The Coat That Changed the World
When you think about the outcome of the Revolutionary War, it doesn’t seem like the newly formed United States should have prevailed. After all, how did a ragtag, ill-equipped group of colonials stand up to the vast might of the British Empire? Great Britain had more money, more experience, more arms, more everything. The Brits had even hired some 30,000 Hessians—German mercenaries—to fight by their side. But there might be one reason they fell.
A coat. A Hessian jacket of red and green. And a most unexpected meeting in the woods…
The year was 1780. Four years after the Declaration of Independence, the colonists weren’t even close to victory. In fact, a Feigning loyalty to the Patriot cause, he had been put in charge of the mighty fortress of West Point in New York. But with a promised gift of 20,000 British pounds, Benedict Arnold pledged to turn the fortification over to the redcoats.
