The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

General George Washington

In his book The Soul of Battle: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny, Victor Davis Hanson makes no mention of General George Washington of the American Revolutionary War, nor General John J. Pershing of World War I as great generals. This is because while Washington was a greater leader, his generalship was often lacking. After all, he did lose more battles than he won. However, I believe that General Washington should be considered as a great general under Victor Davis Hanson’s criteria.

Like the great Ancient Greek Theban general Epaminondas in Victor Davis Hanson’s book, General Washington led ordinary citizens in unconventional warfare against the British, inspired his troops for the noble cause for which they fought and to keep fighting, and thus achieved victory for this noble cause.

His military strategy was to fight limited battles rather than conventional battles, as he knew that his Army would be defeated, captured, and destroyed in conventional battles. He, therefore, adopted a strategy of engaging in a limited fight until the point of defeat or unacceptable casualties, then to retreat to live to fight another day. While this did wear down the British and eventually win the war for American Independence, his greatness was not in generalship but in his leadership to hold the colonial army together until victory was accomplished.

General Washington persevered despite many hardships and deprivations of his Army. Food, munitions, and other supplies were always in short supply. Accommodations for his troops between battles were often wretched, cold, or non-existent. Many a night, the troops slept on cold, hard ground with inadequate tenting and only a small campfire for heat. Political infighting within the Continental Congress only made matters worse. There was also political jockeying for appointments and promotions of officers in his Army, as well as his troops often being untrained, undisciplined, and rambunctious. There was also the problem of his troop’s enlistments expiring during the course of the war, and many of his troops would go back home when their enlistments were over, thus depriving him of manpower to conduct battles.

General Washington also many times fought with his troops and exposed himself to the dangers of battle, just as Epaminondas, Sherman, and Patton did when they led their troops. He also suffered many of the hardships and deprivations that his troops suffered. And he persevered until the American Revolution was won. He also, shortly after the war ended, put down the Newburgh Conspiracy insurrection rumblings of his junior officers and then retired to civilian life rather than seek political power for himself. When told by the American artist Benjamin West that Washington was going to resign, King George III of England said, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."

As such, General Washington changed the course of World History and advanced the cause of Liberty and Freedom to all humankind. I, therefore, believe that General Washington deserves to be considered a great general under Victor Davis Hanson’s criteria.