A Man to Remember

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It was a big war, although many of its battles were fought by armies of only a few thousand men—it ranged from Georgia to Quebec, from New York to the Mississippi—and in the end it involved the fleets of both England and France. It progressed slowly: the British held New York for years, and months often passed without major incident. It was polite in tone: prisoners were duly exchanged, flags of truce honored, and correct notes passed between opposing commanders (Washington formally returned General Sir William Howe's dog to him when it was captured by Americans at Germantown).

Yet the fighting was often bitter-end, even by modern standards: American volunteer suicide squads were killed or wounded almost to a man in breaching the British defenses at Stony Point; Americans, Indians and British troops, their flintlocks useless from rain, milled in wild combat with knife, musket butt and tomahawk at Oriskany in the New York wilderness. Cowpens, Brandywine, Germantown—all were bloody. The revolution pitted strange adversaries. At Eutaw Springs, the American force was heavily loaded with British deserters, the British force with American deserters. Kilted Scottish-American settlers fought for the king with broadswords at Moore's Creek Bridge, N.C.

Civilian Control. Through it all, Washington's burdens grew. Congressmen hotly accused him of attempting to saddle the country with a military tyranny worse than that of England. It was 18 months before he was authorized to recruit a stable Continental line pledged to serve for the duration of the conflict. The Continental Army never had more than 16,782 regulars, and never had more than a few hundred pieces of artillery, but 2,000 private American vessels, armed with 18,000 guns and manned by 70,000 men, harassed English shipping in the hope of quick fortunes. Money to pay the troops was always short.

Washington understood congressional fears, respected its ideal of civil control, and won it over in the end with honesty —and his dogged hope of victory. He did not underestimate his army. Revolutionary soldiers might desert, but they often returned to fight again. They might break before British bayonets, but they would regroup and fight the next day. Properly led, they endured incredible hardship, often without pay, without proper clothing, without proper food.

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