Excerpt from 1776 page 293
But by a happy set of circumstances Washington overcame his miscalculations and General William Howe did not overcome his hand. Subsequently, the Continental Army lived another day.
Perhaps it is the romantic notion that America's destiny was for greatness. That it was divine intervention of such transcendent leaders such as Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin where placed together in that place at that time to be the catalyst for that destiny. Or was it that, in a time of need, the right people found greatness within themselves to lead "... peoples unused to restrain... ."
Whichever the case, we should not forget that the birth of this nation is one marked by a series of fortunate events for one side and a set of unfortunate events for the other.
He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician, not a gifted orator, not an intellectual. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washing never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up.
Again and again, in letters to Congress and to his officers, and in his general orders, he had called for perseverance -- for "perseverance and spirit," for "patience and perseverance," for "unremitting courage and perseverance." Soon after the victories of Trenton and Princeton, he had written: "A people unused to restrain must be led, they will not be drove." Without Washington's leadership and unrelenting perseverance, the revolution almost certainly would have failed. As Nathanel Greene foresaw as the war went on, "He will be the deliverer of his own country."It is lost or at least not commonly understood how close the American Revolution was from dying on the vine. The series of fortunate or unfortunate events which lead to the defeat of the worlds greatest power by the ragamuffin forces of the American colonies is very interesting. Clearly had events unfolded differently or some quantum effects caused the winds to allow the British ships to sail the East / Harlem River to block the escape of Washington's forces from New York then the revolution would have ended in September 1776.
But by a happy set of circumstances Washington overcame his miscalculations and General William Howe did not overcome his hand. Subsequently, the Continental Army lived another day.
Perhaps it is the romantic notion that America's destiny was for greatness. That it was divine intervention of such transcendent leaders such as Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin where placed together in that place at that time to be the catalyst for that destiny. Or was it that, in a time of need, the right people found greatness within themselves to lead "... peoples unused to restrain... ."
Whichever the case, we should not forget that the birth of this nation is one marked by a series of fortunate events for one side and a set of unfortunate events for the other.
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