Ken Burns’ new PBS series, The American Revolution, reframes the founding war as a brutal, chaotic conflict fought on multiple fronts and driven by impossible odds. From fractured command to unpredictable alliances, the war was less a straight line to freedom and more a logistical and strategic nightmare.
“This was not just a war between Americans and the British,” Burns said in a recent Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross. “It was Americans killing Americans. And it became a global war.”
The American Revolution, a six-part, 12-hour series, co-directed by Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, premieres November 16 on PBS, airing over six consecutive nights. It will also stream in 4K Ultra HD on the PBS app—the first time a Burns documentary is available in that format.
When people picture the American Revolution, they often imagine powdered wigs and famous quotes, but not a ragtag force held together by desperation, freezing nights, and battlefield improvisation. But Ken Burns’ documentary strips away the mythology and tells the war’s full military story.
A Revolutionary War, Reimagined as Military Campaign
Burns, whose last project The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick landed in 2017, worked on the project for nearly a decade alongside codirectors Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. Their goal was to show how the war was won not just through ideas, but through hardship, adaptation, and military ingenuity.
The series highlights the stark operational reality: there was no standing army when the war began. Militiamen, immigrants, indentured servants, and landless laborers became the backbone of the fight. By 1777, many officers had deserted for more profitable ventures, leaving General George Washington to rally a force that was cold, underpaid, and outmatched.
“It’s a standing miracle that the army held together,” Burns says.
The documentary unpacks how Washington’s leadership evolved, especially his early missteps—like his resistance to including Black soldiers—and how necessity reshaped his approach to command. These moments, often overlooked in traditional narratives, show how the Revolution was just as much a test of logistics and strategy as it was of ideals.
Militia vs. Continental Army: Command in Crisis
The tension between local militias and the Continental Army is one of the show’s most compelling threads. Militias were often undisciplined and loyal to their own colonies rather than to the broader war effort. At the same time, Congress struggled to fund a national army and maintain supply chains, especially during harsh winters like those at Valley Forge.
Burns’ team includes historians and military advisors who guide viewers through key decisions—how battles were planned, why specific campaigns failed, and how morale and material shortages forced creative solutions.
It’s a layered, battlefield-informed portrait that will resonate with service members and veterans familiar with the complexity of multi-front operations and coalition warfighting.
A Logistics Nightmare: Cold Camps, Lost Pay, and Desertions
By the winter of 1777, the American war effort was falling apart—not from British offensives, but from hunger, sickness, and unpaid labor. The image of Valley Forge has been softened in classrooms over the years, but as Ken Burns makes clear, it was a logistical catastrophe that nearly ended the Revolution before it truly began.
General George Washington’s army arrived underfed, underdressed, and unequipped. Soldiers had no boots. Horses starved—makeshift hospitals filled with the dying. Washington’s own officers deserted in large numbers—Burns says roughly 500 officers walked away from command after receiving letters from home about how much money was being made selling provisions to the army rather than serving in it.
“They desert,” Burns told Fresh Air. “And he stays.”
That moment—Washington staying while others profited—helped define his role in the war. But the greater story was how impossible it was to sustain the military campaign. Congress couldn’t reliably fund the army. States often withheld troops or supplies unless their own interests were served. Morale plummeted. Even elite units faced ammunition shortages. Rations dwindled to nothing but firecake and weak broth.
Burns treats this not as a backdrop but as a central battlefield in its own right. Supply lines were fragile. Uniforms were scavenged from the dead. Rifles were often mismatched or broken. And yet, somehow, this army held.
That resilience—the ability to hold a force together despite having almost nothing—is what impressed the French, and ultimately, helped bring about American victory. But it wasn’t inevitable. It was won inch by inch, often in the mud, and frequently on an empty stomach.
Washington Learns to Adapt—and Lead
George Washington was already a decorated veteran when he took command of the Continental Army in 1775, but he was far from perfect. As Ken Burns shows, Washington’s greatness didn’t come from flawless strategy—it came from growth.
When Washington arrived in Boston, he was alarmed to see Black soldiers already enlisted and fighting. He ordered that no more be recruited, aligning with his identity as a Virginia planter and slaveholder. But soon after, he reversed course.
“And that,” Burns said, “is what distinguishes George Washington from many other people of his time. He grows.”
Washington recognized that these soldiers had already proven themselves at Lexington and Bunker Hill. He adapted, and he kept adapting. Throughout the war, his ability to pivot—from battlefield tactics to personnel decisions—kept the army intact.
He made plenty of military mistakes, and Burns doesn't shy away from them. But unlike other Founders who stayed on the sidelines, Washington shared in the suffering of his men. He lived through the freezing winters. He watched supplies vanish. He endured watching his best officers quit while he remained in the field.
“We went from being subjects to inventing a new concept—citizens,” Burns said in the official press release. “As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding, I’m hopeful that people will come together to appreciate what our ancestors did to secure our liberty and freedoms.”
Washington wasn’t just a commander. He became a symbol. One of the wealthiest men in the colonies, he sacrificed wealth, comfort, and personal safety to lead a cause that was always teetering on the edge of collapse.
That willingness to change and lead from the front is what turned a loose collection of militias into something resembling a national army—and, eventually, a nation.
The American Revolution Extended Trailer | Premieres Nov. 16 on PBS | Ken Burns Documentary Series
The Revolution Was Also A Civil War
Beyond traditional battlefields, the series focuses on the Revolution as a civil war. In many communities, Patriots and Loyalists fought each other in violent, freelance skirmishes. Families were divided. Homes were burned. Revenge killings became common.
This brutal reality is central to understanding the full scope of the conflict—and the difficulty of maintaining unity, morale, and discipline. Burns treats this not as background noise, but as one of the war’s defining features.
“When the British were dominant, Loyalists took revenge,” Burns says. “And when the reverse happened, Patriots did the same.”
Enslaved Soldiers, Native Allies, and Forgotten Fighters
Burns also devotes time to the people often left out of textbook versions of the Revolution. From enslaved Black soldiers who fought for both sides, Native American nations caught between imperial powers, and women who served on the front lines of survival, cleaning wounds, burying the dead, and even fighting, we are treated to stories that many military history docs don’t bother telling.
These stories add depth to the military narrative, revealing the Revolution as not just a fight for independence, but a test of who had access to that freedom. As Burns puts it,
“The big ideas of the Revolution aren’t diminished by telling the truth. They’re made stronger by it.”
What the Revolution Still Teaches Modern Military Readers
For today’s military readers, The American Revolution is more than a documentary—it’s a reminder of how American warfighting culture began. From command challenges to uneven troop quality, from fragile alliances to the politics of military funding, the war was a stress test that still shapes modern doctrine.
And Burns doesn’t offer easy answers. Like any war, the Revolution was full of contradictions: Washington was both a slaveholder and a general who came to embrace Black soldiers. The war was fought in the name of liberty, while many Americans remained unfree. Its victory launched a democracy—but only after chaos, sacrifice, and near-defeat.
In the end, what makes The American Revolution stand out isn’t just the visuals or the access to experts. It’s the campaign-level thinking applied to the story. Filmed across 100+ locations—including Valley Forge, Colonial Williamsburg, and Fort Ticonderoga—the production used historical reenactments, archival images, and expert advisors to recreate 18th-century camp life and battlefield tactics.The war isn’t presented as a foregone conclusion—it’s shown as a gamble, with high stakes, poor odds, and authentic leadership under fire.
For viewers who understand what it means to plan, fight, and survive a long war, this series may be the most honest take yet. Ken Burns' The American Revolution begins airing on November 16 on PBS, airing over six consecutive nights. Be sure to check your local listings.
