Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. George Washington is often remembered as a fierce general,
Speaker 1: commanding his army of trained soldiers from one battle to
Speaker 1: the next, from the Battle of Trenton to the Siege
Speaker 1: of Yorktown to the Battle of Princeton. History books have
Speaker 1: painted the American army at that time as a collection
Speaker 1: of the finest soldiers ever assembled. However, reality couldn't have
Speaker 1: been farther from the truth. Washington was indeed a powerful
Speaker 1: force during the war. He was calm, organized and intelligent.
Speaker 1: He was also soft spoken, not relying on loud outbursts
Speaker 1: to corral his troops. In fact, thanks to several illnesses
Speaker 1: contracted throughout his life, Washington most likely had a high pitched,
Speaker 1: breathy voice due to his weakened lungs. But that didn't
Speaker 1: stop him from leading his troops to victory. Of course,
Speaker 1: they weren't always successful. The American Army was made up
Speaker 1: of young men, many of whom had never served in
Speaker 1: the military before. They were inexperienced and scared, a combination
Speaker 1: that led to a rocky start for the war. One
Speaker 1: battle in particular happened to be the biggest of the
Speaker 1: entire revolution, and it has largely been forgotten for one
Speaker 1: big reason. The battle occurred in late August of seventeen
Speaker 1: seventy six, weeks after the Declaration of Independence had been
Speaker 1: signed in Philadelphia. The British had been in Boston but
Speaker 1: were run out of town back in March. They traveled
Speaker 1: up to Canada as they waited for a backup to arrive.
Speaker 1: Washington started moving his troops to New York a few
Speaker 1: weeks later, arriving in the Big Apple by mid April.
Speaker 1: His focus was on building up defenses in and around Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: as he believed New York would be the British Army's
Speaker 1: next target. His forces were thin, only several thousand. He
Speaker 1: had several forts built, each with an array of cannons
Speaker 1: and surrounded by a large ditch. The British came to
Speaker 1: town from Canada with more than thirty thousand troops ready
Speaker 1: to put an end to a war that had just begun.
Speaker 1: Their goal was not only to take over New York,
Speaker 1: but to take down Washington himself and destroy the Continental
Speaker 1: Army once and for all. British soldiers and Hessian mercenaries
Speaker 1: took over Brooklyn with ease. General William Howe moved nearly
Speaker 1: five hundred ships into the East River while his men
Speaker 1: stormed the beaches of Long Island. American forces paled in comparison,
Speaker 1: with a paltry nine thousand soldiers to keep up the
Speaker 1: entire defense. The British all but wiped out Washington's defenses
Speaker 1: as he rearranged his regiments and moved half of his
Speaker 1: troops from Long Island to Manhattan, partly to salvage the situation,
Speaker 1: partly because he that the British were more interested in
Speaker 1: the main island than they were in using Brooklyn as
Speaker 1: a distraction. Unfortunately, on August it was too late. British
Speaker 1: loyalists in the area helped General Howe and his men
Speaker 1: navigate the hills of the Jamaica Pass. Late that night,
Speaker 1: along with the assistance of a local tavern owner and
Speaker 1: his son, the British managed to capture the five Continental
Speaker 1: soldiers guarding the past without incidents before coming up behind
Speaker 1: the Americans In a surprise attack, Hessians rushed Washington's troops
Speaker 1: while Red Coats surrounded them. A brave four hundred Maryland
Speaker 1: soldiers stayed behind to fight them head on in order
Speaker 1: to let their fellow men escape, but over half of
Speaker 1: those four hundred were killed. Washington saw the writing on
Speaker 1: the wall. There was no way his army could outlast
Speaker 1: or outfight the British onslaught, but he refused to surrender. Instead,
Speaker 1: during a bad rainstorm, he orchestrated an evacuation of nine
Speaker 1: thousand American soldiers, moving them across the East River under
Speaker 1: the cover of night. He worked for hours putting his
Speaker 1: men on boats, but by the next morning there was
Speaker 1: still many left to go and the British weren't far behind.
Speaker 1: Washington was worried that he'd be found out before everyone
Speaker 1: had gotten away. Luckily, a heavy fog moved into the area,
Speaker 1: hiding his actions from the enemy long enough for every
Speaker 1: last soldier to get out of harm's way. Washington was
Speaker 1: the last person to get on a boat. He and
Speaker 1: all nine thousand of his men reached Manhattan by seven
Speaker 1: o'clock that morning. When House forces finally reached the American fortifications,
Speaker 1: they were stunned to find them empty. So why has
Speaker 1: the Battle of Brooklyn gone relatively unnoticed by the history books?
Speaker 1: Well because we lost, and history tends to remember the winners.
Speaker 1: The Battle of Brooklyn went down as the largest battle
Speaker 1: of the war. Roughly three hundred American soldiers lost their
Speaker 1: lives compared to the sixty three or so British casualties
Speaker 1: that day. But their defeat in New York taught Washington
Speaker 1: and his men a valuable lesson and how to organize
Speaker 1: an army, and in December of seventeen seventy six they
Speaker 1: put what they learned to good use. The Battle of
Speaker 1: Trenton became a turning point in the Revolution. It was
Speaker 1: a much needed win for America, and it inspired others
Speaker 1: to join the fight. Had it not been for Washington's
Speaker 1: quick thinking back in Brooklyn, though, the war might have
Speaker 1: ended a lot differently, and a lot sooner. Sometimes the
Speaker 1: best way to win a fight is not to fight
Speaker 1: at all. He was insanely talented even as a young child.
Speaker 1: A prodigy, he entertained local audiences, not just with his
Speaker 1: gift for music, but with his distinctive stage performance. While
Speaker 1: the press initially ridiculed him for his facial expressions and
Speaker 1: animation as he played, the crowd ate him up. As
Speaker 1: he grew older, he perfected that technique, developing a certain swagger.
Speaker 1: He'd tossed his shoulder length hair over his shoulders as
Speaker 1: he moved to the beat and pounded out tunes unlike
Speaker 1: anyone else in his genre. His good looks helped with
Speaker 1: his popularity. His dark hair, handsome face, and his physique
Speaker 1: spurred one writer to say how powerful and shattering he
Speaker 1: was to see in person. When his father passed away,
Speaker 1: grief overtook him. He stopped performing and taught piano lessons.
Speaker 1: For a short while, he fell in love with Marie,
Speaker 1: a students and the wife of an affluent aristocrat. When
Speaker 1: the affair was discovered, Marie left her husband and family
Speaker 1: to join her young lover. The two went on to
Speaker 1: have two children together, but marital bliss didn't last long.
Speaker 1: Relations between them became strained, and she returned to her
Speaker 1: homeland while he joined a tour to help fund a
Speaker 1: charitable cause. The separation from Marie took its toll, and
Speaker 1: for a short time he considered dedicating his life to
Speaker 1: the church instead of music. Three things changed his mind.
Speaker 1: His undying love of music, his mother's insistence that he
Speaker 1: followed his dreams, and attending a charity concert where he
Speaker 1: became so moved that he out to be as good
Speaker 1: or better than his idols. He wrote new music and
Speaker 1: practice his showmanship techniques designed to set him apart from
Speaker 1: his peers. His efforts at redefining his music and stage
Speaker 1: performances paid off. Royalty treated him like one of their own.
Speaker 1: Women practically threw themselves at his feet. The press always
Speaker 1: had a story about his escapades, the length of his performances,
Speaker 1: and the feverish audiences who couldn't get enough when he
Speaker 1: took to the stage. Crowds of women screamed and cried.
Speaker 1: On more than one occasion, they rushed the stage to
Speaker 1: be near him, to rip off a shred of clothing
Speaker 1: or cut off a lock of his hair. As a souvenir.
Speaker 1: Women tore at each other's hair and fought bitterly for
Speaker 1: a glass that he might have touched. The audiences bordered
Speaker 1: on downright delirious. Female fans held him in their dreams
Speaker 1: and fantasies. He'd reached fame far beyond his musical heroes.
Speaker 1: Europe had never seen anything like the mania that surrounded him.
Speaker 1: He was bold, charismatic, and deliver the style of playing
Speaker 1: the piano unlike anyone before him. He turned the piano
Speaker 1: sideways to allow the audience to better view. Sometimes he sat,
Speaker 1: other times he stood, pounding so hard on the keys
Speaker 1: at times that one reporter dubbed him the smasher of pianos.
Speaker 1: It was common for him to play so powerfully that
Speaker 1: pianos required repair after his shows. Though he continued to
Speaker 1: spend holidays with Marie and their children, the couple soon
Speaker 1: called it quits for good. He threw himself fully into
Speaker 1: his work, some say his best work. Over eight years,
Speaker 1: he visited one d fifty cities and played in over
Speaker 1: a thousand concerts. His work influenced other musicians and sparked
Speaker 1: new trends. Performing became as much showmanship as talent. Though
Speaker 1: he was financially stable, he never forgot his poor beginnings
Speaker 1: and gave away large portions of his wealth and performed
Speaker 1: for fundraisers. After a fire destroyed much of one city,
Speaker 1: he played several venues to raise money for the homeless.
Speaker 1: To this day, some consider him one of the most
Speaker 1: talented pianists to have ever lived. So who was the
Speaker 1: superstar who brought audiences to their feet like Jerry Lee
Speaker 1: Lewis and had women screaming and swooning as they did
Speaker 1: when The Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Speaker 1: Hungarian concert pianist Ron's list who passed away in eighteen
Speaker 1: forty seven, ten years before Lewis and a hundred and
Speaker 1: thirteen before the Beatles ever took the stage? Rock on France,
Speaker 1: Rock On. I Hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until
Speaker 1: next time, stay curious. Yeah