I still feel like even in his day, George Washington was shrouded in the fog of the founding of the country.
He was a person that didn't have the lofty ideals Jefferson had and he didn't have the mind of Adams, but he knew how to get the job done and do his part for his country.
Without the generalship of Washington, it's hard to believe that the American revolution could have been won. The most impressive thing to me is that Washington turned down the crown and sceptre and title of King and gave up power after only 8 years. He was truly a Sulla for his times.
I'm fascinated with how men like Washington felt after the revolution. In the 10 or so years leading up to the actual fighting (what Adams called the real revolution), men like Washington must surely have thought of themselves as Englishmen who were being treated like second class citizens.
After they actually broke away and formed their own country, how did they identify themselves? Imagine if you lived in St. Louis or something and then someday it became part of Canada... Would you really feel Canadian?
To me, George Washington is the Romulus for the American conscience and even though he was a living, breathing man, at least part of him is a folk hero for the ages.
Showing posts with label George Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Washington. Show all posts
2/28/09
2/10/09
The Early Days of the War
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the beginning of the Revolution after the British returned to America did not go well.
The beginning of the war did though, at least from an insurgency perspective- the battle of Lexinton and Concord (shot heard round the world) saw around 1000 troops trying to arrest some American revolutionaries. This insighted the American militias to lay siege to Boston in the battle of Bunker Hill. The British repulsed the revolutionaries but lost one sixth of their 6000 troop garrison in the process.
The Americans captured Montreal and George Washington in charge of the new continental army forced the British to retreat to Novia Scotia.
Democracy was in the air. But the British were going to send reinforcements and they were going to be angry.
There were philosophers, merchants and back country riflemen who formed a loose militia of ideas/self interest that was tasked with rebelling the most powerful, organized standing army and mercenaries in the world.
The continental congress decided to try and secure New York. Anyone who's been to NYC knows that there's the Hudson, the East River and the Atlantic Ocean all surrounding the city, so you can imagine that it wasn't real realistic to expect the rebel militia, being without a Navy, to prevent the British from landing.
Land they did on Staten Island (a few miles from where we now live in Bayridge, Brooklyn) without resistance. They set up camp, secured the island and organized immediately. 35,000 troops in all as well as the German Hessian mercenaries they hired touched down on the island.
Being such an experienced army, the British were well acquainted with the necessity of sanitation and managing the provisions/water supply- so they had little trouble in the first few months with the main problems that armies of the time had- dysentery, malaria, and other 'dirty' diseases.
The Americans set up their main camp in Brooklyn and not being equipped with the knowledge the British had, started very soon to suffer from various ailments that made a portion of the army ineffective for fighting.
The thing I didn't realize is that the Howe Brothers (one ran the army, the other the British Navy) made a bunch of attempts to win the 'hearts and minds' of the American people by trying to rally the loyalist, offer amnesty to the rebels etc. (sound familiar?)
He was not successful in this endeavor and the fighting started. There were many battles fought, but overall, it was a route of the American Revolutionaries and the British took over NYC nearly ending the revolution right there. The British also took Long Island and NJ in very short order.
Only George Washington's military experience and determination could keep the 'cause' alive.
The beginning of the war did though, at least from an insurgency perspective- the battle of Lexinton and Concord (shot heard round the world) saw around 1000 troops trying to arrest some American revolutionaries. This insighted the American militias to lay siege to Boston in the battle of Bunker Hill. The British repulsed the revolutionaries but lost one sixth of their 6000 troop garrison in the process.
The Americans captured Montreal and George Washington in charge of the new continental army forced the British to retreat to Novia Scotia.
Democracy was in the air. But the British were going to send reinforcements and they were going to be angry.
There were philosophers, merchants and back country riflemen who formed a loose militia of ideas/self interest that was tasked with rebelling the most powerful, organized standing army and mercenaries in the world.
The continental congress decided to try and secure New York. Anyone who's been to NYC knows that there's the Hudson, the East River and the Atlantic Ocean all surrounding the city, so you can imagine that it wasn't real realistic to expect the rebel militia, being without a Navy, to prevent the British from landing.
Land they did on Staten Island (a few miles from where we now live in Bayridge, Brooklyn) without resistance. They set up camp, secured the island and organized immediately. 35,000 troops in all as well as the German Hessian mercenaries they hired touched down on the island.
Being such an experienced army, the British were well acquainted with the necessity of sanitation and managing the provisions/water supply- so they had little trouble in the first few months with the main problems that armies of the time had- dysentery, malaria, and other 'dirty' diseases.
The Americans set up their main camp in Brooklyn and not being equipped with the knowledge the British had, started very soon to suffer from various ailments that made a portion of the army ineffective for fighting.
The thing I didn't realize is that the Howe Brothers (one ran the army, the other the British Navy) made a bunch of attempts to win the 'hearts and minds' of the American people by trying to rally the loyalist, offer amnesty to the rebels etc. (sound familiar?)
He was not successful in this endeavor and the fighting started. There were many battles fought, but overall, it was a route of the American Revolutionaries and the British took over NYC nearly ending the revolution right there. The British also took Long Island and NJ in very short order.
Only George Washington's military experience and determination could keep the 'cause' alive.
2/4/09
Early Revolutionary War- The British Army
Reading: "Washington's Crossing" David Hackett Fischer
When I was younger and learned of the Revolutionary War, my main memory of the war is the famous painting - 'Washington's Crossing'. All of you have seen it- Washington standing triumphantly on a boat crossing the icy Delaware River.
The main theme of the war that I remember is the British Troops were stuffy and ill prepared for the hardy American frontiersman and were slaughtered by a smaller force that didn't march in lockstep and used the natural terrain to their advantage.
While it's true, that Americans certainly did use terrain and unconventional tactics as any insurgent force would, the idea of the British Redcoats being unprepared for total war is a joke.
During this period the British military forces were without rival. They had come off a string of successes in the French and Indian War and the Seven Years' War in Europe. They had destroyed every adversary that they had faced.
The British Army was organized into regiments which largely would operate independently of each other and were responsible for their own recruiting, training and general specializations. There were Scottish Regiments (recently subjugated to Britain at the time) who still spoke Gaelic, there was a regiment called the Green Feathers (later the Green Hats and later still the Green Berets) and many other regiments that specialized in various types of warfare.
This is very similar to the Roman 'Century' method where Legions would often operate independent of each other so they could work in separate parts of the empire. Having autonomy builds on soldiers having a stake in the fighting and speeds decision making.
The British were a professional, volunteer army. Their average general at the time had 30 years of Military experience while the American Generals had an average of two years of experience.
The early outcome of the war was predictable, stunning defeat after defeat for Washington's Army. The Americans did have a strong advantage though since the definition of victory for the British had to be total victory, while the definition for victory for the rebels had to be avoiding total loss.
The British were not going to be easy to defeat, and they had mercenaries... but that's another post.
When I was younger and learned of the Revolutionary War, my main memory of the war is the famous painting - 'Washington's Crossing'. All of you have seen it- Washington standing triumphantly on a boat crossing the icy Delaware River.
The main theme of the war that I remember is the British Troops were stuffy and ill prepared for the hardy American frontiersman and were slaughtered by a smaller force that didn't march in lockstep and used the natural terrain to their advantage.
While it's true, that Americans certainly did use terrain and unconventional tactics as any insurgent force would, the idea of the British Redcoats being unprepared for total war is a joke.
During this period the British military forces were without rival. They had come off a string of successes in the French and Indian War and the Seven Years' War in Europe. They had destroyed every adversary that they had faced.
The British Army was organized into regiments which largely would operate independently of each other and were responsible for their own recruiting, training and general specializations. There were Scottish Regiments (recently subjugated to Britain at the time) who still spoke Gaelic, there was a regiment called the Green Feathers (later the Green Hats and later still the Green Berets) and many other regiments that specialized in various types of warfare.
This is very similar to the Roman 'Century' method where Legions would often operate independent of each other so they could work in separate parts of the empire. Having autonomy builds on soldiers having a stake in the fighting and speeds decision making.
The British were a professional, volunteer army. Their average general at the time had 30 years of Military experience while the American Generals had an average of two years of experience.
The early outcome of the war was predictable, stunning defeat after defeat for Washington's Army. The Americans did have a strong advantage though since the definition of victory for the British had to be total victory, while the definition for victory for the rebels had to be avoiding total loss.
The British were not going to be easy to defeat, and they had mercenaries... but that's another post.
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