A Good General?

[indianasmith]

How would you rate this military officer?
He began his military career by shooting an unarmed courier from another country and sparking a disastrous, 9 year war.

His first combat command was a small fort - he chose a site overlooked by hills so tall that enemy artillery came right over the walls, killing a number of his men and forcing his surrender.

His second campaign was as an aide on a march that was ambushed by the enemy and suffered 70% casualties. He spent the rest of that war trying unsuccessfully to keep the enemy from raiding civilian establishments, and was usually too late to do anything but put out the fires and bury the dead.

As a commanding general, he started out with a large (for that time) army of 20,000. In his first year of combat, he lost six battles, saw the two most important strategic forts in the country, as well as his nation's largest city captured; the capitol abandoned, his second-in-command captured, and his army reduced by casualties and desertions to 1500 effectives. By the end of the war, he had won 4 battles and lost 14.

He was irritable, vain, frequently dismissed his subordinates, and was distrusted by many of the civilian leaders in the government he served. Would you leave such an officer in command?


If you said no, you just fired . . . .

George Washington!

True greatness is not found in statistics, in press reports, or in public opinion. True greatness is defined by several attributes: integrity, character, boldness, and perseverance. Washington hung on when things looked bleak, shared in the hardships of his men, and never compromised his personal sense of honor or justice. For that reason we still regard him as the father of our country. For all its faults, the ship of state he launched sails on, 207 years after he went to his reward. Happy Independence Day, Mr. President.
 
 
 

[Mofo Rising]

I just started reading James Thomas Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man.  It's pretty good, if a bit breathless.  It also assumes familiarity with American history, instead of detailing it.  I'm planning on reading His Excellency by Joseph J Ellis next, to compare and contrast.

I'm planning on making my way through the presidents, sequentially and two books at a time.  It should be fairly straightforward until the 20th century, when the immediacy of present political concerns will start skewing the record this way and that.

If anybody has good suggestions for presidential biographies, I'd be glad to hear them.

[CheezeFlixz]

2
John Adams  by David McCullough
The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
3
Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography
The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson
4
James Madison  by Garry Wills
James Madison: Writings: Writings 1772-1836

Do you see my theme here ... 1 bio and 1 writing of ...

Nice to see how there seen and how they see themselves.

That'll keep you busy for a while, unless you're a speed reader.

[Scott]

Perseverance and those of the Continental Congress who let him keep his command because they didn't have anyone else during the tough times. Washington was definately a great man. Aside from personal character which is important. Being a great man also has a lot to do with destiny being in the right place at the right time.

The battle of Trenton which was a turning point for Washington was a big moment in the war. Washington escaped across the Deleware River into Pennsylvania and then days later he recrossed back into New Jersey 8 miles north of Trenton at night in bad winter weather conditions taking the Hessians by surprise which lead to victory against Brittish forces in Princeton shortly after that.

Till this point of assertive action Washington wasn't doing very well having lost and retreated from a number of battles. The decision to crossing of the Deleware into New Jersey at night must have been hard. Many didn't even have shoes.

[indianasmith]

Jeff Daniels played a very convincing George Washington in a retelling of the story of the Battle of Trenton a few years back entitled "The Crossing."  It's a truly great made-for-TV movie, and I show it to my students every year.

[Mofo Rising]

2
John Adams  by David McCullough
The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
3
Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography
The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson
4
James Madison  by Garry Wills
James Madison: Writings: Writings 1772-1836

Do you see my theme here ... 1 bio and 1 writing of ...

Nice to see how there seen and how they see themselves.

That'll keep you busy for a while, unless you're a speed reader.

Thanks for the list, and that will take me quite some time.

Do you have a suggestion for writings of George Washington?

[CheezeFlixz]

Thanks for the list, and that will take me quite some time.

Do you have a suggestion for writings of George Washington?

oooh that's a tricky one ... (just ribbing)

George Washington : Writings
By George Washington

http://www.amazon.com/George-Washington-Writings-Library-America/dp/188301123X/ref=sr_1_16/002-9570341-2083213?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183497960&sr=1-16

or Andrew could make you a link so he can get some kick back moola.

[Scott]

Marching the 8 miles from the deleware crossing site to Trenton at night in winter weather conditions with no shoes and surprise the Hessians is something amazing. 

[indianasmith]

Willard Sterne Randall's WASHINGTON: A LIFE is also a fine biography.  As far as an overall history of the Revolution, the best I have ever read is called GEORGE WASHINGTON'S WAR, by Robert Leckie.  Another revolutionary figure whom I have come to admire in recent years is Alexander Hamilton.  I read a short biography of him (it may also have been by Randall, it's on my shelf at school) last summer that really impressed me with his sheer ability.

[CheezeFlixz]

I recently picked up a few soldiers diaries books, from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI and WWII ... haven't had time to read any them that is more of a winter thing.

Reading Jack Nastyface right now which is a diary of a mid shipman in Nelson's Navy.

[Scott]

Some of my favorite biographies are of Napoleon and I even have his diaries. Here's a guy that was an artillery Captain fighting in Italy for France. He was able to win some decisive battles in Italy with his command of the artillery. Some of the leaders of the French Revolution at the time thought he was perfect for their take over. Here are some of my favorite leaders.

Napoleon
Alexander The Great
Atilla The Hun
Ghengis Khan
Teddy Roosevelt

[CheezeFlixz]

Some of my favorite biographies are of Napoleon and I even have his diaries. Here's a guy that was an artillery Captain fighting in Italy for France. He was able to win some decisive battles in Italy with his command of the artillery. Some of the leaders of the French Revolution at the time thought he was perfect for their take over. Here are some of my favorite leaders.

Napoleon
Alexander The Great
Atilla The Hun
Ghengis Khan
Teddy Roosevelt

Good list ...

Here are a few more that weren't to shabby ...

Qin Shi Huang
Hannibal
Augustus Caesar
Tamerlane
William the Conqueror
Peter the Great
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Ivan the Terrible

You could read non-stop 27/7/365 and never get through all the information out there.

[indianasmith]

I can't believe you left Julius Caesar off that list . . .  he taught little Octavian everything he ever knew!

[CheezeFlixz]

I can't believe you left Julius Caesar off that list . . .  he taught little Octavian everything he ever knew!

Well be no means was that a complete list ... he kind of one of those guy that goes without saying ....

Kinda like Adolph Hitler, most people don't list him because he was so evil, but if you look at where he started and what he built in such a short amount of time. Truly amazing, then again Lenin, Marx and Stalin had it going on as leaders even if I personally disagree with them.

There are 100's if not 1000's of great leaders.

[indianasmith]

Truthfully, Julius Caesar was a remarkably enlightened person for his time - in fact, his clemency to his enemies is what led to his death.  I don't know that he deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence with Hitler.