Activity 4—“Report, Scout!”
Scouts were very important throughout the War for American Independence. They provided valuable information about the enemy army and what it was doing. Knowing the enemy’s position, its strengths and its weaknesses, helped commanders decide what the actions of their own troops should be.
At the time of the Battles of Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights, General Burgoyne’s army had lost most of the troops who could be effective scouts. Most of the Canadian and American Indians with his army had returned home to Canada and elsewhere, and many Americans loyal to England had been killed or captured at Walloomscoic (pronounced “wall-oom-sick”, also known as the Battle of Bennington). The American Army, with a battalion of rifle troops drawn from Virginia and Pennsylvania rifle regiments, enjoyed a slight advantage. Also, warriors from the Oneida [“Own-eye-da”] and Tuscarora [“Tusk-a-ror-a”] nations (two of the six making up the Iroquois [“Ear-o-coy”] Confederacy) assisted the American Army.
Now, you have been selected as a scout for the American Army. You have crept near a British patrol. Study the picture on the next page for one minute, then answer as many of the following questions as you can.
One man has a torn paper piece stuck in his hat. What two letters are written on it?
