This Glorious Struggle: George Washington's Revolutionary War Letters

The other two reviews are very good with respect to the content of this work, and I shall focus my remarks otherwise. This is a selection of letters written by Washington from 1775 to 1783, not only allowing the reader to understand many of the issues facing Washington, but also how he dealt with them and his feelings and attitudes. For those who believe that Washington did not believe in God or was not a Christian, his General Orders of July 4th, 1775, include the sentence: "... in like manner, requires and expects of all Officers and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a punctional attendance on devine service, to implore the blessings of heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense." Gee, sounds pretty Christian to me. This illustrates the value in the publications of his letters -- one can see first hand the real Washington at work. The aspect of the book that caused me to downgrade it from five to four stars was that the editorial context given to introduce each document was often insufficient. For example, in Washington's letter to Sir Henry CLinton on John Andre, Washington was responding to a demand from Clinton that Washington respect a purported flag of truce under which Andre supposedly left the Vulture to meet Arnold. But this is not given in the comment, and some of the elements in Washington's letter therefore require further research (and another source) to understand. Otherwise I have absolutely no criticism, although some might wish for a more expansive list of letters or some other selection. By itself, this book is an excellent primary source. Hopefully all of Washington's correspondence and documents will be released in a similar manner, organized by date and subject, and with appropriate editorial comments for general consumption. All historians interested in the Revolutionary War and Washington would profit greatly by such a work. Highly recommended.

This Glorious Struggle: George Washington's Revolutionary War Letters. By Edward G. Lengel (Associate Editor, The Papers of George Washington). 304 pages. 2007. This book is a collection of letters written by George Washington during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). It does not contain every letter which he wrote but a selection of letters. Some of the chosen letters illustrate the private side of Washington and others the very public side of Washington. Sadly most of the correspondence between Washington and his beloved Patsy (his pet name for Martha) were burned at his request shortly after his death. There are though two or three of the remaining few included in this collection. The Washington that emerges from these letters will be no surprise to students of his life. His involvement in nearly every phase of military operations is legendary. Though he comes across as knowledgeable on everything from troop leading, development, logistics, decorum, intelligence, and of course politics it is easy to forget that like his subordinates Washington was mostly self-taught and making it up as he went along. When this is juxtaposed next to the creation and recreation of the American Army it becomes truly awe inspiring. Consider his position in DEC1775-JAN1776 and then again in DEC1776-JAN1777. In each case the American Army as it was literally ceased to exist and had to be re-created while actively engaging the enemy. Imagine being an NFL coach and nine minutes into the first quarter having to get mostly new players and coaches with no timeouts for equipping, uniforming, training, etc. Add into this that your coaches have no experience and your players have all had maybe a little bit of football in phys-ed. class back in high school. Washington was also a true patriot. He is the genesis of a civilian controlled military in our country and his patriotism was not merely that of an aristocrat trying to better himself and his peers. It comes shining through in these letters that Washington's vision was of an entirely new society, his patriotism was not opportunism it was genuine and deeply heartfelt, almost religious in its depth and fervor. His patriotism and his religious faith were not underpinned by foreboding or a sense of restriction, rather his tone is mostly upbeat and encouraging. He never forgets to remind others and himself of posterity, and the need to challenge people to rise above themselves. He tends to dwell on what he wants instead of what is lacking, in other words he does not wallow in the sins of the present or past but rather looks towards better conditions and actions, points them out and challenges himself and others to achieve this. Washington's letters are a snapshot into the thoughts and actions of a man who is still the Father of his country. His shadow still looms large in our lives and the handiwork of his hands is now so commonplace that our appreciation of his labors has been sadly taken for grant

Four and a half ENLIGHTENED Stars!! "This Glorious Struggle" is a sampling of wartime letters, many never seen before, penned by George Washington and edited by Edward G. Lengel who is on the staff of the "Washington Papers", which is cataloging the correspondence of George Washington at the University of Virginia. Washington was a prolific letter writer, especially during the Revolutionary War, with the numbers well over an unbelievable 100,000. There are some minor modifications to the verbiage of certain letters for readibility. The editor thoughtfully gives italicized prefaces, however brief, to certain letters to set the stage. It's interesting to read Washington's own perspective on matters pertinent to his military success against the superior "ministerial" force from Britain, in many cases personally debunking myths and romanticism about the war. The 'language of the day' is somewhat stilted and idomatic, but one can get the point without much difficulty, usually just by reading on further and using contextualization. Washington's language can be flowery and very courteous, using many commas since the sentences tend to run long at times. And Washington can wax poetic: "I am now Imbarked on a tempetuous Ocean from whence, perhaps, no friendly harbour is to be found", words which reverberate across the landscape of this book. The selected letters are grouped by year, over a period of 9 years, stretching from 1775 to 1783, so there are many more letters out there which will be available later. But these specific letters drop the reader directly into General Washington's mind and thought process as he deals with the problems of a fledgling nation, Congress, family, friends, discipline, traitors, failures and victories. The letters cover such matters as: the rumored British plot to kidnap Martha Washington, the ill-fated attack on Quebec led by none other than the heroic and wounded Colonel Benedict Arnold, the lack of discipline within the ranks, many lost military opportunities, evidence of some cowardice and thievery in the officer and enlisted ranks, Washington's private plan to burn Manhattan in case of defeat at New York, the standing army versus the militia, his exchange of thoughts on freeing the slaves with Lafayette, the problem of native Americans and land, the siege of Boston, the Germantown fog incident, the Battle of Brooklyn (Long Island) debacle when he almost resigned, and battles going all the way to the ultimate victory at Yorktown during "this glorious struggle", and into the aftermath. In addition, there are general orders to the forces and speeches to Congress. There are also rare surviving personal letters to "Patcy" (Martha) who destroyed most of the rest, to emancipated African-American poet Phillis Wheatley, to New Jersey poet/patriot Annis Boudinot Stockton, and to his brother John. And there is one persistent physical malady that may surprise many readers. Washington's address to Congress resigning his commission