In 1681, John Dryden said in his poem “Absalom and Achitophel”:
Beware the fury of the patient man.
I hear ya, Dryden, because that’s how I operate.
And apparently George Washington operated the same way, because he initially took the high road, assuming that rumors about how American prisoners were being treated were just that, and giving General Gage the benefit of the doubt.
But when the rumors began that Washington was mistreating his prisoners…oh, that didn’t sit well with the General at all.