Description
This lecture will explore how systems of written communication (especially orderly books) helped transform a fragile collection of colonial militias into a coordinated fighting force. By comparing American orderly books with their British and Spanish counterparts, the talk highlights how armies across the Atlantic world relied on daily written orders to impose discipline, structure authority, and manage information in wartime. Focusing on George Washington’s leadership, the presentation shows how the Continental Army adapted and innovated within these traditions, revealing that the success of the American Revolution depended not only on battlefield strategy, but on the creation of effective information systems that made an “orderly war” possible.
