I read somewhere that G. Washington's troops were not actually losing and so disorganized at the time of the DOI and the writing was fake, left-wing history made to make Vietnam War slackers not look so uniquely bad (when in fact they were-- see my postings). So was the idea that Tom need his wife Martha to finish writing the DOI ( though he was faithful in real life to her) he was able to write it without her by his side.