Seymour Reit re-creates the true story of Will Knox, a nineteen-year-old boy who undertook the daring and dangerous task of transporting 183 cannons from New York's Fort Ticonderoga to Boston--in the dead of winter--to help George Washington win an important battle.

A tale of courage and bravery—the daring and dangerous trek that gave young America its first real victory, paving the way for the future of a great democratic nation. This exciting middle grade novel is the true story of Will Knox, a nineteen-year-old young man who transported 183 cannons from New York’s Fort Ticonderoga to Boston—in the dead of winter—to help George Washington win an important battle. Paul Revere's midnight ride...Washington crossing the Delaware...the winter crisis at Valley Forge... Some events in America's War for Independence are known to all. This book brings to history fans the story of another true episode, just as dramatic but not nearly as well known. As you read these pages, you will agree that Colonel Knox's great adventure was a stirring, suspenseful, and important event in American history.

Children will delight at this little-known-story about our nation's first president, George Washington, that makes for perfect President's Day readers! Boom! Bang! Guns fire! Cannons roar! This Step 3 History Reader is about George Washington fighting in the American Revolution. He sees a dog lost on the battlefield. Whose dog is it? How will it find its master? Early readers will be surprised to find out what happens in this little-known true story about America’s first president. Step 3 Readers feature engaging characters in easy-to-follow plots about popular topics. These books are for children who are ready to read on their own.

“The most comprehensive and authoritative study of Washington’s military career ever written.” –Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington Based largely on George Washington’s personal papers, this engrossing book paints a vivid, factual portrait of Washington the soldier. An expert in military history, Edward Lengel demonstrates that the “secret” to Washington’s excellence lay in his completeness, in how he united the military, political, and personal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace. Despite being an “imperfect commander”–and at times even a tactically suspect one–Washington nevertheless possessed the requisite combination of vision, integrity, talents, and good fortune to lead America to victory in its war for independence. At once informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-opening revelations about Washington, the American Revolution, and the very nature of military command, General George Washington is a book that reintroduces readers to a figure many think they already know. “The book’s balanced assessment of Washington is satisfying and thought-provoking. Lengel gives us a believable Washington . . . the most admired man of his generation by far.” –The Washington Post Book World “A compelling picture of a man who was ‘the archetypal American soldier’ . . . The sum of his parts was the greatness of Washington.” –The Boston Globe “[An] excellent book . . . fresh insights . . . If you have room on your bookshelf for only one book on the Revolution, this may be it.” –The Washington Times

A hearty eater, dapper dresser, bookseller to Loyalists and Patriots alike,and married into a staunch Loyalist family, Henry Knox may seem an unlikely hero.But his fascination with warfare and strategy and his support of the Patriot cause prepared him to do what no one else thought was possible: transport heavy artillery from Fort Ticonderoga, up and down snow-covered hills and across frozen lakes, to relieve the siege of Boston. The dramatic story of his achievements is all the more satisfying for being absolutely true, a little-known episode in the history of the American Revolution. Source notes, time line, bibliography, map.

In early 1781, after his victories in the Southern Colonies, Lord Cornwallis marched his army north into Virginia. He believed the Americans could be decisively defeated in Virginia and the war brought to an end. George Washington believed Cornwallis's move was a strategic blunder, and he moved vigorously to exploit it. Feinting against General Clinton and the British stronghold of New York, Washington marched his army quickly south. With the assistance of Rochambeau's infantry and a key French naval victory at the Battle off the Capes in September, Washington trapped Cornwallis on the tip of a narrow Virginia peninsula at a place called Yorktown. And so it began. Operating on the belief that Clinton would arrive with reinforcements, Cornwallis confidently remained within Yorktown's inadequate defenses. Determined that nothing short of outright surrender would suffice, his opponent labored day and night to achieve that end. Washington's brilliance was on display as he skillfully constricted Cornwallis's position by digging entrenchments, erecting redoubts and artillery batteries, and launching well-timed attacks to capture key enemy positions. The nearly flawless Allied campaign sealed Cornwallis's fate. Trapped inside crumbling defenses, he surrendered on October 19, 1781, effectively ending the war in North America.

Before Washington crossed the Delaware, Henry Knox crossed Massachusetts in winter—with 59 cannons in tow. In 1775 in the dead of winter, a bookseller named Henry Knox dragged 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston—225 miles of lakes, forest, mountains, and few roads. It was a feat of remarkable ingenuity and determination and one of the most remarkable stories of the revolutionary war. In Henry and the Cannons the perils and adventure of his journey come to life through Don Brown's vivid and evocative artwork.