American Age:
Book Review
by Mike Mahn

IPS Features

Return to Current IPS Features

Return to Catalogue

IPS Features Staff

International Press Service

Title: George Washington’s War

 Author: Bruce Chadwick

Source Books, Napierville, Illinois

Bruce Chadwick lectures in American History at Rutgers University and has written four (4) other historical books, each about facets of the Civil War experience. He is at home, literally, in George Washington’s War (GWW), so much of which occurred in New Jersey. The name is apt, for the American Revolutionary War was deemed by many as just that – GWW,  and this attribution was not meant to be flattering when the outcome was so uncertain and the danger and risk so high. There is a contemporary hint of irony to another attribution for American warfare, the Iraq War, ascribed to our current President. Of course, we now know the outcome of the Revolution, though that outcome was very far from certain or foreseeable at the time, a point made well by Mr. Chadwick.

The author presents George Washington straightforward, without ‘spin,’ in a

researcher’s style, which can be tedious; however, the documentation, though comprehensive, is always interesting. Chadwick focuses on the Revolution as it was fought on the ground, with the grime, disease, want, and desperation made evident, while revealing Washington as the absolutely indispensable person without whom there would have been no success.

Fascinating insights are given as to the deference of the Continental Congress to his leadership role, both as Executive and Commander-in-Chief. Numerous events attest to the intent of the ‘founding fathers’ to invest the Presidential office, as it would be later defined in the Constitution, with absolute authority over military matters. Washington was reluctant, and occasionally opposed, to assuming the powers that were so willfully given. His use of invested authority was remarkably sparing, an important lesson to successors to the office.

It is fashionable in modern times to look deeper at others of the revolutionary era, such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and the favorite, Thomas Jefferson. This may be due, in part, to the fact that Washington left so little in terms of correspondence, for future historians. But the 1^st President is much more than a monument on the mall in the city named for him. He was a man very aware of the potential for precedent in his actions. He was exceedingly modest, and almost monkish in his personal discipline.

The General was a brilliant tactician on the battlefield and brave beyond prudence in the midst of battle. Washington knew how to lead men in the worst of moments. He understood their suffering and respected their fear, demanding no less from them as he did from himself. Readers of GWW will understand without doubt that there would not be a United States of America but for George Washington. It is a must-read.