Washington's Immortals (JULY Book Club)

Questions: 

• Who were "Washington's Immortals?"  
• What did these men do that made them so extraordinary? Would you consider them heroes? 
• ​Which battles during the Revolutionary War were the most important in your opinion? 
• ​What's your favorite part or favorite quote from the book?
• Who was Washington's best general and why?  
• Why was the song The World Turned Upside Down played after the Battle of Yorktown?

Quotes: 
"Scores of Marylanders led by Major Gist, held off the British long enough to help save a corps of Washington's troops & arguably the bulk of the nascent American army from destruction. The Marylanders' forlorn assaults delayed a British attack on American fortifications at Brooklyn Heights & allowed hundreds of Americans to escape to the temporary safety of their entrenchments. The soldiers who participated in that unorthodox assault would become known as the Immortals or the Maryland 400. With their blood, these men bought, in the words of one American, 'an hour, more precious to American liberty than any other in its history.'" 

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier &t he sunshine Patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he, that stands it now, deserves the love & thanks of men & women."
​ -Thomas Paine

"But your country is at stake, your wives, your houses, & all that you hold dear...If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty & to your country which you probably can never do under any circumstances." -Washington 

"I thank you sir for your generous sympathy, but I die the death I always prayer for: the death of a soldier fighting for the rights of man." - De Kalb to Cornwallis  

{After Washington turned to the president of Congress & handed him his commission} 
"Those in attendance understood that Washington's resignation was a momentous event in the establishment of the young nation & in the history of the world.  Rather than remain in control of the army, possibly setting himself up as a dictator, the general chose to keep the army under civilian control. Those present felt a wellspring of emotion,. as the event marked the culmination of their cause, the realization of the liberty from Great Britain they had fought so long to attain." 

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