2 – George Washington
Before the inevitable outrage by readers, let’s remember that I am discussing the military command abilities of the men in this piece. George Washington was inspirational and deserves his place amongst the pantheon of American heroes. He was one of the Founding Fathers and of course, the first President of the United States. However, he was not a great general and suffered a number of defeats during the War of Independence.
As a young man, Washington served six years in the British Militia but failed to distinguish himself. He desired the ‘redcoat’ that came with an Officer ranking but never received it. He led a serious of tough campaigns against the Native Indians in the west and lost approximately one-third of his 1,000 man group over a ten month period. However, his efforts did greatly assist the frontier population of Virginia. Washington was also involved in the embarrassment of the Forbes Expedition in 1758. In an attempt to capture Fort Duquesne, his unit, and another British unit fired upon one another in the belief the other unit was the French enemy. 14 men died in the incident.
He may not have gained the rank of Officer, but Washington did learn a great deal about British military tactics; this knowledge was to come in useful 20 years later during the War of Independence. Looking at things from a critical perspective, Washington didn’t excel when it came to strategy or tactics. One of his most significant successes was the surprise attack on the Hessians in Trenton after crossing the Delaware River in December 1776. A quick follow-up win at Princeton in January 1777 forced the British to retreat to New York City. Another smart move was inoculating his troops against Smallpox in February 1777. As a result, only 1% of his men died from the disease compared to 17% beforehand.
However, Washington suffered a succession of defeats and was outmaneuvered at times. In fact, there were calls to remove him from command after his loss at Philadelphia in September 1777. When it came to forging sophisticated strategies to befuddle the opposition, Washington fell short. As a result, he has to be considered as an average battlefield general at best.
Where he excelled was in his ability to motivate his men and keep morale high after an extended period of losses. When disease ravaged his Valley Forge camp in the winter of 1777-1778, Washington had to use his motivational skills to prevent his men from deserting. It was the talents of General von Steuben that enabled the army to emerge from Valley Forge in fighting shape. While Washington played a pivotal role in the rest of the war, it was the military abilities of other men that helped America defeat the British. To Washington’s credit, he held the army together long enough for the French to arrive to help the U.S. against their mutual enemy.