1776 (book): Difference between revisions
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* [[Axe Crazy]]: No one actually DID anything this extreme, but propaganda on both sides loved to play up the other side as if they did.
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Rum was a common drink on both sides, to the point of being doled as actual military rations,<ref>Which actually made sense, alcohol was used to steady the nerves and for other medical reasons</ref>. Actual instances of excessive drinking were severely discouraged and punished.
* [[Asshole Victim]]: While the soldiers largely tried to treat each other with dignity despite being on opposite sides in formal engagements, loyalist and patriot civilians considered each other this.
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* [[Geo Effects]]: Both sides could be crippled by weather conditions. The British and Hessians found heavy rain to be crippling because it make marches terribly slow, especially when the rain turn overland routes into mud. Ice was a crippler for the colonists because it made transport of heavy cannon and other war material hazardous.
* [[Get a Hold of Yourself Man]]: In a somewhat apocryphal account, [[George Washington]] did this to break up a riot by his own troops by rushing into the fray, grabbing two of the biggest rioters, and chewing them out, whereupon the rest immediately dispersed.
* [[Holy Shit Quotient]]: Reached when the British knew Dorchester Heights outside of Boston were the key to defending the city but they didn't think the rebels could do so without a ton of advance warning
* [[Humble Hero]]: George Washington, obviously. One of his generals, Israel "[[Old Soldier|Old Put]]" Putnam fit even more so, being a general yet willing to take his meals at the mess like an ordinary soldier and rough it out like the lowest private, which he was beloved by his men for.
* [[Improvised Weapon]]: Washington ordered barrels be used to reinforce fortifications on hills, having them filled with earth so they could also be rolled into the enemy as backup weapons.
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* [[Storming the Castle]]: Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold did this in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, only finding out later they overestimated the force strength of the British garrison.
* [[Wake Up Call Boss]]: The British dismissed the rebels all the way up until Bunker Hill. Even though in strict military terms they won, the cost was so high it was a [[Pyrrhic Victory]] in a morale sense for the British, who realized they weren't [[Zero Effort Boss|going to be able to swat the rebels like flies like they thought]].
* [[Vindicated by History]]: Done in the book to BOTH sides. Actual records exonerated the Hessians of being drunk off their asses and completely unprepared for the attack on Trenton. Most were sober, and while they were caught by surprise, it was more happenstance and good luck for Washington than outright incompetence on the Hessian side for why. Applies to both sides because even the colonial army and the people with them even spoke up in defense of the Hessian military competence at the time.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Bunker Hill caused a minor one to happen to the British commanders, William Howe especially, who were more than a little horrified at the sheer number of bloody corpses of their own forces that were the cost of victory. Another more prominent one happened when Washington pulled off his raid on Trenton, which caused the British to be flabbergasted at how easily a large Hessian force had been bested so easily.
* [[Zerg Rush]]: The British loved this trope, knowing they had the troops for it, though this backfired hard on them at Bunker Hill, where they won, but lost far more troops than they wanted to.
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