this,” the general replied.

And He did. A young engineer, who happened to visit one of Washington’s generals, noticed a book on field engineering. In it he found a drawing of a piece of French equipment called a chandelier. This was a section of wood which held fascines, which were large bundles of sticks. The engineer rushed to tell General Washington.

“General,” he said excitedly, “if we construct these chandeliers, we can form a barrier against the British if they try to attack us. It’ll be as good as a trench!’

“I see,” the General replied. “We’ll do it. But we’ll add something extra. We’ll attach barrels of stones to the front of each chandelier. When the British advance, we’ll knock the barrels loose. They’ll roll down the hill right into the Redcoat lines! I’ll have Colonel Knox draw up the plans.”

On the night of March 4, construction began. A ground mist covered their work at the base of the hill. The British could not see a thing. An inland breeze carried any noise away from British ears. Once the pieces were fastened, the men loaded them onto large wagons. Horses trudged up the hill, pulling the wagons. At the top of the hill, a clear moonlit night helped the Patriots see what they were doing. God was clearly on their side, because the Redcoats neither saw nor heard anything they were doing.

At dawn, the British discovered American cannons pointing straight at them from Dorchester Heights across the inlet! They could not believe it. General Howe called a council of war.

“We have to attack,” Howe ordered. “Have the men ready to go over with the next tide.”

While the British were waiting for the tide a huge storm blew up. It continued all night, and the British could not strike. By morning, Howe had concluded the American position had become too strong and his troops and his ships were now in danger. He decided to withdraw from Boston. Two weeks later, he moved his troops to New York. Boston now belonged to the Patriots.

In all of this, the hand of God seemed obvious. General Knox had been able to transport the cannons by sled from Fort Ticonderoga. The young engineer had discovered the book on chandeliers. Even the changing weather had assisted them. Not a single life had been lost. It was truly a miracle.

On entering Boston, the Americans encountered a terrible truth. The British had no respect for the house of God. They had burned the pulpit and pews in the Old South Church for fuel. They had trained their horses in the sanctuary and set up a liquor store in the balcony. Altogether, the British would demolish fifty churches throughout the colonies during the war. The Americans realized that their battle with Britain was really a spiritual battle.

———

As winter turned to spring in 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a day of fasting and prayer for May 17. It was time to ask the Lord’s forgiveness, but also to seek His guidance. For the Congress now faced a tough question: Should the colonies remain under British authority? The Loyalists said yes. They hoped the King would grant peace. The Patriots said no. They saw the King as a hardhearted tyrant. The colonies were divided.

England was divided too. Not everyone agreed with King George and the Parliament. Some supported the American cause and would not serve in the armed forces. The King had to hire German soldiers to get enough troops to fight the Continental Army.

On May 10, 1776, town meetings across Massachusetts voted in favor of independence. On May 15, the Virginia Convention voted for independence.

Yet, the delegates to Congress were still divided. In June Richard Henry Lee of Virginia formally proposed that Congress declare independence. “These united Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States” he said. John Adams seconded the proposal.

Congress now had to vote on the proposal. After a day’s debate, the Congress took a three-week break to let the delegates return home and find out what the people thought should be done.

In the meantime, Congress appointed a committee of five men to draft a declaration. Thomas Jefferson prepared the draft:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal. . . . We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America . . . appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World . . . do . . . Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are . . . Free and Independent States. . . . And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we . . . pledge to each other our Lives, Our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

On June 28, the convention of Maryland voted for independence. Then word reached Philadelphia that New Jersey was sending new delegates who would vote for independence.

On July 1, the debate in Congress continued. John Adams rose to his feet.

“Before God, I believe the hour has come,” he said. “All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope to be in this life, I am now ready to stake upon it. . . . I am for the declaration. . . . It is my living sentiment, and . . . my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence forever!”

No one spoke. Just then, the door swung open. Dr. John Witherspoon hurried into the room. He and the two other New Jersey delegates were covered with mud.

“Gentlemen,” he stated, “New Jersey is ready to vote for independence.”

The first vote was taken that afternoon. Eight of the thirteen colonies voted yes with New Jersey. Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted no. New York did not vote. Delaware’s two delegates split their vote. Congress set the next day for the final vote.

The delegates had decided that any vote for independence would have to be unanimous. That meant that if any colony voted against independence they would not declare it. Little Delaware had become the key. Delaware’s third delegate, Caesar Rodney, needed to be there to break the tie with his vote in case the other two Delaware delegates split their vote again. An express rider was dispatched to fetch him.

Rodney was in bed asleep when the rider arrived at his home in Dover, Delaware, after midnight.

“Sir, you must come to Philadelphia at once,” the messenger panted. “The vote is tomorrow.”

“Get my horse,” Rodney ordered.

The distance to Philadelphia was eighty-nine miles. Rodney rode through the black night, battling cold rain and fierce winds. He crossed swollen streams. Sometimes the mud was so deep in the road that he had to get off and lead his horse on foot. He realized that his vote could make all the difference.

He also realized that a vote for independence might cost him his life. He had cancer of the face, and the only doctor who could help him lived in London. If the colonies declared independence, the war between America and Britain would continue for a long time. He probably wouldn’t be able to get to the doctor in England before the cancer killed him.

Rodney arrived at one o’clock the next afternoon. Two people carried the exhausted man into the assembly hall.

“Sir, how do you vote?” Chairman John Hancock asked.

“My people favor independence,” Rodney declared. “I agree with them. I vote for independence.” Rodney slumped into a chair.

His vote made all the difference, for the other two Delaware men had split their vote again. Delaware had voted for independence, along with eleven other colonies. Once again, New York had not voted. So, the vote was unanimous. It was decided. The thirteen colonies had just become the United States of America.

The afternoon sun shone into the hall. Some of the delegates stared out the tall chamber windows. A few wept. Others bowed their heads, closing their eyes in prayer.

Suddenly, John Hancock broke the silence, “Gentlemen, the price on my head just doubled!” The men chuckled. Samuel Adams rose to his feet and announced, “We have restored God’s proper rule in American government. He reigns in heaven. And from the rising to the setting sun, may His Kingdom come.”

The date was July 2, 1776. A new nation had been born. But this nation still had to win its freedom. Would the rays of God’s light and glory shine through the days ahead?